girls on the move ripple effects

www.malawigirlsonthemove.com

RIPPLE EFFECTS

FALL 2013

GIRLS ON THE MOVEGIRLS ON THE MOVE

• Message from the Founders Christie and Memory• Academic Excellence at APU• APU Alumni News: Life After APU• APU Alumni News: Where Are They Now• APU Site Plan • Brick By Brick Construction Campaign! 2012-2013 Projects completed! 2013-2014 Projects underway• APU Primary School• APU Teachers Training College Call for volunteer teachers at APU• Sponsors Needed for Form 1 students• Photo Gallery (campus view)• Economic Boom in Nsalu• Photo Gallery (looking back)• Photo Gallery (girls) & Sponsorship application

IN THIS ISSUEMISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to provide high quality education to girls from the rural areas of Malawi who would be otherwise unable to continue with their education beyond primary school, due to a lack of financial support.

VISIONWe aim to achieve lasting improvements in the quality of life of young girls and women living in poverty and in so doing, spark a ripple effect of reduced poverty, illness, malnutrition, early marriage, overpopulation and gender bias that will be felt and magnified throughout the country of Malawi and throughout the world. Our vision is of a world where young girls have equal opportunities to realize their full potential as human beings.

APU MALAWI EDUCATION FOUNDATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS-CANADA

• Helene Weir, Chair• Larry Johnson, Treasurer• Tricia Timmermans, Secretary• Pat Killoran• David Stocks• Christie Johnson• Fern Proulx• Dariol Haydock

APU MALAWI TRUST BOARD OF

TRUSTEES- MALAWI

• Memory Mdyetseni, Chair• Geodfrey Kaipa, Treasurer• Nahid Mazloum, Secretary• Henry Mdyestseni• Richard Jackson• Monica Changanomuno• Isaac Songea

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ATSIKANA PA ULENDO FALL 2013ATSIKANA PA ULENDO FALL 2013 PAGE 2

Sometimes, just sometimes, I become so overwhelmed by the enormity of this journey that we are on, that I can’t write a single word. I have thousands of pictures, and millions of stories to tell, but I simply can’t choose the right ones. As a classroom teacher, I was always known for my storytelling ability. I could make clear, through the power of story, even the most difficult of concepts. I could make my students laugh and cry, and care, just through the power of my words.

But these days, fourteen years into this educational journey that Memory and I have been on with the girls and women of Malawi, it sometimes feels as if I am drowning in the magnitude of it all. The stories behind Atsikana Pa Ulendo have become too many, too rich, too deep, too astonishing, too terrifying, too heartbreaking, too hard, too breathtaking, too

tiring, to begin to do it all justice.

But storytell I must, because these girls and their remarkable mentor, APU Founder and Director, Memory Mdyetseni, have stories that must be told. Their strength and courage, in the face of challenges that most of us can not begin to fathom, must be honoured. And it is my hope that my telling of these stories is powerful enough to catch your imagination and to make you realize that you are part of it all. You are, in fact, essential to it all.

I want, … no I need to somehow make you understand that you, our donors, sponsors, volunteers, and board members, are integral to the success story that is APU. This is a profound partnership of people that believe in the transformational power of education. We are changing the world. Our Malawi Girls On The Move are going to change their country, and our world, with our help.

Sincerely,

Christie JohnsonFounder and Exec. Dir.

APU Malawi Education Foundation

APU Founders Christie Johnson and Memory Mdyestseni June 2013

MESSAGE FROM APU CO-FOUNDER CHRISTIE JOHNSON

The exam results for the MSCE (Malawi School Certificate Examination), an exam equivalent to our Grade 12 Diploma Exams, have just been released and APU students and teachers have reason to celebrate. The national pass rate for this exam was 52% while the pass rate for APU was an astounding 97% with 77 of the 79 girls who wrote the exam passing. In addition, 52 of the 79 graduates have qualified to write the Malawian University Entrance Examinations.

This is big news for our relatively young school. APU opened in 2008 and our 2013 grad class was just the third group of students to graduate from APU. Our first grad class of 2011 scored a 93% pass rate and the 2012 grad class had a 91% pass rate.

These excellent results are even more impressive when you realize that half of the students in this class are scholarship students, coming from rural village backgrounds of extreme poverty with huge gaps in their educational background.


ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AT APUTHE MSCE EXAM (NATIONAL ‘DIPLOMA’ EXAMS) RESULTS ARE OUT.APU CLASS OF 2013 ACHIEVED A PASS RATE OF 97% ON THEIR MSCE!NATION WIDE, 52% OF MALAWIAN STUDENTS PASSED THEIR MSCE

APU GRADUATING CLASS OF 2013

Sponsored student Esther Mwale being

carried by classmates as they celebrate her

9 point score on her MSCE.

http://apumalawi.blogspot.ca/2013/11/congratulations-apu-grads-97-pass-rate.html

















Chiletso Jamitoni was among the first 80 girls who started Form 1 at APU when we first opened the school in Jan 2008. Chiletso had completed her primary schooling at Katsumwa Primary School. She was one of the top students in her class but was fated to stop school at the end of Standard 8 because her parents were unable to pay her tuition to attend secondary school. Chiletso applied for a scholarship at

APU and was one of the 80 girls selected out of 500 applicants. While attending APU, Chiletso was a hardworking and serious student who achieve average grades. She passed her MSCE and graduated with her class in July 2011.

U p o n g r a d u a t i n g , C h i l e t s o a p p l i e d t o a government Teacher’s Training College and was put to work immediately as a primary school teacher at Katsumwa Primary School, earning a salary which she uses to pay the tuition required for coursework taken during term breaks and holidays. It will take Chiletso three years to gain her certification, but in the mean time,

she is gaining experience in the classroom, and making a world of difference in the lives of her

students, particularly the girls. She is also earning an income that she is using to pay school fees for two of her siblings.

Looking at Chiletso in h e r A P U s c h o o l uniform, and again in

her photo as an employed, educated, professional woman, it is difficult to get a real sense of her background until you visit the primary school she attended for eight years. I took the photo (next page) at Katsumwa Primary School, the school Chiletso attended prior to coming to APU.

APU ALUMNI NEWS APU ALUMNI NEWS


Chiletso at APU

CHILETSO JAMITONI

Chiletso teaching at Katsumwa Peimary School

LIFE AFTER APU

Chiletso teaching Standard One at

Katsumwa Primary School

who achieve average grades.

U p o n g r a d u a t i n g , C h i l e t s o a p p l i e d t o a government Teacher’s Training government Teacher’s Training College and was put to work

girls. She is also earning an income that she is using to pay school fees for two of her siblings.

her photo as an employed,

Chiletso at APU


There were no desks. There were over 100 children in the classroom. It was a chilly day but these little ones were sitting on the dirt floor, were scantily clad, and shivering. There was no roof on this classroom and the brick walls were falling down. Very few of the children had anything to write on or with, and there were no textbooks visible. This was Chiletso’s learning school for 8 years, yet despite the hardship, she wanted more education. Indeed, she was desperate for more education.

Katsumwa Primary School. APU gives 5 scholarships every year to the top female

students at Katsumwa. Currently there are 20 Katsumwa students attending APU on full scholarship.

despite the hardship, she wanted more education. Indeed, she was despite the hardship, she wanted more education. Indeed, she was

Thanks t

o APU,

Chiletso

is still a

GIRL ON

THE MOV

E, makin

g a

differenc

e in the

world.

A P U A l u m n u s M a n e s s Samuel’s story is one that many APU supporters are following, as she has become a bit of a poster child for the power of educating the girl child, and the work being done at APU.

For those of you who are not familiar with this incredible young woman, Maness was, like Chiletso, admitted to APU on full scholarship in APU’s very first intake of students in 2008. Maness comes f r o m a desperately poor

family.

She was a bright student in primary school but despite her excellent grades, she was not going to have the chance to attend secondary school because her family did not have the money to pay for her school fees.

At APU, Maness soon rose to t h e t o p o f h e r c l a s s b o t h academically, and socially. With her marks consistently in the top 10% of her class, her teachers recognized her maturity, strength of character, and leadership potential, and she was selected as the APU’s first Head Girl. She remained in this position throughout her four years at APU.

