2013-2014 EDUCATIONAL VISIT TO MANGOCHI – MONKEY-BAY (FISHERIES AND SHIPPING COMPANY). SUBMISSION DATE: 26th AUGUST 2013. What Ekari foundation is doing is like restoring the good old times of His Excellency Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s thirty one years of rule in Malawi when he used to encourage schools to make educational visits and that time education in Malawi was taken as a powerful weapon. It was so good and everyone was really enjoying to participating in these visits. This has now turned into history whereas only very few schools are practicing this. We are now proud to have Ekari foundation doing this from 2012. This year’s visit was the best ever as compared to the one we had last year. It was on 20th August, two days before the trip when all beneficiaries left their homes and gathered at the Director’s home just to show their interest on the trip and to make sure that everyone doesn’t miss it. The gathering made the Director’s house to be full beyond its capacity but we managed to sleep for five more days in order to attend the Health Education program and the Mass which was conducted on the following sunday. It was a good get together and we really enjoyed because this was time when holiday tutoring was in progress. A day before the trip we were so happy to see a 32 seater bus and a minibus arriving at the Director’s home and this was really an indication to show that the trip will be successful. On the following morning the 22nd of august everyone woke up at 3:00am and start making preparations. At 4:30am we started our journey with a good song which said byee to Marie and Tijs and the entire people in Phalombe. Everyone sung songs throughout the way and it was very interesting on our way to discover Shire River and its hippos, Lake Malombe, Radio Maria Malawi, Mangochi Bakili Muluzi Shire Bridge, Madelco Fisheries, Nkopola Lodge, Sun & Sand Hotel and finally Monkey-bay with its good and nice water in the Lake Malawi. We arrived in Monkey-bay at five minutes to nine in the morning and interestingly none of us got tired with the distance we travelled. At 9:00am we had a breakfast which comprised the soft drinks, fried groundnuts and some bread, thereafter we visited the Fisheries department where we appreciated how fishing ships operate while in the lake. One of the officers working in this ship explained that the ship do all the processes of fishing itself through the operators. The ship has bed rooms, engine room, operation room and the room where all the fish caught are put in. After visiting the ship we visited the Museum where we saw various species of fish like the Otter fish, Electric fish, Chambo fish, Python snake and other animals like Hippo’s bones found in Lake Malawi and kept in the museum for the historical concept. We visited the laboratory to understand how the fish is detected from its age through the microscope by measuring the two fine sand which is found in the gills of the fish. Students were eager to be at this place and had several questions to ask in relation to the educational syllabus and all were answered. All the fish and snakes in the museum were in glass bottle jars full of liquid alcoholic chemicals to prevent them from contaminating. At lunch hour everyone got hungry and the Director took us to Yankho restaurant where all the meals were prepared. There we ate delicious food like Nsima and Rice with Chambo fish and others with chicken and not forgetting vegetables in all servings. Just soon after lunch we visited the shipping company to see the different types of shipping vessels found in Lake Malawi. We spent a lot of time here because there were a lot of ships like the Illalla, Chancy Maples, Mtendere, Ufulu, Karonga with different functions. Ekari beneficiaries were very much interested to learn more about these because they are in the educational syllabus of Malawi. Illalla was mostly liked because it looked different to others and beside this it had different functions other than others. Illalla is a very big ship and most interesting because it has everything that a person needs like offices, bedrooms, saloons or kitchens, bars, toilets and other work places. It is different to Ufulu which only carries oil and other cargo. The Illalla is 52 metres long and it carries 460 people, goods like fish and other. It uses 1800 litres of fuel to travel from Monkey-bay to Karonga district and it spends three days to get there. Its travelling speed is 16km per hour. The ship has three classes which are third class very cheap, second class affordable and standard and first class very expensive. Though the ship is big enough but it doesn’t sink because it has a vacuum which has a volume that balances with the weight of the ship. Automatic life lift is also found in this ship, it has two bottles of gas inside and when a ship sinks it spread itself like a tent and people are rescued because they is already medicine and food sometimes. In time of accident life jackets are used and signal lights that helps a person that falls in water. The trip was historical because our naked eyes were able to see important places that we only read in books or hear other people talking about them but never dreamt to physically see them. This is something we shall never forget and it has made history to every beneficiary of Ekari foundation. We would like to thank the sponsors for this program for making this trip a success. The level of our education has gone up and our literacy levels have gone up. It is our request that the next trip should be a trip which we can spend a night in order to make more discoveries. This is really helping us because through these visits we are able to understand more which is directly related to our educational syllabus in Malawi. Regarding the Monkey-bay trip, it was good though everyone felt that time was too short because we did not manage to visit Cape-Maclear and even other interesting places in Monkey-bay. We finally arrived in Phalombe at 20:30pm and upon arrival there was dancing and dancing celebrating that we had a safe journey. We greatly appreciate the organizers of the trip and it’s our prayers that God should richly bless them. Thank you all that contributed to the success of this trip!!! Patricia Chimwaza – Natural Resources College Patricia Chimphepo – Providence Rhoda Douglas – Stella Maris Flora Manyungwa – Transition student Monica Mabuwa – Stella Maris .