Pupils and staff from a school near Bury St Edmunds have changed the lives of children in Malawi during 10 years of expeditions to the African country.

East Anglian Daily Times: Students fundraised for the project in Malawi Picture: CULFORD SCHOOLStudents fundraised for the project in Malawi Picture: CULFORD SCHOOL (Image: Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.)

Pupils from Culford School helped complete the build of a library at Nankhufi School during their visit after fundraising more than £12,000 for the project.

The project at Nankhufi began in 2009 when the school consisted of just two shacks and a handful of pupils.

The school now boasts a sizeable community with five classroom blocks, toilets, a porridge kitchen, a local market store and – thanks to the work of Culford pupils – a library.

Andy Deane, project leader and head of modern languages at Culford School, said: “Having seen the progress in helping to build this school from scratch it is an absolute joy to see the 150 young children attending regularly and loving their learning experience – and having a mug of porridge begin each school day. The Culford students were amazing from start to finish on the trip.”

East Anglian Daily Times: Culford School students in Malawi Picture: CULFORD SCHOOLCulford School students in Malawi Picture: CULFORD SCHOOL (Image: Archant)

As well as completing the library build, pupils taught a series of PSHCE classes to 160 teenagers at Nankombe School, in the rural Shire Valley district of southern Malawi.

Culford lower sixth pupils also assisted in a reforestation project organised at their project base, Fisherman’s Rest.

They fixed a borehole and visited their link orphanage in the Bangula district.

After giving blood, the group were invited to share their experiences live on Malawi TV – which proved to be a memorable experience for the entire team.

East Anglian Daily Times: Students also taught lessons at the school Picture: CULFORD SCHOOLStudents also taught lessons at the school Picture: CULFORD SCHOOL (Image: Archant)

East Anglian Daily Times: Students also taught lessons at the school Picture: CULFORD SCHOOLStudents also taught lessons at the school Picture: CULFORD SCHOOL (Image: Archant)