http://www.fochta.org.au/news/ en Copyright 2020 2020-08-28T22:53:30+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/student_news2/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/student_news2/ Alembeje Daniel, who has a physical disability, is in her final year doing IT in a college in the capital. But due to the pandemic, she is now waiting for the college to notify her as to when she could return to sit for her final examinations. Meantime, she has been teaching computer skills to students in her village. Chifundo Duncan, who is about to finish Form 2, has been busy farming in his family plot that is on a hill. This resourceful young man has managed to build a dyke, diverting water from a stream to irrigate his family’s plot. Chifundo has three siblings, so the produce from vegetables, fruits and maize go a long way to support them and his mother. He even has donated some to some old people in the village.  Ganizani Mingo is in his 4th year studying Biomedical Engineering. Like every other student, he is staying at home. But he said he is not wasting time, instead continue to study at home. Chifundo Makwinja is doing B Sc -  Nutrition & Food Science. Since the lockdown, he has completed and handed in his thesis. If all goes well, he will graduate in December. Funani Malata is in 3rd year doing B Sc (Obstetrics and Gynaecology). During lockdown, he works in the obstetrics department of a district hospital. Keith Mwithiwa, after graduated in B Sc (Nursing & Midwifery) and been working in a hospital, has recently enrolled to study a master degree in Management studies. The course will start when lockdown is lifted. Aaron Mwafulirwa, an assistant lecturer at the College of Medicine, has started doing a M Sc (Physiotherapy) in a university in South Africa. He said he is doing well with his university continuing to teach online. Keith is one of two of our students who had studied a master degree outside of Malawi. The other one is Clara Lemani who did M Sc (Statistical Science).  Innocent Banda is in his third year doing a degree in theology. During the lockdown, he is at home repairing his home as well as teaching people the Word of God. He said that “ since my childhood,  I found my calling in the Lord hence I devote my life to that”. Innocent is passionate about writing and his hope is he will someday become a writer.     Malawi news 2020-08-28T22:53:30+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/latest_fochta_news1/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/latest_fochta_news1/ Below are some recent activities at FOCHTA, in spite of our technical college not opening due to the pandemic. Currently there are 5382 positive cases of COVID-19 in Malawi, a country which has a population of 19.13 million. There is an increase of 356 cases from the previous week, with 2716 recovered and 168 deaths. However, in the rural District of Thyolo, there has been no new case in the past week. In total, there are 58 confirmed cases in the district with 51 recovered, 6 active cases and 1 death. According to Dr. Emmanuel Kanjunjunju, our Honorary Board Member who is the Director Of Blantyre City Council in charge of public health, the worrying part is that there are insufficient community actions to adopt prevention measures, and that the country is not able to adequately trace positive cases.  There is talk that schools and universities may reopen in September but this has not been confirmed. FOCHTA staff however are continuing to work in our office. Our director Lucius has been busy upgrading the facilities of the college so as to be in compliance with TEVETA, a quasi-government organization monitoring technical and vocational colleges.  Our understanding is that TEVETA will pay the fees of a number of additional students in time. Therefore new desks and chairs have been procured, first-aid boxes and fire extinguishers bought. An auditor has also been appointed to begin auditing now.  Face shields and masks have been acquired, also an infrared thermometer.  More text books have been purchased for the electrical department. In addition, twelve books for the same department have been donated by Anglia Bookshop in Malawi. As for the IT Dept., a number of e-books have been donated by Professor Don Ferrin of Singapore MBA University. Furthermore, the professor has also donated the ongoing salary for an assistant accountant. Mervis Masamba, the successful person, will start work in on September 1.  In Australia, Robyn Lyall and another friend have donated the cost of purchasing 42 solar lamps to give to our student beneficiaries. This will enable students to study at night in their homes as there is almost no electricity connected to the district. In addition, calculators, even buckets and soap have been distributed. A FOCHTA staff member, Caroline Malidima, has started training 12 students in basic computer skills. She has also been working with the IT teacher to improve the database of students and network of grassroots members.      Malawi news 2020-08-28T22:51:44+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/latest_fochta_news/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/latest_fochta_news/ Below are some recent activities at FOCHTA, in spite of our technical college not opening due to the pandemic. Currently there are 5382 positive cases of COVID-19 in Malawi, a country which has a population of 19.13 million. There is an increase of 356 cases from the previous week, with 2716 recovered and 168 deaths. However, in the rural District of Thyolo, there has been no new case in the past week. In total, there are 58 confirmed cases in the district with 51 recovered, 6 active cases and 1 death. According to Dr. Emmanuel Kanjunjunju, our Honorary Board Member who is the Director Of Blantyre City Council in charge of public health, the worrying part is that there are insufficient community actions to adopt prevention measures, and that the country is not able to adequately trace positive cases.  