STUDENTS at Okehampton College have lent their support to ensure Okehampton Rotary Club can reach its goal to help develop at least a dozen infant schools in poor villages in Malawi.

Eighteen months ago Okehampton Rotary launched a fundraising effort to help the ?Village to Village? programme in Malawi.

The project develops infant schools through village self-help activities in poor communities in southern Malawi. The club?s initial target is now set to be reached and hopefully exceeded thanks to a generous donation by Okehampton College students ? they undertook a sponsored walk on Dartmoor last year and donated £2,000 to the invaluable project.

The project provides funds for building materials such as corrugated iron roofing sheets, cement and timber that could not be provided by the villagers themselves. The communities make locally burned bricks, collect sand and stone and provide their labour free of charge.

With a small investment of about £200 from Okehampton Rotary, a village is able to construct a simple but weatherproof and functional village school-room for up to 30 children.

The communities being assisted are some of the poorest in Africa and many of the families have to look after HIV/Aids orphaned children from their extended family, in addition to their own.

The provision of a safe and supervised facility for young children in the villages is a god-send for the parents who eke out a living from some two acres of land and have to fetch and carry firewood and water, often from long distances.

It also gives the children that vital start in education. Six village schools have already been completed and a further six are to start shortly. Once completed this project will benefit more than 360 children and their families annually.

Mike Macklin, from Exbourne, who lived and worked in Malawi for around six years, has been a key supporter of the project and keeps in touch with its progress through friends who live in the village.

Mr Macklin, who worked for the World Bank, said there was still some money remaining from that raised and this would be used to provide bursaries for secondary school students who had become orphans because of AIDS.

The project has recently come to the attention of UNICEF, which has made a further grant to support the tiny village organisation?s work.

Mr Macklin said he wished to congratulate and thank the Okehampton students for their generosity and support for the project.

?It gives the youngsters in Malawi a headstart in education; without it, the kids over there will not be able to get out of poverty,? he said.

Okehampton Rotary Club also recognised and thanked the support received from Hatherleigh and Crediton Rotary Clubs.