An Aberdeen teacher has returned from Africa after playing her part in continuing the cultural bond between Scotland and Malawi.
Wendy Craig, 36, from Cults, who is the primary seven teacher at Milltimber Primary, spent the final two weeks of term in the African nation, raising awareness of the educational issues the country faces and sharing good practice ideas with local teachers.
The trip, which was arranged through the League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers, was funded by the Scottish Government.
Ms Craig says the experience has helped her to teach her pupils about the plight of children in developing countries.
"It's difficult to get across to the children without a hands-on resource we can show them," she said. "It's much easier to get them to understand just how little these children have got."
Seeing the schools at first hand, Ms Craig was shocked at how few resources they had.
"It makes you appreciate everything you have got here," she said.
Jennifer Angus, 23, from Fraserburgh, has also recently been in Malawi, having finished a six-month Global Xchange programme.
Run through the Voluntary Service Overseas organisation, the programme saw nine Scots and nine Malawian volunteers spending three months in each country.
"The experience helped me focus on what I want to do in life and open my eyes to what's going on in the world.
"It was a big lesson, I feel very hopeful to what can be done now," she said.
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Torn Between the Lure And Danger of Uranium
A project to mine uranium in northern Malawi next year promises to spur economic development in the area, but fears of serious health hazards associated with the radioactive element have aroused the country's civil society.
The Malawian government granted a mining licence in April 2007 to Paladin Africa Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian company, Paladin Resources Ltd, to develop the Kayelekera uranium deposit, 40km west of the town of Karonga on the shore of Lake Malawi.
According to James Eggins, a spokesman for Paladin Resources, the US$200 million capital cost of the project could generate between $150 million and $180 million a year, depending on the price of uranium.
The project is expected to create up to 800 jobs during the construction phase and more than 200 permanent jobs in the operations phase, besides the employment of contractors.
The venture could become a top export earner for the Malawian government, which owns 15 percent of Paladin Africa Limited. Henry Chimunthu Banda, Malawi's Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Resources, told parliament earlier this year that revenue from the project could boost the country's gross domestic product by 10 percent.
Health concerns
However, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), one of the leading rights organisations in Malawi, have called for an independent review of the environmental impact study, and are concerned about the possible social impact on neighbouring communities and exposure to radiation.
Kossam Munthali, director of the Foundation for Community Support Services (FCSS), a reproductive health support group also opposed to the mining project, told a public consultative meeting held last year by the Kayelekera Uranium Project that the effects of uranium might cause long-lasting serious health problems in unborn children and residents in the surrounding areas.
The deposit is close to a forest reserve and Lake Malawi, and the NGOs said it was important that the people of Karonga become aware of the impact that the mining project could have on the ecosystem of Africa's third-largest freshwater lake and the biodiversity of the entire area.
Lake Malawi, which the environmentalists claim would be affected once the mining project commenced, is a major source of fish, the country's most affordable protein.
"Uranium is naturally radioactive", according to Friends of the Earth, an anti-nuclear international NGO. "This means that as the element decays, it emits radiation".
As uranium decays, it produces a dangerous gas Radon-222 which easily spreads during the mining and the further processing of uranium, according to the NGO. " As well as being dangerous due to its radioactivity, uranium is chemically toxic".
The NGO maintained that no matter how uranium is mined, "there will be radioactive contamination of the environment as well as impacts from noise, dust, sulphur dioxide fumes, etc".
The Uranium Information Centre (UIC) of the Australian Uranium Association, suggested that good ventilation systems be installed to keep exposure low. It also recommended the use of radiation-detecting equipment and regular safety checks.
Environmental concerns
Malawian NGOs have called on Paladin to ensure that no waste would be dumped into natural waters, such as the Sere Stream and the Rukuru River, both near the deposit, which would lead to the pollution of Lake Malawi.
In particular, the NGOs warned of the dangers of mismanaging the mining operation's waste products, called tailings, which is the material left after the uranium has been extracted and contains most of the radioactivity.
