| REPORTS
FROM MALAWI
Project
Leader Keeps Online Community Informed of Project's
Progress
Self-sustaining
project empowers villagers to help themselves, take
ownership
 From
the initial idea to the first day of classes, Slotland
members have followed the progress of the Umodzi-Mbame
School through regular Member Newsletter Reports. From
Slotland.com’s commitment to fund the project, to getting
the entire village involved (beginning with the village
elders) building the school through the rainy season,
finding and training teachers, establishing a self-sustaining
garden and finally to opening day celebrations, regular
newsletter articles have included personal reports from
Tereza, the Project Team's leader.
Contents
October
2005
Slotland announces their commitment to
provide funding for a development project in sub-Saharan
Africa
Malawi
is a small inland country, formerly a British colony,
in southeast Africa. It is one of the world's 8 poorest
countries. In fact, over 70% of its inhabitants are
forced to live on less than $1 per day. The average
life expectancy is 37 years, only 57% of the population
have access to drinking water, more than 16.5% have
contracted HIV or is sick with AIDS, 25% of children
under 5 are malnourished, and almost half of the adult
population are unable to read or write.
We
at Slotland are aware that most of us are fortunate
to be born into an affluent country with developed medical
and educational infrastructures that solve most of the
problems that the people of Malawi face daily. We also
know that there are still too many people who do not
possess these opportunities and that many of their problems
stem from this imbalance in opportunities. We feel it
is our human obligation to do as much as possible so
that they may at least be given a chance to have a chance.
As we have seen throughout history, children are the
real victims of such abject poverty and also perhaps
the most deserving of aid, as they are simultaneously
the victims and the potential solution to this problem.
"New
Hope for a New Generation" is a project starting
in October 2005. As of 2000, there were over 600,000
orphans (out of a total population of around 10 million
people). Their fate has one common denominator - AIDS,
which has predominately been the cause of their parents'
deaths. This large population of orphans generally end
up being cared for by extended families. A fifteen-member
family with only two adults taking care of thirteen
children is not uncommon. The situation appears to be
even more desperate if there are no adults to take care
of the orphans. Usually the oldest child (who might
be as young as twelve years old) becomes the head of
the family and is thus responsible for the younger siblings.
These child-headed families are extremely poor, less
likely to attend school, more likely to be malnourished,
and are exposed to countless forms of exploitation,
including prostitution.
Statistics
say that out of 1,200,000 enrolled children, only 300,000
will reach the final grade of primary school. There
are many reasons for this: many parents view education
as a luxury or unnecessary. They see toiling in the
field as more important. And no wonder; even with two
parents working the farm, the chances that the land
would provide enough food for the entire family are
slim. The children are seen as necessary to making the
land viable. With such a high mortality rate for young
children (103 out of 1000 children die before reaching
the age of 5), many Malawian parents have large families
(the average Malawian mother has 5 children) to ensure
they will be taken care of when they are older. This
is the Malawian alternative to a pension plan. The resultant
child-headed families can not cope with trekking long
distances to school (10km is common). Worse still, there
are relatively few teachers. In some classes there is
one teacher to a hundred children, which severely hinders
both the quality of teaching and the level of individual
attention granted to each child.
The
primary aim of the "New Hope for a New Generation"
project is to set up a village pre-school and train
local teachers in order to improve the quality of education.
In the afternoons, the pre-school will function as a
work-shop for orphans (8-18 years old). Here they will
have the opportunity to learn a craft and produce simple
traditional art objects (hand-made postcards, carvings
and batiks, amongst others). The market for these objects
is secured in Europe in cooperation with the Society
for Fair Trade and Development Education. The profits
will be repatriated back to the orphans and the development
of the community as a whole (pumps, latrines, reconstruction
etc.).
The
second aim of the project is HIV/AIDS prevention. The
key to eliminating HIV/AIDS is to educate and raise
awareness about the illness. Information on how to avoid
and live with AIDS will be disseminated among the community.
Classic teaching methods will be enhanced by dramas
in which the audience can participate. Unfortunately,
if the behaviours of the Malawian people do not change,
in the near future there may not be a new generation.
That is the real danger of AIDS in Malawi.
Our
goal is to see this generation of young Malawians become
educated and healthy, so they will be better equipped
to shape their own future.
