Alma Mater

Neville came to pick me up at 5.45, bringing Sophie and Claire along for the scenic journey up to Lilongwe, where we were due to meet the party from Ahville College at the airport. The weather seemed to sense our desire to see the country at its beautiful best and we were treated to a warm sunrise and majestic views of the rolling uplands, endless plains and mist-covered hints of the lake. We stopped for food and drinks a couple of times along the way and also to fill up our pick-up and the St. Andrew’s School minibus, driven by the cheerful Wilfrid.
The plane, a regional connection from Nairobi, was inevitably late but only by an hour or so and we were soon joined by a big crowd of noisy youngsters in blue polo-shirts and accompanied by three teachers. The only one who’d been at the school when I was there was Sally Ellis, who I instantly recognised (although like Neville, she’d needed a little help identifying me). I was particularly keen to meet up with her as my mother had asked her to try and bring my camping kit out for the final leg of my trip…and I was overjoyed to discover that she’d been able to bring everything I’d asked for.
Neville jumped on the bus with the Ashville crowd and I took the wheel of the Hilux and spent an enjoyable four hours following the bus back to Blantyre, soaking up the scenery in the fading, golden light and chatting to the two girls.
Back at Open Arms, Bronnie, John and James (Neville’s talented and friendly cook) had laid on an absolute banquet from the barbeque. Succulent steak, golden chicken, sizzling sausages and ice-cold beer (and some funny looking green stuff in bowls that I thought might be for the rabbits) were much appreciated after a long day on the road and I was able to talk to some of the students from my alma mater. Initially, we laid into the teaching staff that we knew and disliked – always a good ice-breaker – and then moved on to the form of the school rugby team and their thoughts on the current trip. Much as when we’d just landed 12 years ago, I think many of them found the whole thing a little unreal and I’m sure they were all still very tired after their journey.
We dropped them off at the St. Andrew’s boarding house (the same place we’d stayed in with it’s navel-high showers, tiny toilets and pygmy beds) and left them to catch up on sleep after their journey. It felt very satisfying to complete the circle and meet some of the kids who were following in the footsteps of our first trip so long ago. It was amusing to think that most of them wouldn’t even have been old enough to join Ashville’s Junior School at the time I was first in Malawi with Neville. I knew they were in for a real treat at the Home in the morning and went to bed as soon as I got back in order to be up in plenty of time to witness their welcome to Open Arms.