Patience Namadingo has announced a major change of plans—he’s now redirecting the funds he had intended to use to repair ambulances in Mangochi towards building a classroom block at Wataka Primary School in Machinga.
The school, which has been around since 1934, is in rough shape. One of its blocks was recently condemned by a quality assessment team, leaving students to learn under mango trees—an obvious problem, especially when it rains. According to Namadingo, the school wrote to him the very day he left Mangochi, asking for help—and the appeal struck a chord.
Now, he’s all in. Namadingo says construction is set to begin next week, and he’s headed to Machinga tomorrow to check out the site and engage the local community. The school serves children from at least eight villages in Machinga and parts of Mangochi.
“Every child deserves a proper classroom,” he said. “No one should be learning under the sun or running from rain mid-lesson.”
