Seventy students, fifteen secondary school teachers, and fifteen Peace Corps volunteers visited the Centre yesterday as a part of Peace Corps’ annual Camp Sky program. During their morning at the Centre, the students rotated through three different stations where they learned about different environmental topics and possible solutions for the environmental problems facing Malawi.

Eston discussed waste management with the students and the environmental effects of excess waste. The students talked about how they can reduce and reuse their waste outputs and through hands on demonstrations they learned how to make paper briquettes out of waste paper and how human manure can be made into safe, nutrient-rich compost.

Biswick showed the students how they can reduce chemical use in agricultural production by using compost. The students learned about the different materials that can be made into organic fertilizers and made their own compost piles. In walking through the commercial garden the visitors were amazed that we don’t use any chemical fertilizers or insecticides.

At the third station Issac talked about the effects of deforestation, one of Malawi’s most pressing environmental concerns, and the importance of trees for both human and environmental health. Issac gave the students a lesson on tree care and reproduction, during which the students filled tubes with potting soil and planted seeds into the tree nursery.

Today Eston is heading to the Camp SKY home base to give a talk on the importance of permaculture for household nutrition and environmental health.

Camp SKY is a Peace Corps Malawi initiative that aims to prepare Form 3 students for the MSCE exams and to give them an opportunity to experience different post-secondary school options.