January 26, 2021
Our schools in Malawi
by Redaktion
In 2021, we built a primary school in Malawi to enable children and young people to receive an education. In 2023, we built a secondary school right next door. Now we're moving into the third round in 2024: a new primary school in a new part of the country. In this article, we'll give you insights into the construction of all three schools and introduce you to Malawi and the organization with which we're implementing these great projects.
- Why we build schools
- The first school building: Key facts about the Primary School in Ntambo
- This is our Primary School in Ntambo
- The second school building: Key facts about the Secondary School
- This is our Secondary School in Ntambo
- The third school building: Key facts about the Primary School in Ndauza
- This is where our Primary School in Ndauza is being built
- How does school construction work in Malawi?
- The organization behind the school projects
- More about Malawi
1. Why we build schools
For us, these projects are exactly the right step, because education opens doors and enables a promising future. To build the school, we have brought two strong and experienced partners on board: the organizations FLY & HELP and, locally, the abc company. The decision to build the schools in Malawi is an obvious one, because the country is one of the poorest in the world. 35% of school-age children here have no access to education because there are simply too few schools within easy reach. You can find out more about the country of Malawi below.
It is a matter close to our hearts, and especially to our founder Benedikt, to change this situation: "Education is the key to a sustainable future and a self-determined life. We are therefore overjoyed and proud that, with our schools in Malawi, we can help children and young people to lead a life full of opportunities in the long term."
We are incredibly proud that these projects have a lasting positive impact on the lives of the local people. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend the opening of the schools in person, but this video of the opening of our first primary school allowed us to share in the joy. And it gave us even more motivation to implement more of these projects.
2. THE FIRST SCHOOL BUILDING: Key Facts about the Primary School
Name: Nakatete abc-Primary School
Where: Ntambo, Malawi (-15.967736, 35.32742)
Rooms: 8 classrooms, teachers' room, latrines
School classes: 1 - 4 and 5 - 8
Number of students: 502
Age of students: 6 - 14 years
School start: January 2022
Qualification: Secondary school
Project costs: 80,000 euros
Organisation: Fly & Help Foundation
Local partner: abc-Gesellschaft
Special features: well for fresh drinking water + solar system on the roof
3. THIS IS OUR PRIMARY SCHOOL IN NTAMBO:
We have built a completely new primary school in the town of Ntambo in Malawi: the Nakatete abc-Primary School. Schools in Malawi are usually named after the region, rivers or mountains and Nakatete is an offshoot of the large Thuchila River near the village.
Previously, there was no primary school within a radius of more than 6 km. The land was provided free of charge by the village chief in Ntambo and the state had already confirmed its commitment to send teachers before construction began. This was a very important step, because in Malawi teachers are commissioned by the state and assigned to the school location.
The primary school consists of 8 classrooms. 4 classrooms for the Lower Primary School (grades 1 to 4) and 4 classrooms for the Upper Primary School (grades 5 to 8). There is also an office/teacher's room and toilets, which are located a little way away from the school building.
After completing the 8th grade, the students have a secondary school diploma comparable to ours. In order to be able to study, they must attend a secondary school that allows them to obtain the Abitur, like ours.
And to give the students exactly this perspective, we decided to build a secondary school as well. The 2022 Happiness Week marked the start of the fundraising campaign.
4. THE SECOND SCHOOL BUILDING: Key Facts about the Secondary School
Name: not yet decided
Where: Ntambo, Malawi (-15.967736, 35.32742)
Rooms: 4 classrooms, teachers' room, latrines
Number of students: approx. 200
Age of students: 14 - 18 years
School start: Approximately January 2024
Qualification: Abitur
Project costs: 74,500 euros
Organisation: Fly & Help Foundation
Local partner: abc-Gesellschaft
We had originally expected higher project costs due to expensive raw material prices. We are all the happier that we will still have some of the money we have collected left over and can use it to finance something else useful for the students, such as a solar system or school fees of 60 euros per student per year.
And this is how we financed the project costs:
We collected 2 euros per order during Lucky Week 2022. In addition, our customers were able to support us in our project by making a donation to the school project during the ordering process from Lucky Week until mid-February.
Donation list:
Donations through the Lucky Week : €56,936.31
Donations from our customers: €20,589
Remaining balance of the Primary School: €3,319.60
Total: €80,844.47
5. THIS IS OUR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN NTAMBO:
When the idea of a second school project in Malawi came up, we didn't hesitate for long and set ourselves the goal of making education possible in the village of Ntambo even after the completion of primary school. The reasons and the idea behind it have remained the same: education opens doors, enables independence and offers prospects. So the fundraising campaign started for our 2022 Happiness Week.
And it happened quicker than we thought: just 3 months after the start of the fundraising campaign during the week of happiness, we have already raised the amount needed to build the school: €80,844.47! The fact that we managed to do this so quickly in such a short time, thanks to the support of our customers, makes us extremely happy and also extremely proud!
