Parachute Community Day Secondary School, Salima, Malawi … Fatwell Phiri is a young man living in the lake shore distric of Salima in eastern Malawi. In recent years he has taken advantage of the community library constructed with support from several government and non-governmental organizations, including the Malawi Project. The library serves the Senga Bay area, as well as Salima Technical College, nurses from Baptist Hospital, Ngolowindo and Lifuwu Village areas, and members of the Malawi Defence Force.
In Malawi the availability of a library remains a major source for students to gain information apart from what is received from their school teachers. This fact is borne out by the large number of students I recently saw in this library. Staff Sargent Gift Kadammanja is the Librarian. A soldier by profession, Kadammanja is passionate about books, and spends much of his free time helping students learn. During my visit he acknowledged the library is serving the purpose for which it was built.
After confirming this with several more students, it was clear to me the library is a great value to the community. Fatwell Phiri is a 16-year-old boy from Senga bay who is in Form 2. As I quietly walked through the library I found him at one of the tables reading. Opposite him, across the table, were several girls and boys, all intently reading. I sat down next to him. Fatwell told me he had been patronising the library for the past 2 years. “In the past, I was not performing very well at school,” he said. “It was largely because I was depending on only notes I had taken during talks by my teacher. Our school has few books, but now I use this Library and I can read more books. My performance has improved greatly.”
The pass rate has improved for many students at Parachute Day Secondary School. The librarian explained, “Day Students used to frequently fail national examinations; the pass rate was not impressive. But now we have recorded improved results. In 2016 the final results at the school for Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) was 92% according to one of the teachers. All this is attributed to the presence of the Library.”
Fales Nkhata is a 12-year-old Primary School girl. She is in Standard (grade) 8 at Parachute Primary School. Like Fatwell, she has been coming to the Library to read. “I have acquired a lot of knowledge from the books I read,” she explained.
More Books Needed
According to the Librarian, there are two challenges that face them. First, due to large number of students who use it, there is a limited space. Some students, especially the younger ones, have a small corner reserved under the “Children Corner” wall sign. If the Library could be extended, this would open more opportunities for children to benefit. The Library has only a 50-member capacity each day. Due to this limited space, several other people must be turned away each day.
Second, the library is running short of some of the key text-books such as those on Malawian school syllabus. English literature, such as “Familiar Stranger”, “Looking for Rain God”, “Unsung Song Tales of Tamara”, plus physical science books, and Chemistry texts books are all in short supply.
To bring the library back up to where it can supply the needed books, it is estimated to purchase the required text books would require $561.79.
The library has very good rules that all members follow. Each member has to pay a membership fee per annum. All members are allowed to borrow books for a specific period and return them after use. Non-members are only allowed to read the books while in the library. The librarian had adopted a card system which is used to match the details of the student/person who has borrowed the books and the textbook itself.
As I slowly left the library it was quite evident the joint efforts of supporters, including the Malawi Project, have gone a long way in helping children of this community become stars. They truly are readers today and will be leaders tomorrow.
Reported by Wilson Tembo
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