Trinity Malawi Project

We have been working with our partnership school in Chipwepwete, Malawi, since 2015. We committed to provide a free school lunch for every child to help improve their health, wellbeing and ability to learn, and made our first trip there to volunteer the time of thirty Trinity students and staff in 2016. Since then, our work has developed into far more than just fundraising and annual visits. We have a true partnership, working throughout the year, that is mutually beneficial for staff, students and our wider community both here and in Malawi.

Aims

The reality is that many students in Malawi go to school without many of the luxuries we take for granted such as school lunches, adequate classrooms and desks, textbooks and exercise books.

We have made a commitment to provide lunch daily for each of the 750 children that attend Chipwepwete School and to improve their school infrastructure. In 2015/16 we ran a book project to furnish their library, promoting a love of reading in the next generation. In 2017/18 we fundraised to build three new classrooms at the school so that all the students could benefit from better facilities. In 2018/19 we have fundraised for funds to construct a bridge over the local river so that the children can get to school safely and the local community can benefit from getting their goods to the market. We continue to fundraise for projects such as solar lamps, exercise books and other development work at the school.

We have a team of thirty Sixth Formers and staff who visit Chipwepwete each year, running lessons for the children and taking part in building projects. Our team also works in partnership with the local community to engage with stove building, bore hole repairs and adult education, performing songs at the local prison to build relationships there. They benefit from an understanding of the world at large and an experience of the culture in Malawi.

The immediate beneficiaries are children at the school, but also by extension their families and the local community. The key factor for success is the ongoing connection with the local partner (Fisherman’s Rest) who ensure the projects are completed and maintained in between our visits. We also rely on the support of Trinity staff, students and parents to maintain our fundraising of around £15 000 per year which we donate through Hope4Malawi to these projects.

Background

We connected with Chipwepwete through a UK based charity Hope4Malawi.

Hope4Malawi was founded by Trinity parents. The charity helps schools and orphanages in Malawi provide a better life for the children in their care. The charity also works with schools in the UK, helping them to connect with children in Malawi and giving them the opportunity to make a tangible difference.

In 2015 the charity asked if we would pair with a primary school (Chipwepwete) they wanted to support and we have been supporting ever since. We carried out a recce visit in 2016 and then took our first trip.

Resources

Whilst our partnership goes beyond fundraising, it is a fundamental part of its success, and our whole school community works together to raise money to fund locally owned, sustainable projects. This year we reached a milestone in our fundraising, breaking £100,000, which has gone towards funding the free school lunch programme for over 750 children, and building three brand new classrooms complete with desks. We invested in local community programmes such as the ‘My Boy and My Girl’ health education programmes, and we are now building a footbridge over the local river. To achieve this, our parent community organise nearly new uniform sales, balls and quizzes; staff get involved with swimming competitions and cake sales (some have even run marathons and triathlons), and our whole community supports our Christmas appeal, sponsoring a child’s school lunch for £12 a year. We also helped provide a fully resourced library with donations from Trinity families. Our students organise donations of craft and sports equipment and uniform which we distribute each summer, and deliver whole-school assemblies to report to our community on the project’s progress.

Since the start of our project, 116 students and staff have gone to Malawi. Whilst there, our students share their education with the children at Chipwepwete, teaching lessons in English, small group Maths, Art, Music, and Sport. Our students develop a global perspective on development; and the children in Chipwepwete have an improved infrastructure and learning environment at school. Our staff deliver teacher-training workshops for the teachers in Malawi, covering topics such as Maths skills, classroom management, and introducing small group work. We installed resource cupboards in every classroom stocked with supplies for teachers to use in lessons.

This year, our school governor visited Malawi for 3 days to meet their local Minister for Education to share experiences of the challenges facing schools, including investment, teacher absenteeism and housing.

Our staff who have visited the school have included teaching staff and non teaching staff (our school nurse, receptionist and marketing assistant). The teachers who have returned are also trialling a WhatsApp group, where both Trinity and Malawian staff can share problems, and provide solutions, throughout the year.

Impact

Hope4Malawi regularly evaluate the impact of the project and offer an annual report to us. They have documented that since the free school lunch programme began the number of students on the school role has risen from 450 to 750 pupils. They are also working with the local partner to gather data on the difference the feeding programme makes to growth and wellbeing in the students. They also measure how many children go to national secondary school from the primary each year, and this his improved to 12 students this year, the highest amount so far.

The most recent support on our current bridge building project is below.

Progress on bridge

The bridge will enable children to get to school safely during the rainy season. Around 2/3rd of children at the primary school come from across the river. When it rains the river becomes dangerous and impassable and children stay at home, missing a considerable number of days of school each year. There is also an enormous benefit to the wider community as people will be able to get to market to buy and sell their crops and food. The impact on the community will be huge.

The bridge building is progressing well and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Currently 3 of the 4 piers are completed. This coming week the river will be diverted so that the 4th pier can be built. The frame for the walkway is being built, followed by concreting and attaching the railings.

The bridge is going to be more expensive than we anticipated for several reasons.

• Whilst Excavating a drift (ford) was built at the old bridge location so that they can cross the river in a vehicle to pick up materials. This will be an ongoing benefit for people travelling in vehicles who can cross the river when the water level is low.

• The course of the river needed to be changed more often than anticipated requiring excavators to be hired more often than budgeted.

• Fisherman’s Rest have increased the height of the bridge as it became evident that the river maximum height of the river in the rainy season is higher than originally calculated. This means that the bridge will be safer and should reduce the likelihood that the bridge is damaged when water levels are high.

• The community have been providing sand for the build, and so sand was not budgeted for. The amount of sand needed for the bridge and the secondary school is proving too burdensome for the community. To finish the bridge, some sand will need to be purchased and transported from the main road.

• The exchange rate has been severely affected by brexit and had been as low as 860 in the last few months which has affected purchasing. It is now back up to 933. Budgets were done at 940.

These factors have meant the bridge budget is now going to be £45,000 rather than the £35,000-£40,000 originally budgeted.

Pupil Involvement

Since the start of our project, 116 students and staff have gone to Malawi.

Each year a team of 26 students and 30 staff visit Malawi and organise the events through the year to raise the funds. They volunteer at numerous events through the year as well as we have detailed above.

In 2020, the team consists of 14 boys and 12 girls all in Lower 6th (16-17 years old)

Frequency

The partnership began in 2015 and there is a 3 week annual trip each July. We have planned five trips and it is set to run for as long as possible in the future. Certainly the next 2-5 years.