A School without Soft Toys

By Natasa NjegovanMay 24, 2013

Does an IKEA Soft Toy really make a difference towards the Educational system in Africa? I arrived to Malawi in hopes to seek out an answer to this question. The Mchuchu Primary School that we visited earlier this week exemplified the successful support UNICEF has provided through the Schools for Africa Program. Mchuchu Primary provided the children with clean latrines, comfortable seating, a safe environment and overall a positive atmosphere for learning. But until I stepped into Phanda Primary School, a school that does not benefit through the Schools for Africa Program, I never would have understood the dramatic differences.

A student dance and drama performance, by Natasa Njegovan

Phanda Primary School was built in 1919 and to this day, the structure of the school remains as is. There are seven classrooms and only two are in good condition while the other five have cracking walls and struggle with leaking roofs. With 1,223 students, Phanda Primary is unable to provide desks or chairs forcing the children to learn sitting on the ground and even outside under trees for large classes.

A teacher in action! By Natasa Njegovan

Child Friendly Schools are required to contain clean and accessible latrines as well as access to clean water. Phanda Primary is equipped with separate washrooms for both boys and girls however, they provide little to no privacy, unsanitary conditions and most importantly no wash station. For an adolescent girl a sanitary latrine is one of the key drivers to staying in school creating an increase in drop outs at Phanda Primary.

Unsanitary female latrines, by Natasa Njegovan

Despite the conditions at Phanda Primary there’s still an inspirational vibe within the community. Phanda Primary receives an immense amount of support from their “Mother Group” who encourages adolescent drop outs to return to school. They provide counseling and support to those girls who have had babies and been discouraged. Functional Literacy Programs take place in communities to help assist those drop outs and teach them to read and write for nine months. This way whether they decide to return to school or not they are at least literate.

Viola and I practicing Chichewa with a group of students, by Jennifer Huang

Although UNICEF is not a donor to Phanda, UNICEF has combined forces with the UN on the Joint Program for Adolescents and Education. This is a scholarship program aimed for adolescent girls awarded by the District. Phanda has 21 girls benefiting from the scholarship, 5 of those have returned after having a baby.

Phanda Primary School faces a lot of challenges. The poor learning conditions prevent many students from excelling or even enjoying school. “Iwitnessed” the drastic difference our Soft Toys for Education Campaign makes in African Schools. A Child Friendly School is not just about gaining materials but empowering our children to grow. I look forward to instilling my passion for the Soft Toys for Education Program when I return.

Children excited to be on break! By Natasa Njegovan

“Azongu! Kongola!”

By Petra StejskalováMay 24, 2013

In the morning, we gathered in front of our hotel, once again full of anticipation and exhilaration. Our plan was to go to a school two hours away in southern Malawi. Along the way we saw many local markets, herds of goats and cows, stray dogs and crowds of people who were either carrying goods on their heads or had them on carts being pulled by donkeys. We stopped at one of the gas stations to replenish our bottled water, which caused quite an upheaval as group of young boys from the marketplace, who were selling eggs and donuts, ran over to us shouting, “Azongu!”, which means “white”. We greeted each other and took some pictures. Afterwards, we continued on our way and arrived shortly at the primary school in Chikwawa.

With the young boys from the marketplace

Upon our arrival at the school we were welcomed by the director, Chiwanda. He told us that the school was founded in 1919 and that some of his previous students received government posts as ministers or officials. There are 3 surrounding schools that also send their students to complete their studies here. The school has 1,223 students, including 650 boys and 573 girls. The school has 10 teachers and one intern, and there are 7 classrooms. Unlike the schools we visited on Monday, we’ve seen dilapidated sections of the building, with classrooms of children learning outdoors under the trees. Also, there are not enough houses for the teachers who remain here through the week and the toilets do not meet the basic needs of the teachers or students. Basically, it consisted of two separate buildings, one for boys and one for girls, in which there were always five toilets, which were essentially holes in the ground. There is much more that remains to be done!

In the school

In 2010, UNICEF introduced a new program at the school that focused on education of girls. The members of the program are chosen by “Community Mothers” and their selections are then approved by local officials who are responsible for social affairs. Currently, this program includes 21 girls, aged 12 to 19 years. Girls in the program will receive a uniform, school supplies (pens, notebooks, textbooks- from government programs, children receive only one pen and one workbook for the school year, which is not enough), and shoes. The shoes can be motivation enough for involvement because many students lack shoes but need to walk long stretches on hot roads to attend classes.

