The Team Dayā school in Nchetana, Malawi, where construction began on July 3rd, is now complete. It is another great example of what can be done in partnership with local communities and our supporters.
Zikomo! (thank you in Chichewa language)
Your support is needed to continue our school building.
Team Dayā worked alongside members of the community 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.
Now one hundred fifth and sixth graders will have proper classrooms and latrines to use. Until this construction, they were using a classroom built from grass.
Before the construction of this school building, total enrollment for grades 1 – 6 was 418 (215 boys and 203 girls). Now, enrollment is at 466 (237 boys and 229 girls) – 48 more students! The school is still registering students to start grade 1 for this fall.
Construction on the new school was completed August 24th and the students starting using the building on Monday, September 11th, the first day of the school year. For now, the school is using the old stick and straw classroom as a temporary office until they solidify plans for adding grades 7 and 8 to M’Bula school.
“[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.”
“The students were learning in the shelter or sometimes outside under a tree and it was a distraction for them …,” said Member of the Leadership Committee Chifundo Wilson. After the school building is completed “They will be learning in a conducive environment … this new school block is very important to the school.”
“It (the new school) will be safe for (my) kids to learn in,” said school parent and worksite volunteer Lusiyi Anderson in Nchetana, Malawi.
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 back in early July.
If you are interested in joining a future school build, please contact our head of recruiting, Jaryd Knutsen. Next up, Team Dayā has a November 19th school start in Nicaragua. We are now recruiting for 2024 when we will be building schools in Nepal, Senegal and Guatemala. Our Nepal construction will start on March 17th, 2024.
“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.”
Your support is needed to continue our school building.
