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For a portion of March, the team at Kaya Mawa had an amazing opportunity to host four extremely talented craftsmen from the Netherlands who came to the island to help train and hone their staffs’ skills over a range of areas. They had Didi who is an all-rounder/painter, David, another all rounder who helped train the staff’s general plumbing skills with installing a new top feeding outlet for one of their rooms – an excellent team effort combining David’s know-how and the staff’s eagerness to learn! They also hosted Koos, an expert carpenter who collaborated with the lodge’s carpenters on new and creative ways to create beautifully handmade doors and windows for the rooms. Lastly, they had the plaster and concrete magician, Jamie. Jamie and his Kaya team successfully tested out a few different ways to redo the floors in the rooms, trying new methods to try and reduce the amount of concrete and other materials used to further “greenify” rooms.

It was not all work though! The Dutch Craftsmen had the opportunity to partake in a few Kaya Mawa activities, as well as some personal community activities. Koos, an avid scuba diver, had the chance to go and check out some of Lake Malawi’s most amazing dive spots, spotting the hundreds of species of endemic cichlids – a beautiful range of freshwater fish that vary in colors from red to blue to yellow. On a few afternoons, Team Netherlands tried their hands at wakeboarding – another fun Kaya activity! They were able to visit Likoma Island’s historic St. Peters Cathedral for a service, and even catch a local football game!

At the end of their 10 days on the island, the team at Kaya Mawa achieved a number of things – not only physically, like painting rooms and fixing swimming pools, but a trade of skills from modern to basic. They found a happy medium that will give Kaya the rustic charm it is known for whilst also improving its carbon footprint and greenification of the island. The Dutch Team came away from this experience with a spirit of Likoma, a certain togetherness that is such a rare find.