Expand in Malawi

The drive down to Malawi was completely painless, and went without a hitch. We crossed the border with considerable ease on the Sunday morning, and after stopping off for lunch quickly, we headed straight towards Nkhata Bay, and our partner charity ‘Expand’. The journey once more was incredible, with Lake Malawi in full view as we climbed mountains, and evaded road side baboons. The road surfaces were good, and it wasn’t long before we were in Mzuzu, and it was time to veer off the main road towards the Chisala School.

Mr Banda was roadside waiting for us, as the roads went from tarmac to dust track, and after a short, and quite incredible drive through the mountains we spotted him. Chisala school had been funded, and supported by the ‘Build Malawi’ project in 2008, in conjunction with ABC (Action for the Benefit of Children). Tanya Clarke, who has been my contact person, was the Project Manager, and now she has developed the NGO ‘Expand’ to help continue the work of the initial project.

In essence, what the Build Malawi project did, in 2008, was to assist the local community, in an extremely poor and remote area of Malawi, to build a new government primary school. It was commented to us on several occasions how difficult it had been before for some children, especially the younger ones, to get to school, as not only did they have to walk between five to ten miles each day, but also the rainy season complicated things further, with many paths blocked. As a result of this, often children didn’t begin school until the age of 8 or 9, or even older, and indeed many didn’t come at all. The difficulties in this respect had meant that very few members of the community had a chance to directly observe the benefit of school, and with very small numbers going on to secondary education, their reservations were understandable.

Now, admittedly, we struggled a little bit at first, to fully understand and decipher the issues facing the community before, and the benefit now. The school was remarkably built, with solar panels powering everything, from the water pump, which gave a good clean water supply, to the electricity, which wasn’t a given in several other schools. The hygiene levels were good, and with a fully stocked library, the project had definitely succeeded in building an excellent environment for learning. The questions we had, however, were based upon the issue of walking to school. Both Phil and myself walked to our primary schools, and in my case certainly the school was far from perfect. We had some classrooms in temporary trailers, the school was very often vandalised, teacher shortages meant we had to combine year groups, and the general atmosphere was pretty drab. We did, however, have computers, and resources, and more than enough teaching aids. It seemed, in perhaps the same way that religious buildings are often ludicrously over elaborate, that perhaps their was far too much attention on the building in which we learn, and not the depth of the learning itself.

Phil and myself began to discuss this issue. It sat uncomfortably with us both, and we weren’t quite sure what to make of it. Had our grandparents been here to here the complaints about walking to school, they would have given them a good kick up the back side, and told them to get on with . This isn’t of course the beginning and end of my opinion. I am by no means suggesting that they are making a fuss over nothing. It was just the method. Would it not be possible to spend money on a cycle to school scheme, supplying bikes and supervisors to assist younger children. How about some other form of public transport? Would it be possible to fund roaming libraries, to supplement schools in a certain area? My mind was running, and then it clicked.

What Chisala School does, simply, is give pride to a community. It becomes (perhaps like a church), the focus point of a village, and something they look up to. It gives an inherent importance towards education (like perhaps religion), and helps to encourage parents and children alike to make full use of it. It has reaped positive results, and some, very few, but some have gone on to secondary education, and thus the community can directly see the tangible benefits of education. It is a young project, and maybe after a few generations, the change it has brought will be even more apparent, but already it seems that perhaps education, and knowledge are becoming valued entities. I hate to continue this rather self fulfilling analogy too much, but perhaps education, like religion in the past, is becoming the focus and the foundations of rural African society. I myself am agnostic, and see little reward in organised religion. Perhaps over the coming years, we will see the church buildings turned into schools, and education, knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, will replace religion as the key component of progression and development. Personally, I hope so.

So, in the end we left semi-satisfied, not with the project itself, which was excellent. The initial building process, and the manner in which it was carried out was incredibly amicable. Community involvement was extremely high, creating a collaborative effort between donor and beneficiary. The pride of the community had been enhanced by this, and also the progression of the school, with new toilet blocks, sports fields, vegetable plots etc, were a direct result of this approach. I am confidant that this approach with ‘Expand’ will continue to aid the progression of education, helping it to further become of core importance within rural communities in Africa. The issues, and there are issues, are largely on the higher, deeper, and more long-term level.

Again we see an issue with the progression of children from primary to secondary education. I don’t know the statistics exactly, but I would say, from my experience that it is not even nearly 10%, certainly in rural areas, and this is really poor. It’s not just in Malawi, but in several countries we have passed through. Secondary education in the UK, and I presume much of Europe is compulsory, but many children even with an incredible urge to study, and with good levels of achievement at primary school, simply are not able to go. It’s depressing. I would quite happily tomorrow, kick out every half-arsed English secondary school student (of which I was one) out of their schools and replace them with these children, in my opinion to the benefit of everyone. This of course isn’t an overly progressive solution, but a solution all the same. Knee-jerk reactions aside, more does need to be done, and certainly more of a focus on secondary education is desperately in need.

