Six Year 13 students from Vandyke Upper School, with whom Smile Malawi has a long-standing relationship, spent 3 weeks in Malawi this summer on a trip organized in association with World Challenge...

After a long journey from the UK, the students came to the Smile Malawi home where they stayed for the next week helping out at the local school and orphanage.One of the visiting students Stephanie Dawson, described their arrival: “all we could hear were the screams and laughs of children who were so excited to see us: it was the most moving moment of my life”. During their week, the students taught lessons at the local school; brought school books and teacher books; taught the Smile Malawi children basic skills such as IT and Geography through an inflatable globe and celebrated with a leaving party at the end where the children sang beautifully.They spent the next six days on a trek, and took eight of the older Smile Malawi children with them for a holiday treat, including 17 year old George Mbawa, who gives his account of the adventure here too. Together, these teenagers from such different cultures experienced waterfall swimming, sleeping in huts, having showers in a bucket, watching amazing sunsets and climbing a mountain peak, which was an achievement in itself.Another of the students, Michael Carter, reflected on his time in Malawi: ‘It was a life-changing adventure that has not only made me change what I want to study at university, but it’s given me a whole new insight into how much we take for granted. This trip will honestly stay with me for life!’