Child Legacy NGO constructs two classroom blocks at Lilongwe school, donates uniforms

Child Legacy International (CLI) is about to finish the construction of two classroom blocks and a library at Mkanga Primary School on the outskirt of Malawi’s Capital Lilongwe and  has donated school uniform to each of the school’s 900 pupils.

The organization is also implementing a feeding program at the school which aims at providing the pupils with nutritious meals to ensure that they achieve proper mental and physical growth.

The gesture has excited learners, teachers and the surrounding community who now look forward to improved education at their school.

CIL has been working in Mkanga for 14 years now and uses its own financial resources, mostly generated from agricultural activities, to help implement its interventions in education, health, water and sanitation for the benefit of a community of at least 80,000 people focussing primarily on childcare.

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Jeff Rogers, said his organization believes in holistic and sustainable approach to tackling society’s problems.

“Our goal is to make sure that we bring more of these classroom blocks, libraries, teachers and school uniforms here. It is about ensuring standards at primary school level as we prepare the kids for secondary school,” he said.

Rogers disclosed that his organization intends to build a fully fledged secondary school near Mkanga Primary School but he was quick to say that this dream would not be realised in the near future.

“The community here is quickly growing and developing and so a secondary school is indeed inevitable. However, for now we need to focus on addressing the primary school needs,” said Rogers.

Taking his turn, Headteacher at Mkanga Primary School, Harry Chiwanga, commended CIL’s intervention, describing it as timely.

“We have inadequate infrastructure at this school which makes many of our pupils not to attend classes. Once completed, these two additional classroom blocks and a library will undoubtedly improve learning here,” he said.

Chiwanga added that the school uniforms will encourage more pupils to come to school to learn and do better in class, saying the uniforms have put all the pupils at the same level such that none of them will be looked down upon for not having a uniform as was the case in the past.

CIL also operates a community hospital and eye care centre at Mkanga to reach out to people in its health intervention.