The youngsters from the youth club based at Blairtummock House in Easterhouse, left Glasgow to fly out to the city of Lilongwe, in Milawi.
Over the past year they have raised £30,000 to fund the 16-day trip to help repair a school for nursery kids.
The 11-strong group of 14 to 18-year-olds has taken stencils to paint artwork on the walls, as well as notepads, pens and other educational equipment and 200 pairs of trousers donated by a company in Queenslie for the children.
They hope to teach the children about hygiene as well as helping to build a toilet block and whitewash and decorate the school.
Jamie Shields, a community learning worker who is accompanying the group, said: "They have been fundraising for over a year and we have been meeting with speakers from different charities, like Mary's Meals and other groups that have been to Malawi.
"Every week we have had someone coming and helping us learn about life over there.
"The youngsters have learnt commitment.
"It has been a long haul and through it all they have got a lot fitter and they understand how different life will be down there.
"This will be a life changing experience for them, I have no doubt about that."
The group did bag packing at local supermarkets, a 25-mile sponsored cycle from Glasgow to Loch Lomond and held a Flumeathon – non-stop sliding down the flume at Easterhouse Pool – as well as other activities to raise cash.
Wearing pedometers and cycling at Easterhouse gym, they aimed to cover 5300 miles – the distance from Glasgow to Malawi – and ended up completing 2000 miles before their departure.
Courtney Lafferty, 15, from Garthamlock, said she was excited about her African adventure.
She said: "I am nervous about what I am going to see, it is nothing I have seen before.
"We have everything and they have nothing and we take it all for granted.
"I think it is going to be life changing, but I think it is going to be so different from anything I have ever seen, I don't know how to prepare myself mentally.
"I can't wait to see people on the same planet, but on a different side, and how they live."
Lyndsey McBride, from Easterhouse, said she was proud that the group had raised the cash for the trip.
She added: "It has been really hard because it was such a big target.
"But we have done a 'flumeathon' and nights out to try and raise the money."
The 15-year-old, St Andrew's Secondary School pupil, said: "I am sure the people there will be very welcoming but I know they have hardly got anything, so it will be different.
"I think it will make me a whole different person when I have seen the way other people live – it will be really different from the way we live."
matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk
