Since 1996, DAPP Malawi has been actively improving livelihoods and communities in need across Malawi through its social development projects.
DAPP is implementing 16 projects within education, health, agriculture and community development in 24 districts that span across the country's three regions
DAPP Amalika Teachers Training College (TTC) has been meeting with the District Education Manager (DEM) for Thyolo, Primary Education Advisors (PEAs), Head teachers and traditional leaders to brief them about student teachers from the college who are being sponsored by The Waterloo Foundation. Waterloo Foundation is an international organization that is sponsoring 26 student-teachers who are trained to teach in rural Malawi primary schools at DAPP Amalika TTC. The student teachers, 16 female and 10 male, are currently doing teaching practices in 11 primary schools which are in four education zones namely Thunga, Mpinji, Mountview and Chisawani in Thyolo district. They are expected to carry out activities that will among others encourage young girls to remain in school. The DEM Godfrey Kummbwese welcomed the development and he expressed gratitude for the efforts to that promote girls education. He commended the activities that the student teachers will carry out in the schools and pointed that students from DAPP are committed and dedicated towards supporting girls in primary schools. He said he is looking forward to visiting the schools where the 26 student-teachers are to ensure that the activities are indeed taking place.
Meeting With Traditional Leaders PTA Members And Mother Groups
Meeting With The DEM
Among activities that the student teachers will be spearheading are; maintenance of girls’ toilets and change rooms in 11 primary schools, installation of hand washing facilities, establishment of play grounds to improve the learning environments for lower class learners, garden farming in schools and conducting open days. The PEAs, Head Teachers and local leaders were also informed about the Waterloo sponsored students and they were encouraged to work with them in their education zones, schools and communities. The Waterloo Foundation aims to increase the enrolment of girls in primary schools, decrease the dropout rates and absenteeism through sponsoring student teachers that will carry out activities to support this goal. There are 64 student teachers from Amalika TTC that are currently doing teaching practices in different primary schools in Thyolo district.
DAPP Malawi through Mikolongwe Vocational School introduced an informal Shoe Making course in November 2017 to train youth and fill the gap in the shoe making industry in Malawi. According to the Deputy Principal for the School Zechariah Viano, the course is targeting the less privileged youth like orphans who meet the selection criteria. On the other hand, he said in Malawi there was only the Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA) that trained people with disabilities in shoe making hence the need to train more youth.
Students showing some of their products
Shoes made by students at Mikolongwe
“Currently there are 31 students being trained, 16 are at Mikolongwe Vocational School campus while 15 are at DAPP Mzimba TTC. They will be trained for six months but for those with outstanding performances they may be encouraged to further their studies,” he said. The course is being run with funding from Sympany of Netherlands which also supplied Mikolongwe with the training equipment. Since this is a sponsored program, the young women and men to be trained are identified from districts around the vocational school with assistance from the District Youth Offices. Apart from being equipped with the skills, the students are also introduced to entrepreneurship courses so that they can ably startup businesses upon completion of the training. Upon completion of the course, the students will be provided with startup tools in order for them to set up small scale businesses.
DAPP Malawi embarked on a tailoring program in 2016 to empower young and vulnerable women in rural areas with technical skills. The trainings take place in the four DAPP Teacher Training Colleges (TTC)s which are Chilangoma in Blantyre, Amalika in Thyolo, Dowa in Dowa and Mzimba in Mzimba district with funding from Sympany of Netherlands. Each colleges enrolls 30 students at a time who are equipped with tailoring and entrepreneurial skills. The program targets young women aged between 18 and 24 years from rural areas around the TTCs. The students are given sewing machines as a starter pack for businesses upon completion of the course. In December 2017, the Dowa TTC satellite students held an open day to showcase what they have learnt and materials they are producing. The function was graced by the National Educational Technical Program Manager from World Vision Florence Pwere who recommended DAPP for being in the forefront in implementing the sustainable development goals as well as government policies. “You are really doing a tremendous job in alleviating poverty through lasting solutions that help young vulnerable girls by creating jobs and raising their standard of living” she said.
