Northern Ireland

Our trip to Malawi showed us where words can really lead

The sixth form students from Ballycastle visiting the Theatre for Change workshop
The sixth form students from Ballycastle visiting the Theatre for Change workshop The sixth form students from Ballycastle visiting the Theatre for Change workshop

Six prize-winning sixth formers have been inspired to consider careers as humanitarians after trip to Malawi.

The Cross and Passion College Ballycastle pupils saw first-hand the work of the charity Concern Worldwide.

The trip was reward for beating more than 150 other schools in the Concern School Debates. It was the first time in 26 years a school from Northern Ireland won the competition, which gives 15-18 year-olds the opportunity to debate global development issues.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world - three in every five people live on less than £1 a day. In recent years, the country has suffered several extreme climate events, as well as shorter rainy seasons.

"Some people say that debating is an art, others a sport. Our trip to Malawi helped us to see where words can really lead us," said team captain Sorcha Hughes.

"Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa - and our hearts were warmed by the stories we heard, the joy we shared and the memories we created."

The group visited projects in several rural communities where Concern is developing skills and incomes for the most vulnerable and promoting gender equality. Each time the team arrived at a new location, they were given a warm welcome.

Their first stop was in Mchinji at the Luna Care Group, where mothers and young children learn the basics of good health and nutrition. Next, was the Theatre for Change project in Lilongwe which uses interactive workshops to teach teenage girls about sexual and reproductive health.

Bronagh Scullion said her most lasting memory was meeting Bertha, chairwoman of an agricultural cooperative in Chikwama. The project promotes improved farming techniques - and already crop yields among small-hold farmers have increased which has benefitted the whole community.

"Bertha told us that change doesn't happen overnight, but that as the owners of our future, we must push ourselves forward," said Bronagh.

"She told us that experience is the best teacher. And we could see clearly that the world she wanted to build tomorrow was lived out today."