“My clean school, My pride”.
The HOS, Mr. Mushaninga accompanied by Miss Nkhata and four Mount Sinai students embarked on a journey to Zomba on the 10th of May 2018 to attend the Beautify Malawi awards ceremony. Mount Sinai was a proud recipient of an award in the Beautify Malawi competition initiated by the First Lady, Her Excellency Professor Gertrude Mutharika. Mount Sinai received a certificate of excellence emerging Number 1 in the Lilongwe Chimutu zone. In addition to the certificate Mount Sinai also obtained various prizes including a wheel barrow, watering cane, rake, slashers, a football and a bin. These gifts captured the essence behind the Beautify Malawi initiative.
The event was indeed colorful and unique in its nature with numerous schools in attendance across the country. The function allowed the entire group of participants to learn about the importance of the beautify Malawi movement calling for increased access to participatory and improved sanitation and community management of waste in Malawi. Marvelous performances were done in line with the theme “My clean school, My pride”.
The itinerary provided a good mixture of education and leisure for students as they were able to learn through dramatization, poems, song and dance. The trip was indeed enjoyed by the team from Mount Sinai who were exposed to the dynamics of both government and private schools around Malawi and enhanced their appreciation in embracing diversity with a spirit of unity as education has the same mission for students. It also reinforced their gratitude of their presence at Mount Sinai and recognize the importance of healthy competition. Mount Sinai students were therefore motivated by challenging themselves to put their maximum effort in all spheres of their endeavors. This competition also made the students to learn valuable interpersonal skills. Here students learnt to let others have their turn, see things from other’s perspective and build a strong character in spite of failure. This will help them succeed socially and academically in school.
The students learnt that to take care of our bodies we bath, eat, exercise and make sure we get enough sleep. That is our internal environment. The environment that surrounds us externally-the air soil, water and ecosystems –is equally important for our health and the health and wellbeing of others.
The First lady in her speech emphasized that everyone from government to individuals of all ages and abilities, can play an important role as stewards of the environment. She was overwhelmed by the response the movement has gotten as she was fortunate to have many dedicated young volunteers who have made a big difference in protecting and enhancing the environment.
The trip was complimented with luxurious accommodation at Annie’s Lodge which was a great pleasure enjoyed by the team.
The students managed to discuss openly how best they would improve Mount Sinai in terms of discipline within the school as well as cleanliness. They acknowledge that students were to champion these initiatives of cleanliness around the school than just leaving it to ground staff. Students even suggested introducing fines on culprits of littering to deter perpetual littering.