Bafana Bafana head coach Joel Natalino Santana has named an all-South Africa-based 23-man squad to face Malawi in a friendly on Tuesday.
The match will be played at the Germiston Stadium starting at 7pm. The squad is made up of players on the fringe of Bafana. Only Shuaib Walters of Bloemfontein Celtic is the newcomer in the goalkeeping department. The defence has a young look about it with perhaps Mbulelo Mabizela of Mamelodi Sundowns and Innocent Mdledle of Orlando Pirates the most experienced. Morgan Gould of Supersport United might also get a look in.
Reneilwe Letsholonyane and his Kaizer Chiefs teammate Gert Schalkwyk have been rewarded for their exciting performances lately. The usual suspects, Teko Modise of Pirates and Kagiso Dikgacoi of Golden Arrows, are also in.
The striking department has a new look. Eleazar Rodgers has been in fine form for Santos and is expected to battle it out with Bernard Parker and Petrus Mahlatsi. After Malawi, Bafana Bafana travel to Equatorial Guinea for the last 2010 African Nations Cup Group Four qualifiers next month. Then they face Ghana three days later.
The squad assembles on Sunday.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs), Moeneeb Josephs (Orlando PIrates), Shu-Aib Walters (Bloemfontein Celtic). Defenders: Nazeer Allie,Brett Evans (both Ajax Cape Town), Siboniso Gaxa, Bongani Khumalo, Morgan Gould (all SuperSport United), Mbulelo Mabizela, Robyn Johannes (both Mamelodi Sundowns), Innocent Mdledle (Orlando Pirates)
Midfielders: Daine Klate (S/Sport), , Lefa Tsutsulupa (Moroka Swallows), Kag isho Dikgacoi (Golden Arrows), Teko Modise, Lebogang Mothibantwa, Thulasizwe Mbuyane (all Pirates), Reneilwe Letshononyane, Gert Schalkwyk, Siphiwe Tshabalala (all Kaizer Chiefs). Strikers: Eleazar Rodgers (Santos), Bernard Parker (Thanda Royal Zulu) and Petrus Mahlatsi (Celtic).
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Motorists using cooking oil as fuel
Cooking oil has become substitute for diesel due to acute shortages in Malawi. Motorists said the food product is much more effective and efficient for their engines. The southern African country is experiencing shortage in gas supply as a result of a rise in international transportation costs.
Unknowingly and desperately, a man working in the capital city, David Chiumia discovered a short cut to the problem when he ran his diesel engine on coking oil. “It started when I got stuck at one filling station some miles in the outskirts of the city, I looked around me and nobody was watching me, I remembered what I read somewhere about cooking oil and bio-fuel, I bought a litre and poured into my tank,” he confessed.
“I thought my engine would fail but lo, I run much faster than I could with diesel,” he said. He said after this, he bought more cooking oil and he dropped his kids to school.
“Cooking oil is even economic because one litre carries me 15 kilometers while diesel, one is equal to only 10 in my Mitsubishi Lancer,” Chiumia claimed.
A lecturer in Motor Vehicle Mechanics at University of Malawi, Steve Sabola, said he was not surprised with the experience. “It is very possible because cooking oil and diesel work in the same way, diesel engines compress hot air to burn fuel and cooking oil also burns,” he said. Sabola also said there are no dangers for motorists to use cooking oil adding that it is environmentally friendly.
Unknowingly and desperately, a man working in the capital city, David Chiumia discovered a short cut to the problem when he ran his diesel engine on coking oil. “It started when I got stuck at one filling station some miles in the outskirts of the city, I looked around me and nobody was watching me, I remembered what I read somewhere about cooking oil and bio-fuel, I bought a litre and poured into my tank,” he confessed.
“I thought my engine would fail but lo, I run much faster than I could with diesel,” he said. He said after this, he bought more cooking oil and he dropped his kids to school.
