Written by Marion Chase, 2018 LaSERIO Malawi leader & Lulu, participant
Marion
A great time was had by everyone. We all enjoyed the fantastic Malawi experience. Going into schools in the mornings and then taking part in the various projects in the afternoons gave us so many insights into the needs of the people of Malawi. Being part of this expedition gave all of us the opportunity to help make a difference.
Lulu
A little bit about myself - my name is Lulu, I am fourteen years old and have been a member of 2nd Horsmonden Guides unit for two years. Having completed a couple of weekends away as part of the selection process for LaSERIO, which took me out of my comfort zone as I am sure it did the others who attended, I was allocated Malawi at the end of the second weekend much to my excitement. So, with one challenge out the way, I had another one to face: fundraising ÂŁ3000 to participate, which was a bit daunting initially - but help is available, so try not to panic.
There is more support out there than you could ever imagine. My starting point was setting up a JustGiving page for friends and family to donate to. As a Girlguiding member you can also apply for various grants, starting with your own division or district but also regionally. I got myself a little weekly gig of baking cakes for our local knitting group, who kindly donated money in return for my efforts. I ran a Christmas stall at our local village hall, selling homemade fudge, Christmas chutney and homemade decorations. I also approached my school and secured myself a cake stall at our school disco... by the end of it I was caked out but nothing is more rewarding than rising to a new challenge and succeeding - trust me.
So now for the best bit - my trip!
There is no doubt in my mind that volunteering overseas was going to offer me a unique opportunity to travel to a country I might not necessarily have visited with my own family and get to know the heart of the people there. As challenges go, my next one without a doubt was the fact that I had not been away from family and friends for any length of time and as my trip crept closer to the reality of actually going, I had my moments of doubts and wondering what I had signed myself up to. I appreciate that’s a normal reaction to the unknown and that I was about to test how brave I actually was, but in all honesty, its nothing compared to the challenges the Malawian people face daily and for the most basic of requirements such as water that’s clean, food and shelter. This brings a whole new meaning to the word perspective and certainly gave me a new level of appreciation for everything we have in the U.K that is so readily available.
Us teenagers also need to have a word with ourselves about the next must-have from Apple. You’re lucky if you get wifi in Malawi never mind a choice over what type of mobile phone you think you must have - one in two hundred people have a mobile phone out there. The crime rate out in Malawi is zero because there simply is nothing to steal, which makes it a safer place to live than here, judging by our daily bulletins on the news of crime on the rise.
The most rewarding part of this experience for me was the daily interaction I had with the children in school from reading books with them to playing games and singing songs. Nothing makes me smile more than the memories I have of seeing the sheer excitement on the children’s faces as we arrived each day by bus and left… they literally came chasing after us with the biggest smiles that erupted into roars of laughter. One of the most humbling moments for me was lunchtime, when I came to understand that the meals we were serving were in a lot of cases the only meal of the day for a lot of those children and seconds were taken home to feed someone at home.
The life lesson I take from this trip is the true value of friendship and human kindness, as a group made up of four amazing leaders and thirteen guides like myself, we bonded because of our shared experiences. What’s most important to realise is the people we share our lives with, not what we have in material terms. I would thoroughly recommend a step into the unknown, as you grow in all sorts of ways you cannot imagine now.
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