THE
MLAMBE
PROJECT
THE TEAM
Brad Vanstone
Head of New Development Opportunities
Brad, a Politics & Management graduate from Exeter University, decided to take on more of a front-line role with the charity having visited Mlambe school and Chikolongo village in April 2014. After witnessing the success of the earthbag building technique first-hand, Brad is aiming to utilise his business and fundraising skills to grow the charity with Saalim.
brad@themlambeproject.org
Lucy Ifould
Programme Officer & Trustee
Lucy spent four months in Malawi with Saalim in 2014. She was an instant hit with the community with her infectious smile and willingness to help wherever she could. We will be forever grateful for her support, and are hopeful she will keep an active role in the project in the years to come.
Saalim Koomar
Head of Educational Development & Trustee
Saalim is a qualified language teacher and a French and Business graduate from the University of Manchester. Having watched Jamie start and develop the project over the last few years, Saalim has been desperate to play a more active role. Having finished his studies and spent three months in Malawi in 2014, Saalim aims to continue making an impact in an educational sense.
saalim@themlambeproject.org
Aidan Mosley
Co-Founder
Aidan studied Physics alongside Jamie at The University of Manchester. He ably took on the role of Project Manager in April 2014 where his building expertise has been integral. Having spent close to six months in Malawi, Aidan has succesfully oversaw the completion of the first phase of the building work at Mlambe school, including the Head-teacher's office/ computer room and our first 'earthbag' school block.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Jamie Proctor
Co-Founder & Chair
Jamie is a Physics graduate from the Univeristy of Manchester and co-founder of The Mlambe Project after visiting the area on his travels through Africa - just one of his many ventures into the unknown! Jamie has been the real driving force behind the charity since its inception and paramount to our success during his two years as Project Manager. He has recently stepped down as Project Manager and assumed the position of Chair of Trustees, a role where he can provide invaluable insight on our various activities.
jamie@themlambeproject.org
The Experts
Steven Kambalame
Local Project Manager & Secretary of Mlambe School's Commitee
Steven was born in Zomba and moved to the village in 1983. He had a tough childhood which included running 40 kilometres everyday to school. His past is one of the main reasons why he has put his heart and soul into the project so far; he believes that children should have easy access to education and should not have to travel numerous kilometres each day. As a conventional builder previously, Steven was also keen to learn about earthbags and is now excited to teach others the technique. He has thoroughly enjoyed working with volunteers from the UK and believes that the project has a lot of potential to change educational infrastructure in Malawi, a pressing matter. His command of English, along with Geoffrey's, makes him an excellent local project manager and, put simply, we couldn't have got where we are now without his contribution.
Twaya Kapalepale
Earthbag Expert
Twaya was born in Chikolongo in 1974. He has five children and four of them are currently studying at Mlambe school. He is happy to be involved in the project as Mlambe school will then be able to provide classrooms for Standards 5-8 as opposed to these students travelling kilometres to Nanthomba. He was a farmer before and so his life has changed dramatically since becoming an expert. Previously he farmed December-April and then after harvesting lay idle for the subsequent months. Building work has meant that he is busy all year round and can support his family better with two revenue streams.
Endless Kachala
Earthbag Expert
Mrs Kachala has lived in Chikolongo since 1984. She has children but sends them to Nanthomba school due to the lack of classrooms. She saw Mlambe school more as 'the bush' than a school and is delighted that it is finally looking more like a place of learning. She's looking forward to taking her chidren back from Nanthomba to Mlambe once the classrooms are built. She used to be a farmer and irrigate vegetables and is now very happy to have another income through building. She also loves being an expert as she is learning new skills every day.
Andy Proctor
Treasurer
Andy has worked in a range of knowledge and information roles for UK-based charities including Alzheimer's Society and the British Lung Foundation. Before moving to the charity sector he was working in higher education for a number of years at the University of Sussex in Brighton. Andrew has supported The Mlambe Project for some time, and was fortunate to have visited Malawi in March 2014 and meet the wonderful Malawian people. His knowledge and expertise in the charity sector has been of huge importance to our work.
Geoffrey Namagowa
Assistant Local Project Manager & Treasurer of Mlambe School's Commitee
Geoffrey was born in southern Malawi in the district of Phalombe and moved to Chikolongo in 2005. He had a similarly tough childhood as he had to travel 32 kilometres to school each day, but his parents were a great encouragement to him and ensured that he went to school every day so that he could support himself in future years. Geoffrey currently sends one of his children to Nanthomba- where one of our partner NGOs 'H.E.L.P' do some brilliant work- as he did not want his children attending lessons outdoors. Therefore he was very excited when co-founders Jamie and Aidan arrived at the village with the intention of improving the local area. He believes that better educational infrastructure will lead to children attending school more regularly instead of working on farmland and hopes that this will create a better future for the local children.
Meria Mpoto
Earthbag Expert
Mrs Mpoto has lived in the village since 1981 and has children in Standards 1 and 2 of Mlambe school. She is delighted to beautify Chikolongo village as there was previously nothing. Now, with two school blocks and a computer room, government donations such as maize will be delivered to the school and this will prevent people travelling far to collect these donations. This is of particular importance during disaster periods such as the ongoing floods at the beginning of 2015 where bicycles simply won't manage the tough conditions.
Paul Kachisi
Earthbag Expert
Paul has lived in Chikolongo since 2000 and has brothers and sisters at the school in Standards 1, 2 and 3. He wants his siblings to have the chance of a better education as he studied up until Standard 8 but then could not afford the school fees to go to secondary school- a far too common problem in Malawi.
He used to be a conventional builder and is happy to be gaining new experiences working with earthbags instead of bricks. He also sees lots of positives with earthbags as they provide a very strong structure due to the walls' thickness and are environmentally-friendly as no bricks have to be fired.
Joseph Masanjala
Earthbag Expert
Joseph has lived in the village since 1993. He currently has three children learning at Mlambe school in Standards 1, 2 and 3; so personally has a vested interest in the project. He is excited about the new developments taking place as the school's facilities were previously not good enough. A builder previously, he was also excited to learn new skills when building with earthbags. He now believes that he would be comfortable teaching these skills to others and is full of new ideas regarding improvements to the technique.
Aofi Friday
Earthbag Expert & Chair of Mlambe School's Commitee
Aofi has lived in Chikolongo for 22 years and has two children at Mlambe school in Standards 1 and 3. Aofi again mentions the distances to travel to school as the main factor behind his continued involvement in the development of the school. When he was young he had to travel 10 kilometres each day; he ended up leaving school at 11 years old to become a farmer and has regretted this decision ever since. He puts it down to Malawi's distinct lack of educational infrastructure and believes that his children deserve better. He thinks that children as young as 5 should not be walking more than 10 kilometres each day to school, especially during rainy season. A greater emphasis must be placed on the country's education system and this is a major factor hindering Malawi's development.
Dairo Laja
Earthbag Expert
Dairo was born in Chikolongo in 1974 and has lived there every since. He has two children, one in Standard 1 and the other in Standard 2. He had a great desire to work with the project and was very happy when he was chosen to be an expert. Dairo used to be a fisherman but after surviving a crocodile's attack made a sensible career change to building! (Fishermen around the local area have constant problems with crocodiles and luckily Dairo managed to escape). He loves working as an expert and now has a great desire to teach the skills he has learnt to other Malawians in order to build a better future for the country.
