Mzamba primary and community day secondary schools in Blantyre did not have libraries but yesterday learners and teachers were all smiles when Mr. Luc’s Libraries, spearheaded by French Honorary Consul to Malawi and Jacaranda Foundation Executive Director Luc Deschamps, opened two libraries.
Situated in rural Blantyre where the road is bad during the rainy season and at times impassable, Mzamba Primary School, which shelters the Community Day Secondary School, was opened in 1915, according to its head teacher Cynthia Mponda.
With over 1,200 learners, the school turned into a hive of celebration with Mr. Luc’s 25th library with the Community Day Secondary welcoming Mr. Luc’s 26th library.
“I don’t know where to start from, but we did not have a library. learners longed for this and now they have a chance to read in a conducive environment,” Mponda said.
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The two schools united through activities that ranged from poems, drama, comedy, dance, and songs to sing praises of Deschamps.
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The well-decorated libraries with artworks by visual artist Jim Alufisha of Zaluso Arts have been stocked with a variety of books.
Blantyre City Mayor Wild Ndipo, as alumnus of the school, was present during the handover of the two libraries and commended Mr. Luc’s Libraries for the move.
“This is not the first Mr. Luc’s Libraries has done this, they have also opened libraries in other schools, but I am excited because they have reached out to a school where I used to learn. Libraries are vital to education in terms of propelling reading culture,” Ndipo said.
Deschamps said he was happy that, for the first time, they have opened two libraries and that they were in a double celebration.
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“The two libraries answer the needs of the two schools which did not have libraries. We had to bring these gifts to them mostly to give a chance to the children to have a place to read as well as study,” he said.
He said just as they have done with other schools, they turned what used to be storerooms into libraries.
“Our goal is to develop the culture of reading in Malawi,” Deschamps said.
Earlier before the opening of the two libraries, Deschamps, traditional leaders, teachers and learners planted trees as part of the drive to conserve the environment.
