It is our first day of field experience! We visited the Chiputula Primary School and Mzimba North District Health Office (DHO) to introduce ourselves before beginning to work on the projects.
We received a warm welcome from the teachers and students at the Chiputula Primary School where there are approximately 3,500 students from the first to eighth grade and 53 teachers. We met with Mr. Ollens Msonda, the school’s principal, and discussed the nutrition goals of the school as we currently work on the school gardening project together. Mr. Msonda introduced us to the teachers at school and took us around the school, including the school garden and kitchen.
The students were lining up by the kitchen to receive their daily nutrition porridge, which includes soya and maize. Mr. Anicent Nkhata, the School Management Chairperson, shared a story of nutrition porridge that has been provided to every student at the Chiptula Primary School on weekdays since 2006. It was impressive to hear that the project has been continuing for the students’ health. We also got to try the nutrition porridge:) We are excited to come back for the nutrition classes and garden project.
Our next stop was the Mzimba North DHO, where we met Dr. Prince Chirwa. We will be at the Mzimba North DHO to learn about the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), a strategy to improve health in African countries.
We also stopped by local markets in Mzuzu and got beautiful Malawian fabrics and fresh vegetables and fruits to end the day!
Highlights
- Visiting Chiputula Primary School
- Visiting Mzimba North District Health Office (DHO)
(Verbal consent was obtained before taking the pictures)
