February 2008

EDUCATION

Progress at Kapanda Community Day Secondary School
Work has been going well at Kapanda, and the first double classroom block, the first teacher’s house, and two double toilets are complete. As with all our projects, we are continually learning, and the next buildings should be quicker to erect. We have experienced supplies problems and varying qualities of bricks, but these problems have been addressed and we are now keeping larger stocks of materials in one of the classrooms. The building teams have been very committed and everyone has worked hard. The water ladies have had to carry water over 1km on their heads as we have been waiting for the borehole to be drilled. Our carpenters have made the desks, and the school is now ready to open.

New Trainee Teachers
The government is always short of money, and there is a major problem in many schools due to shortages of teachers. RIPPLE Africa’s successful programe of supplying and paying additional trainee teachers is proving to be a tremendous success locally. We now pay the salaries of 12 trainee teachers at local primary schools. Richard and Dollah at Mazembe Primary School and Flemings at Matete Primary School have just joined the programme. They have been very patient and have worked for nothing over the last two years.

Toys Now Made Locally for the Nursery Schools
Nicky, one of our dedicated volunteers who had been spending a lot of her time working in the nursery schools, decided that they needed more toys. She then designed a range of toys with Alex, a local wood carver, that could be made locally. A range of toys was made, and each of the five nurseries that RIPPLE Africa supports will be receiving these. The beauty of this project is that it is providing local employment, and the toys will be maintained and repaired locally too. They cost £100 to make and maintain, and we need money to pay for more sets.

Mazembe Nursery School Has Now Been Completed
In the summer of 2007, the community at Mazembe moulded the bricks, then fired them in the kiln in September, and building work started in November. The team, lead by Andrew and Justin, worked on a contract basis. It was really exciting to see the daily progress and everything ran like clockwork. There was a really happy atmosphere, and it was always a pleasure to meet the team. This was a perfect project which was fully funded by Driven Worldwide, and we would love to make more of these sort of projects happen in the future. We left Malawi just before the nursery school opened, but it is now up and running, and the community at Mazembe will be forever grateful.

Primary Schools Are Encouraged to Start Tree Nurseries
We are trying to encourage all members of the communities to become involved with our tree planting project. We now have a number of school tree nurseries. We went to visit Chihame Primary School in Chintheche, about 25 kms north of RIPPLE Africa’s base at Mwaya Beach, and were pleased to see that Motrick Mwale, the headmaster, had encouraged the school’s wildlife club to establish a very organised tree nursery with 1,710 tree seedlings. The pupils then sang and acted stories about deforestation and tree planting. It was wonderful to see the effect this initiative is having on the children.

Bush burning is a serious problem in rural areas and children are often the ones who start the fires. If they can appreciate how valuable the trees and grasses are, we will hopefully be able to reduce this destructive practice. It will be an uphill battle because the practice is so ingrained in the African culture, and they often say that they do it because they always have done.