“Cooking oil is even economic because one litre carries me 15 kilometers while diesel, one is equal to only 10 in my Mitsubishi Lancer,” Chiumia claimed.
A lecturer in Motor Vehicle Mechanics at University of Malawi, Steve Sabola, said he was not surprised with the experience. “It is very possible because cooking oil and diesel work in the same way, diesel engines compress hot air to burn fuel and cooking oil also burns,” he said. Sabola also said there are no dangers for motorists to use cooking oil adding that it is environmentally friendly.
Malawi ranked 115th in new corruption index
Malawi has been ranked as 115th in Transparency International’s new Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which places 180 nations based on domestic perceptions and expert assessments of public sector corruption.
In a 2008 Transparency International Report, Malawi has moved three steps upwards from last year’s position of 118.
The index ranges between 0 and 10, with scores below 5 indicating serious corruption problem. In this category, Malawi scored a single margin of 2.8 on the TI scale this year, the same as in 2007.
Economist Andrew Kumbatira of the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) said there was still need for government to strengthen its ways of combating corruption in the country.
\"Government needs to conclude outstanding corruption cases and can therefore move forward in facilitating the effective and efficient prevention and prosecution of corruption in the country,\" he said.
According to the TI\’s Index, countries worst hit by problems of backhand payments and bribery in 2008 remained Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq.
TI said stopping practices such as “cronyism” and “embezzlement” could save lives in poor countries.
Malawi, however, was doing better in combating corruption than other sub-Sahara African countries like Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, Somalia Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo, the TI said.
In a 2008 Transparency International Report, Malawi has moved three steps upwards from last year’s position of 118.
The index ranges between 0 and 10, with scores below 5 indicating serious corruption problem. In this category, Malawi scored a single margin of 2.8 on the TI scale this year, the same as in 2007.
Economist Andrew Kumbatira of the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) said there was still need for government to strengthen its ways of combating corruption in the country.
\"Government needs to conclude outstanding corruption cases and can therefore move forward in facilitating the effective and efficient prevention and prosecution of corruption in the country,\" he said.
According to the TI\’s Index, countries worst hit by problems of backhand payments and bribery in 2008 remained Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq.
TI said stopping practices such as “cronyism” and “embezzlement” could save lives in poor countries.
Malawi, however, was doing better in combating corruption than other sub-Sahara African countries like Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Angola, Sudan, Somalia Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo, the TI said.
Santana to blood new faces
Beleaguered Bafana Bafana head coach Joel Santana will get the opportunity to get a look at the depth of talent at his disposal when his local based squad tackle Malawi in a full international friendly at the Germiston Stadium on Tuesday night. Kick-off is at 7pm.
Santana named his 23-man squad on Thursday for the match and it was confirmed that the players would receive caps. Originally it was announced that the game would be a training match but it was later upgraded.
The squad is made up of players on the fringe of Bafana.
The exercise will do as much good for Santana as the young hopefuls in his squad. Santana badly needs to get up to speed and get to know what talent is in the Premier Soccer League.
The Brazilian born coach has not given the county much hope or confidence in his ability. He has won only one of seven matches under his charge. He also decided to go home for five weeks in July "to sort out his personal issues".
But now Santana must start learning and fast about international soccer. He has only nine months left to prepare the national team for the Confederations Cup.
Santana needs to get his act together as Bafana will be playing against the world's best teams in next June's Confederations Cup. The tournament which is a dress rehearsal for the World Cup in 2010, features world champions Italy, hosts Bafana and the six continental champions including Brazil.
Said Santana: "This is part of our programme to identify possible new players for Bafana. The programme concludes at the end of the year.'
Santana said that the Malawi match would be a good opportunity for players to showcase their talents.
"This will give me a good indication if certain players are able to make the step up from club football to national soccer," said Santana. "It also gives me the chance to give promising players another chance to play at this level."
One or two of the players could persuade the Brazilian coach that they are ready and deserve to be included into the squads to play Equatorial Guinea in the final 2010 African Nations Cup Group Four qualifier next month.
This match in the Equatorial Guinea capital Bata ends a sorry chapter in Bafana's history. Under Santana the national team failed to qualify for the final qualifying phase for the 2010 showpiece in Angola. Bafana have collected only four points from five matches.
Although the Equatorial Guinea game is meaningless there is pride at stake and Santana would be a fool to take an inexperienced side to Bata.
SuperSport's flying winger Daine Klate has potential and is included. He needs to show more consistency. But he looked the part when he came on at the start of the second half of the 1-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly recently. Klate looked class and added speed and skill.
His teammate and defender Morgan Gould plus Kaizer Chiefs classy midfielder Reneilwe Letshononyane, Bloemfontein Celtic keeper Shu-Aib Walters are among the fresher faces that will be on view on Tuesday night.
Others who need to shine at this level are Celtic striker Petrus Mahlatsi and the two new Orlando Pirates midfielders Lebogang Mothibantwa and Thulasizwe Mbuyane.
The players know that a good showing against Malawi would keep them in the head coach's plans for future friendly games and for a coveted spot in the 2010 World Cup squad.
The squad assemble on Sunday and will train at the Germiston Stadium on Monday at 4pm.
Tickets are on sale at Computicket outlets costing R20 and R30 for the gandstand.
The squad: Goalkeepers: Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs), Moeneeb Josephs (Orlando PIrates), Shu-Aib Walters (Bloemfontein Celtic).
Defenders: Nazeer Allie,Brett Evans (both Ajax Cape Town), Siboniso Gaxa, Bongani Khumalo, Morgan Gould (all SuperSport United), Mbulelo Mabizela, Robyn Johannes (both Mamelodi Sundowns), Innocent Mdledle (Orlando Pirates).
Midfielders: Daine Klate (S/Sport), , Lefa Tsutsulupa (Moroka Swallows), Kagisho Dikgacoi (Golden Arrows), Teko Modise, Lebogang Mothibantwa, Thulasizwe Mbuyane (all Pirates), Reneilwe Letshononyane, Gert Schalkwyk, Siphiwe Tshabalala (all Kaizer Chiefs)
Into Africa, Part I: A teacher's journey from New Jersey to Malawi
I'm a 31-year-old Bloomfield native, a former math and social studies teacher engaged to a wonderful woman. I've never wanted to lead an ordinary life, and right now, I'm not: I'm teaching at a teacher's college in Malawi, Africa.
Let me explain how this adventure started.
Last October, after teaching for one year at Solomon Schechter Day School in Bergen County, and some time at a Yeshiva called Mesivta Teferes Rav Zvi Aryeh in Passaic Park, I got a job with a nonprofit called Planet Aid, Inc.
Planet Aid's mission is textile recycling - you may have seen their big yellow collection bins in parking lots in your community. Planet Aid is the collections wing of a European organization called Humana People to People, taking donations of textiles including clothes, shoes, linens, and towels, which are sorted and sold to buyers. The buyers then sell them to thrift stores in Italy, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Canada and other places. The proceeds from those sales go toward disaster relief and development projects in the poorest countries around the globe.
I am currently enrolled in Planet Aid's manager-in-training program, which requires me to spend three months in Southern Africa doing development work and seeing first-hand the impact of our organization's work. Since I have a background in education, I will be spending my three months working as a professor at Chilangoma Teacher Training College, a Humana-operated school named for a mountain range near our location outside of Blantyre, Malawi.
Malawi, popularly called the "Warm Heart of Africa" because of Malawians' friendly disposition, is a subtropical country located between Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its biggest attractions include Lake Malawi, a beautiful lake stretching 500 kilometers, inhabited by about 500 species of tropical fish. The beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving are said to be excellent there.
