STRUGGLE FOR EDUCATION
By: Jeff Kawzenuk & Steve Truelove (team #1)

Misango Primary School –
Namasalim, Zomba District

This is one of the Projects we are working on – Misango Primary School. Fourteen villages send their children to this school – grades 1 – 8. Children walk as far as 8 kilometers to school. Students attending school receive one meal a day through the World Food Program. The Namasalima area frequently floods during rainy seasons, suffers from massive poverty, a high rate of malaria and a 30% HIV/AIDS.
Startling Statistics:
1681 Students
9 Classrooms
8 Teachers
1 Principal
2 Working Latrines (toilets)
Few students have shoes and use the areas around the latrines for toileting – causing huge health concerns.
No desks – students sit on concrete floor
No doors and windows
Classrooms are infested with termites
No school supplies
Grade 1 – 350 students – 1 teacher
Grade 2 – 475 students – 1 teacher
Grade 3 – 340 students – 1 teacher
Grade 4 – 190 students – 1 teacher
Grade 5 – 110 students – 1 teacher
Grade 6 – 100 students – 1 teacher
Grade 7 – 76 students – 1 teacher
Grade 8 – 40 students – 1 teacher
1 text book for every 5 students
School used by community as an evacuation site during flooding
Teachers earn C$150.00 per month and pay rent for homes from the community
School has a PTA and a School Improvement Committee
Primary school is free
Secondary school – students must pay

Although small, but YES we are making a difference here.