Melania Trump, on the second stop of a five-day goodwill tour of Africa, visited a school in Malawi, where the young children sang that they were so happy to see her.
The US first lady landed in the capital, Lilongwe, on Thursday morning after a six-hour flight from Ghana. She is focusing the trip on her interest in child welfare.
She received a joyous welcome upon her arrival at Kamuzu International Airport, with singing and dancing by a troupe of women and scores of schoolchildren waving African and Malawian flags.
Mrs Trump went directly to Chipala Primary School in Lilongwe. The school receives education aid from the US Agency for International Development.
(File,AFP)
Malawi has received a total of 9.6 million textbooks in the past few years through a US-funded national reading program.
Mrs Trump toured several classrooms in the equivalent of second and third grade and watched teachers carry out lessons to help the young students learn English and the Chichewa language.
(File,AFP)
All the classrooms were outdoors, with the young students sitting shoulder to shoulder in rows on the loose red dirt in their blue uniforms, girls in dresses with red collars and boys in collared shirts and short pants.
The students welcomed Mrs Trump to the school with song: "We are happy today to see you. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome all of you. We are happy today. We are happy to see you."
(File, AFP)
Mrs Trump planned to visit the State House to meet over tea with Malawi's first lady, Gertrude Mutharika. The first ladies were expected to walk through the gardens and watch a traditional dance performance.
Mrs Trump opened her first extended solo international trip on Tuesday in Ghana. The remaining stops on her tour are Kenya and Egypt.
* Sign up to News24's top Africa news in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TO THE HELLO AFRICA NEWSLETTER