Soil erosion and exhaustion represent a huge problem in Likoma District. On the basis of talks with agricultural experts LMP’s approach to agriculture is to place emphasis on demonstrating soil conservation techniques to the whole district. Ten demonstration gardens, LMP's full planned compliment, have now been set up throughout the district: eight on Likoma and two on Chizumula. The gardens all employ contouring and box-ridging to prevent erosion and green-manuring to improve soil fertility. Simple irrigation systems have been introduced using treadle pumps, and five brick lined wells have been constructed to date. The piloting of new varieties of crops and vegetables has also taken place, including plants which boost the immune system and can slow the onset of HIV Aids. Seed retention is a key aspect of the programme so that an indigenous seed base can be available to local communities. Each garden runs a nursery programme with fruit tree seedlings and vegetable seedlings sold to local farmers. A fruit and vegetable drying programme was started in November 2005. Sixty drying trays and six solar driers were constructed for this purpose and yield over 200kg of dried mangos each year. Plans are ahead to produce locally grown cooking oil on an experimental basis. Crops were sown in late 2007 on some of the demonstration gardens and oil presses have been bought to extract vegetable oil from the harvest which is due in April 2008.

Supervised by LMP Malawi’s three agricultural extension workers the gardens currently employ 50 people with each garden working to monthly as well as annual plans. Weekly progress meetings are held with the forepersons of each garden and monthly training meetings are held for all garden staff. Early established gardens started open training days to local people in 2006. In July 2007 this part of the programme reached its full dvelopment with all gardens conducting open days every two months. Average attendance at each day is around 100 people. In 2006 LMP started district wide LMP agricultural shows, sponsored by the World Bank, which are attended by all local stakeholders as well as locals. Two shows are conducted each year to coincide both with the dry and rainy seasons.

The demonstration programme is set to run for ten years. During this time LMP will equip garden workers and outreach workers to provide training and seed inputs to villagers throughout the islands to improve the long-term productivity of their own plots. At the end of ten years it is hoped that Likoma Distrit will be self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables and the the production of the staple food, maize, will have increased by 100-200%.

Vocational Training

Carpentry, tin smithing, bricklaying & welding

Work on building the first class room for the vocational training school started in March 2004 and was completed in September 2004. Power and quality hand tools for the school are largely provided by LMP from the UK through donations, whereas materials and lower quality hand tools are sourced from within Malawi.

In December 2004 LMP's vocational training school opened with one carpentry course in a classroom constrcuted by LMP. At the time two qualified carpenters trained seven young local people. Since that time a second carpentry course has been started with eight students.

Anticipating wider demand for vocational skills training a second classroom was completed in June this year. An outdoor working and training shed has also been constructed on the vocational training site. With the increased capacity, in May this year, eight students embarked on a tin smithing course. Four of these students undertoook a second course in September and by November 2007 are set to start up their own tin smith workshop on LMP premsies. A three month brick laying course is scheduled for October 2007

In all LMP courses students concentrate on theory and practical skills in morning sessions, whilst in the afternoons the school converts to practical workshops with students employed to construct items required by the district or by LMP. In this way students are able to cover all the fees required for their course and also earn an additional income.

Several qualifications at the vocational school are possible depending on the students’ aptitude and experience. These range from Grade 1 Advanced Craft Certificate in carpentry and joinery which takes four years to complete to LMP's own in-house certificates for non-exam courses which can be completed in as little as two months.

Within the field of vocational training for exam classes we work closely with TEVETA (Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority), a body established by the Malawian Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training. This ensures that students taking examinable course will receive officially acknowledged certificates as TEVETA, among other functions, offers and runs the exams. TEVETA also provides a link between training schools and the labour market in Malawi.

In 2008 LMP plans to develop further vocational opportunities in order to provide further employment and services.

A welding service was started in Jan 2006 as the first stage in the set-up of a machine shop (to repair and make metal items such as window frames, bolts & screws etc. ) and in 2008 a metal lathe will be added to the current equipment. Two students will be trained to work at the machine shop when it is fully equipped.