But Malawians also endure some of the world's worst living conditions. Last year Malawi's GDP was among the world's lowest - just $800 per capita, according to Lonely Planet Southern Africa. Malawi is one of the most densely populated and least developed countries. Fourteen percent of the Malawian population suffers from HIV/AIDS, driving the country's average life expectancy down to about 40 years old.
As a development instructor, I expect to encounter these heart wrenching problems. But my primary focus will be teaching future educators--an important task in a country where the literacy rate is a dismal 63 percent, one of the lowest in the world, where 60 percent of students in primary school drop out before even completing the eighth grade, and where 80 percent of students cannot meet the minimal standards for reading and math. Malawi is suffering from an educational crisis and is in desperate need of help, especially considering that about half the population is less than 15 years old, according to Lonely Planet Southern Africa.
Chilangoma Teacher Training College trains grade school teachers to teach in the rural areas where good teachers are most needed and in short supply. Our college has an outstanding 80 percent retention rate. Also, since teachers in general are well-regarded in Malawi, the people we're training will not only become effective educators but also agents of change, helping to transform poverty-stricken areas into robust communities.
I am thrilled to be going. I'll be exposed to a new landscape, a new culture, and best of all I'll be helping people in desperate need.
And I'll be keeping you posted.
For the next few months, I'll be blogging about my work in Malawi. I invite you to check in and see how my journey is progressing. Perhaps we can reflect together upon some important issues - especially ways we can serve this planet we call home.
Into Africa, Part I: A teacher's journey from New Jersey to Malawi
I'm a 31-year-old Bloomfield native, a former math and social studies teacher engaged to a wonderful woman. I've never wanted to lead an ordinary life, and right now, I'm not: I'm teaching at a teacher's college in Malawi, Africa.
Let me explain how this adventure started.
Last October, after teaching for one year at Solomon Schechter Day School in Bergen County, and some time at a Yeshiva called Mesivta Teferes Rav Zvi Aryeh in Passaic Park, I got a job with a nonprofit called Planet Aid, Inc.
Planet Aid's mission is textile recycling - you may have seen their big yellow collection bins in parking lots in your community. Planet Aid is the collections wing of a European organization called Humana People to People, taking donations of textiles including clothes, shoes, linens, and towels, which are sorted and sold to buyers. The buyers then sell them to thrift stores in Italy, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Canada and other places. The proceeds from those sales go toward disaster relief and development projects in the poorest countries around the globe.
I am currently enrolled in Planet Aid's manager-in-training program, which requires me to spend three months in Southern Africa doing development work and seeing first-hand the impact of our organization's work. Since I have a background in education, I will be spending my three months working as a professor at Chilangoma Teacher Training College, a Humana-operated school named for a mountain range near our location outside of Blantyre, Malawi.
Malawi, popularly called the "Warm Heart of Africa" because of Malawians' friendly disposition, is a subtropical country located between Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its biggest attractions include Lake Malawi, a beautiful lake stretching 500 kilometers, inhabited by about 500 species of tropical fish. The beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving are said to be excellent there.
But Malawians also endure some of the world's worst living conditions. Last year Malawi's GDP was among the world's lowest - just $800 per capita, according to Lonely Planet Southern Africa. Malawi is one of the most densely populated and least developed countries. Fourteen percent of the Malawian population suffers from HIV/AIDS, driving the country's average life expectancy down to about 40 years old.
As a development instructor, I expect to encounter these heart wrenching problems. But my primary focus will be teaching future educators--an important task in a country where the literacy rate is a dismal 63 percent, one of the lowest in the world, where 60 percent of students in primary school drop out before even completing the eighth grade, and where 80 percent of students cannot meet the minimal standards for reading and math. Malawi is suffering from an educational crisis and is in desperate need of help, especially considering that about half the population is less than 15 years old, according to Lonely Planet Southern Africa.
Chilangoma Teacher Training College trains grade school teachers to teach in the rural areas where good teachers are most needed and in short supply. Our college has an outstanding 80 percent retention rate. Also, since teachers in general are well-regarded in Malawi, the people we're training will not only become effective educators but also agents of change, helping to transform poverty-stricken areas into robust communities.
