Chikangawa School Receives Science Laboratory

By Mayeso Chirwa

Chikangawa Forest in the northern region of Malawi is surely not the eighth wonder of the world – it is, however, one of the largest forest plantations in Africa.  The man-made soft wood plantation covers over 55, 000 hectares.  

Mercury in the forest’s thermometers can fall to incredible levels resulting in dense fog on the plateau.  On any winter day, driving through most parts of the woods is at snail’s pace.  Dead tobacco trucks park dangerously on the foggy highway.   In the absence of tail lights, the only signs for danger are tree branches behind and in front of the haulers.

Originally meant to be a paper project, the forest reserve supplies Malawi and her neighbors with timber, and various value-added products such as household furniture and school desks.  Among the marks that define the splendor and beauty of the pine jungle are a host of elegant forest lodges, the Elephant Rock, wildlife and a plywood and block board manufacturer, Raiply which has a concessionary management of 20,000 hectares under an agreement with the Government of Malawi.

Amid the pines that soar as far as 75 feet into the air, students attend school at Chikangawa Community Day Secondary School.   The institution was opened in 1997 as a single school block with few students and teachers, and no desks.  A few years later, the school received desks, donated by the Peace Corps Small Program Assistance (SPA) program.  With the help of another Peace Corps Volunteer – Ole Nelson, the school began a community library in 2002.  The Self-Help Fund granted the Chikangawa CDSS $20,200.00 (approximately MK2, 500, 000.00) to pay for building materials, laboratory equipment, furniture and skilled labor.   US Ambassador Alan Eastham inaugurated the laboratory on April 30, 2007.

“With such a substantial investment, we expect students to make use of the laboratory, to better prepare you to make a contribution to Malawi,” said Ambassador Eastham. “I know that seems rather remote, sitting here in the fog on the plateau, but hard work will move you ahead.”

On the sidelines of the inauguration, Ambassador Eastham said the US Embassy had made a deliberate and concerted effort to find university scholarships in the United States for Malawian students.   “We have this year placed five Malawian students in US universities, not on the basis of whether they went to St. Andrews or Kamuzu Academy, it just takes brains and hard work,” said Ambassador Eastham.

The laboratory project was a sum total of US Government funding; and the hard work of another Peace Corps Volunteer, Merilee Valentino; the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA); the Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Abbie Shaba; teachers and community members, in putting together a grant application.

“This science laboratory has simplified the teaching-learning process at Chikangawa CDSS,” said Hon. Shaba.

The laboratory will serve 442 students from the Mzimba secondary cluster of schools: 187 from Chikangawa CDSS, 200 from Chikangawa Open School, and 55 students from Madala team - students re-sitting the Malawi School’s Certificate Examinations. 

With a functioning library, an additional science laboratory has made this CDSS a complete science training center, where trained teachers can conduct skills-transfer workshops.  The completion of the laboratory has qualified Chikangawa CDSS to become an examination center.