Catholic Diocese bails Machinga communities

Traveling long distances for education will be a thing of the past for communities in Traditional Authority (T/A) Sitola in Machinga, thanks to the construction of St. Augustine Junior Primary School.

Zomba Catholic Diocese, with support from the Italian charity Un Sogno Sotto il Baobab (Dream in a Baobab), built the school, including staff offices worth K31.2 million. The school took one month to construct and it has classes from Standard One to Four.

Children in the area used to travel about 12 kilometres to attend classes, a development which prompted communities to ask for help from the diocese.

Speaking during the handover ceremony on Tuesday, T/A Sitola said children; especially girls, were prone to abuse on their way to distant learning centres.

“The situation was unbearable as girls could be harassed. This increased dropouts, early marriages and pregnancies,” he said.

Diocesan administrator the Reverend Father Henry Kaleso said they are committed to a holistic approach necessary for human development.