Machinga and Dowa district officials visit DAPP Project
The District Coordinating Committee members for Machinga and Zomba districts visited DAPP Malawi’s Child Aid project to appreciate what the project is doing in their two districts. Child Aid project officers organized the exercise in order to present to district officials the achievements that the project has made.
The activity took place from 19 to 21 December 2017 and was attended by officials from the following departments; District Environmental Health Office, District Water Development Office, District Social Welfare Office, District Forestry Office, District Agriculture Development Office, School Health and Nutrition, Director of Planning and Development, WASH and Community Development Office.
DAPP partners from different organisations and projects in the two districts also took part in the exercise and these included; Red Cross Society, Njira Project, Save the Children ASPIRE, Heart to Heart, Action Aid, Amref and ONSE Project.
The District Environmental Health Officer (DEHO) for Machinga expressed satisfaction with the project activities following after observing that communities are practicing hygiene and sanitation. He said the project’s success was evident with children having basic information about the importance of using toilets and washing hands when asked.
The DEHO said he will invite the National Open Defecation Free Task Force to come and verify Traditional Authority Liwonde for an Open Defecation Free status.
Led by the Village Action Group Committee members, the visiting officials randomly sampled 10 households in 9 villages to see if they had sanitary facilities. The facilities include; toilets with drop hole covers, tippy taps, dishracks, firewood saving stoves, rubbish pits and clothes hanging lines
To spice up the visits, community members organised plays, poems and traditional dances which were informative as well as entertaining.
DAPP Malawi implemented the Child Aid project in Machinga and Zomba district since January 2017 and the project is expected to end in December same year.
