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5 May 2010 10:46:39
Two members of staff and four students from the University of Bedfordshire were stuck abroad in Africa due to the volcanic ash cloud which paralysed air travel over much of Europe.
Lecturers Mark Bowler and Paul Sammon were joined by final year trainee PE teachers Luke Taylor, Rikki Howard, Ashley Yeomans and Natasha Hale in visiting Malawi for a planned week-long trip after Easter.
Instead it was a fortnight or even longer for some as they eventually managed to get home in three separate groups.
They were all due to leave on Saturday, 17 April, and Paul was the first to leave on the following Friday to return to his pregnant wife.
Mark, Natasha and Ashley were on a later flight that same day, and their woes were compounded when the airline lost their baggage which has since been recovered. Luke and Rikki were the last to leave after the weekend on Monday, 26 April.
Mark said: “We were able to stay where we were for another couple of nights and then moved to a nearby hotel.
“We were struggling to get information and the internet was unbelievably slow out there! All the students are final year ones and worried about handing in assignments and have had to apply for extensions retrospectively.”
Leading the party was trip co-ordinator and alumni Michelle Rowe and the magnificent seven were working in partnership with Michelle’s brainchild, a non-profit organisation called Inspire Malawi, with the aim to continue to aid teacher development in physical education in that country.
They delivered a three-day teaching course to 106 local teachers who were drawn from 45 different schools.
Mark continued: “The course we delivered was superb and it was even more successful than last year. Both Paul and myself felt more comfortable and the students were all fantastic.
“The conditions are so different out there as not all the classrooms in Malawi even have electricity and some of their schools don’t even have tables and chairs, just a few benches.”
One of the students, Luke Taylor, described it as “a unique experience” and said: “It was the first opportunity for me to deliver to adults. The enthusiasm of the teachers to carry on learning was inspiring and they were all so open and receptive to our ideas.”
The University party also helped whitewash classrooms during their stay, while volunteers from the Inspire Malawi project renovated an entire school.
In total, more than 50 staff and hundreds of students from the University of Bedfordshire were left stranded overseas as a result of the events in Iceland, delaying the start of the summer term for many.
Latest news» 2010» May» Malawi party back from African adventure
