Malawi crisis mission for Forres teacher

A retired Forres teacher has spoken of the heart-warming highs and despairing lows she encountered on a community response mission after flash floods lashed and ravaged parts of Malawi.

Elizabeth Stewart has fostered links with the country since 2008 through Forres Academy’s involvement and support for a school in the country called Luchenza CDSS. The Forres Luchenza Action Group (Flag) has raised thousands of pounds over the years to create classrooms, known as the Forres Academy Block, and an eight-acre garden at the school.

Elizabeth flew out to the country at the end of March after flooding caused widespread devastation. After this latest disaster in a country already deemed the fourth poorest nation on earth, she recounted after her return on Friday: "I saw crisis on a grand scale - and had to go."

Throughout her three weeks there, Elizabeth was relieved to discover the school and garden had escaped major damage. Repairs to the ridge of the roof are being organised. The garden has been left "a bit of a mess" and £200 of funding has been allocated to help fix it up and buy new seeds.

But far worse was to be found off the beaten track, about 20km from a school named Manadidi in the tea-growing district Mulanje, in the south. Elizabeth had been told of desperate families sheltering in the school buildings there - and roads to the area had been washed away.

A determined Elizabeth battled to reach Manadidi on a borrowed motorbike, accompanied by local primary school teacher Emmanuel Kapungwa, who she regards as an "adopted son".

There at Manadidi, Elizabeth was met with a hugely upsetting scene of families on the edge of survival. Around 220 families were left scavenging for food, sheltering in the school, which has a roll of about 2000.

Elizabeth and Emmanuel got on the motorbike and bought maize and soya supplies for the stricken villagers. They single-handedly bought and transported enough aid to keep the families going for a week, and alerted charities such as Oxfam and Concern to the scene. Elizabeth said they were "hugged and hugged" by grateful inhabitants.

Elizabeth later intervened to help a 10-month-old twin girl, Kareen, a baby with under-developed lungs who had pneumonia and had was struggling to breathe. Her parents had no way of paying hospital bills and tropical storms were making matters worse. She battled through the mud with Kareen to the Mulange Mission Hospital and paid the £24 required to save the tot's life. There the child was put on a nebulizer and given antibiotics. Elizabeth helped to educate villagers on ways to up vitamin intake, with many heavily reliant on grains and lacking in knowledge of the value of available greens. Malnutrition and HIV are commonplace.

But Elizabeth was heartened by progress in an education scheme which allows children in rural Malawian schools to learn English and broaden their prospects in life. Children's books collected through Books Abroad, a charity based in Rhynie, are distributed through a basic mobile library service. Women villagers deliver boxes of books to rural schools using an old red Post Office bike, and rotate these regularly. And a women's group is making a practical difference by sewing school uniforms and reuseable sanitary protection for young girls.

Elizabeth was delighted to see more self-sufficiency on this front, as communities are being equipped to look after themselves better. She said many had "lost belief in their own ability to sort themselves out, many were hungry and despondent". This, she said, was the biggest and most hopeful change. She added: "I suppose that's what I dreamt would happen but never thought it would."

Traditional beaded items made by a women's group in Malawi are being sold via the Friends of Luchenza Action Group (FLAG) Facebook page and local car boot sales to raise more funds.