I am thrilled to be going. I'll be exposed to a new landscape, a new culture, and best of all I'll be helping people in desperate need.
And I'll be keeping you posted.
For the next few months, I'll be blogging about my work in Malawi. I invite you to check in and see how my journey is progressing. Perhaps we can reflect together upon some important issues - especially ways we can serve this planet we call home.
Let me explain how this adventure started.
Last October, after teaching for one year at Solomon Schechter Day School in Bergen County, and some time at a Yeshiva called Mesivta Teferes Rav Zvi Aryeh in Passaic Park, I got a job with a nonprofit called Planet Aid, Inc.
Planet Aid's mission is textile recycling - you may have seen their big yellow collection bins in parking lots in your community. Planet Aid is the collections wing of a European organization called Humana People to People, taking donations of textiles including clothes, shoes, linens, and towels, which are sorted and sold to buyers. The buyers then sell them to thrift stores in Italy, Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Canada and other places. The proceeds from those sales go toward disaster relief and development projects in the poorest countries around the globe.
I am currently enrolled in Planet Aid's manager-in-training program, which requires me to spend three months in Southern Africa doing development work and seeing first-hand the impact of our organization's work. Since I have a background in education, I will be spending my three months working as a professor at Chilangoma Teacher Training College, a Humana-operated school named for a mountain range near our location outside of Blantyre, Malawi.
Malawi, popularly called the "Warm Heart of Africa" because of Malawians' friendly disposition, is a subtropical country located between Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Its biggest attractions include Lake Malawi, a beautiful lake stretching 500 kilometers, inhabited by about 500 species of tropical fish. The beaches, snorkeling and scuba diving are said to be excellent there.
But Malawians also endure some of the world's worst living conditions. Last year Malawi's GDP was among the world's lowest - just $800 per capita, according to Lonely Planet Southern Africa. Malawi is one of the most densely populated and least developed countries. Fourteen percent of the Malawian population suffers from HIV/AIDS, driving the country's average life expectancy down to about 40 years old.
As a development instructor, I expect to encounter these heart wrenching problems. But my primary focus will be teaching future educators--an important task in a country where the literacy rate is a dismal 63 percent, one of the lowest in the world, where 60 percent of students in primary school drop out before even completing the eighth grade, and where 80 percent of students cannot meet the minimal standards for reading and math. Malawi is suffering from an educational crisis and is in desperate need of help, especially considering that about half the population is less than 15 years old, according to Lonely Planet Southern Africa.
Chilangoma Teacher Training College trains grade school teachers to teach in the rural areas where good teachers are most needed and in short supply. Our college has an outstanding 80 percent retention rate. Also, since teachers in general are well-regarded in Malawi, the people we're training will not only become effective educators but also agents of change, helping to transform poverty-stricken areas into robust communities.
I am thrilled to be going. I'll be exposed to a new landscape, a new culture, and best of all I'll be helping people in desperate need.
And I'll be keeping you posted.
For the next few months, I'll be blogging about my work in Malawi. I invite you to check in and see how my journey is progressing. Perhaps we can reflect together upon some important issues - especially ways we can serve this planet we call home.
Malawi introducing pension for citizens aged above 60
The Malawi government on Thursday said that it was planning to introduce an old age non-contributory scheme for citizens aged 60 years and above, a development which will please the nation’s senior citizens whose country was among those left in the southern African region without such a facility.
Secretary for Persons with Disability and the Elderly, Elias Ngongondo, told journalists in Lilongwe ahead of International Day for Older Persons that the pension will provide the elderly and their wider households with significantly increased protection from abject poverty.
\"The cash would help older people afford food, enable them to access services such as healthcare, support the huge caring role that they play and facilitate investment within communities,\" he said.
