The Malawi Youth Encounter marks the “International Year of the Child” and will give the young people, who come from across Birmingham an understanding of culture, and life for children and young people in Malawi through a hands-on programme that includes tea picking, fishing and life in an urban environment.

They will begin their visit by staying at Zoa Tea Estate in southern Malawi. While there they will work alongside local workers: picking tea and coffee, drying fruit, fishing for Chambo and visiting the clinic and training centre. Most afternoons will be spent in Mwaya, a village on the Estate, where they will meet and interact with children and young people through games and craft activities.

In their second week they will travel to Blantyre, Malawi’s second city, where they will meet and talk to Christian young people from around the Southern Diocese. Through conversations and interaction young people from Birmingham Diocese will be able to compare their involvement in church life and future leadership with that of their peers in Malawi.

The experience will finish with a visit to Lake Malawi and Liwonde National Park They young people have all raised £1,000 to go on the trip and are very excited about the project. They travel to Malawi from July 24th. Initiatives included to raise the fund range from a formal dinner in a Birmingham hotel to head shaves, bike rides, cake sales, bell ringing peals and quiz nights.

The trip will be launched on Thursday July 16th at Birmingham Cathedral from 4.30pm to 5.45. The young people will have Chichewa lesson from the Acting Dean of the Cathedral, Peter Howell-Jones and learn to tie a chitende - the Traditional cloth worn in Malawi. They will have a final briefing about the trip and commissioning from the Acting Dean. There will be a chance to talk to the young people as well as the Bishops Adviser for Youth Ministry, Helen Tomblin, who has organised the trip.