But they found the poverty of the residents had more impact on the southern African nation’s society than the natural disaster, which seriously damaged a hospital and destroyed many homes.

Thirty-one Explorer Scouts, who are all aged 16 and above, and their leaders from York Minster and Ebor districts spent three-and-a-half weeks in Malawi after an 18-month drive to raise funds for the clinic. Wendy Davis, leader of Christ Church Scouts, said the earthquake, which measured 4.5 on the Richter Scale, struck at night and had sounded “like a truck or a train going through a house”.

However, she said she was more shocked by the lack of footballs for the football-mad children of Malawi.

Instead, they used balls of plastic bags tied with strips from rubber plantations and gave some to the Scouts as presents.

She said: “The home-made balls smelled like a cow’s stomach. It was the most disgusting smell on the minibus for days,” she said.

The York and Ebor Scouts worked alongside some African counterparts to put the roof on, install electrics and paint the eye-clinic after most of the building had been constructed by Malawians.

They also painted a house built to accommodate six opticians from the UK who were to train staff and work in the clinic.

They visited a children’s ward for burns victims and gave them colouring books and toys.

The children did not know what to do with them, so the Scouts taught them how to use them.

They also went to see a school and its condition inspired them to plan future trips to the country to help rebuild it in 2011 and 2013.