Kandezu experiences

A group of Dutch volunteers at Kandezu were hosted by The CCAP Education Department and World Servants with the sole purpose of working hand in hand with the community in realizing the goal of building a school block, a teacher house, toilets and renovation of one teacher house. Apart from the actual construction, several other activities were lined up for the participants with the aim of making sure that there is good interaction between the participants and the locals. Some of the activities that were done are traditional dances, home visits, children’s work, singing gospel songs, playing soccer, just to mention a few. The working relationship between the participants and the locals was very good and even the structures under construction are of high standards.

The Kandezu project was identified by the setup team together with the CCAP Education as a repetitive project, as it had already hosted a World Servants group in 2014. The need at the school prompted World Servants and CCAP to consider bringing another group to the school. The school lacked school blocks, teacher houses and toilets. The previous group constructed a school block with two classrooms and the head teacher office on the middle, one teacher house and one double toilet. They also renovated one teacher house and the church, which was used as a dining room.

The new group constructed a school block of two classrooms and an office in the middle. They also constructed a teacher house and three double toilets.

The community was mobilized through awareness meetings and these meetings were participatory, hence all the stakeholders were actively involved in the preparations for the coming of the World Servants group and the necessary arrangements were put in place.

When the team arrived at Kandezu the foundation for the school block had already been done, with corners already raised and the foundation for the teacher house had also almost been done. The work started by holding hands around the construction site as a symbol of unity and emphasis on working together side by side as Dutch and Malawians. A speech was given by the technical leader and he encouraged everyone to take part in all the activities relating to construction. Work on construction progressed very well and within a short period of time the ring beam was done and the structure was roofed. By the time the handover ceremony was taking place the school block had been roofed, but the teacher house was still under construction. The toilets were also under construction.

Accommodation for the participants was arranged in the school block, which was constructed by the World Servants group of 2014. This was an ideal place for the group, because it could accommodated the men and women separately. Food was prepared by Chrodney and Jennipher, who worked tirelessly to make sure that there was enough food for the participants. Up to now it is difficult to conclude whether the sickness during the project was a result of the food served, as much emphasis has always been on hygiene and making sure that the food served is of good quality.

The other area of interest was the children’s work, which was very successful. The leader of the children’s work program was overwhelmed by the way the program was handled in Malawi and was surprised that even without the teachers involvement the children work activities were done without any problem. The life skills program was not conducted at this school because it was not on schedule. The cultural program went well.

The participants and community members enjoyed the good interaction which existed throughout the activities and also the good cooperation. Some of the cultural activities that took place were sleeping in the homes of the community members and eating the Dutch traditional food with the locals, home visits, visiting a farmer, hospital visits, visiting previous projects such as Milenje, Madosa, Lunga and Chikumula. Other activities included singing choirs during the evenings and also taking part in traditional dances. There were also church services, which used to take place during Sundays and people from different churches gathered together to give thanks and praises to our heavenly Father. There were no touristic outings during this project.

The lorry was available throughout the project on the project site and helped in ferrying sand, bricks, construction materials. The lorry also carried the participants from Kandezu to Milenje and Madosa for visits to previous projects and also to distribute bicycle ambulances.

The safety of materials was generally okay, however towards the end of the project about 12 pairs of working shoes and other materials were stolen and could not be traced. This was a very bad experience as the community was very good, but just a few misguided people spoiled what could have been termed a successful project.

The cooperation with the World Servants Leadership team was overwhelming and no misunderstandings of any sort were recorded. The leadership team was very supportive and could always come in to calm the situation whenever there were some problems arising from the project. Whenever decisions had to be made the World Servants leadership team and the CCAP staff always sat down together to make informed decisions.

All stakeholders were involved in one way or the other as the activities on the construction were also many. Firstly the group of village headmen  was responsible for making sure that their subjects took part in the activities pertaining to construction. The community members participated by getting involved in all activities at the project site, for example drawing water, bricklaying, loading and offloading of sand, bricks and quarry stones. The learners were involved through the children’s program where they played games, read and learned Bible stories and many more activities.  The staff members from CCAP were responsible for making sure that all the activities laid down were implemented in the best way possible. They also acted as a bridge between the participants and the locals.

The project is progressing well though on a slow pace because this is the time when people are also busy in the gardens preparing for the rains. However a lot of progress has been made on the teacher house and its now roofed and the inside walls have also been done. Little work has been done on the school block because the brick layers concentrated first on the finishing of the teachers house. The toilets have been dug but construction work has not commenced yet.