By Ireen Kayira
First Lady Monica Chakwera has hailed the save the children sponsorship program for its meaningful impact in helping vulnerable children realise their goals through education.
The first lady said this in Lilongwe during sponsorship programme national dissemination conference for save the children which was celebrating the ten year phase in Zomba.
“To you Save the Children, we are very much grateful. I say this because, we have all heard the testimonies of how the program in Zomba has uplifted lives of under-fives through early Childhood Development Programs: Primary School age children through Basic Education, School, Health, Nutrition and Adolescent Development and Livelihoods,” she said .
She said Communities have been empowered to participate meaningfully in development work for their own good, the good of their children and for national development. Caregivers and parents have been empowered to value education, health, child nutrition, early stimulation, early learning, and enterprise for self and national development.
She added that Teachers and social welfare specialists have been empowered to teach and care for children in our schools and Community Based Childcare Centres with the level of expertise that has seen increased school completion
“Today, I come not only to preside over this function as a Guest of Honor, but to also share my testimony as a direct beneficiary of Save the Children. Save the Children helped a vulnerable girl from Rumphi with this program, and today that vulnerable girl is the First Lady of the republic of Malawi ,” she said.
She therefore said there are times that these programs are discouraged from sustainability, but when beneficiary lives are impacted the way Save the Children Sponsorship Program has benefited others , there is need to hold hands and support such programs.
Save the children Director of Programs Frank Mwafulirwa said the sponsorship program is one of the most critical projects with the first sponsorship program being launched in Mbalachanda in Mzimba District in 1991.
He said it is pleasing to note that their efforts have paid dividends and they seen the fruits of all the hard work that went into place.
“Our project in Zomba started in 2008. Since then, we have been implementing Sponsorship funded packages of interventions to enable “children learn and develop to their full potential,” he said.
He said among the achievements in are in Early Childhood Care and Development, there has been an increased enrollment in lower primary school progressively by 24.1%.
“In Basic Education, we have also witnessed a reduction in dropout rate for lower Primary standards 1 to 4 by 1% and from standards 5 to 8 by 3.2%. While on the other hand, learners depicting basic literacy skills improved by 15.8%.
As the sponsorship program has phased out in Zomba save the children will start the sponsorship program in Ntcheu for the next 10 years.
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