Alle updates van Bettina

In Chigumba hebben ze het breed aangepakt

De gemeenschap blijft met een goed gevoel terug kijken op het project en is heel erg blij met de gerealiseerde school. Door slim inkopen te doen zijn er ook nog verbeteringen bij de kerk aangebracht die door de weeks dienst doet als klaslokaal. De geplante bomen beginnen voorzichtig te groeien en de meeste zijn nog in leven. Al met al kijkt de gemeenschap er enorm naar uit om in de toekomst alsnog een groep Nederlands te ontvangen.

Even wat anders vanuit Chigumba

Met hulp van EO Metterdaad gaan we in de komende twee jaar 15.000 bomen planten in Malawi. Onze partner is goed op weg en dit keer werden bomen gepland in Chigumba. In totaal zullen er zo'n 1200 bomen in Chigumba worden gepland, 1000 'gewone' bomen en 200 fruitbomen.

Zoals je ziet zijn het, naast de gemeenschap, ook veel leerlingen die helpen bij het planten van de bomen, dat is bewust. Door hen te betrekken bij het planten van de bomen en ook het onderhoud wat hierna volgt is de kans groter dat de bomen het ook daadwerkelijk gaan overleven. Daarnaast worden de kinderen zo al vroeg bewust gemaakt van het belang van bomen voor hun omgeving. Zo zorgen de bomen voor minder erosie in de grond, geven ze schaduw, beschermen ze de school voor de harde wind en ook niet onbelangrijk, ze nemen CO2 op uit de lucht en zijn daardoor goed voor het klimaat. Om het laatste te bereiken moet de bomen natuurlijk wel goed onderhouden worden en mogen ze ook niet gekapt worden. Daarom gaat CCAP ook in gesprek met de gemeenschap op het belang van de bomen te benadrukken.

We are waiting for the painter

A lot of work has been done at chigumba and the new school block has been occupied. the toilet and Girls changing room has also been done. The renovated teachers houses are also already done with painting as the only work remaining. The school has seen great change on infrastructure which has made teachers and learners happy.

Renovation of teachers houses taking good shape

The renovation of two teachers houses is going on well. One teachers house has been plastered inside and outside. Plastering has been done outside as well because the house could not be pointed due to poor bricks which were used during construction. The house currently has changed its shape and what is remaining so far is only painting. Glasses have been fixed and the teacher occupying the house is already happy that the house is now fit for him to dwell in it. Work on the second house is equally at an advanced stage and the house is already looking far much better than before. Once completed the house is likely going to attract a teacher. So far plastering inside has been completed and what is remaining now is pointing, painting, fixing of glasses and doors. Currently work has been stopped to give community members time to work on the fields.

Het bouwen in Chigumba gaat door!

"The CCAP Education Department with funding from World Servants will be renovating two teachers houses at Chigumba school. The teachers houses are in dilapidated state and are not conducive for teacher accommodation. The support provided is a good gesture to the community and it has brought a lot of excitement to the teachers and the community. There were some teachers who were staying far from the school but with the renovations it means more teachers will stay at the school campus. One house which has been earmarked for renovation is vacant because the teachers have been abandoning it due to its dilapidated state. When the renovations are done they will contribute to quality education through good teacher accommodation which will keep the teachers motivated since they stay in better houses."

De klaslokalen in Chigumba zijn af!

Het resultaat ziet er netjes uit, de lokalen moeten alleen nog schoongemaakt worden en ingericht. Ook heeft de gemeenschap met extra fondsen van EO Metterdaad een Girls Changing Room (GCR) kunnen bouwen. Door deze GCR kunnen meisjes die ongesteld zijn gewoon naar school.

Het dak kan er op in Chigumba

"The community of Chigumba is very motivated to work on the school block and complete it in good time. A lot of work has already been done so far and the community is tirelessly working to complete the construction so that the learners can start using the structure. The community has so far already completed working on the bricklaying work and the trusses are already on top waiting for roofing. The remaining work is currently beam filling, iron sheets and thereafter other works such as plastering, flooring, pointing, painting and drainage. The community is working very hard and is determined to complete the structure in good time."

Progress made at Chigumba on the School block

The community at Chigumba has continued to work hard on the construction and a lot of progress has been so far. The school block has reached ring beam level and the community continues to come in their large numbers to take part in the activities on the construction. The community looks very much geared to complete the structure in good time however they are very sad that the participants can’t come to work together with them. During the visit it was pleasing to see the community on the construction busy with work. So far the breeze blocks have been molded and fitted on the windows.