Beginning in October 2005, when our project in Malawi
begins, we will regularly inform you of our progress,
of our successes and of the problems demanding our greatest
attention and effort.
Join
us in making the world a better place for everyone,
children included!
March
2006
Construction Starts as Rains Begin to
Fall
Last
October, we reported in our newsletter about a new project,
"New Chance for a New Generation", which we
are sponsoring. This project was undertaken in Malawi,
a small inland country, formerly a British colony, in
southeast Africa. As we promised, we wanted to provide
our loyal players with a positive update in this exciting
new project. Here is an excerpt from the local manager
of our project, along with a couple of photos:
...the
rainy season is at its peak. It rains 6 days a week,
approximately 3 hours a day, which makes it rather difficult
to build, but still now at the end of January 2006,
the school is almost finished. Over 30 people worked
on it, including bricklayers, carpenters, steel fixers
and female waterfetchers. Only the last touches are
needed such as drain around the school, latrines, painting
and finally decorating the inside of the school for
the children to enjoy and to facilitate a better teaching
environment.
People
in surrounding villages know about our project and we
have already received several applications from those
who want to work at the school as teachers, cooks or
cleaners. Choosing the right people for teaching positions
is important. Our requirements are fluent English, being
comfortable with children and a willingness to learn
new things. Interviews will be held during February.
In
the school garden, we are planting different crops to
feed the school children. Mostly maize, which is Malawian
staple food, as well as sweet potatoes, peanuts or casawa.
The maize is over 2 metres high and harvest will be
arriving soon.
The
school should be opened in early March. Thank you for
your support.
As
you can see above, this project has evolved from a wonderful
idea to an exciting reality for these local people!
Given the email feedback we have received from many
players, we know this is a project that touches many
hearts, both here and abroad!
June
2006
Responding to Community Needs and Developing
a Sense of Ownership and Responsibility in the Community
Keys to Project’s Success
In
this month’s Report the Project Team explains why responding
to real community needs and involving the community
so they feel a sense of ownership are critical to the
success of their project:
Our
common goal here is to help to start up this project,
to work hand in hand with the local community, and to
make sure that soon our presence will not be needed
and that the project can continue functioning without
us or outside funding. To achieve that goal there are
2 fundamental conditions that must be always on the
forefront of our heads. aspects that must always be
on our minds.
The
project must directly respond to the needs of the community.
The project started with certain aims and objectives
that were to empower the local people in terms of education
and health. We knew what the general problems of the
country are, though each region of Malawi has its own
cultural specifics and individual problems. Therefore
it seemed inevitable to find out what exactly the problems
and needs of the people living in our catchment area
are {12 villages that can benefit from the project activities}.
We conducted research: visited individual families,
schools, health centers, churches, and other stakeholders
in order to find out the real situation, how can it
be improved, and how ready people are to participate
in the development.
Our
research concentrated mainly on the areas of education,
health, early marriages and pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, gender
equality, and food security. Part of the research outcome
wasn’t surprising, as problems of the poverty-stricken
people of Sub-Saharan African countries are well known
– lack of food, lack of money to send children to school,
lack of knowledge, disadvantaged girls and women, and
a high HIV rate. Certain information, though, was quite
surprising as it doesn’t usually appear in reports.
Let me share some of it with you:
- up
to 50 % of 12 year old school girls are engaged in
sexual activities; usually they do so for financial
benefit {food, soap, clothes ….} which is a good example
of poverty leading to early pregnancies and the spread
of HIV/AIDS
- some
parents support early marriages in order to reduce
financial burden from the family or due to dowries,
which is another good example of poverty leading to
early pregnancies
- condoms
are easily available, often for free, though highly
stigmatized, and generally considered as very unreliable
even by educated people such as teachers and government
officials
- culturally,
sex is not openly discussed; this results in many
misconceptions (e.g. sperm contains vitamin K which
women can only get through unprotected sex, or sex
with virgins can cure HIV)
- schools,
churches, and different organizations are trying to
fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic; generally their advice
for young people is to abstain; as most of the young
people already ARE engaged in pre-marital sex this
advice doesn’t have a chance of changing their behavior
- some
communities still practice initiation ceremonies which
encourage early sex (unprotected, and often resulting
in pregnancies or STDs)
The
project must be carried out by the local people on order
for them to feel ownership and responsibility for it.
