Seeking Out Prospective School Sites
Our scouting trip to Malawi
Jamie Proctor and William Barkley have been out on a preliminary visit to Malawi. They met up with the HELP Malawi director, Wells Sakala. Together with Wells, they visited some of the existing HELP projects in the Liwonde region. They visited Nathomba primary school, which was built by HELP and the local community. Jamie described the school as “a model primary school created in such a way that it has both community ownership and very high standards”.
Will at Nanthomba primary school
They then went and visited two potential sites for the new primary school. It was decided that the Mlambe site was the best as the project had a huge amount of community support. Will and Jamie met all the local residents at a big village meeting, where the local chief and Jamie delivered speeches. At the site there is already a junior primary school, with one classroom block. The school block can be seen below and is the only permanent construction for the 201 pupils. Due to the condition existing school, the need in the area is very obvious and acute. By building a full primary school here it will drastically improve the education in the existing junior primary school, take pressure off the over enrolment at Nathomba and allow other children to access education for the first time.
The solitary school block at Mlambe
Jamie, Will and Wells then went and met the district commissioner and the ministry of Education to talk through their plans. We are very happy to report that both pledged their full support for the project and wished it every success. They also agreed that there is an extreme need in the area and commentated on their admiration for the work HELP has already done in the region.
Will with some of the local kids
Jamie on safari at Camp Mvu, roughly 30 minututes from Mlambe school
Jamie and Will would like to thank Wells for all his help and look forward to a fantastic partnership with HELP.
The Mlambe Project Team
