Ministry Of Education Hail DAPP For Training More Female Primary School Teachers

The Ministry of Education has commended Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Malawi for taking lead in increasing number of role models for girls by training more female primary school teachers in their Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs).

DAPP Malawi Supports LL Demonstration Primary School Special Needs Classroom Project

Special Needs classroom used to be a toilet

Head teacher Mijiga receiving donation from DAPP

Development Aid from People to People (DAPP Malawi) has over the weekend donated bales of clothing to Lilongwe Demonstration Primary School in Area 25 as way of helping the school complete with the construction of the Special Needs Resource Classroom.

Mzumazi FP School Expect No Dropouts Due To DAPP School Feeding Programme

Mzumazi FP school in Lilongwe rural 

Malawi, is a country where shortage of food and hunger is a perennial problem, school meals would make a big difference both on reducing malnutrition, promoting development and make children stay in school.

DAPP Hygiene Programme Eradicates Diarrhea At Mlumbwira Primary School

“We used to register 15 diarrhea cases in a month but now we rarely hear that a learner has contracted the sanitation related disease.” Recollects Ms. Odeta Beleko a standard 3 teacher at Mlumbwira full primary school in the area of Traditional Authority Chitukula in Lilongwe

Soya Milk Making Supports Nutrition of Kalumo Village Families

Agnes making milk from
soya beans 

Before 2015, the family of Agnes Kaliati from Kalumo village of Traditional Authority  Kalumo in Ntchisi could not afford milk. It was too expensive and the family could only manage to drink milk once or twice in a year.

Soya Milk Improving Leaner’s Turnout At Masangano Junior Primary School

Masangano junior class pupils receiving Soy Milk from
one of the mother group leaders

Masangano Junior Primary School in Malumo village, T/A Malumo in Ntchisi district had been experiencing number of school dropouts and this worried the head teacher for the school Mr. Andrew Kalikuni.

According to Mr. Kalikuni, at the beginning of 2015-2016 academic calendar, the school registered 106 pupils for class of Standard 1, but on average he said only 50 to 60 students were coming to school and attending classes.

DAPP In Service Training Programme Promoting Innovation

Teachers now use TALULAR
(Teaching And Learning Using Locally Available
Resources)

Mrs. Carolyn Kafodya Linje a teacher for standard 2 at Mzumazi Primary School in Lilongwe rural has been teaching for 19 years now. Like many other primary school teachers, her every day teaching routine had been reading in front of the pupils and writing on the board and nothing more.

Visual Learning Excites, Makes Learners Understand Things Very Fast

Lilongwe Primary School Demonstration Teacher
using real visual materials in class 

Children learn fast in an environment where they are able to visualize information. They understand better and return information when ideas and words are associated with images.

LL City Mayor Commends DAPP TTC For Cross-border Education Tour Programme

Mayor Chaponders posing with DAPP students 

Students will travel by buses 

Lilongwe City Mayor, has commended DAPP Malawi Teacher Training College (DAPP TTC) for being the first teacher school in the country embarking cross-border education tour programme for its students.

His Worship, Willie Chapondera made the remarks in Lilongwe on Friday at a send off ceremony of Mzimba DAPP TTC students who are among a total of 354 first year students from four DAPP TTC’s who are on their three months education tour to some African Countries.

The first year students from all four DAPP TTC compasses are now spread across the country visiting various districts for three weeks beginning 1st March this year, and will leave the country in two weeks time for Zambia, Botswana and return through Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Chapondera

Speaking to Mzimba students who are visiting Lilongwe and other districts, His Worship Chapondera said he was pleased to note that DAPP TTC has included international field trips for the students.

"Education tours like this one are very important and must be encouraged because they assist learners come into direct contact with a different environment or even a new culture or language.” He said

He mentioned that educational trips stimulate learning beyond what textbooks can provide to the learning environment and has also encouraged the traveling students to make the most of the trip as well as carry Malawi flag wherever they go.

“It is very encouraging that DAPP is taking these students to various countries. We know that these students will gain a lot of knowledge within this three months period because they will be sharing experiences with other students as well as observing and learning about other things also" Said Chapondera later in an interview

Nozipho

Partnership Officer for DAPP Malawi, Nozipho Mguquka, said DAPP introduced this tour programe in 2013 as part of the first year students training called Crossing the Rubicon. She emphasized that these tours are very important because students are offered opportunity not only just to travel to Southern African countries but as well learn different things including on economic development, traditions, education, political systems and the basic facts about the countries.

