The visit is the latest in a series of links between the school and the African country, aimed at strengthening the bond between Glasgow and the Lilongwe area of Malawi as well as helping promising young Malawian athletes to reach their full potential.

Last summer the Lord Provost Office shipped out another container of essential medical and building supplies to Malawi. The Glasgow School of Sport managed to squeeze in much needed athletics equipment to kick start an athletics scholarship programme in the Lilongwe region of the country.

This equipment was distributed to schools, with resources for teachers to encourage pupils to get involved in athletics and to prepare them for athletics competitions later in the year.

Glasgow School of Sport athletics coach Norrie Hay and senior sports pupil Callum Nichol then organised a series of competitions in Malawi from which they selected six pupils to come on a two-week athletics scholarship to the Glasgow School of Sport.

Three boys (Neol Lipenga, Lameck Nylrenda and Edward Ohunga) and three girls (Myayi Phalazi, Mariam Salimu and Lenie Sindani) were chosen to come to Glasgow.

The six, who are all 14 and will be accompanied by two Malawian teachers, arrived in Glasgow on March 22 and leave again on April 5, 2008.

They will participate in school lessons at Bellahouston Academy as well as all Glasgow School of Sport athletics training sessions.

Bailie Gordon Matheson, the Council's Executive Member for Education Services and Social Renewal, said:
“This is a wonderful partnership between Glasgow School of Sport and schools in the Lilongwe area, all of whom are devoting themselves to developing the sporting champions of tomorrow.

“I am delighted that the young people from Africa are coming to our flagship School of Sport. It’s a great opportunity for them to see first hand Scotland’s foremost centre of sporting excellence for young people.
“However, I’m sure the Glasgow pupils who are lucky enough to be involved in the visit - whether as hosts, training partners or temporary classmates -  will get every bit as much out of the experience as the Malawians.

“And who knows - this might not be the last time the young people meet. What more motivation will they all need to persevere at their chosen sports than the possibility of competing for Scotland or Malawi at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014?”

For most of their stay, the group will be accommodated in a flat at a youth hostel in Glasgow. However, for three nights the Malawians will experience home life by staying with families of Glasgow School of Sport pupils.

A social and cultural programme has also been organised to show off Glasgow  and the local way of life.

This includes a Civic Reception at the City Chambers, an open top bus tour, a visit to the World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh in which two of their fellow countrymen are participating, a visit to Edinburgh Castle, a day in Millport, a trip to the Glasgow Science Centre and sledging at Xscape at Braehead - as well as the use of all Culture and Sport Glasgow’s leisure facilities.

Bellahouston Academy head teacher Ian Anderson said: “This is a fantastic project for us to be involved with.

“I am extremely proud of achievements of everyone involved with the Glasgow School of Sport, and am very excited by the outward-looking, international approach being adopted by all those associated with it.

“This partnership is fully in tune with the best traditions of both Glasgow and Scotland and, once again, testifies to Glasgow School of Sport's status as the country's original and best model of school-based sporting excellence. We very much look forward to welcoming our guests from Malawi.”

The project received a funding award from the Scottish Government International Development Fund and is coordinated in Malawi by the British Council.

School of Sport Director Angela Porter is also delighted by the success of this project.

"When I visited Malawi I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and passion for sport that the pupils exuded despite a lack of proper equipment and resources,” she said.

“Meeting with pupils and their teachers and listening to what they needed, allowed a project to be created which would let them do things for themselves - long after we'd gone!

“We've all learned from this, and we're all winners before the games have even started." 

To learn more about the Glasgow School of Sport, click here

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