Gift of the Givers donates to Phalombe schools
Alarmed with the prevalence of cases of cholera, especially among school going children in Phalombe district, Gift of the Givers has responded by donating sanitary materials to five affected primary schools in the district.
The handover ceremony took place on Friday at Chitekesa Primary School where Development Communications Trust and District Health Office in Phalombe took part.
Phalombe District Health Office started recording cholera cases early January this year. The cumulative number of cases as of March was sixty-nine and about twenty of them were learners. The condition prompted Gift of the Givers to intervene by donating 20 pairs of gumboots, 20 tapped water buckets, 300 hand washing detergent soap tablets among other items.
Gaffar Jakhura, Chairman of the Gift of the Givers Foundation stressed the need to support the school going children with sanitary materials in order to protect them from contracting cholera. Jakhura urged other organisations to assist the other affected communities.
Programme Officer for Gift of the Givers Ishmael Grant said the organisation was tipped by Development Communications Trust which is carrying out awareness campaigns in schools and communities in the district.
“We work hand in hand with other organisations that are implementing projects here in Phalombe including the Health Office hence after they told us that cholera has also affected school going children, we thought of intervening. Today we have decided to fulfill our promise because we know if these pupils are protected from diseases such as cholera, they will help develop this nation because they will be healthy and strong,” said Grant.
Mirriam Gondwe represented the head teacher of Chitekesa Primary School, welcomed the donation saying it will help improve sanitation.
“In the past we faced a number of challenges because our pupils used to clean toilets without enough protective gear hence they were at risk of contracting cholera but with the coming in of these sanitary materials, they will be safe,” Gondwe stated.
Loveness Juma, a standard six pupil at the school, told The Daily Times that together with her fellow pupils they will take care of the items and put them to good use.
“We have been advised to care for the materials and we will follow that to ensure that sanitation here is improved. Our friends suffered from cholera and it was bad, so we do not want to face the same,” said Juma.
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