Light of Hope School opens at Dzaleka Refugee Camp

Ministry of Homeland Security Principal secretary Harry Kawenje has stressed government’s commitment to providing good shelter and facilities to refugees to enable them enjoy their human rights.

He made the remarks when he officially opened Light of Hope School on Thursday built by Moravian Church at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa.

Kawenje said: “The school will not only benefit the refugees, but also people from outside Dzaleka Refugee Camp.

“Government cannot accomplish much on its own; hence, the need for support from stakeholders such as Moravian Church. On its part, government will provide more teachers.”

In a separate interview, one of the donors from Germany, Bettina Nasgowitz, said she was pleased that more children will now attend school at the camp.

She said: “We chose Dzaleka because we have a church here and leaders reached out to us that a lot of children had no opportunities in pursuit of education.

“When we visited the place, we saw the need and engaged the church’s board and other well-wishers who embarked on the modern school.”

Nasgowitz invited other stakeholders to build more classrooms.

Traditional Authority  Msakambewa said he was happy that more children within and outside the camp will be accessing education.

The project has been funded by different well-wishers and partner organisations, including Fly and Help from Germany, Ehmann Foundation, HMH, ZZG and Evangelical Mission and Ehmann Foundation of Switzerland through a development friend and partner Gehard Haag.

The school opened on September 16 last year and is the second biggest government-aided primary school at Dzaleka.