The money would, therefore, enable senior citizens to make a positive contribution to society rather than being regarded as a financial burden as was the current case.
Ngongondo observed that as people aged, they are more likely to have decreased physical abilities, health problems and even become disabled, reducing their ability to work, while at the same time increasing their expenditure.
The International Day for Older Persons was set aside by the United Nations to be commemorated on every 1 October but Malawi will commemorate the occasion on 4 October under “Rights of Older Persons” as its theme.
Secretary for Persons with Disability and the Elderly, Elias Ngongondo, told journalists in Lilongwe ahead of International Day for Older Persons that the pension will provide the elderly and their wider households with significantly increased protection from abject poverty.
\"The cash would help older people afford food, enable them to access services such as healthcare, support the huge caring role that they play and facilitate investment within communities,\" he said.
The money would, therefore, enable senior citizens to make a positive contribution to society rather than being regarded as a financial burden as was the current case.
Ngongondo observed that as people aged, they are more likely to have decreased physical abilities, health problems and even become disabled, reducing their ability to work, while at the same time increasing their expenditure.
The International Day for Older Persons was set aside by the United Nations to be commemorated on every 1 October but Malawi will commemorate the occasion on 4 October under “Rights of Older Persons” as its theme.
Can Santana rise to the occasion?
Under-fire Bafana coach Joel Santana gears up for his next challenge against high-flying Malawi in Germiston next week - and already elements are conspiring against him.
The knives were sharpened following Bafana's loss to Nigeria in a crucial African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier earlier this month, but the South African Football Association (Safa) stood by their man, and announced that his tenure would continue until 2010, with the aim of producing a team capable of holding their own against the world's best.
With Bafana eliminated from Afcon, Santana started the "second phase" of his Bafana career but saw his misfiring squad suffer a 1-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly.
'We are geared up for the game'
On Tuesday, Bafana come up against Malawi, who will use the match as preparation for the upcoming do-or-die Afcon game against DR Congo in Blantyre on October 11.
The Malawian Flames are equal on points with the DRC -but have a smaller goal difference - so the final group qualifier is a must-win if they are to progress to the later stages of the competition.
Santana, though, has other concerns. Because the match is not on an official Fifa date, he will be forced to look to the local leagues for his squad, but on current form, there are very few players who deserve the label "international class".
In addition, four PSL clubs - Ajax, Celtic, Platinum Stars and Wits - will be in action on Wednesday, so are unlikely to release their players.
Santana's task, then, is to assemble a team from available players, and run them through a truncated programme from Monday to ready them for Tuesday's game.
Santana is expected to announce his squad on Thursday afternoon.
Malawi, meanwhile, are upbeat about the fixture.
Coach Kinnah Phiri, who was previously mentor of Free State Stars, has included seven South African-based players in his squad, and says the friendly will not be a walk in the park for Bafana.
"We are geared up for the game, which will help us a lot to identify the areas where we have to improve before facing the Congolese," said Phiri.
Ranked 110th in the world, 40 places behind Bafana, Malawi are hoping to progress to the Nations Cup finals for the first time since 1984.
Bafana's last match against Malawi was in last year's Cosafa Cup, and saw the South Africans win on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
The knives were sharpened following Bafana's loss to Nigeria in a crucial African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier earlier this month, but the South African Football Association (Safa) stood by their man, and announced that his tenure would continue until 2010, with the aim of producing a team capable of holding their own against the world's best.
With Bafana eliminated from Afcon, Santana started the "second phase" of his Bafana career but saw his misfiring squad suffer a 1-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly.
'We are geared up for the game'
On Tuesday, Bafana come up against Malawi, who will use the match as preparation for the upcoming do-or-die Afcon game against DR Congo in Blantyre on October 11.
The Malawian Flames are equal on points with the DRC -but have a smaller goal difference - so the final group qualifier is a must-win if they are to progress to the later stages of the competition.
