Inspiring Malawians in Scotland Contributing to School Visits

Three inspiring young Malawians studying in Scotland have teamed up with the SMP’s experienced Youth & Schools Lead to deliver dynamic sessions in Scottish schools.

When Newbattle High School’s Modern Studies teacher and ‘Scotland-Malawi champion’, Maria Loukopoulou invited the SMP to come into her school, the SMP’s Ian Mitchell (aka ‘Mitch’) was as ever enthusistic and prepared. As part of their course, Ms Loukopoulou’s Higher class has been studying the effects of underdevelopment in African countries, and Malawi in particular. She felt that, in preparation for their exams, her students would benefit from hearing about some of the real issues faced by girls and women in Malawi.

Mitch has been working with Malawian postgraduate students studying in Scotland - liaising with them to develop accurate and meaningful materials on a range of issues concerning Malawi.

After an introduction on Malawi by Mitch, the class was involved in a discussion led by Bosco Chinkonda on the after-effects of Covid 19. Bosco gave a greater understanding on how the pandemic affected different countries in different ways, whilst all dealing with the same problem. Malawi, Bosco explained, did not have the financial infrastructure to help its population in the same way that Scotland was able to provide support.

A second discussion was led by Velia Manyonga and Elita Chamdimba. Both Velia and Elita provided strong and heartfelt presentations on what it is like for girls and young women growing up in Malawi. They spoke of personal experiences through their lives and the changes that have been made to encourage these girls and young women to stay in education and training for longer. Empowering women in Malawi will go a long way to improving the country in many areas, they said.

If your school would be interested in a visit, please contact: Mitch@scotland-malawipartnership.org