There is talk that schools and universities may reopen in September but this has not been confirmed. FOCHTA staff however are continuing to work in our office. Our director Lucius has been busy upgrading the facilities of the college so as to be in compliance with TEVETA, a quasi-government organization monitoring technical and vocational colleges.  Our understanding is that TEVETA will pay the fees of a number of additional students in time. Therefore new desks and chairs have been procured, first-aid boxes and fire extinguishers bought. An auditor has also been appointed to begin auditing now.  Face shields and masks have been acquired, also an infrared thermometer.  More text books have been purchased for the electrical department. In addition, twelve books for the same department have been donated by Anglia Bookshop in Malawi. As for the IT Dept., a number of e-books have been donated by Professor Don Ferrin of Singapore MBA University. Furthermore, the professor has also donated the ongoing salary for an assistant accountant. Mervis Masamba, the successful person, will start work in on September 1.  In Australia, Robyn Lyall and another friend have donated the cost of purchasing 42 solar lamps to give to our student beneficiaries. This will enable students to study at night in their homes as there is almost no electricity connected to the district. In addition, calculators, even buckets and soap have been distributed. A FOCHTA staff member, Caroline Malidima, has started training 12 students in basic computer skills. She has also been working with the IT teacher to improve the database of students and network of grassroots members.      Malawi news 2020-08-28T22:51:42+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/alumnus_siyani_grant_george/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/alumnus_siyani_grant_george/ Siyani was our beneficiary first for his secondary education and then when studying at Banda College to obtain a degree in B Sc (Agriculture-Family Science), graduating in 2016. The agriculture faculty at Banda College offers three specialised streams, namely, general agriculture; agriculture extension and family science. The latter is focused on nutrition, food security and human development. And that was what Siyani has majored in. After his graduation, Siyani worked in several short-term contracts. These included a time with PLAN International, a global, independent development and  humanitarian organisation which works in 71 countries. This was followed with work in the Malawian Government’s National Statistics Office. His third contract was with the Ministry of Agriculture as a food and nutrition officer. Then in 2019, he worked as a household lister for ICAP, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Currently, Siyani is working as a nutrition consultant with the Ministry of Gender that is funded by the World Bank on a project called Investing in Early Years. Siyani provides technical expertise in the area of nutrition and early childhood development. The project targets pregnant and breast feeding women, children under five and adolescent girls who are aged from 10 to 19. Siyani says that it's a fact of life that in Malawi it is hard to obtain a permanent position. But he said, “I have been fortunate to obtain one contract after another that were all connected to my educational training. And because I am gathering more and more experience in various aspects of nutritional consultancy, I can say I am comfortable for my future prospects”.  Siyani is married with a child. His wife is a primary school teacher. In his spare time, he likes to read, cook (a rarity for a Malawian male), and play sports. He also likes to mentor local young people. He regrets that he lives and works so far away from the FOCHTA office, 500 km away. Otherwise, he would have liked to help with volunteering and mentoring for FOCHTA beneficiaries, those following in his footsteps. However he keeps in constant touch with some FOCHTA alumni.   Malawi news 2020-07-25T23:45:29+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/new_from_alumnus/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/new_from_alumnus/ Grace Kwanjana graduated with a BA (Languages) in 2017. She is now a teacher in a secondary school located in a remote, rural area of Thyolo District, 75km from Luchenza Town. The school has 400 students, but due to lack of classrooms, there are 120 students per class, and in two streams per day. Grace teaches English language and literature, Social studies and Chichewa, the local Malawian language. Her main problem is the lack of books and she is constantly struggling to find teaching materials. There is no computer and of course all students are computer illiterates. She teaches 30 periods in a week. And after school hours, she has to teach Open Distance Learning students. She said that a lot of girls are dropping out due to pregnancy. So she acts also as a mentor, helping and encouraging them to focus on their studies.    She also said that she is the only lady teacher in the school, and she is often stressed due to prejudice by men teachers. Nevertheless, she said that “teaching here is a privilege and I like it”.  To counteract her stress, she enjoys listening to spiritual songs and watching films. Grace is looking forward to running a workshop for FOCHTA in April to empower girl students.  Malawi news 2020-03-10T19:23:22+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/important_appointments_for_fochta/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/important_appointments_for_fochta/ FOCHTA Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that Steven Labana has been appointed to be its president and Charles Sokoso to be its new chairman. Steven has been working for Medecins Sans Frontieres Belgium since 1998. He is now its Knowledge Manager, the first African national ever to hold that position. FOCHTA is very appreciative of Steven’s contribution in the last seventeen years. Charles was our student beneficiary. He is a farm animal management expert working as a Livestock Officer in an NGO called Emmanuel International Malawi. Charles has been a loyal and active member of our board, and had also worked for us before. He is thus fully conversant of our organisation.  