Team Dayā successfully kicked off its fourth school in Nchetana, Malawi the week of July 3rd. Many thanks to our team, our families and our supporters. Your support is needed to continue our school building.

We worked alongside members of Nchetana to break ground on a school building to serve one hundred fifth and sixth graders. The school, named M’mbula, built classrooms in 2019 and 2021 to serve the first, second, third and fourth graders. To date, the remaining students – those in fifth and sixth grade – still use a classroom built from grass.

“[The new school] will help us motivate learners who dropped out of the school due to the learning environment which was poor to them,” said Head Teacher Mathias Saka as he stood in front of the old building made of grass and sticks. “Because of this new block, the learners will come in large number.”

“This school being built here is very important in this community because the children were learning in that shelter that was not conducive for learning, especially during the rainy season,” said Deputy Chair of the School Committee Sofileti Zabuloni. “It was difficult for students to have their studies.”

Our team members – Riley Jacobson, Davina Kent, Chevan Nanayakkara, Kerri Olson, Nicolle Pangis, Vib Prasad, Lauren Rosen and Jay Sears – worked, danced, sang and celebrated with community members as we broke ground on the new school. By the end of the first week, the foundation was dug and the walls of the new school were rising. In the next eight weeks or so the building will be completed.

If you are interested in joining a future school build, please contact our head of recruiting, Jaryd Knutsen. We have a November 19th school start in Nicaragua this fall and a March 2024 start in Nepal.

“It has been an amazing experience,” said Team Dayā member Nicolle Pangis. “I just urge anyone that is interested in potentially joining a future trek – absolutely do it. We are getting more out of this – I promise you – than the community that we are serving.”