MAM hands over K18.5m school blocks

More children in the catchment area of Chowe Primary School in Mangochi are expected to enjoy their lessons at the school after Muslims Association of Malawi (MAM) on Monday handed over two school blocks, of three classrooms each, to the school.

MAM chairperson Sheikh Idrissa Muhammad said they decided to build the school blocks, which are worth K18.5 million, after noticing that some learners were attending classes under trees.

“When we visited this school in October last year, during the relief food distribution, we noticed that some classes were taking place under trees and we thought that was bad, especially during rainy seasons.

“We approached well-wishers, in the name of the Dubai Charity Association, who gave us some funds for the school; though some ungrateful people wrote them to stop giving us funds, but with God’s grace the people with sinister motives did not succeed. To the contrary, the donors pledged to give more support to the project, and also entrusted us with funds for projects in other African countries,” said Muhammad.

The MAM chairperson pledged to build teachers houses, a headmaster’s office at Chowe and other schools in the neighbourhood so that they can enroll and retain more learners. He also pledged to continue sourcing food donations in partnership with government to avert the impending hunger in the country.

Receiving the school blocks, district education manager (DEM) for Mangochi Sam Kalanda, thanked MAM for its gesture of helping government in uplifting education standards through provision of improved infrastructure.

“As government, we are impressed with what MAM is doing by constructing additional school blocks thereby increasing classrooms. We are also excited about MAM’s pledge to construct more school blocks as well as teachers’ houses, so that teachers are accommodated nearby, and a headmaster’s office,” said Kalanda.

Kalanda urged chiefs to engage their subjects to mould more bricks if they were to get and impress more well-wishers. He said one way of thanking the donors is to send more children to school.

Senior Chief Kawinga assured MAM of continued support. Muhammad is expected to face his long-time challenger, former MAM general secretary Sheikh Imran Shareef, for the position of president during MAM elections to be held this year.

The last MAM elections were held in Blantyre five years ago. n