We all woke up feeling fresh after having an extra hour in bed. We had mass at eight in the morning which compared to the usual time of six was a treat. Everyone was really upset knowing it was one of our last Mass. The songs were really moving and everyone was sad, as we all grew really close with the boys, then we had a quick breakfast and the boys were all given traditional blue Malawian shirts and then we all were allowed to hop on the back of father Edmond’s truck and go to another Mass that was in the village. Sitting on the back of the truck was so fun and we sang all the Scottish and Malawian songs we had grown to love so much throughout our time in Malawi. When we all arrived at the Mass we sat at the front and the Mass began. The Mass was in Chitumbuka so none of us understood what was being said but we enjoyed it none the less. Everyone in the Mass was so welcoming and was so quick to stop and talk to us all and desperate to get to know about us. After the Mass had ended we went and had lunch with the priests.

We went back onto the truck and arrived at a traditional village in Rhumpi. In this village we were shown a very welcoming entrance with lots of cultural dancing. The houses were similar to mud huts, they were very different from ours, but kept the heat out well, the people who owned the mud huts had animals outside such as chickens, pigs and dogs with small cute pups running around the paths. We took time to reflect on the way that other people live because the conditions contrasted with ours a lot, with large smiles on their faces and a welcoming, friendly spirit while lacking necessities we take for granted, such as fully built walls in our houses. After we had been shown the houses we threw sweets off the truck for the children as we left, however they raided the truck and climbed up trying to take Olives sweets away, which we found quite jarring but laughed about after.

We rushed back to the house and were greeted with a party of people to celebrate our time in Malawi. We were served food which we rapidly ate in order to spend more time with our new friends. Lots of tears were shed as we danced and sang with the boys, giving out contact details and the girls giving out heartfelt letters with friendship bracelets. We did this in hope that we would meet again as we all sat down chatting reminiscing about all the new bonds and memories created at St. Patrick’s Seminar.

By Ben Sheridan