Bricklaying and building courses are also planned for a later stage. This latter intervention will incoporate training in the use of equipment LMP is planning to procure to make light weight concrete tiles, hollow concrete blocks and hollow floor moulds. If introduced to the district these simple technologies will reduce the cost of cement inputs to current buildings, and a local alternative to expensive, imported, iron metal sheets for rooves.

HIV/AIDS Programme: Aids With Us

Under the leadership of Dr. Sajiwandani, the Chairman of LMP Malawi, LMP submitted an HIV/AIDS proposal within Malawi in October 2004 entitled Aids With Us. In November funding was approved with LMP awarded around £13,000 to run the first stage of the project up until May 2006, which since then has been funded by LMP UK donations. A key aspect of the Aids With Us programme is the participation of civil society in the programme. This is most significantly realised through the participation of all the chiefs of Likoma District in the programme who attend regular meetings with LMP. As heads of their communities the results of these meetings are then passed on through the Aids With Us Prgramme both to the communities and into the planning process both horizontally and vertically.

Aids With Us prinicipally functions on two levels. The first level comprises of awareness raising of HIV Aids issues throughout the target region as well as a behavioural change programme. In May 2005 8 local facilitators were recruited and in August they undertook a two week training programme in Stepping Stones. This programme, designed by Action Aid, and used in Uganda to great effect in reducing the incidence of HIV Aids in that country, utilises a community based approach to raise awareness in local communities of HIV Aids issues. To ensure that all members of the community are reached Stepping Stones targets local communities by age and gender. From November 2005 to August 2006 Stepping Stones was introduced to all the villages in Likoma Island. An analysis of baseline awareness conducted in September 2005, and an initial endline study of Stepping Stones in September 2006, led LMP to develop, in conjunction with Stepping Stones, a Behavioural Change Intervention programme which started in March 2007. This programme focuses on peer to peer activites to bring about Behaviour Change. A key, but not exclusive, focus for Behavioural Change Intervention is the 10-26 year age group. As such LMP facilitators are now working very closely with the local government education department conducting Behavioural Change Activites in all Likoma District's primary and secondary schools.

The second level of the Aids With Us project commprises of the set-up and running of a voluntary counselling and testing clinic (VCT) for HIV. Work on the Likoma clinic, which has capacity for four counsellors, started in January 2005 and in Janaury 2006 the first stage of the building was completed. In February and March 2007 a ceiling was put into the clinic which provides, amongst other benefits, sound proofing for the four councelling rooms. An incinerator was also built in March for the clinic. Funds were secured in May 2007 to introduce piped water to the clinic and to construct a toilet block so that the premises can be used to test for HIV as these items are statutory national requirements. Construction of this phase is scheduled to be completed by the end of October 2007 with the VCT clinic set to fully open in November 2007.

Working closely with St. Peter's Hospital LMP recruited four local people who undertook a counselling and testing course in November 2005. In December 2005 these counsellors started counselling at LMP's VCT clinic, and testing at St. Peter's Hospital, as well as providing an occassional mobile testing service on Chizimula Island. The full operation of LMP's VCT clinic is imperative as St. Peter's Hospital only has one room avaialble for testing which cannot meet local demand. From January 2006 to August 2007 LMP's counsellors tested over 2000 local residents for HIV and gave counselling to many more. Amongst those tested a 15% positive rate has been recorded. All positive cases are referred to St. Peter's Hospital and all those assessed as requiring an immediate course of anti-rectroviral drugs recieve them. Anecdotal evidence further suggests that many residents have visited VCT's on the mainland for testing purposes.

Evaluation of Aids With Us is an integral part of the project. In September 2005 LMP undertook a baseline survey of 600 residents of Likoma Island. In September 2006 an endline study, replicating the baseline, was conducted. Findings of the surveys showed that the awareness of HIV and VCT services had dramatically increased. In just one year, for example, 80% of people could now talk about safe sex up from 64%; 41% of people had been encouraged to visit a VCT up from 23%; and 83% of people were aware of VCT services compared to just 32%. The September 2006, however, showed that the up take of safe sex practices was still low and that many people still were unwilling to use VCT services. Fear of Aids remained constant in both surveys at 95%. Evaluation results such as these are fed back into the Aids With Us planning process to produce new initiatives such as LMP's Behavioural Change Programme which uses the views and ideas of local people themselves to bring about behavioural change.

