A visit to Namitembo

Ubwino wa amayi is a small charity run by two women who have lived in Malawi for many years. One English and one Irish, both nurses and with an interest in education, about six years ago they decided they wanted to do something to support Malawian young women to be able to improve the quality of their own lives. Mary, the Irish woman, whom I have got to know both as Zoe's landlady, and as the owner of a couple of Montessori nursery schools in Blantyre, has a home in Ireland in the same parish as a priest who spent 15 years of his life developing services to improve the lives of rural people in Namitembo in the Zomba area of Malawi. He has recently moved on to another parish, but Namitembo is full of evidence of his influence. Apparently a lot of the work has been supported by a wealthy parish in Seattle, USA as well as the village in Ireland. Anyway, Namitembo boasts a secondary school, with a library of second hand books imported from Seattle, a purpose built science lab, the like of which I have not come across elsewhere; a solidly built residence for the parish priests with associated chalets, where we stayed the night, and a trade school where students can learn carpentry, bricklaying, tailoring or computer skills. You can see that there are a lot of parallels between this project and the work of Beehive in Chilomoni. Chilomoni is an urban township setting, and Namitembo is about as rural as you can get, set at the bottom of Zomba mountain on the valley floor where it is HOT, about an hour's walk to the nearest village served by any kind of public transport and about 45 minutes drive from Zomba town. That is 45 minutes on a good day in the dry season when the dirt road has been recently graded! Both projects are Catholic, both are concerned with raising the standard of living of residents in a specified region, both are concerned to encourage independence and self development through education and learning a trade. Beehive supports a primary school, and Namitembo a secondary school. Namitembo has a flourishing Montessori nursery with Malawian staff, and Beehive is soon to open a Children's Centre with Malawian staff trained to work according to the UK Children's Centre model, adapted for local need…… Mary and Diane talked with Father Owen about their aspirations to support young women and gradually the Ubwino wa amayi project developed. The dropout rate for girls from secondary school is much higher than that for boys. The reasons for this are multi factorial, of which more later. Secondary education in Malawi is not expensive, but it is certainly not free and many families struggle to find fees for their children. For cultural reasons boys tend to be prioritized. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Diane and Mary decided to fund raise to provide school fees for girls who had been forced to drop out of secondary school for whatever reason, financial, because of pregnancy, family responsibilities, gender inequality, poverty etc. The plan was to support 75 girls. I am not sure how this figure was chosen, but think it may have been the number necessary to bring the proportion of girls in Namitembo secondary school back to 50%. There are currently 32 girls on the programme. School fees, uniform costs, school trips and essential equipment such as calculators are paid for. About a quarter of the funded girls have at least one child and their ages range from about 14 up to about 28. The older ones tend to attend night school, but whether day or night pupils they are working towards their Malawi Certificate of Secondary Education. About three years ago Mary and Diane became aware that there was a need for good quality early years education and daycare for all sorts of reasons, not least that some of 'their girls' were not attending school regularly because of the need for affordable daycare for their babies. Mary knows about nursery schools and with the cooperation of her parish in Ireland raised money to build a school and brought Irish builders, who funded themselves, over to Namitembo to build a nursery school in record time!

I was thrilled to be invited to join Mary and Diane on their monthly visit to Namitembo. We piled into Diane's car with a boot filled with luggage and goodies and accompanied by Maddie, a nineteen year old British girl who is here to see a bit of the world and get some teaching experience. The journey was filled by Mary's account of the history of the project which I have summarized above. It was a hot clear day. There is plenty of colour in the landscape at present. Although the rainy season is far from in full flood, there has been sufficient rain for everything to look pretty green. The new year's leaves have filled out on the trees and are bright and fresh. Maize planting is in full swing. In Blantyre the little plants are barely six inches high but as we drove along the Zomba road the fields became greener and the individual seedlings taller. The red of the soil deepens in colour as one gets closer to Zomba, and the moisture in the earth makes the colour still more intense. The purple of the Jacaranda has been replaced by the strident orange-red of the Flame Trees in full flower. The sky was bright blue. A few miles from Zomba we took a turn to the left and began to circumnavigate the mountain. Diane says that the road becomes dangerous in the rainy season, but it was scary enough now as we began the descent down a series of tight hairpin bends into the valley. It took about three quarters of an hour to reach Namitembo from the Zomba road. At first the dirt road was well-graded, but it got steeper, narrower and more rocky as we approached our destination. We arrived at the priests' house at lunchtime to discover that the emails confirming our visit has not been received, so we were a surprise! However we were welcomed by Lloyd, the house keeper who hurried off to make up beds for us. In true British style we were gasping for a cup of tea, but unfortunately the power had been off since eight in the morning so we had to be content with Sobo and the picnic lunch we had brought with us. Thus fortified we set off to the nursery school where the 'Ubwino girls' had been asked to stay after school for a 'focus group' session so that Mary and Diane could update themselves with the progress of the project. To begin with we were a little disappointed to find that only 17 of the 32 beneficiaries were present, but as the meeting went on the number gradually increased to 23. A register was taken, Diane took photos of the girls to help them to remember who is on the project from year to year, snacks and drinks were distributed and as the meeting went on the girls, who had been rather unnaturally quiet at first, gradually relaxed and gained the courage to contribute to discussion. Mary encouraged the girls to rearrange themselves so that all those in Form 1 were together, and so on. Then the night school girls grouped themselves separately from the day girls and hey presto, everyone was sitting with girls that she knew. Mary gave them time to discuss the answers to questions in small groups before they had to feedback to the azungus and this approach worked well, giving the girls support and boosting their confidence. Mary got them to tell what they think the project is all about and we cleared up a couple of misconceptions, for example a few people have thought that it is only for girls with babies, but this is not the case. There are all too many other barriers to access to secondary education for girls. Diane had set the girls an essay question. 'What are the barriers to accessing secondary education for girls in your local area?' The competition was open to all 'Ubwino girls' and to all pupils, both boys and girls, in Standard 1. The focus group discussed the barriers and came up with quite a comprehensive list. Mary also asked them if they had any questions about the project. The first question was to Mary and Diane, 'Why do you two women want to pay our school fees?' What a good question! Mary talked about her own experience of education and the effect it had had on her life, how she and Diane had both become nurses. She introduced me as a doctor, slight misconception here, but never mind, and Maddie as a potential teacher. She talked about independence and being an example to our children, and said that she wanted them to have similar opportunities. This met with enthusiastic applause and a cheer! Their other questions were mostly to clarify exactly what Ubwino will and will not pay for. Yes to school fees, exam fees, ID fees (I never did find out exactly what these are), one set of uniform a year and the cost of school trips, mathematical instruments and calculators. Also there are possible bursaries for higher education if good enough grades are obtained at MSCE; maybe at the local Trade School and maybe further afield. As yet no one has achieved these, but as time goes on it will certainly happen. No to school shoes, but Diane did make a promise to see if it would be possible to obtain good quality second-hand school shoes from donors in Blantyre.

The next subject on the agenda was toilets. I learned a lot about toilets in the last couple of days. One reason for absenteeism amongst girl pupils is that toilet facilities are not adequate. Especially during their period girls tend to stay at home. Upon inspection of the toilets later in the day I could absolutely understand. For 350 pupils there are two pit latrines. They are housed in a single straw hut. Two cubicles next to each other have no doors, so there is no privacy. Boys and girls use the same latrines. The toilets were basic, but are obviously maintained and kept as clean as possible. A solid concrete slab with a six-inch diameter hole covers a long drop of about 25 feet to the bottom of the pit. They were much more salubrious than the flush toilets at the Trade School next door which were filthy, smelly and without water. Mary and Diane asked the girls what sort of toilets they would prefer and there was not a single vote for flush toilets. After some discussion we decided upon four toilets for girls and four for boys. Pit latrines of the Blair ??? ventori type which have a spiral entrance judiciously placed to use the prevailing wind to take the smell up and out of the roof. These also include a mechanism which discourages flies from coming out of the pit back into the toilet by painting the roof black (flies are attracted to the light), and including an open pipe, covered with a net which attracts the flies away from the toilet but does not allow them to escape so they eventually die and drop back into the pit. Clever eh? I never thought toilet technology would be so interesting!

After the meeting we retired to the Priest's house to mark the essays and select three winners. The prizes were generous and attractive. The idea was to encourage the girls to take part in the competition and really push themselves to do well. I don't imagine that I will ever forget those essays. They were well thought out, honest and in some cases frankly shocking. Poverty was probably the number one barrier, but all the other reasons I listed at the beginning of this entry were described several times. Rape, sexual abuse of other kinds, initiation ceremonies and cultural practices came up again and again. I was shocked to note that one boy thought that one could deal with the issue of unwanted pregnancy by imprisoning 'guilty' girls for 20 years! Evidence of gender inequality in this community was obvious in every single essay whether it was written by a boy or by a girl. There had obviously been class discussion about the issues covered. Many of the essays were similar in structure and in the choice of issues covered. However it was not particularly difficult to choose the winners as only a few stood out as different or really well written. The top three prizes were won by girls in Standards 4 and 3. They received MK3000, 2000 and 1000 respectively and a large hamper of foods. The lucky three also get a trip to Blantyre to see the Sports and Social club's pantomime version of Pinocchio in a couple of week's time. I already have my ticket for the Gala Night and am looking forward to it myself. We also awarded a consolation prize of MK500 to a boy who had made an excellent start to his essay, but who had not reached any conclusions or suggested solutions to the barriers. The results were announced in assembly this morning to tumultuous applause.

Following assembly we visited the nursery school. Mary and Diane were occupied in talking to the staff and some staff training. Maddie and I visited every class, taking part in whatever lesson happened to be taking place at the time. We arrived at assembly time. The whole school, maybe 60 children, was in the courtyard garden, singing songs, marching and greeting each other. We followed one class to their room, where they settled on the bamboo mats laid out in the middle of the classroom. The lesson of the day appeared to be the days of the week. They sang and recited their way through many repetitions of rhymes using the days of the week in English. We stood in the doorway and watched for a while and then moved on to the baby room. The babies were mostly at least two years of age I would guess. Here the main lesson of the day was numbers up to 5. The teacher interrupted what she was doing to lead the children in an enthusiastic and tuneful welcome song. They also sang the 'vowel song', the one that David says he will scream if he hears it sung by pre-school children ever again! This time Maddie and I went right into the room and sat on the mat with the children. I am now used to the fact that a few more timid children will shrink away from the unfamiliar azungus, but this was not a particular issue here. I joined in with every song, rhyme and repetition that I could which seemed to draw approval from the teachers as well as some amusement. After a while it was toilet time and the whole class went off together to use the facilities. Maddie and I remained on the mat and chatted with the children as they returned one by one. We played 'Round and round the garden' and I tried out the 'Roly poly' rhyme which the children watched with some attention and laughter at the 'Ever so fast' bit, but none of them joined in with the actions. I think it was entirely new to them. Next the teacher got out some wooden tiles with sand paper numbers on them. These are classic Montessori teaching equipment, used here in a very Malawian way. The tiny tots were asked in turn whether they could pick out 'Number one', 'Number two' and so on, but there was no attempt to teach the concept of number. At least one little chap recognized each number with ease, but whether he understood what numbers mean, I have no idea.

The classrooms were all stocked similarly. There were many toys given by donors, mostly from America. There was a lot of Montessori equipment. I saw the pink tower, the knobbed cylinders, dressing frames with buttons and zips, trays with jugs and cups, the broad stair, measuring rods and so on, I am by no means a Montessori expert. Each room had a big pile of soft toys. There were musical instruments, construction sets, puzzles and many sets of wooden tiles, with numbers and letters, painted and in sand paper, culturally appropriate pictures for example of fruits, baobab trees, mud nuts, African animals and so on. I had an interesting chat with Mary about the commercial possibilities of producing similar sets of tiles for different cultures, shamrocks for Ireland, London buses and telephone boxes for England, the Taj Mahal for India, and so on. They were a good local resource, I would love a set for the Children's Centre. Each room had a large number of locally made small, low tables which were stacked around the edge of the room. I asked the teachers in the baby room if they ever used them to set out activities for the children, but was told that they are always in the same place and used for storing the children's bags etc. I can't help feeling there is a missed opportunity here. Low tables like these placed on a mat to define the work area and be comfortable for children to sit on the floor, could be used to make all sorts of activities available for children to access and explore independently. After a while we went next door to join the older children who were learning shapes, pointing at the chalked shapes on the board and identifying circle, square, triangle, rectangle and kite. The lesson moved on to the months of the year, taught through frequent repetition and song. The children seemed to thoroughly enjoy repeating the songs and rhymes. I am constantly struck by the fluidity with which African children move their bodies to dance as they sing, moving so differently from the average British child.

