How learning survived floods

On a rainy Wednesday in February, Mtete 1 Village, Traditional Authority Kanyenda in Nkhotakota District was shattered by devastating flood.

The Bua River swelled  and  burst its banks, flooding and ripping homes in the villages.

At Nsenjere Primary School, the impact of the disaster was immediate and disturbing.

The top-performing school in its education zone was reduced to a scene of disruption and uncertainty.

For two weeks, the school grounds and surrounding villages lay silent as community members fleeing the flood had sought shelter at Katimbira Primary School, five kilometres away.

 “Children couldn’t learn for two weeks after that disaster. Only Standard Eight pupils were temporarily admitted to Katimbira Primary School where they  complained about the different teaching methods,” says headteacher Timothy Grym Banda.

Before the flood, Nsenjere Primary School was a model of success, with nine teachers, including the headteacher, promoting a culture of excellence among the learners.

However, the disaster disrupted everything. The loss of teaching materials, particularly learners’ books stored in classrooms and lockers, was a significant blow.

The floods, which rose almost knee-high, also left a gaping crack on one of the classroom blocks.

This has made the building unsuitable for teaching and learning.

In response, Unicef donated a tent that is used as a classroom to make up for the lost space.

The tent was erected by the community, led by the school committee.

Committee secretary Joseph Faliot says volunteerism and determination to build, rebuild and thrive runs deep in the community surrounding the school established in 1994.

It was built by community members opposed to the difficulties their children faced to get to Katimbira Primary School.

“We want to demolish the structure and rebuild it once we have collected enough from within the community,” Faliot says.

Unicef also gave the students school bags, which Banda credits for the increase in enrolment and decrease in dropout rates.

“Even children who were just staying home came to school,” he says.

The lack of resources and loss of learning time affected Standard Eight learners who were preparing for the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education examinations.

As Banda explains, the school has implemented a remedial plan for the learners.

For Zenius Willard, 17, the disruption to their studies has been quite telling.

He says: “It’s not rare to hear pupils ask a teacher not to proceed with more notes and exercises because they have run out of space in their notebooks.

“It is happening every day. We thank Unicef for providing us with school bags because we lost not only books but also our bags.”

Despite their situation, Loveness Nkhoma, 14, says the learners are determined to excel in their examinations.

“Our teachers have warned us that the markers of the national exams won’t be sympathetic to us because we were affected by floods. We will be treated equally with the rest, so we need to be prepared, and we are,” she says.

According to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, the flash floods affected about 14 000 people, leaving over 10 000 displaced and eight dead in Senior Chief Kanyenda’s territory.