Satelite Open Day
Children Dresses Made By Tailoring Students At Dowa
One of the beneficiaries that completed her training earlier in 2017 is Danny Dzonzi from Kagwa Msabola village, T/A Mkukula in Dowa district. She is a 4th born in a family of 10 and the only child a vocational skills certificate. Danny was trained at Dowa TTC centre during the first intake 2016. When she completed her course she had no funds to startup a business. However, due to her entrepreneurship skills which she acquired during the tailoring training she established a vegetable garden. “At DAPP we were taught not to keep our hands in the pockets hence I had to grow vegetables and the profits were enough to buy a Singer sewing machine which I did. With the machine, I have managed to buy two goats. I can no longer sleep on an empty stomach as I used to. I can make more than 40,000.00 kwacha if my local church choirs offered me a tender to saw uniforms and wedding attire,” she explained. The tailoring students at Dowa TTC have so far made petticoats, baby dresses, pencil skirt, short sleeve shirts, short trousers, and caftans. In January, the second intake students will be finalizing the training with making national wears and learning entrepreneurship as a topic.
DAPP Chilangoma and Dowa Teachers Training Colleges (TTC) have graduated 133 teachers during ceremonies that took place in the colleges on the 15 and 29th November respectively. The qualified teachers which included 91 females and 42 males were under the Initial Primary Teacher Education program.
Gracing the occasion at Chilangoma TTC was the South West Education Division Inspector of Schools Christopher Ziba who recommended DAPP Malawi for the efforts in training rural primary schools teachers which is a remedy for reducing the pupil teacher ratio in public primary schools.
A Graduate Receiving Certificate During The Ceremony
Qualified Teachers After The Graduation
He hailed DAPP TTCs for its teacher training program that trains a teacher to be humanly motivated, demanding responsibilities as well as spearheading community building efforts in areas around their schools.
The Inspector of Schools called on the fresh graduates to be entrepreneurial and at the same time he pointed out that doing businesses as teachers should not compromise their work but they have to prioritize the learners and avoid businesses during school hours.
In Dowa, the guest of honour was the Coordinator in the Department of Teacher Education Development Mary Chirwa. She recommended DAPP Malawi for the teacher training program that is complementing the government of Malawi’s efforts in training primary school teachers.
“We need to train almost 8,000 teachers per year if the teacher pupil ratio is to normalize but we cannot manage to do that on our own as Government,” said Chirwa.
Team Of Graduands In Choir Mood
A Graduating Teacher Explaining About Exhibitions To Visitors
She therefore called on the graduating teachers to go out and make a difference and be able to leave marks in the communities they will be working in by being exemplary.
The two graduation ceremonies were spiced up by exhibitions and performances by the graduating students, student teachers and community members.
DAPP Teacher Training Colleges train teachers for rural Malawi primary schools.
To date, DAPP has graduated 2229 teachers from its four TTCs namely; Chilangoma, Amalika, Dowa and Mzimba.
DAPP Mikolongwe Vocational School (MVS) clocked 20 years of empowering youth in the year 2017. The 20 years anniversary celebrations took place on 20 October at Mikolongwe Vocational School campus in Chiradzulu district. The celebrations were held under the theme “Skills and Knowledge for Youth, Key to Socio-economic Growth” and were graced by the Minister of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Honourable Francis Kasaila who recommended DAPP for the skills and technical trainings which enable youth to be self-reliant and venturing into entrepreneurship. The celebrations were spiced up by performances by the students at Mikolongwe which included fashion show, storytelling, choir performance, and sporting activities like netball and football as well as the awarding of a gift to 11 outstanding students by CMOS Electronics.
Awarding Of Gifts To Outstanding Students
Students Showcase Some Of The Fashion Designs They Have Produced
DAPP Mikolongwe Vocation School opened its doors in 1997 at the Providence Industrial Mission in Chiradzulu district. The institution moved its campus to the current location in Traditional Authority Likoswe in the same district in 1999. The school is registered with Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET) Authority under the Ministry of Youth, Labour, Sports and Manpower Development and offers both formal and informal training. To date, Mikolongwe Vocational School has trained over 8500 youth in various trades, who are contributing to the social and economic development of the country. The courses being offered at the institution include; Agriculture, Beauty Therapy and Hairdressing Salon, Plumbing and Wash Technician, Bricklaying, Financial Accounting, Shoe Making, Electrical Installation and Renewable Energy, Carpentry and Joinery, Fabrication and Welding, Community Development, and Textiles and Fashion Designing. DAPP Mikolongwe Vocational School equips youth with technical skills and knowledge for them to become productive youth, be able to secure employment or become self-reliant by starting up small scale businesses thereby alleviating poverty
Students Showcase Some Of The Fashion Designs They Have Produced
The Minister Of Labour Youth Sports And Manpower Development Appreciting Some Of The Products Produced By Students At Mikolongwe Vocational School
