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REPORT ON THE VISIT TO MALAWI BY THE CHAIRMAN AND TREASURER OF THE DEAF ORPHANS’ EDUCATION TRUST
MONDAY 27th FEBRUARY TO FRIDAY 3rd MARCH 2006
1 THE TRUSTEES
1.1 The two Trustees making the visit were the Chairman Mr Colin Glanville BSc and the Treasurer Ms Jeanine Ndizeye. The Deaf Orphans’ Educational Trust is deeply indebted to the offices of Ernest Edwards, Law Consultants for arranging the meetings, their advice on registering the Trust in Malawi and with the logistics of accommodation and travel during the week. The Trustees would also like to express their appreciation in providing the services of Mr Makawa’s secretary Ms Olive Magwera as interpreter, guide and escort for the duration of the visit.
2 THE MINISTRY OF GENDER, CHILD WELFARE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
2.1 The week’s visit started at 9.00 am on Monday morning with a meeting at the Ministry of Gender, Child Welfare and Community Services where the Chairman and Treasurer met with Ms Andrina Mchiela, Principal Secretary, and Mr Penston Kilembe, Director of Social Welfare Services.
2.2 The Trustees of the Deaf Orphans’ Educational Trust made a presentation to the Principal Secretary and Director, in which they gave details about the Trust, its work in the UK and the proposed work in Malawi. After the presentation the Principal Secretary and the Trustees discussed how the proposed project would benefit the deaf children of Malawi with particular emphasis on the areas of responsibility covered by the Ministry. It was explained that the Trust would initially concentrate on deaf orphaned girls because they were the most disadvantaged of all groups. Female illiteracy is currently running at 77% compared to 44% for males. Women also have a lower status in Malawi than men and these two factors combine to make it very difficult for deaf girls to succeed as useful members of society. When the fact that the girls are orphans is brought in it is clear that without some form of direct intervention the life prospects for this group is just an unimaginable struggle to survive.
3 MINISTRY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND PERSON WITH DISABILITIES
3.1 At the close of the meeting the Trustees moved quickly to the next appointment, a meeting with Mr Elias Ngongondo, Principal Secretary at the Ministry of Social Development and Persons with Disabilities. The presentation was again made and the following discussion centred on the way the proposed project would impact on the work of the Ministry due to the fact that the girls would be deaf. The use of sign language was briefly discussed and the way Malawi is working towards the formulation of its own sign language. Due to another appointment the Principal Secretary couldn't discuss many of the issues in depth but expressed a desire for the project to succeed.
4 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
4.1 In the afternoon the Trustees met with the Deputy Minister for Education Mr David Ngulinga. Shortly after the meeting began the Deputy Minister invited Mr Paphael Agabu, Deputy Director, Inspectorate at the Ministry of Education to join the group because of his knowledge of Special Needs.
4.2 Following the presentation of the Trust and its work the Deputy Minister asked the trustees what form the school would take, its location, numbers, teaching methods etc. He was very keen for the project to receive Ministerial blessing, which was also a feature of the Principal Secretaries of the other Ministries. At the end of the discussion the Trustees had a short meeting with Mr Agabu during which he arranged for the Trustees to visit two schools the next day, and also arranged a meeting for later in the week when the Trustees hoped to meet the Department for Special Needs in the Ministry of Education.
5 VISITS TO SCHOOLS FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED AND DEAF CHILDREN
5.1 On Tuesday 28th February the Trustees were driven to Salima to meet the teachers and pupils of a school for visually impaired children. Although the staff at the school were made aware of the visit just the day before the Trustees were welcomed warmly and enthusiastically. They were shown around the school and taken to meet the staff at the resource centre and there followed a lively discussion about the problems faced by visually impaired children and the desperate lack of funding and resources. The Trustees had the chance to meet many of the students who were friendly, happy and excited at the novelty of the visit. Photographs were taken of one of the classes and their teacher. The photographs and others taken during the week will be available to see on the Deaf Orphans’ Educational Trust website www.deaforphans.org later in March.
5.2 Immediately after the visit to the Salima school the Trustees visited the Mua School for the Deaf at Mtakataka where they were greeted by Mr Aristde Gondoloni. The Trustees discussed with Mr Gondoloni the plans for the school and associated farm, how it could be funded, where it might be sited and other issues. There was also a discussion about signing for deaf children and integration into mainstream hearing society. The visit ended with a tour of the school, some of the classrooms and the living accommodation for the pupils. As with every other visit made during the week there was an atmosphere of enthusiasm and warmth towards the Trustees.
5.3 On Wednesday the Trustees were taken to Blantyre, where they stayed overnight. On the first day in Blantyre a visit to Nguludi School for the Deaf had been arranged and the Trustees had a good meeting with Mr Thom, the Director. Part of the discussion centred on the different approaches taken by the various schools toward s aspects of education for the deaf, and the Trustees were told of a Teacher Training initiative whereby 96 teachers were to receive a year’s training in educating deaf children so that more deaf children could be brought into mainstream schools where their needs could be properly addressed by these specially trained teachers. After a tour of the school and its facilities the Trustees presented each of the 170 pupils with an exercise book, a ball point pen, a pencil and a sharpener. A further 400 exercise books together with boxes of pens and pencils were given to the school.
6 MALAWI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE DEAF
6.1 On the second day in Blantyre the Trustees met with Mrs Juliana Likomba, Chairperson of the Malawi National Association for the Deaf. Through her interpreter Mrs Likomba spoke knowledgeably of the problems of being deaf in Malawi since she herself had been deaf since the age of 9 after contracting meningitis. The Meeting lasted a long time and many areas were discussed covering an array of aspects connected with being deaf, including the use of signing and the barriers put in the way of deaf students trying to gain places in higher education.
7 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SPECIAL NEEDS
7.1 The last visit of the week was the previously arranged meeting with the Department of Special Needs of the Ministry of Education. The Trustees met Mr Noel Mwango, Chief Education Officer. After making the presentation that had been made to the Deputy Minister two days earlier the meeting developed into a discussion about the way the Special Needs Department works to assist deaf children. The Trustees came away from the meeting with many useful ideas and knowledge of the task that lay ahead if the proposed project was to be successful
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