Formation
of an Executive Committee for the project is necessary.
At the moment we are conducting community meetings in
all the 12 villages in our catchment area. The outcome
of each of these meetings is a democratically elected
representative from each village who will become a member
of the Executive Committee. Responsibility of the Executive
Committee will be to:
- Oversee
all project activities and structures in collaboration
with the project team
- Run
regular meetings to drive the project forward
- Ensure
community participation and the dissemination of information
- Guarantee
links between community and government departments/stakeholders
- Monitor
and evaluate the project development
So
far we have identified 9 people, with 3 remaining. Some
of them have gone with education as far as secondary
school, and some of them can’t read or write. What they
do have in common though is that they are active and
respectable people in the community who are willing
to work voluntarily. These people won’t receive any
financial reimbursement for their work but will be trained
in areas of leadership, management and community mobilization.
At the moment we are trying to find out who would best
provide training for the Executive Committee. Should
it be a governmental body such as the Ministry of Gender
or an International NGO such as World Vision? Each has
its advantages and disadvantages. One of the important
factors is that the training organization will be able
to provide continuous monitoring of the project activities
and advise the Executive Committee in the case of future
need. After the training is finished a project constitution
will be developed. Then the project will be ready to
be registered as a proper CBO (Community Based Organization)
with the Ministry of Gender.
These
necessary procedures have postponed the opening of the
preschool. They are essential though, as our primary
interest is to make this project sustainable and independent
from outside help in the future.
Furthermore
in April, with the help of local volunteers, mainly
women, we managed to harvest and preserve 15 50kg bags
of maize which will be used to feed children in the
pre-school when it is open. That will hopefully be in
September.
July
2006
With the help of the entire village,
the school building is completed.
"Education
is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire."
William B. Yeats
The
construction of the school Slotland sponsors in Africa
has been successfully completed! Even before it is open,
this school in one of the poorest African countries
of Malawi is already an important community centre.
The villagers that built the school have been back to
harvest the first crop of maize, which will feed pre-school
students. Furthermore, a volunteer committee is being
trained to manage the new facility when classes begin
in September.
Our
goal is to help to start up this project, to work hand
in hand with the local community, to make sure that
soon our presence will not be needed and that the project
can continue functioning without us or outside funding.
"We
are following two guiding principles," said Tereza,
the Project Manager. "The project must directly
respond to the needs of the community. And it must be
built and managed by the local people in order for them
to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility."
The
Slotland.com team's first task in Africa was to understand
what the local people needed most. Visiting families,
schools, health centres, churches, and other stakeholders
confirmed that the biggest problems facing the villagers
were the lack of food, lack of money for school, lack
of knowledge, sexual inequality, and HIV.
The
team learned some startling facts that make providing
an education all the more important:
Half
of all twelve-year-old girls are sexually active, usually
for money.
Common
misconceptions, like 'sperm contains vitamin K that
women can only get through unprotected sex' or 'sex
with virgins can cure HIV' help spread disease.
Some
communities still practice initiation ceremonies that
encourage early sex which, being unprotected, result
in pregnancies or STDs.
Schools,
churches, and other organizations trying to fight the
HIV/AIDS pandemic generally advise young people to abstain
but as most of them are already sexually active, many
times this advice is not followed.
Slotland
is pleased to be able to help these people break the
cycle of poverty and we think education is the key to
providing more choices to this future generation. We
strongly believe that it is our obligation to share
our prosperity like this. We believe that many of our
players also feel better about how they're spending
their entertainment dollars, due to efforts such as
this!
October
2006
School’s Opening Ceremonies Mark New
Era of Hope
Recent
opening ceremonies at the African school built by the
Slotland.com team began a new era of hope for Malawi
villagers. Committee members from each of the twelve
tribes served by the school have been trained to operate
the facility once the Slotland.com team leaves, and
classes will soon begin.
Local
stakeholders, including school teachers, church representatives
and doctors, as well as traditional authorities from
the area and the local member of parliament gathered
at the recently completed school to participate in the
festive event. Entertainment included traditional dances,
drums and singing.
