June/July Newsletter...
Welcome!
Malawi News
Building
The Build Malawi Project has had an interesting month or so as we face our challenges out here in Malawi.
The main test that often arises through doing a project of this kind is motivating the community to do their share of the hard work. Right back in 2006 when we first came to the area, we agreed with the chiefs and leaders that the community would contribute 25% of labour which included brick making, sand collecting, water fetching and land clearing. They have done most of these by this stage, but we have faced problems this month with brick making in particular.
As a result, construction has been delayed this month and the project managers decided to suspend the project for two weeks to encourage the community to make bricks.
We are now happy to say that the community are slowly making bricks in their respective areas and building has now resumed. Mangalasi Contractors has been very understanding about the difficulties that inevitably arise when undertaking such a hands-on, grass roots project like ours, so thank you!
Our Tevet trainees made around 15,000 bricks in their own right and all the villages we deal with (Ulaya, Chipwaira 1, Chipwaira 2, Mjara, Galanombe, Kalombo) are halfway towards their total quota of 36,000 bricks each.
We have now finished all the foundations for the remaining houses and blocks and are in the process of completing those for the pit-latrines. The community bricks now onsite will allow the walls to fly up in no time as the foundations are often the hardest and most important part of construction. We hope that by mid-July we will be roofing some of the houses depending on the availability of bricks.
Luckily the rains have now calmed and our foundations are safe.
School
Chisala Primary School had its first Open Day this month, which was a very special experience for the project team.
Although many parents were tied up in the 'chitikuku' (development work), the children performed some songs and dances for those who came and showed off their written work.
Our teachers here continue doing a fantastic job in teaching and motivating the kids to learn, as well as getting them involved with the development work and encouraging them to take pride in their school.
Pictures of their work and video footage are up on the website
Sports
We have some good news about our efforts to promote sports in the area as the school has acquired some land nearby for its own football pitch and netball court. It is in the process of being cleared and will be instrumental in promoting good health and teamwork amongst the kids at Chisala FP school.
Tanya and Happy have set up ABC football and netball teams from amongst the community and labour force that are looking forward to playing with other teams in the area (and winning we hope!). These sports matches really are a unifying force and allow us to get stuck in with the communities out here. We will let you know our scores!
We also have started up our exciting sports scheme mentioned in last month's newsletter. We have now identified fully our three zones that will benefit and most of the football and netball teams in them that will receive balls and some kits. We have received our first consignment of high quality balls from South Africa on the 16th July and have contracted a local tailor to make a whole gamma of different coloured netball bibs and skirts for the girls teams.
We will be handing them out early next month.
A big thank you to Josie Redmonds and Craig Hardie, friends of the team in Malawi, for undertaking a gruelling charity bike ride from the southern to the northern tip of Lake Malawi. Some of the funds raised have gone towards our cause in Chisala.
World Challenge
We are very happy to report that World Challenge (www.world-challenge.co.uk) and ABC's Build Malawi Project are joining forces to promote cultural interaction amongst youths in the UK and Malawi.
The six girls and three boys helped out for a week on site doing a variety of activities at the beginning of this month. These included setting up the tree re-plantation programme with the school, helping upgrade the playground (building seating for the theatre, sand pit,mini netball court), helping with brick making, playing with sports teams in the community and generally helping 'beautify' the school.
We are very grateful for all their help and contribution and hope that we will see them again next year.
This is an excellent scheme that allows youth in privileged countries to experience other cultures first hand and help in the fight to end poverty.
Water Pump
Yes, we have some very exciting news to report; our new water pump has finally arrived! Following the major problems we faced with our last borehole, we were promised a new one this year. Although it is about...ten months late, we now have a beautifully functioning Afridev water pump that belongs to the school and community centre. Maintenance training will follow shortly with the CCAP who have been conducting these trainings in various areas in the north.
The team have learnt an enormous amount about this complicated process that provides this most precious of resources to such poor people out here in Malawi, and we will certainly never underestimate it again! The water yield for our new pump is very good and we are considering installing a pressure/solar pump so water can be stored in a tank, as with the nearby health clinic. It is a very reliable, but expensive, system that will ensure good access to water for years to come.
Thank you to Milton Keynes Rotary Cub for this generous donation and also to CCAP's Jim McGill who oversaw this project and fought for it. We wish him and his family a safe and happy return to the States and hope to see him back in Malawi next year.
Desks and Secondary School Fees
We are still facing some financial pressures in making desks for the classrooms since prices of timber and labour have risen. We would welcome any donation towards these as it is important that the students have good quality desks to learn on.
We have also been approached by some promising students, particularly girls, for help with school fees. We are still pursuing our informal programme and Tanya is monitoring progress of the beneficiaries closely. Please get in touch with Tanya at buildmalawi@hotmail.co.uk if you would like to help with this.
Villager of the Month
We would like to introduce you to our Villager of the Month Swazi Banda. He is the youth club chairman and is part of Kalombo village. He has been very active in making bricks and mobilising the youth of his area to get involved in 'chitikuku'.
We are very grateful for his involvement and we have rewarded the area's football team by giving them a football from our sports programme.
Politics Update
As you may all be aware, there have been some major problems in South Africa that have definitely affected Malawi and business here. Steel prices have increased by 30%, fuel has gone up and cement prices have almost doubled in the last year. Luckily, as a Malawian charity, we are entitled to tax free building goods and as a result we have managed to save a considerable amount by being well organised with this.
Various food costs have also increased, placing a lot of pressure on the people in these poor communities. Luckily, it has been a good season this year for crops, although a lot of Malawi's maize has been sold to Zimbabwe causing a few upsets. The 2009 elections are coming up and there is a lot of tension and pressure amongst the various parties here in Malawi. We hope that things will settle down more in the near future but these have certainly placed pressures on our budget.
Contact
There has been some confusion as to the correct contact details for the team out in Malawi.
To contact Tanya in Malawi, please email buildmalawi@hotmail.co.uk.
Individual emails for our UK team feature on the Contact page at www.buildmalawi.org.
Phone in Malawi
+265 (0)8 152 020
+265 (0)9 600 734
We keep our website regularly updated with news, pictures and videos that are linked to Youtube. Please do keep checking these out as they provide rare insights to life out here in our remote village.
Tanya also writes regular blogs on her adventures out in Malawi at www.myspace.com/buildmalawi.
As always, thank you all for your continued support and feel free to forward this newsletter on to anyone who may be interested in our endeavours out in Malawi.
Best Wishes,
The Build Malawi Project Team
