Nanthomba School is situated in the Machinga district of Malawi, just outside the western gate of Liwonde National Park. Its construction is the brainchild of three Mvuu Camp and Lodge employees: Matthews Matewere, Dinara Kankhuni and Mike Mtewa. Inspired by Wilderness Safaris' Children in the Wilderness programme which runs annually at Mvuu Camp, they began planning the construction of a school in this area.
With initial contributions from guests at Mvuu as well as a small loan from Wilderness Safaris, they purchased bricks, sand and cement for construction. The successful completion of this task qualified the school to receive funds from a European Union (EU) Micro Project school building programme, where the EU pledges to match the funding collected in order to complete the construction of the school; the project allows for two classroom blocks and some teachers' houses.
The overall concept was to transform a traditional rural school into a substantial and well-equipped primary school with eight classrooms of 40 pupils each. The pupils are orphans from the surrounding area, as well as children of Wilderness Safaris and the Department of National Parks staff. A board of trustees has been formed, comprising teachers, Mvuu staff and local leaders.
In early 2006, the school received a wonderfully generous donation from the Wolstein family in Ohio, USA, and this allowed the project to expand its vision into the building of a 320-pupil primary school. The Wolsteins continue to be generous supporters of the project and their foundation - called H.E.L.P (Hope, Educate, Love, Protect) MALAWI - continues to support this project.
The Nanthomba School Project was completed by late 2007. Phase 2 is to raise enough funds to run the school on a long-term basis as well as to buy books, furniture and uniforms for the pupils.
The reality in Malawi is that it is simply not economically feasible to run a good school in the rural areas on the school fees that the pupils, living after all in an economy with virtually no money, can afford to pay. Therefore the aim here is to build structures and get materials in place that will allow children to obtain a decent education. Pack for a Purpose is an innovative way that guests of Wilderness Safaris can help this project. See their website.
Projects in Malawi
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