porridge time.....

Today I am visiting Blantyre Synod which is our partner Synod in the church that I work for.  They are hoping to begin an Early Childhood Programme and are looking for my assistance in terms of technical knowledge!  So I was able to visit two centres today and was dismayed by what I found!  Its the same story all over Malawi so I should not have been surprised!  Rote learning is the norm in the early years centres - not one play material in either centre that I visited!  The second one is in one of the townships in Blantyre called Ndirande.  There were about 200 children under 6 years attending and having their porridge as I arrived!

In the afternoon I was taken on an outing to Mulanje where it rained buckets. We passed through part of the area which as been badly affected by flooding - houses are completely washed away and river beds where there were never any before.  It must have been horrific!