Bristol teachers on mission to Mozambique

Teachers from Clifton High School have returned from Mozambique after a trip to help children in one of Bristol's twin cities.

The four primary school teachers and two nursery nurses visited the First of May Infant School in Beira to strengthen a link between the schools in Bristol and the city in the south-east African nation.

It was a return trip for some, as in 2007 three of the teachers went to the same city on an exchange.

Beth Osborne, Philippa Cook, Julia Sutcliffe, Linda Mitchell, Mandy Clancy and Mandy Godshaw financed the trip themselves, raising money to pay for their travel and to buy resources for the school. Beth, who was one of the Foundation Stage teachers who went in 2007, said: "We loved it so much last time that we wanted to keep the continuity going and make a return trip.

"It was good to be able to see how the money we gave them last year had been used. The school had spent money on waterproof mattress covers as all the children sleep for two hours every lunchtime

"New tables and chairs for the dining room had also been commissioned by the school and we were able to visit the carpenter at his workshop."

The women helped out at the school and donated materials such as song sacks containing props and dual language words to traditional and popular rhymes and action songs.

They also donated recorders, which they used to give a concert of traditional British music, including London's Burning.

The women were given lessons in the art of Africa drumming and dance, and also had a cooking lesson in the home of a local family.

Philippa said: "We were privileged to be invited into a Mozambican home to watch a traditional meal being prepared, chicken curry, rice and a bean dish. We saw fresh coconut ground and made into coconut milk of different strengths. Everything was done in a fifth floor dwelling without running water."

She added: "We enjoyed visiting lots of local food markets. Fruits and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples were displayed in neat little piles. Sacks of rice and beans and garlic and stacks of freshly chopped sugar beet were for sale."

The teachers now hope to extend their food activities back in Bristol to include a greater variety of cooking from other cultures.

They brought back several Mozambique resources to Clifton High School.

They are now applying for a grant so that the staff from the school can come to Bristol.