Construction
of the school was funded entirely by the Slotland.com
team. The Slotland management team is pleased to be
able to provide a human touch that will positively impact
an entire village!
"Our donation will make more difference to the
lives of African children than that money could ever
make to our company's bottom line," said Slotland.com
manager Hannah Morante. "We've always put people
before profit."
Enuck
Phiri, with twenty years experience with World Vision,
trained the Executive Committee mainly in the areas
of leadership, community mobilization and sustainability.
The organizing committee is currently working with local
village Chiefs in recruiting teachers for the school.
"Soon
after the training, the Executive Committee members
started to organize their villages to come and help
with finishing the school building. It is a long process,"
said Slotland's team leader.
"New
unexpected things always appear, such as rats chewing
the cables of the project car and preventing us from
buying needed cement on time, or regularly drunk chiefs
of certain villages who don't allow a decent dialogue
or cooperation. But slowly we are getting there."
"We
couldn't just give them a building and expect them to
be able to operate a school," said Hannah. "We
felt we had to see it through, so we made sure the villagers
are prepared to be self-sufficient once our committee
has finished it's work there."
What
a difference a year and a lot of committment makes for
everyone involved. As you know, we at Slotland love
winners, and in this project, all we see are winners
all around! And a special thanks of course must go to
each and every loyal player, because without our amazing
player base, we could not have come so far in so short
of a time!
January
2007
An idea has turned into a wonderful reality
for a group of villages and their children.
A
little more than 1 year ago, we launched our Aid for
Africa, where Slotland joined forces with local villages
in Malawi to build and establish an elementary school.
This idea from one year ago has turned into a wonderful
reality for this group of villages and their children.
On
September the 18th, UMODZI-MBAME CBO was officially
launched. It was a big day that was celebrated with
around 400 people including governmental officers, local
authorities, NGO representatives, local stakeholders
and the community members. In addition to the donation
of a water treadle pump (to irrigate land during dry
season), dances, singing, dramas and our newly printed
UMODZI-MBAME t-shirts added to the entertainment of
the crowd. All in all, it was a successful opening of
our project!
Meanwhile,
after the festivities, a lot of practical hands-on work
still remained to be completed. Tasks included preparing
community gardens in each of the 12 villages which should
provide crops for feeding the children, completing the
final touches on the school building before the opening
of the school, and starting the landscaping around the
school building before the first rains arrive. All these
projects would have been impossible to complete were
it not for the eager assistance of our 120 sub-committee
members. Each of the 12 villages have elected a committee
consisting of 10 people who are interested and willing
to actively support UMODZI - MBAME CBO. This process
has provided us with dedicated people who are interested
in development and are prepared to offer their time
and effort for the good of their people and has proven
to be quite effective.
This
report from the Project Coordinator explains how important
the school’s garden is to the project and to the village:
Over
the last months - as we near the rainy season - our
Food Security Program has begun and is currently receiving
a lot of attention and interest. We have introduced
PERMACULTURE, which offers a better way of life, and
we are trying to realize, demonstrate and promote it
in our CBO and home. In a few words, permaculture aims
to achieve the highest output from the lowest inputs,
reducing 'overhead' and utilizing all 'waste' materials
produced from the system in order to live in a sustainable
harmony with the nature and environment around. Regarding
landscaping our CBO grounds, this means making use of
all the excess or waste water by harvesting and redirecting
it to where it is needed, encouraging the soil fertility
through abolishing sweeping, applying mulch and organic
waste to protect and nurture the soil, planting trees,
bushes and grasses that avoid erosion, provide food,
natural medicine and beauty while requiring little maintenance.
Even
the not-so-green-fingered ones of us are suddenly planting,
mulching, applying manure, experimenting with water
harvesting and are busy re-designing our grounds. However,
all this would not have happened would we not have had
the luck to meet and become friends with Chris, one
of Malawi's Permaculture Experts, and his great helper
Adija, who are based in Blantyre. They even arranged
for 60 participants of a National Permaculture Training
Programme to visit for a 1-day workshop designing and
transforming our CBO grounds.