“At DAPP Teachers Training College we appreciate the importance of educational tours and this is why we always make sure that we organize tours to other countries in order to give our students exposure.” said Mguquka

Some of the students meeting with Mayor 

Mguquka said these tours are helping in academic performance of students and that through experiences and knowledge learn from such trips some who completed their studies at DAPP have introduced various initiatives including adult literacy education to rural communities they are working as primary schools teachers.

Among others, she also indicated that the 354 students will travel by buses and will visit historical sites, learn about countries they are visiting and share experiences with other schools.

DAPP Malawi has four primary school Teacher Training Colleges; Amalika, Chilangoma, Dowa and Mzimba.

DAPP Malawi Mobilize Communities To Plant 38,000 Trees In Three Districts

Members of community taking part in
Tree planting 

As rainy season continues, DAPP Malawi has already planted a total of 38,000 trees in Mzimba, Chiradzulu and Blantyre districts.

DAPP Malawi Project managers and project leaders in the three districts mobilized the community and planted 38,000 trees in order to combat climate change and improve agricultural yields by improving soil fertility.

“The tree planting exercise was done together with community members in the areas that DAPP Malawi has projects which in turn create structures that care for the trees.” said DAPP Malawi Partnership Manager Charlotte Danckert

The institution has since encouraged Malawians to plant trees this rainy season because at the moment the landscape in Malawi has experienced a vast rate of deforestation mainly due to population growth. 

“The population has increased pressure on the environment as the demand for wood for construction of houses, fuel for energy and business infrastructure. So in order to achieve the targets in the initiative our project managers and leaders also sensitized community on the dangers of climate change and how it is affecting their agricultural yields.” Said Danckert

According to Danckert the organization supports with extension services micro committees to monitor the implementation of the project.

DAPP Clocks 20 Years With Life Changing Programs

DAPP country director 

A local NGO, Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) has celebrated 20 years of existence with more success stories from beneficiaries who are enjoying range of programmes being implemented by the organization.

At the commemoration event marking 20 years of its existence held in Lilongwe, beneficiaries of programmes related to agriculture and food security, environment, health, vocational training and community development had pavilions showcasing what they learn and benefits from such programmes.

Joyce Kalima: benefited from Agriculture
Programe by DAPP

Joyce Kalima a member of Gilevulo Farmers Club in Lumbadzi, said Farmers Club Programe from DAPP has enormously improved economic state of her family. She said this is because she was trained on good farming practices that have enabled her to produce more yields from her garden and earn good income after selling some range of produce from her garden. 

“Apart from the fact that food security status in my family has been improved, DAPP programme has also empowered me economically because I now can support my family” she said.

Other beneficiaries explaining to participants

“DAPP organized us to be in groups. We were trained on various farming skills including techniques on conservation farming which focus on the use of organic manure, use of pothole for cropping with good plant spacing, planting of vertiver grass to control soil erosion and animal husbandry.

Am very thankful for DAPP, because we were also linked to buyers for some of our produce, and we were encouraged to join Village Saving Loan groups, and practice hygiene and sanitation as well as construction of firewood saving stoves.” Explained Kalima

From DAPP programme now Kalima said she is able to pay school fees for her child at Secondary School and she also build a nice house because she is earning better income from small scale faming through skills from DAPP. 

Lisbeth Thomsen

Speaking in an interview, Country Director for DAPP, Lisbeth Thomsen said some of the major highlights for 20 years has been the contribution to the education, health, food security and community development.

According to Thomsen within the two decades, DAPP has established four Teacher Training colleges which has produced over 2000 Primary School Teachers and establishment of vocational school which has trained more than 7 thousand youths in more than ten skills offered by the school.

She also disclosed that DAPP has worked with over 70 thousand small scale farmers through Farmers Clubs on increasing food security, worked with more than 1.4 million Malawians in programmes that focus on reducing spread of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria as well as reached to over 50 thousand families in order to improve the lives of children.

Charlotte from DAPP interacting with some
participants at the commemoration

“I think over the 20 years, many people have benefited from the programmes and all the programmes have been implemented in close collaboration with Government of Malawi both at central level and local level. And also the big support we have had from various partners, our Donors but also through the selling of the second hand clothes which has been the big source of income throughout the years.” Said Lisbeth Thomsen 

Looking ahead, she said DAPP wants to increase its efforts in promoting social and economic development through its number of programmes. 

“There will be many more products to come, much more to do, many more good teachers to be trained, many more farmers who can be food secure and many more children who have a god life and good health that’s what we want” 

DAPP country manager added; “DAPP Malawi we don’t see ourselves as typical NGO, we are here to stay as long as they need as there. And we are that way, shoulder to shoulder with the people of Malawi to improve the lives of people most in need.”

DAPP began in 1995, its programs sapn all the regions of Malawi and benefiting over one million people annually.