Sounds from the Ground: Chankhalmo School, Malawi, Part 2
Part 2 - November 2009
Welcome back to BWEYA – a small village in the Kasungu region of Malawi. As you know from last month, buildOn has been building schools in this African country since 1993. You have already learned about the signing of the Covenant. Let’s take one step back and learn about the commitment the community made to build the school even before they gathered to sign the covenant.
The Task: Making and Transporting Bricks
buildOn methodology is effective because it promotes self-reliance, a key component of sustainable development, and it ensures that community members are empowered to take ownership of pursuing their education and other development goals, well beyond the time of their partnership with buildOn.
Before the construction of the school begins, parents from the villages around Chankhalmo School came together to make bricks for the school. The bricks are made from clay found in the earth and then fired in homemade kilns, which are scattered in the surrounding villages. In all, the community members made more than 70,000 bricks, which had to be transported by hand to the school construction site.
The community members employed various ways of getting the bricks to the site. The most effective way was to create a human chain and pass the bricks from one person to another. One day, there were more than 100 people passing the bricks that would make up the walls for the school!
Meet: Chisomo (Grace) Mwele
Muli Bwanji – Greetings in Chichewa, the language spoken in the Kasungu region of Malawi! Chisomo Mwele is a 19 year-old mother of one child. Her baby’s name is Manuel Mwele and he is just 20 months old.
Chisomo is a shy young woman who was fortunate to attend school up until the 6th grade. When asked why she was standing in the hot sun passing bricks with her baby strapped to her back, she said, "I want him to be educated so he can help with the future of this village. If someone is educated they can get a better job and help others."