Kusamala, in partnership with the ReSCOPE programme, have begun implementing a two year project in Integrated Land Use Design (ILUD) at Kangóma Primary School. Kusamala partnered with the ReSCOPE programme to implement this project which started in August, 2012 and is expected finish in August, 2014. This project is being implemented in 18 schools throughout the country by different partner organizations.

From January 14^th through 18^th the two organizations facilitated a training workshop which was held at Kangóma Primary School. This school is situated in the east of Lilongwe district under the jurisdiction of Traditional Authority Tsabango. The training workshop was aimed at building the capacity of teachers, students, chiefs, and all key stakeholders of the school in implementing permaculture using ILUD. ILUD is a tool design by the ReSCOPE programme for implementing permaculture in schools and colleges.

Chiefs, community members, teachers, members of the Parents-Teachers Association, the school management committee, and students from Kangóma Primary School all attended the 5-day training. It is also interesting to mention that the training workshop had a good representation of both gender group and age groups. Members from all the groups participated effectively in every other activity of the workshop, which will have a large impact on the sustainability of the project.

The key outcomes of the five day training workshop were: a holistic goal of the school in 20 years, a whole land use design for Kangóma Primary School, and an action plan for implementing the design.

The training will be remembered at the school by some significant changes made by the participants during their practicals. Beautiful keyhole beds were made and planted with a diverse of crops following the guild system. Banana pits were also dug and planted with bananas, herbs and other ground covering crops. We expect that once these grow they will change the face of the school.

Coming out of the training, the participants are planning to work together to design the yards of their houses using the ILUD tool. They also want to continue meeting and working hard to make sure that the school project is successful and that they continue working with Kusamala as a local organization. In complementing all this, Kusamala intends to plant 200 trees in order to complement the wonderful work that has started. One highlight of the training was the traditional songs and dances performed by the community as well as the final graduation ceremony where the participants received certificates of attendance.

Written By Chisomo Kamchacha