Upon graduation from APU, Maness was selected to attend Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, in Victoria, BC on full scholarship. Pearson College is one of 14 United World Colleges located around the world. During Maness’ time at the college, she participated in two speaking tours on behalf of APU, and her growth as a public speaker was truly astonishing. She is now a polished

and powerful speaker

whose own personal story is a tes tament to the power of education. After earning her IB diploma at Pearson, Maness was granted a full scholarship to We s t m i n s t e r C o l l e g e i n Fulton Missouri, where she is currently in her first year of a four-year degree program.

During Maness’ 3 month break between her time at Pearson College and before starting her program at Westminster, Maness travelled home where she spent her time volunteer teaching at her for mer pr imary school , and volunteering at APU where she helped Memory with the selection of the 2013/2014 scholarship students. Maness continues to speak on behalf of women and girls and is beginning her own campaign in Fulton to raise funds for APU scholarships for girls from her home are of Dowa.


Mannes teaching at her former primary school

MANESS SAMUEL

Mannes at APU

Mannes speaking at SMUS school in Victoria, BC

APU ALUMNI NEWS- LIFE AFTER APU


APU ALUMNI NEWS- WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

One of the greatest concerns of our students, their parents, their teachers and their sponsors, is whether the girls will be able to use the education that they have gained at APU, to improve their lives and the lives of their families and communities. What opportunities for further education will be open to them? Will they be employable once they graduate? Or, as is the common fear, will the challenges they come up against overwhelm them so that they lose hope and return to the cycle of dependence and poverty that they were born into.

The first thing to remember, is that even if our graduates return to their villages, get married and stay in the village to raise their children, they are already success stories! They have four more years of education than almost all of their peers. They will have fewer children and will be better mothers to those children. Their husbands will be more likely to have graduated from Secondary School and therefore will be more likely to be employed and have a higher income. They know the importance of education and will ensure that their children, both their boys AND their girls, go to school. The ripple effects are too numerous to list.

Having said this, it is still important for us to track the lives of our alumni to see where else their education will lead them.

APU has now graduated three classes of students. Our Year 1 class (71 students), graduated in July 2011. These girls have now had two years to get their feet under them. Our Year 2 class (75 students), graduated in July 2012 and have been out of school for just over a year.

Of these 146 graduates, some are back at home taking care of siblings and working on family farms. However, many of these girls have accessed education and many others have become employed. Fifty-one of our girls have found employment, and fifty have accessed some form of tertiary education.


APU ALUMNI NEWS- WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Twenty-two of these girls have managed to complete a two-year course at a Teacher Training College and are now employed as Primary School Teachers. These young women are often the first educated, single, and employed women that their students have ever seen. The overwhelming majority of teachers in Malawi, even at the Primary level, are men and it is rare for young girls to have a female teacher. Since the majority of girls in Malawi never go further than primary school, it is very likely that they have never been exposed to the revolutionary idea that girls and women can become educated, employed, and leaders in society.

Fifty-one of our APU graduates are now employed and earning money that is being used, in many cases, to pay tuition for their younger siblings who are still at in school. APU has hired 6 graduate students as payroll clerks, dorm matrons, kitchen employees and manual labourers.

Tertiary education accessed by APU Graduates


CHANGE A GIRLS FUTURE!

APU Site Plan – Where we are and where we are going


BRICK BY BRICK CONSTRUCTION CAMPAIGN

PROJECT: STAFF DUPLEX #3COST: $55,000STATUS: COMPLETEDFUNDING: ROTARY CLUB OF LETHBRIDGE

CONSTRUCTION AND INFRASTRUCTURE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR 2012-2013 YEAR INCLUDE:

PROJECT: CLASS BLOCK #4COST: $83,000STATUS: COMPLETEDFUNDING: CIRCLE OF WOMEN http://circleofwomen.org

Staff Class Block # 4

Staff Duplex # 3

PROJECT: 2ND WATER TOWERCOST: $20,000STATUS: COMPLETEDFUNDING: PARTIAL FUNDING BY ROTARY CLUB OF CALGARY WEST

2nd Water Tower

http://circleofwomen.org

http://circleofwomen.org


PROJECT: LAPTOP ACQUISITION FOR COMPUTER LABCOST: VOLUNTEER HOURS FOR CLEANING AND SHIPPING OF 75 DONATED LAPTOPSSTATUS: COMPLETEDFUNDING: ROTARY CLUB OF LETHBRIDGE

