2021- a New Year, New Challenges!
Seibo- a Not-For Profit Organisation- registered in Japan & Malawi is committed to providing school meals for the poorest of the poor. Last year was challenging and while 2021 has just begun the challenging times show no sign of abating. Primary schools in Malawi did open as scheduled on January 4th but due to fears of the virus spreading further they closed days after opening. As a result the entire school calendar has been adjusted and for now we understand that the first semester will end in May as opposed to March 2021. Even if schools reopen in the coming weeks the government is unlikely to allow school-feeding to begin until such a time as the situation is deemed safe.
What now for Seibo?
In cooperation with the Government of Malawi and with help from partners such as the Malawi Red Cross we continue to ensure all children attending Seibo-partner schools receive 5kg take-home packs. In a normal year this amount of food would have covered the learner’s school meals for an entire semester. Under current circumstances an average food pack is not lasting more than 2 x weeks coinciding with what is known as the ‘lean season’ in Malawi- a time of food shortage in less eventful years. Needless to say the cost of food has grown. While we are privileged to be able to directly assist children in Malawi by means of your donations we must ask once more- if you can help, please do! Your donations will be used to purchase food which will go direct to the children.
2021 Primary School Schedule (Tentative)
1st Semester: 4th January- 7th May
2nd Semester: 24th May- 13th August
3rd Semester: 30th August- 19th November
Standard 1 & 2: 7:30-10:15 am
Standard 3 & 4: 10:00-14:20 pm
Standard 5-8: 10:00- 16:20 pm
Seibo’s January Distribution
From the 19th-22nd of January with the assistance of 36 x Seibo/Malawi Red Cross Volunteers and sm additional 100+ community volunteers we began food distribution to Seibo-partnered primary schools in Northern Malawi. Using donations received from Japan, the UK & Bulgaria we loaded 3 x trucks with a total of over 70,000 kgs of Likuni Phala (foodstuff). The food was packed in 5kg take-home packs and distributed as follows:
– 61,960 kgs was distributed among 11,974 registered Primary School children. Parents were required to bring their child’s report card as proof of registration or were referred to school authorities for confirmation.
– 645 kgs was distributed among 129 x community volunteers who made themselves available to aid the distribution
– 3,740 kgs was donated to the Malawi Red Cross to aid households recently displaced by heavy rains in Mzimba
– 3,600 kgs was donated to the children’s ward of Mzimba Hospital whom we assisted last year in ensuring a hot meal for young patients.
– 800 kgs was donated to a local CBCC (Kurya Ndiko Uku) with whom Seibo have a working relationship and who run a nursery locally in addition to carrying out valuable work in the community.
While overall the distribution ran smoothly it was conducted during a period of heavy rains and an estimated 885 kgs of food stuffs was damaged due to a combination of rain damage or inadequate storage facilities at the primary schools being used as makeshift distribution centers. In some schools there was also an issue with accurate recording of student enrolment but overall the team were able to reflect on a job done well- a job we could only carry out with your help. Thank you!