She
also reports that they are making good progress in hiring
and training teachers:
We
also have our teaching staff developed and off to a
good start! Out of 25 application letters, we interviewed
10 candidates and finally appointed 4 teachers who are
definitely full of enthusiasm and with whom we are very
happy to work. We also had our first Teacher Training
course which was conducted not only for our 4 teachers
but also for 13 other pre-school teachers from the area.
Over a one week period, we discussed and learned about
Child Development, Different Teaching Methods and Effective
Questioning - since the current common teaching method
has been based on repeating the teacher's answers, which
does not encourage independent thinking, reasoning,
imagination and creativity.
During the following weeks, 116 children from 4 to 6
years registered for school; however we are expecting
drop outs and aim to end up with around 80 kids, meaning
20 per teacher. A Parents Committee has been chosen
and trained and its members are involved in supporting
the teachers with their daily duties, preparing the
food (porridge) for the children, cleaning the school
and supervising the general activities around the CBCC,
short for Community Based Childcare Centre. On Monday,
October 30th, school finally started and 80 little excited,
confused, crying and active little kids were transforming
UMODZI-MBAME and our home into a lively place where
everyone could see that development is taking place...
and that is only the start!!!
February
2007
Preparing to Hand Management of the Self-sustaining
Project Over to the Villagers
It’s
nearly time for our Project Team to turn the management
of the school we’ve built over to the local villagers.
This recent report from the Project Coordinator explains
some of the challenges that remain:
On
January 8th, 2007 the children came back to school after
the Christmas holidays. The teachers started introducing
the topic of numbers, using different new teaching methods
that they had acquired during the training conducted
for them (and other 13 teachers from surrounding preschools)
in the middle of December. They are doing pretty well.
For example, for today ‘s lesson the teachers collected
some clay and were making shapes of numbers with the
children. We are happy to see this ingenuity. It means
that even without buying expensive modeling compound
they find their own ways of letting the children play
in creative ways.
Every
school day 3 parents come to fetch water, prepare meals
for the children, and wash dishes.
For
the meal we have been serving rice porridge with milk,
and twice a week crushed groundnuts are added. It is
a good contribution towards a balanced diet, for at
their homes the children mostly eat corn as their staple.
The family of each child should make a 50 Malawian Kwacha
contribution each month, which is equivalent to 0.35
USD. Some parents are failing to pay, and our perception
is that in at least in half of the cases it is not their
inability to afford that amount of money; rather it
is negligence on their behalf. In 10 out of the 12 villages
in which we work community gardens were allocated and
are being cultivated. Volunteers have planted sweet
potatoes, beans, groundnuts, and corn. These crops will
be used to feed our pre-school children, and surplus
might be sold to generate extra income or may be given
to old and disabled people in the villages.
We
have realized several things which might cause problems
when we, the Project Team, are not around anymore. Let
me give you some examples.
A)
So far it has been us, the Project Team, buying bags
of rice and sugar for the preschool in town. It is easier
for us as we can ask a friend with car to pick up 50
kg rice bags than if volunteers have to travel to town
on minibus and carry the heavy bags. With that obviously
came upon us the responsibility of checking when more
rice or sugar is needed in stock.
B)
So far it has been us, the Project Team, allocating
and distributing money for running the preschool. We
have paid salaries to the teachers, kept contributions
collected from parents, paid firewood and other items.
Even though the preschool still doesn’t have its own
Income Generating Activity which could fully finance
its operation (roughly 135 USD / month) Rice 30 USD
Teacher salaries 60 USD Sugar 30 USD Firewood 10 USD
Soap, matches …. 5 USD and ensure its sustainability,
this is a high time for the volunteers to learn how
to allocate the money effectively and keep simple accounts.
C)
We have observed that people don’t look well after surroundings
of the school and its maintenance. We have observed
that the volunteers don’t take any extra effort to start
new activities within the project such as Adult Literacy
Classes.
These
and similar issues have different reasons. Some of the
major ones might be that local people have never experienced
development project of such a nature in their area and
therefore don’t have any experience or even idea of
all the things which could be achieved. Another contributing
factor might be that we, the Project Team, live right
next to the preschool and the community might still
have been feeling that the project is in our hands.
We
believe it is very important to give the volunteers
a chance to prove they are able to manage all the things
related with running and looking after the school by
themselves.
March
2007
Umodzi-Mbame is Lively Place!
