Lilongwe, Malawi … The purchase of the block making machine to build the protective wall around the Action for Progress property has achieved its goal and the protective wall is now complete around the entire property.
The machine can now be used to prepare blocks for new projects. They can help offset costs that otherwise would have fallen to the supporters of the Malawi Project. In nearly every program in which the Malawi Project is involved an effort is made for the projects to have a local component that focuses the receiver on a degree of self-sufficiency and independence. AfP puts this in play in every program possible.
While the MP has no thoughts of ending its support of AfP and the projects that are jointly supported by the two organizations, it is the desire of both parties to have a degree of self-sufficiency on the part of AfP so they can set the example for other agencies being assisted. The block machine is another of those tools to reach the goals.
Demand is so high for cement blocks at the present time that Chester Kabinda-Mbewe, the chairperson for Action for Progress has submitted a request to the Malawi Project for a second machine. The demand has developed because of a major building boom in the capital city of Lilongwe and is also a result of the government calling on contractors to stop using bricks in their construction and, to help the environment, use cement blocks instead.