Committed to continuing Aids With Us for the foreseeable future, LMP has submitted proposals in 2006, and is continuing to submit proposals, to guaratee the estimated £150,000 required to secure the project for the next five years, and fully reach all the target population. A new aspect of these proposals is the lead LMP will take in coordinating the activities of 8 small Community Based Organisations (CBOs) operating in Likoma District which currently lack any structure in which to make their activities in the fight against HIV Aids really effective.


Education

Computer & Business Courses

Computers were introduced to the district in early 2004 to the secondary school, government offices and St. Peter's hospital. As the computers were donated without any training provision LMP stepped in to fill this gap. In March 2004 a training programme was written based on local needs and since then LMP has delivered a number of computer courses covering the areas of Word, Excel, and file management. Refresher courses are also offered as well as one off training on request. Students receive a manual for the courses and a certificate at the end. A small participation fee covers LMP’s costs. In July 2007 LMP installed 14 computers into one of its vocational classrooms. Using this new facility LMP is now able to run its courses for the first time at its own premises. The new facility has also enabled LMP to offer computer taster classes to primary school students, and operate a two day a week drop in computer centre. The latter two new services are free of charge and the only such facilities in the district.

The digital divide between industrial and developing countries is vast, and it was only in 2005 that landlines and a mobile network were introduced to Likoma District. As part of LMP's own attempts to bridge the digital divide the installation of 14 computers in July 2007 marked the first stage in LMP's own plans to offer comprehensive IT access and training to Likoma District. The idea is to develop over time a combined LMP IT & Business Centre. With the first batch of computers now installed LMP is now providing off-line training for email and internet use as Likoma's landline connection is too slow and expensive for online use. This training at least gives people the confidence to visit mainland cyber cafes. LMP is also exploring the viability of introducing an affordable satelite link that will make email and limited internet browsing possible for 2008. Funds currently are being sought for this facility as well as for additional equipment and the costs for the running and maintaining the centre.

One of the key constraints to development in Likoma District is the lack of business skills in the community. The Business element of the IT & Business centre will offer short courses to local people on business management. Aspects of the course will include financial planning and accounting, business management and marketting, as well as ideas on gaps within the local market that need new businesses. All courses will be tailored to meet the needs of the local community. Based on LMP's past experience this area of activity is vital if the private sector is to deliver successfully the goods and services that the region currently lacks.

Mainstream Education

LMP has identified nursery, and Primary education in maths and science, and the training of Primary head teachers, as priority areas for intervention.

In May 2007, in conjunction with the District Education Office, LMP conducted a pilot programme of in-service training. The target group for this pilot was Primary 5 to 8 teachers of maths and science who were trained on how to use and identify locally available resources to use in practical lessons within the existing curriculum. Involved in the planning for pilot training was a UK primary teacher,the Primary Education Advisor for Likoma, and headteachers of Likoma District Schools. The evaluation of this programme will inform future initiatives in education training.

Before funding is given to villages an extensive sensitisation programme is carried out with each village. The culmination of this sensitisation program is the writing of a five year development plan for the village. Funds provided by LMP over this period average £6000.

LMP’s first two five-year development plans commenced in Makulawe and Yofu villages in 2002. Makulawe completed a large transportation boat in Janaury 2003 employing five people, which generated an income equal to its cost in the first year of operation. A village tourist guesthouse employing two people was also completed in May 2005. Yofu constructed a chicken farm which started to produces 200-300 eggs each day in April 2005. Makulawe and Yofu villages also completed a joint maize mill project in October 2004. The mill eradicates the need to pound maize by hand, and also acts as a grain store to secure the community against the annual maize shortages. Pilot women’s’ loans schemes involving both these villages were also completed in May 2005: Makulawe women constructed a restaurant, and Yofu women a bakery.

One new five year plans in Makengulu village was completed in September 2004. A maize mill project similar to the joint Makulawe and Yofu project was completed in May 2006, and a chicken farm for meat production went into production in April 2005. A 30 foot transportation boat was also completed for Makungulku village in January 2006.