24 students and four staff members travelled to Malawi for three weeks at the start of the summer holidays, carrying out a variety of charitable work.
For the first few days, the team were based in Blantyre and spent time with the babies at Open Arms, also helping to dig a pit for an eco-toilet.
The group then spent two days in Mvuu Game Park before travelling to Chankasi School on the shores of Lake Malawi. Kingswood has been associated with since 2008, with them paying the salary of the Standard 8 teacher. Pupils were involved in brick lining a toilet put, building a ramp, lime washing and painting blackboards.
From here, they travelled to Mangochi where the students then divided into two teams – one was in charge of painting murals on the dormitory walls and the other group helped to build a feeding station in a nearby village. This involved sieving sand, making cement and bricks, and moving rubble to fill in holes. They also had two days camping on Domwe Island and enjoyed kayaking and snorkelling in the lake.
Mrs Opie has praised the students for being excellent ambassadors for Kingswood and also thanked the Kingswood community, who have helped raise over £50,000 for charity projects in Malawi since September 2016.