Children drilled in road safety measures
Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services in conjunction with World Vision Malawi on Monday and Tuesday conducted a road safety awareness campaign in schools along the M1 in Lupembe-Mlare Area Programme.
In an interview after the campaign at Chinsogholo and Mlare trade centres, World Vision Malawi Karonga district manager Hendrix Kalanje said research showed that malaria was the number one cause of children’s death followed by road accidents.
He said: “Road accidents happen partly because of lack of necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to deal with traffic challenges. So, we decided to forge a strategic partnership with the directorate to raise awareness on road safety.
“Therefore, our expectation is that increased awareness of road safety will reduce children’s deaths.”
Ireen Mwenelupembe, a learner at Chinsogholo Primary School said the awareness and demonstrations helped them know more about pedestrian crossings and other road signs.
“We now know that when crossing the road, we have to look to the right, left and right again to make sure that there is no traffic approaching. Again, we have been taught that we have to cross the road at a pedestrian crossing to avoid accidents,” she said.
The school’s teacher Willard Bindira commended the directorate and World Vision, saying the learners cross the road to go to school; hence, their safety was crucial.
One of the community members also said they benefitted from the awareness, although it was meant for children.
World Vision held the awareness under its sponsorship week activities observed last week in its 35 area programmes in the country