Since
October 30th, 116 excited, enthusiastic and energetic
kids from the age of 4 to 6 years have been coming to
learn the UMODZI-MBAME's Pre-school that Slotland.com
has been supporting since 2005. It’s become a very lively
place!
Our
four teachers are welcoming and looking after the lively
crowd, aiming to support all of these little individuals
in developing and reaching their full potential. From
8am to noon, the children are using their heads, hands,
bodies and imagination - getting used to school life,
socializing with their friends, learning numbers and
letters, getting first exposure to English, singing,
dancing and being creative. To encourage health and
nutrition, the children receive every morning a plate
of porridge which is prepared from the maize harvested
from the project gardens, along with milk that is kindly
donated by a local farm.
The
parent's involvement is very essential to ensure the
sustainability of UMODZI-MBAME CBCC. At the first Parent's
Meeting, a Parent's School Committee has been elected,
whose members are responsible for co-ordinating and
overseeing the running of the school. Also, on a daily
basis, parents voluntarily help with cleaning, cooking
and caring for the children.
Since
UMODZI-MBAME CBCC aims to be an model centre of its
kind, we are implementing and creating a newly developed
Teaching Manual that shall support and guide the teachers
while teaching the kids in a holistic, very child focused
way - which is quite different to the commonly found
teaching methods in this area of Malawi.
Through
monthly Teacher Training Sessions, that are not only
offered to UMODZI's Teachers but also to 13 additional
pre-school teachers from the surrounding area, we aim
to ensure the effective implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of the manual.
To
establish an model centre that motivates and inspires
other surrounding schools also means that we try to
concentrate on the use of local available resources
when it comes to teaching materials, school furniture
and playground construction. So the children enjoy playing
with balls made from old plastic bags; instead of posters
and pictures, the school's walls are painted with alphabet
letters, number lines and colourful pictures; and collections
of sticks, stones and seeds replace expensive counting
materials.
In
addition to the opening of the school, the last months
were dedicated to developing and transforming the CBO
grounds and Community Gardens. In a one-day training
session, the committees have been busy learning about
Permaculture landscaping ideas and have started digging
water harvesting drains, planting trees and flowers
and preparing the gardens in their villages on which
each community is growing food for the Pre-school children.
After
a year, UMODZI-MBAME CBO can look back on many experiences,
changes and challenges and look forward to many opportunities
- and more lively and happy kids.
We
at Slotland wish to thank our players for their continuing
loyalty and support, without whom this very special
project would not have been possible! It is very encouraging
to see how much growth can occur with a little help
and a lot of enthusiasm!
April
2007
Helping a Neighbouring Village Help Themselves
Slotland.com
is now supporting not one development project but two.
In addition to the Umodzi Mbame school we are now assisting
another village develop a corn mill that will generate
revenue for them.
The
initial development project – UMODZI MBAME CBO
In
March 2007 the Project Team conducted several trainings
with the aim of fully handing over the management of
the school to the involved local volunteers. The two
most important issues were the logistics for school
supplies (food for children, soap, firewood, chalk …)
and transparent accounts.
There
weren’t many people who showed a real interest in taking
over these responsibilities, but there were some and
these people play a vital role in the whole project.
Since April the volunteers are fully in charge of the
school management.
For
two days in early April the Project Team held another
training for the preschool teachers. Again we had our
teachers as well as teachers from the surrounding preschools
and orphanages. This time we tried a different approach:
instead of having only the teachers in the training
we also invited 30 of our preschool students. This time
we didn’t just “lecture” but rather showed in reality
and through practice how the activities with the children
could/should look. The response of the teachers was
much livelier than before. Therefore, we intend to continue
the teacher training in this interactive (teachers with
children) way.
Neighbouring
Villagers Show Initiative But Need Our Help
The
additional development project TIYENDE PAMODZI CBO (maize
mill)
After
the volunteers from the village of Kantimbanya dug the
foundation for a maize mill and brought a sufficient
amount of sand and stones on the side, the Project Team
released the first part of the money intended to support
this CBO (Community Based Organization). 1.200 US dollars
was spent on cement, iron sheets, doors and many small
but important items. The structure will be erected within
2 weeks and all labor (bricklayers, carpenters, etc.)
will be provided for free by community volunteers. This
shows the real eagerness of the community to do something
for their common well-being as well as their ability
to work together. After this construction is finished
the maize mill itself will be bought and installed.
