Dear Seibo Supporters,
Welcome to the 5th Seibo Activity Report tracking the progress of school feeding at primary schools in the north & nursery schools in the south of Malawi. Malawi has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late with the highest number of people facing severe hunger in all of Southern Africa. Your donations are therefore much needed & have enabled us to grow to 40 nursery schools and put plans in place to feed at more primary schools for the beginning of the new school semester.
The World Food Programme has announced that Malawi will require the “largest humanitarian response ever in the country’s history”. We thank you for being part of that response with Seibo.
Nursery School Updates:
Feeding Shelters Stationed at 40 x Nurseries
In addition to the 34 nurseries announced previously August saw an additional 308 children being offered the safety net of a hot meal at school. The nurseries are profiled on our website and are; Tawina CBCC, Kachimera CBCC, Misuku CBCC, Makapwa CBCC, Atamandike 1 and Atamandike 2 nursery schools.
See: https://www.seibojapan.or.jp/news/?la=en
The Seibo Kids
To date 43 Seibo Kids receive nursery care completely free of charge and many are orphans or particularly vulnerable children. Meet the latest recruit to join the Bachi Nursery!
Name
Mayamiko Mwanyula
Age
4.5 years
Month
Weight
Height
MUAC
29th July’16
19kg
106.6cm
16.1cm
Primary School Updates:
Kaphuta Zone Primary Schools
The school term for primary school students begins on the 5th of September. As of the 18th of August the Kazomba Primary School which we have been involved with since April still has a stock of Japanese rice flour amounting to 3,548 kgs. For the new primary schools to be added in September however we had to pre-deliver all that was needed in August including the fuel-efficient rocket stoves, mugs, food in the form of “phala”, hand-washing drums, basins, stock-books, etc. All of this is made possible by your kindness!
The schools & communities in question have built feeding shelters during the summer break in anticipation of feeding starting and include Kabuku, Matewu and Cham’ngulube Primary Schools.
Kabuku Primary School
580 kgs of food (phala) was delivered in August to feed an estimated 360 children plus at this primary school. Kabuku’s kitchen shelter was erected by the school and its surrounding community. We look forward to sending you updates!
Monthly Milestones
6 new nurseries in Chilomoni were added to operations in August, making a total of 40 Seibo nurseries in southern Malawi reaching approx 1,600 under-6 year olds
Preparations put in place to establish school kitchens at 3 x primary schools in the northern Malawi’s Mzimba District namely Kabuku, Matewu & Cham’ngulube schools
Messages
About Kabuku Primary School “The school has a good kitchen now and a store room too… also water is not far”
– Fiskani Mbale
Future Challenges
Water Quality
With your donations we have expanded our reach into more rural areas of Malawi.
As a result we have encountered the challenge of ensuring schools and nurseries not only have access to water but also ensure that the water used in cooking is safe.
In some areas this has resulted in our staff handing out extra buckets to facilitate cook-volunteers getting water from a safe location. In some rare instances we have also had to hand-out Water Guard, a chlorine water treatment product, to ensure the water safety.
As conditions in Malawi continue to create new challenges we look to you for continued support in ensuring we continue to provide hot meals to the most needy.
Concluding Notes
One in three people in Malawi are living with hunger in what are unprecedented times. Sadly in these times it is common for people to take their children out of school or for young girls to marry early due to societal pressures. A simple school meal can reduce the burden of raising children and can be the difference between a child staying in school or otherwise. It is vital we meet the immediate hunger need and through educating the youth break the cycle of food insecurity.
Your donations are helping to create this change. Thank You!