After this project, at the end of September, I will begin work with EEF, who I spoke about previously, and who do aid children with secondary education. Their model is simple. It is a simple expansion of one man’s faith and inspiration, from one boy’s struggle and potential. IT could so easily (relatively), be employed as a concept in other countries, and indeed other areas of Ethiopia. The only other large, and established project, I am personally aware of, is the Starehe Schools in Nairobi, which again I have already talked about. It is understandable, sure, that initial focus, in respect to education in Africa, was one of ‘lets please get these poor, rag bearing, muddy faced children into a school’, but that is simply not it anymore. We have become, or at least are becoming to view Africa, and Africans as the equals that they are. No longer is it enough to help quash our guilt by helping them to speak English, giving them a place to make friends and to act like children, and perhaps enabling employment in the tourism sector. It is about time that the charity sector, grew some balls, and realised that it is now, that these children deserve the opportunities that we all have. Not, to go to primary school, and then surrender to a life of subsistence farming, or to learn English and enter the proverbial bull ring of tourism, but to be allowed to dream, and have at least a small chance of achieving them.

I’m an idealist, true, but not an unconsidered ‘lets change the world now’ idealist, but rather one who believes that only be starting with the end goal in sight will it ever be achieved. Models like EEF, enable a few (approximately 40) girls and boys, each year to get the secondary education they deserve, which includes the resources and the environment to study at home. It’s not a huge amount, but the focus on the most vulnerable and highest achieving segment of society enables the impact to be much larger, and the success rights after six years have proved this. Now, three of their students have gone on to achieve full scholarships at what is arguably the most resource rich, and progressive further education facility in the world, the New York University, in Dubai. All of the other students to complete the process have gone on to further education, and another couple recived offers from American Universities. It’s a start, but at least it’s a completed vision. It is now up to the individual students, and the governments of the countries to take things a step further.

The Ethiopian government, like many others take control over further education to a ludicrous extent. In Ethiopia, you don’t get to choose your field of study (unless of course daddy is rich), and 70 % of all students are forced to study Engineering. You could call it shortsighted, but it’s an awful lot more than that, it’s outright stupidity. A nation’s progress is achieved by; writers, scientists, philosophers, musicians, sportsmen, engineers, politicians, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and many more credible professionals. How is a nation of Engineers going to successfully aid development, with the support of privileged politicians looting more of their natural resources? It makes no sense. In Zambia, I saw an advert for applying to University, in which it stated that a non-refundable fee of $60 was needed with the application, regardless of whether the application is successful or not. Now, most Zambians can’t afford $60, let alone the course fees that they would be left with if they were successful.

So, in essence, in an attempt to cut short a potentially never-ending barrage of ranting, there are several things that need to be addressed. Firstly NGOS, charities, volunteer organisations, aid workers etc need to, on a much higher level, have real change in mind. It is no longer enough to gently push people in the right direction. We are here, that much is concrete. We are here, because currently we live in an overly privileged society, and others the opposite. We are not here as a colonial presence, or because we know better, but because we are offering a hand of support to others, who often through no fault of their own, currently need it. But that hand of support needs to come from a strong arm, with a strong mind, and a will to attribute to real change. It needs to be willing to fight to achieve goals, and to stand up to any obstacles that stand in their way. It also needs to aim to one day be able to let go, and this should be a part of the process from the start. The second thing is much more complex, but not altogether impossible. Governments need to be pushed, they need to be prodded, their doors need to be worn thin where knuckles have knocked against them. Communities need to be supported in this, and encouraged to stand up for their rights. Ex-pats (as they are rather anarchically referred to), also have a responsibility to stand up to the powers that, whilst they are living and working in such countries, represent them also. Corruption, greed, selfishness, ignorance, and elitism are not accepted aspects of African politics; they are a vile intoxication, which can be eradicated.

Another key approach, which I have not yet mentioned is that of cooperation. The concept of ‘Patchwork World’ and the ‘Real Way Down’ project, were built on the foundations of the word. The ability for organisations to work together to achieve shared visions and goals is of upmost importance. It provides steps of progression and development, and can thus successfully see the impact climb from the minimum to the maximum. Each and every charity that supports a community, is merely a step on a ladder. The only way real change, and real progression can be achieved is by combining this step with further steps. Some make up rungs on the ladder, and others support to hold it up, and to aid the ascent. Charities need to work together, not only to increase the scope of their influence, but also to discover where the gaps lie, and thus create a full picture, a jigsaw, with pieces missing.

Anyway, regardless of all the above, the scenery had turned Phil into the happiest man alive!