De nieuwe lerarenwoningen zijn bewoond

Endlaleni school is located in Mzimba South education district and was one of the projects for the year 2017 as approved by CCAP Education Department in conjunction with World Servants Netherlands. The school was identified because the children were learning in very temporaly shelters that were not conducive for the learners, but also there was only one grass thatched teacher house. World Servants therefore provided funding for the renovation of the existing school block which had not been roofed to cater for the accommodation of the participants. In addition, funding was provided for the construction of the two teacher houses and two toilets. The work on the construction progressed very well, such that the teacher houses were all roofed including the two toilets by the day of handover ceremony.

The working relationship was equally very good and the cooperation between the World Servants leadership team and CCAP was very good as well. The participants and the community also enjoyed the cordial working relationship which existed throughout the project. The interaction was also very good as there was alot of information sharing as well dancing and singing together. Tjitske van der Zee was the team leader of this project and she handled the participants very well and was always available for discussions each time there was need. The cooperation among the World Servants leadership team and the CCAP staff was equally amazing.

The project was initiated by CCAP Education Department through identification which involved the Manager of schools and the traditional leaders and after assessing the situation the set-up team approved for a project to take place in the area. The School Improvement Plan process was conducted as an entry point into the project. The members of the community surfaced issues in their respective social groups and among the issues that were impacting negatively on the quality of education was lack of school blocks, teachers houses, toilets, teaching and learning materials among others.

The community did the construction of the foundation of the 2 teacher houses and the holes of the 2 toilets in preparation for the coming of the participants. The group together with the community worked tirelessly on the teacher houses and toilets such that the work progressed very well to the end. By the time the handover ceremony was being conducted, the two teachers houses and the two toilets were roofed. One teacher house was also plastered halfway and beam filling done. The community and the participants had a good time together through the interactions and working together side by side. The community and participants worked together in the following areas: ferrying sand, ferrying bricks, drawing water, mixing mortar, carpentry and also bricklaying.

Accommodation was arranged in the two classrooms renovated by World Servants and also in the CCAP Church which accommodated the boys. In general accommodation was okay as compared to most schools. The meals were prepared by our chef Mr. Chrodney Manda who did a commendable job together with the local kitchen staff from the community. As a result of this, no any serious health issues were reported throughout the project and it somehow proved that when participants are given more of vegetarian dishes it helps to keep them healthy throughout the project. Another emphasis was on hygiene on the part of the people who helped in the preparation of meals for the participants.

The children’s work program was very exciting, both for the children and the participants. Life skills program did not yield the expected results due to miscommunication in the community, as the girls and boys only turned up on the first day and failed to show up on the other days. The other challenge was that the translators failed to handle the program, as the responses to the posed questions did not reflect the questions asked.

The cultural program was equally a success as all the programs on schedule were properly taken care of. The participants enjoyed the various activities that were organized by the community such as traditional dances, cooking, working on the gardens, drawing water and washing clothes in the Malawian way. All the activities were a success and both the community members and the participants enjoyed the interaction. The visit to the National Park was equally good, as the participants were able to see the elephants, hippos and antelopes.

The transportation of participants was okay as the hired bus was made available during the times of need. The lorry was also available during ferrying of sand and bricks. The cruiser was also available whenever we needed it for other activities such as hospital visits and storytelling. Though, sometimes there was a crush of program with the Mkumbanjala group, but there was nothing really serious. The absence of the World Servants bus was greatly felt as we did not have full control over the hired bus.

In terms of safety, it was just fine and there were no reported cases of safety concerns both on the construction sites as well as on the visits to the communities.

The working relationship was just very fine and there was good cooperation between the World Servants leadership team and the CCAP staff. Evaluation meetings which were being conducted periodically helped to foster a conducive working environment, which translated into a successful project.

All the stakeholders were actively involved in their different roles. CCAP acted as a bridge between the participants and the community. They were responsible for the programs and safety of the participants. The traditional leaders were responsible for organizing their subjects to come in their large numbers to work together with the participants and making sure that there is cordial working relationship between the locals and the participants. The pupils were also actively involved in the children’s work program where they took part in the games organized by the participants as well as in the bible stories and singing.

The community at large was equally very much involved as they used to come in large numbers to work together with the participants and also they interacted very well with the participants, making the work simple and enjoyable. The handover ceremony was graced by The Traditional Authority who is the senior chief of the land and the Member of Parliament for the constituency which made the ceremony very colorful.