OUR Celtic FC Foundation volunteers are continuing to make friends in Blantyre, Malawi as their efforts are making a genuine difference to the lives of the local children.

On Wednesday the group were joined by representatives of placement partner, Mary’s Meals, to assist with backpack distributions for the children of Chipande Primary School. The backpacks which have been donated to Mary’s Meals, are allocated to the classes in age groups and include essential items to assist the children’s learning such as pencil cases and books, as well as items of clothing and footwear.

With many classes to visit, our volunteers split into smaller groups to hand out the backpacks. Each class greeted their arrival with great joy, as they shared wonderful songs of thanks.

Before leaving Chipande Primary School, our volunteers had an opportunity to play games and share laughter with the pupils. They even sang some songs with their new friends which would normally be more familiar in the stands of Celtic Park, as the Malawian children joined in chants of ‘C’mon you Bhoys in green’ and ‘Hail Hail’.

Thursday morning saw an early start for our volunteers as they departed their accommodation at 5.30am to visit Ng’onga Primary School to witness and assist with Mary’s Meals’ feeding programme.

With almost 900 pupils, Mary’s Meals assist the school in providing the children with porridge for breakfast ahead of class and our volunteers did not hesitate to get stuck in. Once again, they were met with the warmest of welcomes and were even treated to a rendition of the Malawian national anthem, as the children gathered for assembly before class.

The group spent the remainder of the week completing the renovation work at their respective under-six centres.

Group One: Mary, Shaun, Rachel, Michael, Michelle, Joanne, Claire, Katie, Ken and Tommy were able to get creative, as they completed their work at Mpunga Under-Six centre, by adding vibrant colour to their talking walls.

It was an equally impressive transformation at Mang’omba Under-Six centre as Group Two: Lorraine, Liz, Laura, Ross, Garrett, Yvonne, Jim, Lisa, Lynn and Jim put the finishing touches to the educational artwork on the walls of their renovated classroom.

Upon completion of their projects, each group bid an emotional farewell to the staff and children of their centres, ensuring that they were left with plenty of gifts and memories of their new friends from Celtic FC Foundation – and even a crest for good measure.

Despite spending only a matter of days working within their respective centres, the experiences of our volunteers have been truly special, while the memories created will be long-lasting for not only the group but also for the children that they have encountered.

Today (Saturday) the group will enjoy their only day off while visiting Majete National Park to experience another side of Africa on a game-drive and boat safari, before looking forward to their final period in Malawi.

The coming days will see the group, as a whole, begin their final renovation project at Kachere ECD Centre, before paying a visit to a small number of Celtic FC Foundation’s 67 Kitchens.

To support the efforts of the volunteers, you can make a donation HERE