Santana, though, has other concerns. Because the match is not on an official Fifa date, he will be forced to look to the local leagues for his squad, but on current form, there are very few players who deserve the label "international class".
In addition, four PSL clubs - Ajax, Celtic, Platinum Stars and Wits - will be in action on Wednesday, so are unlikely to release their players.
Santana's task, then, is to assemble a team from available players, and run them through a truncated programme from Monday to ready them for Tuesday's game.
Santana is expected to announce his squad on Thursday afternoon.
Malawi, meanwhile, are upbeat about the fixture.
Coach Kinnah Phiri, who was previously mentor of Free State Stars, has included seven South African-based players in his squad, and says the friendly will not be a walk in the park for Bafana.
"We are geared up for the game, which will help us a lot to identify the areas where we have to improve before facing the Congolese," said Phiri.
Ranked 110th in the world, 40 places behind Bafana, Malawi are hoping to progress to the Nations Cup finals for the first time since 1984.
Bafana's last match against Malawi was in last year's Cosafa Cup, and saw the South Africans win on penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Students develop Malawi irrigation system
A Cal Poly team helped develop a sustainable irrigation program for Malawi villages.
Media Credit: Courtesy photo
A Cal Poly team helped develop a sustainable irrigation program for Malawi villages.
This summer, a team of two Cal Poly faculty members and five students traveled to Malawi for two weeks to teach rural villages sustainable irrigation practices.
The class, "Appropriate Technology for Impoverished Communities," brought together students from different majors who are passionate about improving communities around the world, said Blayne Morgan, an environmental engineering senior and team member.
Before going, the students studied impoverished communities, world hunger and the causes of poverty.
Other team members included Diane Long, retired political science faculty member and team leader, Rod Hoadley, industrial and manufacturing engineering faculty member, social sciences graduate Kaitlin Chandler, earth science graduate Bridget Hill, and animal science senior Grace Wetmore.
After a village chief gave her a piece of property, Atwater said she became curious about how to implement sustainable development in a poor African country.
"I really wanted to include Cal Poly students in my development project," she said.
The goal was to assess the needs of a particular community with appropriate technology.
"We originally researched small-scale irrigation to increase crop production," Atwater said. "We were looking for a way to introduce irrigation in way that was sustainable -- meaning human-powered."
The team came up with a bicycle-powered water pump called a "ped-a-pump," after discovering that certain villages in Malawi didn't have irrigation and could not grow enough food. The pump allows villagers to pump their own water.
After crafting the device, the team needed to raise enough money to take the trip, which was estimated at $3,600 per person.
They raised the money by asking for donations from family and friends, writing grant proposals and holding a California Pizza Kitchen fundraiser.
Once there, the team demonstrated how to use the device to inhabitants of several different villages.
Since women are primarily responsible for feeding the families, the team wanted to promote the ped-a-pump to them especially.
"It was well-received, though we did run into challenges we didn't anticipate," Atwater said. "For instance, many of the villages were so poor that they had never had a bicycle, the bicycles had chains falling off or the pedals were stripped."
Some of the women asked the team if a hand-crank could be added to make it more accommodating.
The team also joined forces with Compassion Ministries Development Program (COMDEP) a Malawi-based aid organization. The team helped COMDEP out with other projects and the two groups were able to pay for a topographic survey of 16 hectares of land.
"The survey will be done by the ministry of irrigation and that data will help design the irrigation strategy of that region," Atwater said. "This will help multiple villages."
The files from the survey will be available in four weeks. Currently, the Malawi team is looking for agricultural engineering, civil engineering, or another class that would like to receive the survey and assist with the designs for possible senior project credit.
Atwater and Morgan stressed that although the Malawi team is under the university Honors Program, it is not exclusive to honor students.
Plans for another trip to Malawi in summer 2009 are in the beginning stages.
To find out more about the Malawi team and their plans, pictures and sponsor, go to sustainableuniverse.org.
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