“We Are Teachers”: a participatory video in rural primary schools

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

Over the course of three weeks, four teachers and two headmasters from Nasonjo and Matindi primary schools near Chilangoma DAPP Malawi Teacher Training College produced a video reflecting on the “experiences of teachers in Malawi, especially in rural primary schools.”

Henry Ng’ombe, a 34 year-old primary school teacher, who participated in the exercise narrates, “The video depicts the challenges, successes, the activities taking place, the initiatives teachers have, and the cooperation between teachers, the communities and other stakeholders.”

DAPP Malawi in partnership with Humana Spain recently had the opportunity to look more in-depth at the long-term results, in an innovative collaboration that it has with Open University and Catcher Media Social in the UK.

Rick Goldsmith from Catcher Media Social, who facilitated the workshop and film, says “Participatory video brings a lot of energy into a group. It breaks down some barriers, brings down hierarchies, and allows people to talk about issues in a dynamic and playful way.”

“It’s more ‘real’ and adds concrete perspective to the issues and topics that they choose to look at.”

We recommend that you go to the you-tube channel for DAPP Malawi and watch the very moving video where the teachers talk about real problems that they and the students face in the everyday and how they overcome them together with inventive and friendly solutions.

September 2016

We Are Teachers (with subtitles): A participatory video project made by rural teachers in Blantyre, Malawi

We Are Teachers: A participatory video project made by rural teachers in Blantyre, Malawi

Embassy of China Donates a Youth Center to DAPP Malawi

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

Embassy of China Donates a Youth Center to DAPP Malawi

The DAPP Teachers Training College in Dowa benefited from the construction of a Youth Center done by The Embassy of China. The Youth Center is furnished with Information and Communication Technology equipment among others for the benefit of the people around the college in Dowa.
Education is a passport out of poverty. With the appropriate skills and knowledge, people can emerge from poverty, from poor health choices and from social exclusion. The Youth Center will be crucial to provide the needed service to Malawi youths, some of whom will have their future uplifted through utilizing its services efficiently.
According to UN, literacy rates of youth in the Sub-Saharan Africa region have generally improved. Over the last two decades, rates for young literate females rose from 58 per cent to 66 per cent, compared to 72 per cent to 78 per cent for young men.
At the function to mark the official handover ceremony, The Chinese Ambassador to Malawi, Wang Shi-Ting, said the donation was made as China recognizes the importance of education to every country’s development and certainly the youth’s education hold a key necessary to increase the productive base of a country.
He said the center will contribute to serve as a recreational place for the youth in the surrounding area, while the youth at the college will use it as an education resource center. The facility is equipped with modern computers and other information and communication equipment.
The setting up of the youth center was achieved after DAPP Malawi through the Teacher Training College in Dowa approached The Embassy of China and made a request for the setting up of a youth center with specific functions of supporting the training of students and reaching out to the general youths in the community around the college.
The Embassy of China also donated a borehole, which the ambassador said will reduce water challenges that the college and the communities face, especially during the dry season. Climate change has seen some sharp changes in the rain pattern with some erratic rainfall and other times flash floods affecting Malawi’s chances of being water secure and the Teacher Training College in Dowa has been affected in the process. Moreover, the El Nino effect of warmer conditions has made it difficult for the most part of Southern and Central part of Malawi to have enough water supply.
The Embassy of China is actively supporting the education sector of Malawi as it has set its sight on constructing five community colleges with youth’s centers in the country in co-operation with the government.
DAPP Malawi see the positive support of the government of China contributing to the organization’s programs that are being implemented to support young people to acquire training skills which are vital to sustain their future lives.

September 2016

Teachers told to enhance talular in schools

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

Teachers from various primary schools in Machinga and Nsanje, have been urged to focus on teaching and learning using locally available Resources (TALULAR) in order to improve the quality of education in the southern districts of Malawi
Chilangoma Development Aid prom People to People (DAPP) Teachers Training Collage’s Deputy Principal, Martin Mitengo, said this at the opening of Talular making training, which targeted 78 teachers from Machinga and Nsanje districts, where they were imparted concrete knowledge on how to make and use Talular for use in primary schools.

 Speaking to teachers last Wednesday at the college, Martin Mitengo said teacher’s orientations on Talular production are essential to promoting good education standards in the country since learners are able to grasps the real subject matter.
“Through such trainings, they would help teachers to motivate learners to be in schools and entice those still in homes to enrol, with an intention to produce productive youths in the future,” he said.

  Machinga area leader, Kondwani Mbewe, commended organisers for the trainings, which will assist teachers to acquire tangible skills and knowledge and insist on making and using resources in the classroom situation.
“As the project targets learners from standard one to three, I ask fellow teachers to convince and guide learners in our respective institutions and make every child stay in school,” said Mbewe.
Bunnet Msasa, a participant from Ngokwe Teachers Education Zone, hailed the work that DAPP Malawi is doing  in the areas of education.
He urged the participants to show sympathy and love to the learners and make full use of Talular so that children can achieve their goals.
The two-weeklong workshop drew teachers from 39 schools in Machinga and Nsanje districts. In Machinga, it targeted teachers from Ngokwe, Chikweo, Ntaja and St Theresa Teachers Education Zones.

Local top designer, Lily Alfonso inspires youth at DAPP Mikolongwe Vocational School

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

Malawi’s celebrated fashion Icon Lily Alfonso will be working with the fashion and design course at DAPP Mikolongwe vocational training.
 Alfonso's national fashion career began when she won the Fashion Malawi Edition Fashion Designer of the year award in 2010. Since then she designed the outfits for Miss Malawi Pageant, her designs have appeared on the runways in London and she has participated in African Fashion Week
Lily Alfonso will be inspiring and advising the college’s fashion enthusiasts on a number of professional disciplines including fashion and design, business and entrepreneurship among others.
Speaking at in augural session with students at DAPP Mikolongwe  Mrs Alfonso  encouraged the students to nurture their dreams.
Alfonso said, “ You should believe in yourself and never give up omn your dreams. Everything is possible,”
The programme is supported with funds from Sympany of the Netherlands. Sympany is also supporting an initiative to scale up the provision of vocation training to the rural most  vulnerable girls through the mobile vocation workshops in the southern part of Malawi.