As well as being dangerous due to its radioactivity, uranium is chemically toxic
Paladin's Eggins assured the NGOs that the company, which operates another mine in Namibia, would use the best design criteria for management of the tailings and any water used by the project.
The tailings would be compacted in dams, designed by experts in consultation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and ultimately covered and revegetated, he said. The company expected to draw from Australia's experience in managing tailings, as its uranium reserves were the world's largest, accounting for 24 percent of the global production, according to the UIC.
The human rights group CHRR, along with other NGOs, has complained that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) - a prerequisite for obtaining the mining permit - was procedurally incorrect and have lodged a case in the High Court in the capital, Lilongwe. Paladin has maintained that the EIA "was conducted in strict accordance with the law and to the highest international standards".
The Malawian government granted a mining licence in April 2007 to Paladin Africa Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Australian company, Paladin Resources Ltd, to develop the Kayelekera uranium deposit, 40km west of the town of Karonga on the shore of Lake Malawi.
According to James Eggins, a spokesman for Paladin Resources, the US$200 million capital cost of the project could generate between $150 million and $180 million a year, depending on the price of uranium.
The project is expected to create up to 800 jobs during the construction phase and more than 200 permanent jobs in the operations phase, besides the employment of contractors.
The venture could become a top export earner for the Malawian government, which owns 15 percent of Paladin Africa Limited. Henry Chimunthu Banda, Malawi's Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Resources, told parliament earlier this year that revenue from the project could boost the country's gross domestic product by 10 percent.
Health concerns
However, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), one of the leading rights organisations in Malawi, have called for an independent review of the environmental impact study, and are concerned about the possible social impact on neighbouring communities and exposure to radiation.
Kossam Munthali, director of the Foundation for Community Support Services (FCSS), a reproductive health support group also opposed to the mining project, told a public consultative meeting held last year by the Kayelekera Uranium Project that the effects of uranium might cause long-lasting serious health problems in unborn children and residents in the surrounding areas.
The deposit is close to a forest reserve and Lake Malawi, and the NGOs said it was important that the people of Karonga become aware of the impact that the mining project could have on the ecosystem of Africa's third-largest freshwater lake and the biodiversity of the entire area.
Lake Malawi, which the environmentalists claim would be affected once the mining project commenced, is a major source of fish, the country's most affordable protein.
"Uranium is naturally radioactive", according to Friends of the Earth, an anti-nuclear international NGO. "This means that as the element decays, it emits radiation".
As uranium decays, it produces a dangerous gas Radon-222 which easily spreads during the mining and the further processing of uranium, according to the NGO. " As well as being dangerous due to its radioactivity, uranium is chemically toxic".
The NGO maintained that no matter how uranium is mined, "there will be radioactive contamination of the environment as well as impacts from noise, dust, sulphur dioxide fumes, etc".
The Uranium Information Centre (UIC) of the Australian Uranium Association, suggested that good ventilation systems be installed to keep exposure low. It also recommended the use of radiation-detecting equipment and regular safety checks.
Environmental concerns
Malawian NGOs have called on Paladin to ensure that no waste would be dumped into natural waters, such as the Sere Stream and the Rukuru River, both near the deposit, which would lead to the pollution of Lake Malawi.
In particular, the NGOs warned of the dangers of mismanaging the mining operation's waste products, called tailings, which is the material left after the uranium has been extracted and contains most of the radioactivity.
As well as being dangerous due to its radioactivity, uranium is chemically toxic
Paladin's Eggins assured the NGOs that the company, which operates another mine in Namibia, would use the best design criteria for management of the tailings and any water used by the project.
The tailings would be compacted in dams, designed by experts in consultation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and ultimately covered and revegetated, he said. The company expected to draw from Australia's experience in managing tailings, as its uranium reserves were the world's largest, accounting for 24 percent of the global production, according to the UIC.
The human rights group CHRR, along with other NGOs, has complained that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) - a prerequisite for obtaining the mining permit - was procedurally incorrect and have lodged a case in the High Court in the capital, Lilongwe. Paladin has maintained that the EIA "was conducted in strict accordance with the law and to the highest international standards".
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