The US Ambassador visits the Malaria project in Zaire.

PROGRAM

- Welcome and briefing about the health and education situation in the region.

- Inspection of teaching materials and program

- Visit to Kimtambi primary school, meeting the director and staff.

- Classroom visit to observe malaria lessons

- Q & A with the students

- Tour of the EPF teacher training college and the Farmers’ Club.

The aim of the visit was to give the Ambassador and his wife the opportunity to observe some of the activities which will form that mainstay of the program, as well as meeting a number of stakeholders. 

The malaria lesson in a local primary school was a key feature of the day. The visitors were greeted with a song and a short piece of theater about malaria. They then observed a lesson, allowing them to monitor the teaching and form an impression of the level of awareness and of the people who will be involved in the project. They were able to meet and interact with the students.  The session as a whole was representative of those which will be given across the schools involved in the program.

A tour of the Teacher Training School was given in order to illustrate the ADPP model of grassroots networking, moblization and education as a means to promote rural development. Many of the trainees from the school will be directly involved in the malaria prevention program.

The Ambassador gained a good impression of some of the information work which will be carried out in communities across Zaire province in the course of the project. Meeting those who will become the main force in the project– the schools and the children– gave a valuable insight into how the program will function and an introduction to the students who will be instrumental in spreading malaria awareness. 

The Ambassador commented on the organisation of the project where partners and stakeholders from the USA, Europe, Asia and Africa all work seamlessly together in order to promote development at a grassroots level in the often overlooked province of Zaire.