Girls with uniform

One of the students, Dorothy Joseph, who after attending the UNICEF program entered high school, spoke with us and said that the biggest obstacles to participating in school is physical distance, forced marriages, pregnancies, and that their teachers are only men, who do not always understand the needs of girls and their problems.

Dorothy

One of the main endeavors of the “Community Mothers” is to try to convince girls, who have left school, due to pregnancy or early marriage, to return to study.

Nzhoteka - Is it possible

UNICEF’s efforts here do not end at traditional education, but they also facilitate youth clubs where children can meet others and learn. There is also sex education of youth, which provides counseling and information about contraception. Additionally, they support children by empowering their parents through adult literacy centers where, during a nine month program, adults can learn to read and write and become self-sufficient.

At the end of our visit, children danced and acted out a play for us, which focused on the issues surrounding early marriage. Afterwards, we presented two suitcases full of notebooks, pens and pencils to the Headmaster, for which he responded with a cry of, “Kongola”, or “beauty”. With that we went on our way back to the hotel. On the way, our adventurers, Stázi and Máca, decided to visit a local market where they purchased some souvenirs and local delicacies, sticks of sugar cane.

"Kongola!"

We cannot wait to see what the next day holds for us!

Children saying goodbye

My final blog – last day in Vilnius

By Kate BrownMay 23, 2013

May 16, 2013

I am the last co-worker to be in Vilnius as my trip was the longest. I am taking the day to regroup my thoughts, walk the city and experience a culture I may never be privy to again. I have enjoyed all my learning’s, felt some emotional anxiety over abandoned children and I am hopeful that IKEA will make a difference in the children’s lives who are at risk. I only wish I could give them all the safe environment they all so desperately need.

Group of children singing

Thank you IKEA for giving this opportunity to me. I will remember this trip always and know that we are doing the right thing by supporting Save The Children Lithuania. I noticed the IKEA store being built outside of the Vilnius airport and hope to hear stories one day of Lithuanian young adults getting a fresh start in life with a career at IKEA.

Group of children at the Lithuanian parliament

Girl at parliament

A warming smile

Girl

We built a what?

By Viola May MahMay 23, 2013

When I imagined the results of the Soft Toys for Education campaign in Malawi, I thought, “Great! I wonder if we built schools! We probably bought books! Maybe we supplied some uniforms!” You know what you get when you put together a building, some books, a teacher and students? You get a building, some books, a teacher and students. But when we layer in UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Schools Framework, ah, then the magic happens.

Viola Mah and Stazi Jacubcova meeting Mchuchu primary students - by Jennifer Huang

There are over a dozen specific characteristics of a Child-Friendly School (CFS). Mchuchu Primary School near Lilongwe, Malawi is one of the schools supported by UNICEF’s Schools for Africa program with a full CFS package. One of the highlights of our tour was the brick outbuildings which were Mchuchu Primary’s well-maintained latrines. Because proper latrines and hand-washing facilities promote physical health (CFS point 9) so that learners do not miss school. Plus, segregated latrines acknowledge that girls also attend school and must be provided for (CFS point 4). And menstruating girls are less likely to miss school or drop out if the school has private facilities (CFS point 4).

Two Mchuchu primary students using the school's hand washing taps - by Natasa Njegovan

Beyond the classroom, teacher and books, the whole community plays a part in educating a child. Mchuchu Primary’s Parent-Teacher Association collaborates to be family-focused (CFS point 12). Additionally, the school has the input of a Mother Group: 10 women nominated from surrounding villages to advise girls especially on remaining in or returning to the schooling system (CFS point 2). These women act as the eyes, ears, voice of the school in the village, and represent their village when they meet at the school. It is a community partnership focused on the well-being of the children (CFS point 13).

Listen to your elders - Mchuchu Mother's group and PTA members await us - by Viola Mah

The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child. I’m learning that it takes so much more to educate that child.

Nseba a young Malawian - by Viola Mah

Change?

By Madelene KahnbergMay 23, 2013

Here I am, back in Sweden. Back in routines, back to work, back to my old self?

When I came home in the middle of the night the first thing I did was to go to my sons room, give him a kiss and tell him that mommy loves him. This is what I wish that all the children in the institutions or at the day care centre gets every night and every morning. To hear that mammy and daddy loves them. I have been faced with the facts that my wish is far from the reality.

