Malawi's first 3D CBCC for enhanced ECD services

At the heart of Mukwala Village in Phalombe District, dozens of children sing, play and learn in a church building condemned as a death trap.

Its rusty roof is leaky, walls cracked, bricks crumbling and windows falling apart.

The children in southern Malawi have been learning in the prayer house since May 2020.

Nutrition promoter Verina Mathewe is among the 10 caregivers who provide early childhood development (ECD) services to 137 children at Mukwala Community Based Childcare Centre (CBCC), including her two daughters.

Throughout, the caregivers and parents have feared for their children's safety at the church battered by Cyclone Freddy alongside 108 houses in the vicinity in March.

But a solution has come.

A novel centre has been built nearby, with walls constructed in a record time much to the amazement of the locals.

This is Malawi's first 3D printed CBCC, the country's third building of its kind after Mcheza Primary School built in half the time in Salima and a showhouse at 14 Trees headquarters in Malawi capital, Lilongwe. There are similar initiatives in Kenya and Madagascar.

"The technology is quite simple," says Nina Parczew, the construction manager at 14 Trees. “It involves a printer placing mortar layer after layer. Each layer is 30mm and the roof is supported by concrete pillars as the single-layer wall isn't meant to carry heavy loads."

The CBCC comprises three classrooms. It is complete with a washroom, storeroom, kitchen, sleeping room, an office and a fence. Besides, it has a solar-powered water system that supplies clean water to the facility and the surrounding community.

The rural community watched in jubilation the computerised machine layering 'cement ink' like spinning yarn to offer children a safer learning space in a record time.

Inking a layer of porridge-like cement on top of another until the 2.5m-high superstructure was complete; the contractor used no brick or pole–saving Malawi's waning forests.

As workers plastered the walls and fitted the roof, architect Nina explained: "We encourage 3D printing technology because it's about zero waste, it requires few hands, it's sustainable and provides more comprehensive strength than conventional building methods associated with burnt bricks.

"The beauty of 3D-printed structures is speed. The CBCC took just 30 hours. The building could have taken 20 to 30 days with conventional building methods, but we completed it in two segments of 15 hours each. A bigger printer could have taken fewer hours."

Due to the impact of the cyclone that affected more than 2.2 million people, displaced about 660 000 persons and claimed 679 lives in southern Malawi, learning at Mukwala CBCC stopped for two weeks as widening cracks and swamped walls threatened children's lives.

The UNICEF National Committee in Germany funded construction of the 3D-printed CBCC to accelerate access to quality and inclusive lifelong learning for children in the area.

Group Village Head Mukwala donated her farmland for the CBCC.

"CBCC activities offer children a firm foundation and better chances of succeeding in school and later in life, but it starts with a favourable environment. Interestingly, this is the first of its kind in the country: quick, durable and beautiful," the chief states.

Verina could not wait for her children to shift to the new centre with basic services under one roof.

"We thank the UNICEF Germany for coming to our rescue after being persuaded by our dedication and the risk faced by the children," she says.

SUN Project Manager Vennie Arcado, from Hunger Project, says Mukwala is also a shining example of community participation in the fight against malnutrition. It has well integrated some of its nutrition interventions, including provision of nutrition meals to children, at the CBCC.