In March 2023, the next phase began: the planning of the building was already completed and the purchase of raw materials followed shortly thereafter. The building has been standing since September and is ready for use. Unfortunately, the opening has been postponed until January 2024.
6. KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PRIMARY SCHOOL IN NDAUZA
Name: Sambanjobvu Primary School
Where: Ndauza, Malawi
Rooms: 8 classrooms, teachers' room, latrines
School classes: 1 - 4 and 5 - 8
Number of students: approx. 600
Age of students: 6 - 14 years
School start: probably Sept. 2024
Qualification: Primary, secondary & high school
Project costs: 80,815 euros
Catchment area: 7 villages in Zaperewera district
Organisation: Fly & Help Foundation
Local partner: abc-Gesellschaft
7. This is where our primary school in Ndauza is being built
As of April 2024: There is currently not much to see where the school will one day be located. At the end of March, the local organization sent us a few photos from shortly after construction began:
Background to the project and current challenges: There is currently no school in Ndauza. The nearest schools are in Makwasa, 10 km away, and in Nyodola, 15 km away. This is inaccessible for many young children, as they can only cover the long distances on foot. 7 smaller towns are part of Zaperewera's catchment area. Overall, there are many children who currently cannot go to school at all and the construction of this school will give them exactly that opportunity.
Project measures A new school building is to be built with 8 classrooms, a teacher's room and an office, which will be equipped with school furniture. Toilets will also be built near the building. The land for the school building has been made available free of charge by the municipalities and the Ministry of Education will send the head teacher and the necessary number of teachers in time for the start of school. Some villagers will carry out simple and more skilled work on the building from the start of construction and will be paid for this by the builder. This will enable them to be trained directly and to carry out subsequent maintenance work on the building themselves.
8. How does school construction work in Malawi?
The project was in our planning for a long time and was circling around in our heads until it became a reality. The long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony took place in March 2021. In the summer, the school's own well was built, which now supplies not only the school but also the 6 surrounding villages with clean drinking water. The school was completed in autumn 2021.
However, the children's enrollment in school and use of the classrooms had to wait a little due to the corona pandemic. But: During the lucky week in November 2021, thanks to the help of our customers, we were also able to finance a solar system so that the school rooms can now be used after dark for evening classes for adults, such as literacy courses or community meetings. The solar system is a real asset for the village, because electricity is not a given in Malawi and the sun sets at 6 p.m. The school is therefore not only a place of learning, but also of coming together.
The primary school was officially opened in January 2022. At the start of the school year, we provided all students with notebooks, exercise books and pencils - so that they could get started right away. Exactly 502 students now go to school there. We couldn't be happier about this project!
9. The organization behind the school projects
In order to bring this project to life, the Reiner Meutsch Foundation FLY & HELP , which has already built over 600 schools in 52 countries worldwide, supported us in our project. FLY & HELP has set itself the goal of bringing education to regions where children would otherwise find it very difficult or impossible to receive it. Since 2009, the foundation has already enabled over 120,000 children in Africa, Asia and Latin America to learn to read, write and count. The local implementation of the school building in Malawi is carried out by the partner organization abc-Gesellschaft.
We will also build our secondary school in cooperation with FLY & HELP and the abc company.
In this podcast episode , which we recorded during our Lucky Week 2021, our content manager Lena talks, among others, with the foundation founder Reiner Meutsch from FLY & HELP about the school, the importance of the solar system and his mission (from minute 24).
10. More about Malawi
Malawi is located in the southeastern part of Africa and is one of the poorest countries on the continent. For the children living there, the journey to school is often very long (sometimes 5-8 km each way) and can be a daily danger, especially for girls, as attacks often take place along these kilometers. Due to the distance, young children in particular are unable to manage the long journeys and thus lose valuable years of education if they do not have the strength to manage this journey until they are around 8 years old.
In the Mulanje district of Ntambo, where our school was built, around 430,000 people live in an area of 2,056 square kilometers. The population is constantly growing. The district is one of the poorest in Malawi, with a per capita income of $1 a day. There was no school there until now, but there were many children who needed an education. The nearest primary school was more than 6 km away, meaning a 12 km walk per day. For all these reasons, many children do not go to school at all. To make matters worse, the path becomes impassable during the rainy season due to rivers that occasionally swell significantly, meaning that children do not go to school and sometimes even drop out completely.
But even if the children make it to school, they often sit or stand in a small classroom with up to 150 other students. This is an environment in which successful learning is impossible.
Many adults, 85% of women, in Mulanje District are illiterate and have no schooling.
These reasons alone convinced us that Ntambo in Malawi is absolutely the right place to finance the construction of the school. For us as a start-up, it is a very big project and we are extremely proud that we were able to make our heart's desire come true.
All that remains is: Thank you!
We would like to say a big thank you to you! Without your loyal support over the last few years, we would not have been able to make such a big project a reality and now tackle another, equally big project. And our thanks go above all to the great FLY & HELP Foundation, which implemented the project together with the abc company on site.