Williamwood HS pupils gave a presentation on their partnership with Ekwendeni Girls School and on their visit to Malawi in June. They have continued their involvement and are encouraging others in the shcool and local community to support their project. LA QIO - Gillian Tinning, was also in attendance.
Teacher - Emma Hobson
Willamwood High School has established a strong and positive partnership with Ekwendeni Girls' High School in Malawi.
In May 2009 two members of staff visited the school in Malawi where they worked with the teachers and pupils, gaining an understanding of the education system in Malawi, of the methods and subjects taught, of community life and of the wider issues affecting the country.
In September 2009, two teachers from our partner school in Malawi visited Scotland and experienced first hand knowledge of our educatioanl system. In addition, they were involved with educating the pupils about Malawi, especially regardsing major issues facing their county, such as HIV and AIDS.
In June of this year, a party of 15 students and 2 staff members from Williamwood High School will visit Malawi and will be involved in the life of the school as well as in the local community, working with young people aged from 3 - 18.
Report and Resources
How did you come up with the idea? We wanted to develop Confident Individuals, Responsible, and Global Citizens by giving our pupils an understanding of another culture, and by giving them an opportunity to become more charitiable by providing aid to those in need. We wanted them to take responsibility and work as a team to meet common goals. We also wished to challenge them and give them skills for life, as well as making a real difference and positive impact on the world.
What did you do? Details of the project. So far, what we have done is send staff to the school in Malawi; we have had staff from the Ekwendeni school to visit us; we have organised and hosted whole school fund raising events for the last two years; we have formed links between pupils through pen-pals and video link; and finally, this year we have sent 14 of our pupils to Malawi to complete community projects in the local hospital, school, orphanage, and youth centre. The local communities greatly appreciated the help on projects and it gave our pupils a chance to interact on a more personal level with the local people and experience first hand culture of Malawi.
What did the pupils do? What responsibilities did they take? The pupils brought gifts from Scotland to give to the school, for example, laptop computers, stationary etc; they completed various community projects and formed links with the local hospital, school, orphanage, and youth centre. Within these projects, pupils took turns to take on Leadership roles. In the future, pupils will continue to take on positions of responsibility in order to determine what charity events to run for Malawi and decide what way to utilise the raised money.
What impact did you have? We have provided more equipment to the school to provide the Malawi pupils with a better learning experience, for example, further use of computers. We have also raised awareness in Scotland, not only for the pupils travelling to Malawi, but as a whole school, through yearly fund raising events. Our pupils also experienced rich cultural and environmental diversity of another country, gained essential life skills, and had raised self esteem.
What is your ripple effect and how sustainable is it? What are your next steps? I feel the project is very sustainable as we plan to continue to make this one of our big fund-raisers in the coming years. Also, we hope to raise enough as a school in order to bring pupils from Malawi to Scotland in the next few years. In two years time, we aim to send out another group of pupils from our school again so that, by then, we will have forged lasting awareness and strong links