Computer Lab

PROJECT: APU INTERNET CONNECTIVITY COST: $8000STATUS: COMPLETEDFUNDING: ROTARY CLUBS


Brick By Brick Construction CampaignCONSTRUCTION AND FUNDRAISING GOALS FOR 2013-2014

The legacy building phase 1

The Legacy Building is our biggest project to date, and when completed, it will transform the face of our already beautiful campus, into a world class learning institution, equipped with a library, computer lab, administration offices and Teacher Training learning facilities. This building is badly needed, as we are currently using a classroom as our staffroom, and the living room of one of our teacher houses as our office. We are also using one of our science labs as a temporary computer lab, and a classroom as our library. Once this building is complete, we will be able to open our Teachers Training College, as well as freeing up classroom space and teacher living space for their intended purposes.

Phase 1 includes the skeleton structure of this two-story building. Construction began in June of 2013 and is expected to be complete by March, 2014.

To date, $90,000 has been raised to complete Phase 1 of this building. We are now beginning to source

funding for Phase 2, a $115,000 project.

THE LEGACY BUILDING-PHASE 1

PROJECT: THE LEGACY BUILDING PHASE 1 COST: $90,000STATUS: CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN JUNE 2013 FUNDING: $40,000 DONATED BY WOMEN HELPING WOMEN VICTORIA $20,000 DONATED BY THE DAWSON CREEK INTERACT CLUB $15,000 DONATED BY ROTARY CLUB OF CALGARY DOWNTOWN $8,000 DONATED BY ROTARY CLUB OF OLDS $6,000 DONATED BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF ST. ALBERT


Brick By Brick Construction Campaign

CONSTRUCTION AND FUNDRAISING GOALS FOR 2013-2014

PROJECT: STAFF HOUSE #4COST: $60,000STATUS: CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN IN JANUARY, 2014 FUNDING: $37,500 DONATED BY ROTARY CLUB OF LETHBRIDGE

NEED TO SOURCE $22,500 TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT

PROJECT: APU PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER SALARIES AND SUPPLIES COST: $15,000 STATUS: N/AFUNDING: UNKNOWN

PROJECT: HOSTEL #6COST: $90,000STATUS: N/A FUNDING: UNKNOWN

APU TO OPEN ITS OWN PRIMARY SCHOOLPROJECT: APU PRIMARY SCHOOL

GOALS: • Raise $15,000 for school supplies and teacher salaries by July, 2014• Send two volunteer primary school teachers to APU by July, 2014• Raise $40,000 for the construction of APU Primary School Class Block #1

There is a serious need to run a small primary school on the APU campus to serve the needs of our teachers at APU. One of our greatest challenges is finding and keeping highly qualified teachers." "One of the reasons that some of our best teachers have had to relocate to the city, is because they want to be able to send their children to a good primary school." "The two primary schools that are located close to APU, have extremely large class sizes, inadequate infrastructure, poorly trained teachers, and little to no teaching/learning supplies.

Initially, this school would have one or two Malawian primary school teachers who would be responsible for multiple grades/forms within a single class." "We also intend on sending volunteer teachers from Canada to work alongside Malawian teachers.""

Depending on funding, it is possible that this school could be operational as early as September 2014!


APU TO OPEN ITS OWN TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGEPROJECT: APU TTC (TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE)

GOALS: • Raise $115,000 towards the construction of the Legacy Building Phase 2 • R aise $90,000 to constr uct Hostel #6 to provide

accommodation for student teachers.• Construct teacher duplex #4

The opening date of our APU TTC is wholly dependent on the completion of the Legacy Building as well as on the construction of one more student hostel to accommodate our first intake of student teachers. If funding is available, it is possible that this institution could be up and running as early as Sept 2015.

We are looking for volunteers for 6 – 12 month

placements at APU in Malawi to begin in August 2014.

Accommodation and small monthly living allowance

provided.

This is truly an incredible opportunity for adaptable,

creative, energetic, educators who are looking for a unique

teaching experience, in an amazing country, alongside

dedicated teaching colleagues and highly motivated

students. This will be a teaching experience of a lifetime!

•Primary School Teacher

•Secondary School Teachers

•Physical Education

•Music

•French

•Computer Studies

Please send enquiries to

[email protected].

