Report of local coordinators Mussa and MJ
De partner vertelt... van 20 september 2016 door Mussa Nyirenda
1.Introduction on the project
Deweya is one of the schools that was selected to benefit from the partnership between CCAP and world servants. The school was closed by the Ministry of Education Science and technology for lack of infrastructure. The idea was therefore to construct a teacher house as well as a school block with 2 classrooms and an office in between. A number of other activities took place such as cultural programs, childrens work, visiting Mzuzu city and also visiting the lake.
A team of 33 dutch participants from Netherlands came to deweya to help in the construction of the school block as well as a teacher house together with the community.
2. Operational level
The construction
The school block has been constructed up to roofing and the community is remaining with plastering, flooring and painting inside, they are also remaining with drainage and pointing outside. The same applies to the teacher house.
Facilitation of the team
The participants were accommodated in the school block and some were accommodated in the tents. The food served was commonly Spaghette, Macaron, rice, irish potatoes, bread, beef, goat meat and chickens. Childrens work was done everyday from Monday to Friday and children from varied classes and ages were involved. The cultural activities included family visits, babies on the back, farming on the land on land preparation, visit to the market on a market day and The Malawi express where the participants visited the Trading centre.
Transportation
The emergency car was provided by Hans. CCAP only provided fuel. The lorry was deployed to ferry sand to the construction site. The bus picked the participants from the airport to Deweya and from Mzuzu and back. On the way to Lilongwe via nkhotakota two minbuses were hired because the bus developed a fault.
Safety / Field Security Plan
No safety problems were experienced by the participants. In addition the community provided to watchmen who patrolled the centre during the night.
Cooperation with the WSN project staff
There was excellent cooperation between the staff of World servants and CCAP staff. There was also good cooperation between participants and the community.
Involvement of the stakeholders
Almost all stakeholders were involved in one way or the other in the construction. The Primary Education Advisor came to visit the school, the Village Headmen also were actively involved. The community members came on a daily basis to assist with drawing water, mixing mortar, ferrying bricks and other related activities.
3. Development of the project
The completion of the project will be done by the community eg Plastering, flooring, painting and drainage. In addition the community would like to mould more bricks for further development of the school.
4. Lessons learned
- Cooperation is key to the success of the project.
- Different cultural background is not a barrier for people working together to achieve one goal.
- Proper planning is vital to the success of the project.