Chigumba is klaar om de bouw van klaslokalen te starten

"Construction materials were delivered to Chigumba on 29th April,2021 and the community had already started ferrying sand and bricks on the construction site. Some of the Quarry stones had also been delivered to the site. The community is optimistic that construction will commence soon and that they will work hard to make sure that within two months all the works will be finished. The traditional leaders have managed to mobilize their subjects and there is very good cooperation on the construction as people come whenever they are called to work at the site. "

Chigumba Community Mobilisation

The community of Chigumba was informed about the cancellation of the coming of the groups on 13th April 2021. In attendance were the Village heads, teachers and community members who expressed deep shock about the failure of the group to come and work with them. They mentioned that they have been praying for the groups to come but since covid-19 continues to be with us they have accepted that for the sake of the health of the participants it is just proper that they stay in the Netherlands. The community was however optimistic that they will try their best to construct the school block by themselves. They also promised to make sure that the quality of the building is to the best standard. Currently the community has already started ferrying bricks on site and they are also expected to come up with an action plan on how they will carry out the construction work.

Update on Covid-19 training in Chigumba

Chigumba School was one of the schools that benefited from the training on covid-19. The training targeted traditional leaders and church leaders and a total of 14 people were trained. The community leaders are expected to reach out to their subjects in the churches and the community members with the knowledge gained from the training. It is expected that 400 people will be sensitized including learners. The trainings mainly focused on the prevention measures as set out by government and also on how to handle key suspects of the covid-19. The community leaders were very thankful to World Servants (with help of EO Metterdaad) for organizing the training through CCAP. They promised to sensitize their subjects on the dangers of covid-19 and make sure that they are safe. Amongst some of the topics covered were signs and symptoms of covid-19, how it is transmitted, how to prevent it from spreading, how dangerous is covid-19 and demonstration on hand washing just to mention a few. The school was also given hand washing facilities including soap to be used by the community. The facilitators were medical personnel from health centres in the catchment area and they also registered their gratitude to World Servants for the resources which they said will help the communities in combating the spread of the virus. CCAP is thankful to World Servants for the training which has helped us to reach out to the school. Since the school is also preparing to host a group it will help in mobilizing them as they continue with the preparations.

Progress on foundation at Chigumba

Foundation for school block at chigumba is underway and the community is working hard to finish the construction in good time. The community members are very excited about the project and anxiously looking forward to hosting the team of volunteers. Despite Corona pandemic the community believes the situation will normalize and that the group will finally come to their community. The community was sensitized on measures that would help prevent the spread of corona such as social distancing, washing hands with soap regularly, avoiding handshakes and covering the mouth when coughing. The community has so far not recorded any cases of corona. The community members are Praying that the projects should take place this year because they feel this is their year for development in their community however they are aware that anything can happen to the projects due to Covid 19. The work on foundations is progressing well and the community is very cooperative.

Chigumba kijkt uit naar jullie komst!

Chigumba ligt in een mooi bergachtig gebied. Doordat wij tijdens de voorbereidingen vaak meer regen hebben dan jullie tijdens het project koste het wel veel moeite om ook weer weg te rijden uit dit prachtige dorp.

De mensen in Chigumba kijken al echt uit naar jullie komst en hebben veel zin om dingen samen te doen. We hebben ze verteld dat jullie graag samen met hun aan de slag willen met de bouw en graag van ze willen leren. Daarom zou het mooi zijn dat straks op de bouwplaats de Nederlands en Malawianen ook echt gaan mixen. Ook hebben we het erover gehad dat de culturen in Malawi en Nederland erg van elkaar verschillen en dat het mooi zou zijn om hierin meer van elkaar te ontdekken. Ter voorbereiding op de o zo belangrijke interland tussen Nederland en Malawi hebben we de dorpelingen een voetbal gegeven.

Zang en dans in Chigumba

‘Bij het bezoek aan Chigumba viel op dat het een ontzettend georganiseerde gemeenschap is die in staat is om veel gedaan te krijgen. Ze zijn zelf al volop bezig geweest om lerarenwoningen en klaslokalen te bouwen, en doen dat goed. Toch is een steuntje in de rug zeer welkom, om het laatste stapje naar zelfstandigheid te kunnen zetten. De omliggende dorpen dragen allemaal hun steentje letterlijk en figuurlijk bij.

De ontvangst in Chigumba was warm en creatief. Er werd gezongen en gedanst, maar door een aantal erg getalenteerde studenten ook een paar dramastukken opgevoerd die zonder de lokale taal te verstaan goed te volgen waren. We kregen een kip en een geit geschonken. Van de kip hebben we de volgende avond lekker genoten, de geit wordt nog een paar maanden goed voor gezorgd zodat de groep hem in augustus kan ontmoeten.’