Around ten thirty the children received a meal of rice, with a little sugar. Often they have likuni phala (a fortified porridge) but this is difficult to get at the moment. The children sat on the floor to eat with spoons from plastic cups or plates. They managed their meals very tidily compared with their UK peers and ate the plain food with obvious enjoyment. Meals are prepared by a rota of parent helpers. Daily records are kept of exactly what the children have been given to eat, who the cooks were, whether the children enjoyed the meal etc.

I also had a look at the daily records kept by the teachers. One book for each class records the main lesson of the day, learning targets and a comment about how the lesson went. The other book contains a line for each child. Sometimes the comment is about what they know, sometimes it is about behaviour, sometimes about how the child was feeling on that particular day. I have asked many of the nurseries I have visited what records they keep about children's progress and this is the most detailed I have come across. The Head Teacher had commented to Mary that a fairly new child in the baby room seemed to be particularly bright, and when this was mentioned to me I immediately knew who they meant from my own observations this morning. Mary and I followed through every comment written about this boy since he started at the beginning of this term and it was a helpful place to begin to build up a picture of his capabilities.

I wondered when the children had the opportunity to play with all the toys and equipment displayed on the open shelves at child height in every room. We had only seen lessons where the whole class looked at the same subject together. Mary and I discussed this over coffee and upon our return I asked the head teacher. She said that the children chose toys to play with on a Friday. We went into a classroom and Mary asked the teacher to ask the children to choose a toy each and take it back to the mat. They seemed hesitant at first as if they did not know quite what to do, but soon gained confidence and returned to the mat with their choices. Some did not seem quite to know what to do with what they had chosen, One little boy with a box of Duplo soon became quite deeply absorbed in exploring what he could do with the bricks. Mary and I then moved on to the baby room to be met with the charming sight of 16 little ones each with a soft toy tied to their back with a piece of fabric, just like Mum carries them in a chitenje on her back. I took a lot of very sweet photos, but many of the children were wandering about a bit aimlessly. I guess the play value is a bit limited when your toy is tied to your back. The teacher had a big rabbit tied to her own back and a teddy under her arm. I said to her, 'You had better start breast-feeding that teddy!' Much to my amazement she immediately sat on the floor and put the teddy to her breast. The children immediately recognized what she was doing and one or two of them followed suit. A few cups, spoons and bowls, blankets, mats and so on, offered with the soft toys and zitenge and how much richer would the play experiences be? Mary took advantage of the opportunity offered to encourage her staff to offer the children more chances to choose their own activities. She told them not to worry if visitors thought that the children were not learning as they were playing but to explain that in this way they were finding out things for themselves and not simply repeating a lesson without necessarily understanding it.

Mary gave her untrained staff an intensive three-week course before the nursery opened, including many aspects of the Montessori approach. The staff members were carefully selected and they have done an excellent job, but nevertheless there are lessons here for me about the need for constant reinforcement of how to put theoretical learning into practice. Mary is only able to be at her nursery for a day or two each month but David and I will be luckier in this respect and will see our students on a daily basis and be able to support them to remember and put into practice what we have taught them.

It was lovely to spend even this very short period of time with real children. Perhaps we have been in the classroom for too long. The delay to the opening of our children's centre, although not avoidable, has been frustrating. I look forward to the opening in January.

What a pleasure it has been to get out of Blantyre and see another project, and especially one that has so many parallels with the work of Beehive. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Diane and Mary a little better and to sharing ideas and thoughts. I look forward to showing them around the Children's Centre very soon and continuing to have an interest in each other's projects.