Madde

I have also been told what we are doing, what IKEA’s Soft Toys for Education campaigns contributes to, how Save the Children International is helping Save the Children Lithuania and what Save the Children Lithuania is doing. And I am proud. Proud that I can still say that there are people who care! People who put their heart and soul into changing children’s rights and lives. Children themselves writing on paper hands, how they think parents should discipline them without violence, and then giving the paper hands to parliamentarian members.

Proud of IKEA and the IKEA Foundation. Because of what we do, we are changing the world. IKEA Foundation’s money goes to Lithuania and they are really making a difference. They are empowering communities and families so they get the possibility to keep their children and are able to give them a safe environment. They are educating community leaders so they also know children’s rights and that they need to have social workers and child psychologists for example.

Maybe the children that live at the institutions today only notice a small different but I truly believe that the children tomorrow don’t even need to go into institutional care. They are going to stay with their mothers or fathers, being told that they are loved. This is because of the massive work that IKEA, IKEA Foundation and Save the children are doing.

So, back to Sweden, back to routines, back to work and am I back to my old self?

No, I am never going to be my old self, I am always going to be a better version of myself. I am going to work harder than ever for the next campaigns, I am going to tell the world about what we do and how they can help. And I am always going to fight for Children’s rights!

Thank you for this opportunity, now it’s my turn to do some good hard work!

With love, Madelene

Embrace Every Moment

By Natasa NjegovanMay 22, 2013

When it was announced that I would be travelling to Malawi as an ambassador of IKEA I felt honoured to have the opportunity to visit UNICEF projects, an organization known worldwide for providing a better life to our children. I also feel privileged to be entrusted as a representative of our IKEA family.

Arriving in Canada at a young age, I grew up watching my parents struggle in this new and foreign country in order to provide for us. This upbringing triggered my interest in local charity work starting in my elementary school years. Since I began my IKEA career I have been able to bring my community involvement and passion for children’s causes right into my workplace.

I have always dreamed of volunteering in Africa to truly experience the struggle that many of our people face worldwide. As soon as I had my career established I would pursue my travels and provide first hand help in any way that I was capable of doing so. My career at IKEA is a gift as it lead me not only into a new family full of opportunities but it has helped me grow personally, professionally and is now making my all-time dream come true.

As one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi’s children suffer a great deal with little access to healthcare withholding them from the future they deserve. Various illnesses throughout the country are life-threatening and I have a heart that is eager to reach out to those who are suffering. I believe my first day in Malawi will bring a new awareness, one that can only be lived and experienced first-hand but I plan to embrace every moment; the food, the clothes, the language, the climate, the culture and most importantly the people.

“How did we not meet any snakes?” The screenplay of our trip to Africa

By Adéla JoskováMay 22, 2013

Cut to the airport in Prague. Five excited women stand waiting. Anticipation takes flight and takes us along for the ride. Eventually we touch down in Frankfurt and find our connection. As we board, the First Officer of our Ethiopian airline asks us, „Where exactly is Prague?“ It was only a few months ago that we were asking the same about Malawi.

Cut to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Our first touch with the real Africa. Now that feeling, that realization, is sinking in, becoming more tangible. We are the ones standing out now, the ones who are wearing strange clothes. We take flight once again and travel through Blantyre despite it being further away than our final destination of Lilongwe, Malawi.

Malawi from above

Cut to us, us exhausted and exhilarated five, standing in Lilongwe airport. The whole airport is one basic building, with high-tech finger and eye scanners accompanied with low-tech stamps in a paper envelope. From the very beginning, we discovered Malawi is a land filled with people who are quite simply nice, polite and humble. We are greeted by UNICEF representatives who are waiting for us with 2 Land Cruisers with massive antenae in the front. The cars look like Rhinos with wheels. They’re the domesticated kind though, and they’re kind enough to take us to our hotel. It’s during our journey to the hotel that one of our fears is put to rest. The UNICEF representatives assure us that when we finally meet that deadly snake we’re so afraid of that we take a picture, because it would be the first of it’s kind in Malawi. Relieved, we finally reach the hotel and settle in. Soon after we continue on to dinner where we meet our Canadian colleagues Viola, Natasa, and Jennifer, and our colleague from the IKEA Foundation, Jonathan. We’re here and together and everything‘s going to be alright.

