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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. |
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| The first
double classroom block
under construction |
The first
three bedroomed
teacher’s house |
Inside
the first classroom |
We keep
accurate stores records to try and eliminate walking cement bags! |
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| The water
ladies have to carry all of
the water over 1km to Kapanda |
Mixing
up cement for the floor slab |
Daniel,
one of the builders |
We are
making our own desks on site |
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We
still need lots of help with funds as we want to continue with
the buiding uninterrupted. As soon as the school is open, there
will be tremendous pressure to open the other classrooms. We are
so grateful to all our donors who have been involved with all
sorts of activities to raise money for this project, and we hope
you are pleased with the initial results.
Here is a list of what we still need to raise for 2008:
2 × double classroom blocks @ £13,000 each = £26,000
1 × teacher’s house @ £11,700 each = £11,700
4 × double toilets @ £ 2,000 each = £ 8,000
Cost of building materials continue to rise (1 bag of
cement now costs £8.50).
We still need help to make 200 desks at a cost of £20 each,
and any contribution towards books a full set of textbooks for
a student is £80.
If you want to raise funds online for a marathon or any other
event, you can easily set up your own fundraising page on the
Justgiving
website. |
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New
Temporary Classroom at Kachere Primary School
You may remember that, in
the last newsletter, we highlighted the chronically delapidated temporary
double classroom at Kachere Primary school which was on the verge
of collapsing. RIPPLE Africa provided the equivalent of £300
to Mr Gondwe, the headmaster, who organised the construction of a
new temporary double classroom shown below. He was rightly very proud
of the workmanship and the speed of erection.
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There are
blackboards on either side of the
brick wall between the classrooms |
The classrooms
are light and airy and
filled with happy children |
Local materials
provided a simple,
cost effective solution |
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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. |
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Richard
and Dollah, the new trainee teachers at Mazembe Primary School |
Flemings
outside his classroom at
Matete Primary School |
You can’t
believe how happy the teachers were to be included in the trainee
teacher programme |
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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. |
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Alex and
Nicky with some
of the prototypes |
It just
shows what can be done with
a little imagination! |
Children
at Kachere nursery school |
This playing
is hard work! |
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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. |
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The community
moulded and
fired the bricks |
The motivated building
team |
Laying the floor
slab |
Justin laying the
bricks |
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Ruben, Andrew, and
Justin,
the senior builders |
The children who
were always keen
to see progress |
This is the new Mazembe
nursery school after just four weeks |
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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. |
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Watering the lemon
trees at
Chihame Primary School |
Matete Primary School
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Motrick Mwale and
members of
the Wildlife Club at Chihame
Primary School |
Children are often
responsible for starting bush fires |
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Company
Registration No. 04823686 •
UK Registered Charity No. 1103256 |
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