Ambassador Eastham Inaugurates School for the Deaf

U.S. Ambassador Alan Eastham inaugurated the Bandawe School for Deaf Children in Nkhata Bay District in northern Malawi constructed with funding from the Ambassador’s Special Self Help Fund.   

Speaking at the event, Deputy General Secretary for the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central African Presbytery, Reverend Maurice Munthali thanked the American Government for the facility, which he said would “help children with special needs to attain education and realize their full potential.”

He said the project was a significant contribution to the lakeshore area in northern Malawi that has one of the highest numbers of children with hearing impairment, a problem that officials attributed to high rates of cerebral malaria.  

Ambassador Eastham praised the community for its commitment and contribution to the project.  He said “the United States is pleased to be associated with projects that would change lives of many children.”

In 2006 the school received a US$15,500 from the Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Fund for the construction of two school blocks and procurement of desks for children with hearing impairment.

Before the project, school children shared facilities with 74 boarding students at Bandawe Girls School, a situation which presented obvious complications.  The school, which belongs to the Livingstonia Synod, currently enrolls 18 hearing impaired children from three districts.