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As of March 1st, a volunteer started working at Tisunge! Lower Shire Heritage Centre. Her name is Anke Schols and she is a volunteer for Mlambe Foundation. She took up the responsibility of Interim Manager and will stay until August 2015. Her main goal is to reopen Tisunge!, which is located at the gate of Lengwe National Park.
The centre has been closed for a few years and the grass was about two meters high covering the entire site. The first few weeks the cleaning went ahead, a hardworking team of men and women from the villages surrounding Lengwe National Park started clearing the site. All the doors were opened to see what was still remaining inside. Due to lack of maintenance, some buildings repair works are taking place and a broomstick helped a lot.
After two months, the place looks much cleaner and it is possible to walk around, since the paths are visible again. Each building is examined closely, repaired, emptied, cleaned and painted.
On 8 May, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Malawi(acting through the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Culture in the Ministry of Information, Tourism and Culture), the Lower Shire Heritage Trust and the Local Communities around Lengwe National Park for the Management of Tisunge! Lower Shire Heritage Centre was signed. All parties herewith express the importance of natural and cultural heritage of the Lower Shire Valley and join hands to ensure preservation and education. Ten years after the start of Tisunge! Lower Shire Heritage Centre, this was finally achieved and allows for renewed Mlambe support for the project.
The items that were stored at Tisunge! which are not suitable (anymore), were sold in a stock sale. Stored shop inventory like candle holders and woven items were sold as well. This way some funds were generated for Tisunge!. The sale was a great success. People from the villages surrounding Lengwe National Park and park employees came to the shop and bought gears like old computer parts and monitors, toys, bowls, hair brushes and reading glasses. Once the stock is sold and Tisunge! is officially reopened, new locally made items can be sold in the shop again.
The next goal is to equip the library and computer room, so these can be used for educational purposes. The computers that will be used for these activities are travelling to Malawi by sea container at this very moment. In the meantime, the electricity needs to be fixed and furniture put in place. In the future, Tisunge! can provide information, typing, copying and possibly internet services for the communities and local schools. Besides that, activities supporting the cultural and natural heritage of the area will be set up. Meetings about these activities will start soon. Participants in these activities are people from the communities and Lengwe National Park. Tisunge! will take a facilitating role, by providing resources, support and a platform for the communities to show the cultural activities to visitors.
We thank Anke for her hard work.
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