APU SEEKING VOLUNTEER TEACHERS

FOR THE 2014 -2015 SCHOOL YEAR

mailto:[email protected]







Your sponsorship of $1000 per year ($85/month) for four years will cover the cost of tuition, food, mattresses and bedding, uniforms, medicine, textbooks and field trip costs for your sponsored girl. Your donation will be matched with an APU student in need of sponsorship. You will receive a biography, a picture and a letter from your sponsored girl as well as end of year school reports so that you can watch her academic progress.

Below are pictures of three of our Form 1 students that started school at APU this past September. The pictures

on the left were taken at their selection interviews in July. The pictures on the right were taken after the girls were admitted to APU on full scholarship, just three months after their interviews. The change in these girls is astounding, and it is happening for every one of our scholarship students. There are still many Form 1 students who do not have sponsors.

To become a sponsor, e-mail [email protected] or call us at 250 391-0348.

BECOME AN APU SPONSOR TODAY!BECOME AN APU SPONSOR TODAY!


CHANGE A GIRLS FUTURE!



PHOTO GALLERY


VIEWS OF CAMPUS

From left to right, staff duplex #1, student hostels, Cafeteria.

From left to right, cafeteria, science lab, class blocks

Looking down the main path towards the students hostels. On left, classblock #3, science lab, cafeteria. On right, class block #2, old wooden kitchen.

Our policy at APU has always been to strengthen the local economy by employing Malawians at all levels of our organization, from the manual laborers, cooks and gardeners, to the architects, lawyers, accountants, teachers and management levels of APU. As a result, we have, over the years, trained a small army of local bricklayers, carpenters, cooks, and painters who have gained skills during their time at APU. APU has provided steady paid employment to hundreds of men and women over the past seven years, resulting in an economic boom in the adjacent Trading Center of Nsalu. New stores have opened to provide the goods needed by APU employees and their families. Families have moved to the trading center to be closer to the employment that APU is offering, resulting in the construction of rental housing. A large government water project has been undertaken to provide Nsalu with clean running water. Nsalu was chosen as the recipient of the project due directly to the recent growth in the population attributed to APU.

APU CAUSES ECONOMIC BOOM IN NSALU

PHOTO GALLERY


LOOKING BACK

Henry, Memory and Christie in June 2013. In 7 years, 14 buildings, electricity, running water and internet, 239 graduates and 360 students!

Henry, Memory and Christie standing on the newly donated land in 2006.


APU MALAWI EDUCATION FOUNDATIONCanadian Charity Registration Number 808514657RR000

INVEST IN A GIRL … AND SHE WILL DO THE REST!

Your receipt will follow by mail. The APU Malawi Education Foundation respects your privacy. Your personalinformation will be used to prepare income tax receipts and keep you informed of the outcomes from donor’s gifts,funding needs, sponsored student progress, and construction progress.General Information! Mr. ! Mrs. ! Ms. ! Miss ! Dr.First Name ______________________________________________Last Name _______________________________________________Company Name (if applicable) _______________________________Address _________________________________________________City ____________________________________________________Province/State __________________ Country __________________Postal/Zip Code _________________ Telephone ________________E-mail ___________________________________________________Donation Information$ ___________________ (please enter decimal places)! Sponsor A Girl’s Education! I am a new sponsor! I am a continuing sponsor for (girl’s name) _______________! Partial Sponsorship, please specify ______________________! Donate towards construction of buildings.! Other designation, please specify ___________________________Donation Type! One-time donation! Monthly donation to commence this month! Yearly donation to commence this monthCheques Payable To: APU MALAWI EDUCATION FOUNDATIONMail to: APU Malawi Education FoundationPO Box 434St. Albert, AB T8N 7A2APU MALAWI EDUCATION FOUNDATION

Return form by mail to:APU Malawi Education FoundationPO Box 434St. Albert, AB T8N 7A2

How did you hear about us?Rotary Presentation !Existing Supporter !Family or Friend !Internet/Website !Newspaper or Magazine !Other ___________________

My Gift is …In Memory !In Honour !Name of person _________________Your relationship to him/her _______Occasion for gift (e.g. birthday,Christmas) _____________________

Group or Team SponsorshipIf your donation is part of a largergroup donation towards sponsoring anAPU student, please identify the othermembers of your group below ORidentify the name of one member ofyour group to act as Group Leader.Group Leader __________________ORName of Group _________________

girls on the move ripple effects

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