US Family Donates Mattresses to Malawi School
The community day secondary school, which opened in 2000, has an enrollment of around 350 students.
KARONGA, Malawi— A U.S.-based family has donated 42 mattresses to Lufilya Community Day Secondary School in Karonga district to help reduce challenges faced by girls travelling long distances to attend classes, writes Wezzie Mwangonde.
The donation from Rillero's Family, Urban Farming Education, Rift Win and Tap in United States was received recently by the school, which has a girls' hostel on campus.
Mtuli Executive Director Robert Mhango said their research revealed most girls drop out due to the long distances they must travel to schools.
"We hope the donation will help reduce cases of school dropouts among girls who travel long distances, thereby promoting girl child education," Mhango said.
Lufilya headmistress Glory Kaunda said the mattress donation was timely as the hostel previously only had 10 mattresses for its 100 boarding students.
However, she called for additional donations to meet the remaining need of 48 more mattresses.
"We still have a shortage of 48 mattresses in the girls' hostel because we have 100 students who are boarding," Kaunda explained.
The community day secondary school, which opened in 2000, has an enrollment of around 350 students.
Mhango said providing hostels with mattresses enables girls to reside closer to schools, reducing dropout rates among those who might otherwise have to travel long distances each day.