The next day takes us to a meeting at UNICEF headquarters. We discover that UNICEF’s speciality is not just good will and empowering others, it is also, as acting director John puts it, „very good at providing death by PowerPoint“. With our weary eyes, but still beating hearts, we learn that providing education is much more complex than just teaching numbers to children. It is about survival, through health care and nutrition; it’s about development, through education; and it’s about participation, by taking an active role in the society. We also had the honor of meeting Mr. Michael Banda, who is responsible for education, which is in part sponsored by the IKEA Soft Toy Campaign.

UNICEF meeting

Cut to Mchuchu school, our first fieldwork. The school is introduced to us by the Head Teacher, Elise, and the Deputy Head Teacher, Anette. They tell us about the history of this school and show us around the classrooms, toilets and bareholes. Then we meet them, it’s hard not to fall in love with them. Very sweet, very curious, they love the camera, but are still shy. It’s just impossible to stop taking pictures of these amazing children.

Looking at their pictures

Later, we are invited to observe a lesson in Life skills. The subject of this lesson is regarding the barriers preventing effective communication about HIV. The topic provides us a new perspective and the only audience members more engaged than us are the ten year old pupils.

Thanks to the support of UNICEF, kids are now learning in classrooms

Cut to us now as we are being introduced to the members of a school committee and a mother’s group. They play a key role in the children’s education, especially the girls‘. These mothers are appointed from nearby villages and come together twice a month to talk to girls about their troubles. They also visit girls who dropped out of school because they had children. They are trying to persuade them to come back to school to gain an education, which would broaden their options in the future.

Meeting the mother group

As we bid farewell to the children, who were kind enough to show us a glimpse of their culture by playing music with some buckets, complete with some dancing and singing, we handed over an IKEA Family suitcase full of goodies (i.e. pencils, exercise books and footballs).

As we close the door on the first leg of our adventure we look forward to driving a few hours to our next stop, Blantyre. Weren’t we just there yesterday?

- Petra, Adela, Stazi & Maca

What kind of baggage are you carrying?

By Viola May MahMay 21, 2013

It’s May 15^th, UNICEF’s International Day of the Family and I’m packing for my iWitness journey to Malawi with UNICEF. Deciding what I will need (sunscreen, long pants) and won’t need (evening gown, heels) is turning into a metaphor for the trip. ‘Baggage’ sometimes refers to negative thoughts that we carry around with us. I suspect that this trip will remind me to stop fretting over traffic jams and bad coffee, and to start appreciating how much I have and am able to do.

I’m taking along many well-wishes from my IKEA family who are almost as excited as I am. When I come home, I’ll tell them about how our seemingly ordinary jobs affect people and families thousands of miles away. We go to work and maybe talk to a few people, hang a banner, restock a pallet. How is it possible that these small actions can change the world?

I’m taking along much love from my own family who are torn between missing me and being proud of me. When I come home, I’ll tell them about how our ordinary lives would seem quite extraordinary to these people on the other side of the world. My two children have always had a cosy bed to sleep in, food to eat, and plenty of water to drink. Can my kids even imagine struggling to be educated or healthy? I’m not even sure that I can. If only I could take them along. Maybe with a bigger suitcase?

Credit Viola Mah: Alexandra Shepherd & Benjamin Shepherd

How to never give up!

By Rasika CarlssonMay 21, 2013

After spending 3 days in Lithuania off course we had some reflections. First of all we faced a different reality and things that we take for granted is not always a part of the many people’s daily life.

In this reflection blog we really want to highlight people like Rasa Dicpetriene and her team at Save the Children. They are doing a backbreaking but so important job. And if there were more people like them engaging in both international and local issues the world would look different.

So let’s inspire each other to never give up!

The group with the kids

All the best – Gisela & Rasika

Everyone, especially children, need love

By Lynn GregoryMay 21, 2013

Well, it is the end of my IWitness trip and it is saddening to realize that we do not need to go so far around the world to find poverty and exclusion.

Save the Children are working hard to change established attitudes towards child care in Lithuania but in a country where there is no public support for alternative forms of child care and no financial support from the government, it is as much about influencing hearts as it is minds.

Girls on the swing

My feeling is that it will take a new generation of younger people to see such a culture change however it is not impossible and we can see that from the history and development of child care within our own countries.

My most lingering memory will be that of two young brothers in a state run institution who spontaneously flung their arms around me for a big hug.

Two brothers I will never forget

Everyone, especially children, need love - Lynn Gregory

IWitness Global Citizens Blog