Update: as of 6 May 2020, schools in Malawi have been closed for over six weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. If you would like to support the staff of the school and its work at this difficult time, please visit our coronavirus appeal page.
Borehole completed
We are delighted to see that the school’s new borehole is now up and running. We thank Alleyn’s School Parents Association for providing these funds. The borehole should provide a vital year-round source of water for use on crops and for washing. The school has a mains water supply but it’s expensive, so the borehole should pay for itself in water bill savings within 2 years. The mains water is often cut off for many days at a time during the dry season when Malawi’s sole power station, a hydroelectric one, does not generate sufficient power for the country’s needs.
Maize crop destroyed by floods
The school’s feeding programme continued up until nationwide school closures due to the coronavirus in March. The aim is for the school to grow as much as possible of its crops, and the gardens on the school site produced harvest of maize and bananas, among other items, in February. Unfortunately, the school’s main field for crops was flooded in March, destroying the main maize crop. This was a hard blow after army worms destroyed the maize crop the previous two seasons. The school is diversifying its crops in response to these issues, but maize is still a staple ingredient.
In the video above, the school's President Gertrude Banda shows the damage to the crops. We are grateful for the support of LFT Charitable Trust and the BUPA employee fund for supporting the school's feeding programme.
New desks make lessons more enjoyable for the learners
56 new desks have been built by local carpenters; we thank Alleyn’s School Parents Association for providing the funding for this. 24 desks remained to be built at the time of our volunteer Charlotte’s visit to the school in February. This avoids learners having to sit on the concrete floor for lessons, and is vital to their well being and for enabling the students to fulfil their academic potential.
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