Amongst
these events, the Project Team is carrying out further
research into communities similar to TIYENDE PAMODZI
CBO, active communities which feel the need for development
and initiate it themselves without outside support.
We
feel that funding these self-started, need-driven projects
is the most sustainable and wise investment we can make.
May
2007
Back to School After the Holidays
Once
again, we are pleased to provide an update to our loyal
players on our special project in Malawi.
On
January 8th, 2007 the children came back to school after
the Christmas holidays. The teachers started introducing
the topic of numbers, using different new teaching methods
that they had acquired during the training conducted
for them (and other 13 teachers from surrounding preschools)
in the middle of December. They are doing pretty well.
For example, for today's lesson the teachers collected
some clay and were making shapes of numbers with the
children. We are happy to see this ingenuity. It means
that even without buying expensive modeling compound
they find their own ways of letting the children play
in creative ways.
Every
school day 3 parents come to fetch water, prepare meals
for the children, and wash dishes. For the meal we have
been serving rice porridge with milk, and twice a week
crushed groundnuts are added. It is a good contribution
towards a balanced diet, for at their homes the children
mostly eat corn as their staple.
People
suffering from the effects of global warming around
the world should also know that we are likewise being
affected here in Malawi. We are currently enduring the
rainy season, and it has been much more severe than
usual. Starting January 1st, it rained for eight days
and nights without stopping. That brought a small humanitarian
crises as many houses that were not held together with
cement collapsed, and in many homes people were severely
injured. Please keep us all in your thoughts during
this difficult time!
It
is very encouraging to watch the continued growth and
progress of this exciting project. Be sure to stay tuned
for more updates in future newsletters!
Special
Report
The boNGO Early Childhood Development
(ECD) Program
boNGO’s
Early Childhood Development (ECD) Program is a pilot
project implemented with 14 Community Based Childcare
Centers (CBCCs) and Community Preschools in Mbame, rural
Blantyre (T/A Somba), Malawi. The Program is coordinated
from UMODZI-MBAME CBO Community Preschool, which aims
to develop into a Model CBCC, Resource and Training
Centre. The Program is facilitated and sponsored by
the Non-Governmental Organization boNGO [for more information
on boNGO see Description].
Underlying
vision of the Program:
All children have the chance and support to develop
their full individual potential in all aspects of their
personality (intellectually, emotionally, physically
and spiritually).
Aim
of the Program:
Broadening the Capacity of rural CBCCs and Preschools,
ensuring:
- Quality
education and care for the children
- A
happy and safe working and learning environment for
everyone
- A
sustainable CBCC / Preschool set up and management
Objectives
of the Program:
Establishing
a working group of already active CBCCs and Community
Preschools based on a voluntary, need, and interest
driven involvement
Training
and supervising Preschool Teachers and Care Givers according
to the National Early Childhood Development Policy and
Guidelines
Implementing
the National Teachers and Care Givers Guide (when available)
Implementing,
trailing and developing a boNGO ECD Teacher Support
Manual which is based on a holistic approach encouraging
the individual growth of each child on the intellectual,
physical, emotional and spiritual level along the lines
of the UNICEF Care Givers Training Manual
Supporting
the development of a Model CBCC, Resource and Training
Centre, that provides inspiration and learning opportunities
to surrounding schools and other interested parties
Liaising,
sharing and working with other relevant organizations,
networks and partners in order to strengthen and enhance
ECD in Malawi
Monitoring,
evaluating and enhancing the Program to ensure quality
and sustainability of the Program aims and vision
What
has been achieved so far:
- Establishment
of a working group of 17 teachers from 14 local Pre-schools
and CBCCs
- Facilitation
of an initial Teacher Training Workshop in co-operation
with the Association of Preschools and Playgroups
in Malawi (APPM) and the local Social Welfare Offic
- Facilitation
of continuous monthly Teacher Training Meetings to
implement and develop the boNGO ECD Teacher Support
Manual
- Supervision
visits in the participating Preschools / CBCCs to
monitor and evaluate the Program
- Intensive
work with the Preschool of UMODZI-MBAME CBO, with
the aim to develop a Model CBCC, Resource and Training
Centre; this includes close co-operation with the
CBO and its leaders, support for the set up and running
of the Pre-school, facilitation of Parents Committee
and Parents Care Giver Support Training Courses, frequent
observation and supervision visits (twice weekly)
in the Preschool, monitoring and evaluation meetings
as well as additional trainings (according to needs)
with the 4 teachers in order to ensure quality teaching,
care, and working conditions
- Establishing
contacts with relevant partners on a local (e.g. Primary
Schools and Primary Education Advisors [PEAs], Health
Centers, etc.), national (e.g. APPM, Governmental
Offices [MOW&CD, MOHP, MOEST], National ECD Network,
NGOs, etc.), and international (e.g. Schools from
abroad, NGOs, Development Education Contacts, etc.)
