Written by Yankho Phiri.
Tobacco Commission (TC) has donated playing materials and other assorted items to Seed of Hope community based organization which offers free early childhood education at Magatha Primary School in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Chakhaza in Dowa.
Speaking to the Media after the donation, Public Relations officer (PRO) for TC, Telephorus Chigwenembe said that they thought of making the donations in order to give children in the area a play centre which would keep them busy in this tobacco growing season.“As a Commission which regulates tobacco in the country, we realized that a lot of children in areas with a lot of tobacco casual labourers are taken to tobacco fields because they do not have playing centres whereby at the field they are forced to work with their parents which is child labor in disguise,” he said.
Founder and Director of Seed of Hope, Memory Kapichira Banda expressed her gratitude towards the help that her organization received.The Commission spent K600, 000 for the donation to Seed of Hope which teaches and helps over 270 children in its six learning centres with most of them are close to tobacco farms.