FOCHTA is very thankful that between the two of them, with their standing in the wider community, we will move from strength to strength.       Malawi news 2020-02-13T23:34:19+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/news_from_alumni_cum_board_member/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/news_from_alumni_cum_board_member/   Austin Kambalame has been appointed to be a member of the FOCHTA Board of Trustees. Austin, an orphan, was our student beneficiary, first in secondary schooling, then at tertiary level, and graduated with a B. Sc. (Irrigation Engineering) in 2014.  He is now serving as a senior irrigation agronomist in the Dept. of Irrigation Services. His job includes implementation of irrigation services, conducting training programmes for farmers, advice on irrigation policy management and maintenance. Prior to working in this job, he served also as a volunteer for FOCHTA and later became the principal of the FOCHTA Vocational Technical College. Aaron Mwafulirwa, another beneficiary and board member, has recently been accepted to study an M. Sc. (Physiotherapy) degree at the Witwatersrand University in South Africa. He will therefore take leave of absence from the board. Aaron has since his graduation been working as an assistant lecturer at the College of Medicine in Blantyre. He will have every opportunity to be a full lecturer after obtaining his master's degree.  Nenani James is starting on January 18 to do a B. Sc. (Community Development) degree at the Pentecost Life University in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Nenani obtained his commercial development diploma through being a FOCHTA beneficiary. Like Austin, he had also worked for FOCHTA  as Programme Officer. He is currently working as a project coordinator in YODEP, or Youth for Development & Productivity, a community based organization.  Dyton Liphale. As mentioned in a recent article, Dyton first obtained his B. Ed. at the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College. He later obtained a master's degree in sociology before going to South Africa, eventually becoming a pastor at Cape Town.  FOCHTA is proud of these past student beneficiaries and also of many other former beneficiaries who have made meaningful careers to serve the local community.  Malawi news 2020-01-25T05:42:39+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/fochtas_first_beneficiary_is_now_a_pastor/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/fochtas_first_beneficiary_is_now_a_pastor/ Dyton Liphale was one of our first secondary school student beneficiaries shortly after our inception in 2003. During that time, there were also several notable students who have since become very successful in their professional lives. These include Clara Lemani, who later graduated in M Sc (Statistical Science), Amadu Bwanani, who completed a Bachelor degree in Social Science and Charles Sokoso, who became a farm animal management expert and is currently the vice-chairman of our Board of Trustees.  Through FOCHTA, Dyton was later supported by Peter Downie in Australia, to study a Bachelor of Education. Afterwards, he worked as a teacher, and also started a school to train IT students. But his passion was always to help others, so he continued his studies and obtained a Master Degree in Sociology. In 2015, he went to Cape Town. Because of his passion in relating to people, he was assigned a church there to be its pastor. This he finds most rewarding. As Dyton says: “ I find that South African people are very good and I like them very much. But then a church is a most complex institution in that one is encouraged to embrace even the worst of characters that one may encounter. But since in my view the Church is the last hope for people to change, thus by God’s grace, I am managing without problems”. Dyton married two years ago, and he still goes back to visit Malawi from time to time. He said he never forgets what FOCHTA has done for him, and that, “ I am FOCHTA, and be assured that the FOCHTA aspiration will never cease. And although I am out of the country, my heart, spirit and prayers will always be with FOCHTA”. Apart from serving as a pastor, Dyton still finds time to do some real estate business together with his brother in Malawi. He is also at the moment doing a one-year diploma course in social work.   Malawi news 2020-01-15T21:36:43+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/seasons_greetings_from_fochta/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/seasons_greetings_from_fochta/ Seasons Greetings from the Director & Board of Directors to our friends from all over the world. FOCHTA would like to thank Nancie Horne of NSW in Australia for donating nine goats to grandmothers in the Thyolo District. Nancie is donating these goats in lieu of Christmas presents to her children and grandchildren. They are Graham and Rosemary, Julie and Jonathan, Jae and James, Bronte and Ryan. Aleisha and Harry, Sally, Lucy, Ruby and Florence and Joslyn.                                       Australia 2019-12-29T04:18:39+00:00 http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/golf_competition_in_belgium_raises_over_5000_euros_for_fochta/ http://www.fochta.org.au/news/archive/golf_competition_in_belgium_raises_over_5000_euros_for_fochta/   Daneille Moucq with family and friends organised a golf competition in September 2019 raising over 7,000 Euro, which has been sent to FOCHTA in Malawi. Almost 60 players teed off in a nine-hole competition on a sunny afternoon on 30th September. Dinner attended by 100 guests and a tombola, with generous prizes, followed the competition. The prizes were presented by well-known Belgian actor Charlie Dupont. FOCHTA thanks Danielle for the many years she has given to helping raise funds for children's education in Malawi. Thanks also to graphic designer Jonathan Wei of MW Creative Agency in designing all the publicity & promotional materials.   International 2019-12-20T00:31:33+00:00