levels
Figures:
No of Pre-schools and CBCCs involved in the Program:
14
No of trained Teachers and Care Givers involved in the
Program: 17
No of Teacher Trainings: 1 initial Training (1 week),
6 additional Trainings (2 days each, 1 per months)
Umodzi-Mbame Preschool:
No of trained Teachers: 4
No of registered Children: 45
No of registered Orphans: 8
No of Parents Committee Trainings held: 1 (10 members)
No of Parents Care Givers Support Trainings held: 1
at beginning of school year
Meals: daily provision of rice / maize porridge with
milk and sugar
Contribution from Parents: 50K monthly, if affordable
Encountered Challenges and ideas to tackle and overcome
them:
- External
CBCCs / Preschools don’t have standardized guidelines
regarding teacher-child ratio, number and age of registered
children; too many kids per teacher, with an age range
from 2 to 6 years
- External
CBCCs / Preschools lack appropriate shelter
- Discussion
meetings with the leadership of the involved Preschools
/ CBCCs in order to encourage the adoption of the
national registration suggestions regarding number
of kids, teacher-child ratio, and age range
- Encourage
community participation to identify or source funds
and efforts to establish appropriate shelter and
resources
- External
Teachers find it difficult to come to the trainings
due long walking distances or expensive transportation
- Discussion
meetings with the leadership of the involved Preschools
/ CBCCs in order to discuss means to provide the
teachers with transportation or travel expenses
- Applying
for a Program Training Grant
- Commitment
and motivation of external Teachers is limited as
most of them are working as pure volunteers
- Discussion
meetings with the leadership of the involved Preschools
/ CBCCs in order to discuss means of payment or
incentives
- Running
Teacher Training Meetings that are base on a open
door set up, accessible to the people who are
interested and willing to join without relying
on their participation
- Many
Teachers find it difficult to change from their teacher
focused teaching to a more child focused approach
- Focusing
on letting the Teachers observe, plan, run and
evaluate practical example lessons at UMODZI-MBAME
Preschool
- Many
Teachers find it difficult to come up with new creative
ideas, instead tend to copy and repeat
- Providing
opportunities and examples to get inspired from,
and encouraging the development and exploration
of own ideas
- In
order to ensure high quality implementation of the
Program’s aims and objectives, frequent and continuous
Training and Supervision is needed; therefore the
number of participants (14 schools and17 teachers)
is the upper limit regarding the capacity of this
Program
- No
extension of the Program at that stage
- Ownership
and initiative of UMODZI-MBAME Preschool Committee
Members and Parents is limited
- Facilitating
a monitoring and evaluation meeting for the Committee
and Parents to agree their future commitment and
action
The
way forward:
- Getting
our Facilitators trained by National ECD Co-Trainers
in order to have qualified TOT (Trainer of Trainers)
status according to the National ECD Policy
- Organizing
education visits within the Program Working Group
as well as to external Model CBCCs
- Starting
the implementation of the National Teachers and Care
Givers Guide (as soon as available)
- Continuing
the implementation and development of the boNGO ECD
Program and Teacher Support Manual with the Working
Group according to the UNICEF Care Givers Training
Manual
- Making
the boNGO ECD Manual and Program reports available
to other interested parties
- Developing
UMODZI-MBAME Preschool into a sustainable Model CBCC,
Resource and Training Centre
- Working
in close cooperation with relevant partners and networks
in order to enhance and strengthen ECD on a national
level
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