Six Malawians, drawn from across three government departments, were welcomed to a reception at the Irish Embassy in August after being awarded Irish Aid Fellowships for 2010-11.

The Irish Ambassador to Malawi, Liam Mac Gabhann, congratulated the six, who were chosen from an initial 35 applicants. They will follow in the footsteps of six awardees who became Malawi’s first group of Irish Aid fellows in 2009-10.

Ambassador Mac Gabhann said that the fellowships formed part of Ireland’s commitment to help develop the country’s institutional capacity and urged the awardees to use the skills they would gain to help take Malawi forward.

Four of the fellows - Sabstone Unyolo, Rex Baluwa and Jean Sauti Phiri from the Ministry of Agriculture, along with Linney Kachama from the Office of the President and Cabinet (Department of Nutrition) - are now studying Masters programmes in their respective areas at University College Dublin (UCD).

Twapashagha Twea, from the Ministry of Development Planning and Cooperation, is attending University College Cork to study for a Masters in Social Policy, and Ethel Luhanga from the OPC (Department of Nutrition) is studying Nutrition Science in-region at the Malawi’s Bunda College of Agriculture.

Interviewed by Malawi’s Daily Times, both Ethel and Rex expressed gratitude to the Irish government for the scholarships, which they said would enhance their skills to work better in their respective departments.