(PHOTO: The Team Dayā school in Nchetana, Malawi, constructed in 2023. Named M’mbula, this building serves serve one hundred fifth and sixth graders.)

Building Schools in Malawi: Team Dayā’s 2025 Team

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(PHOTO: The Team Dayā school in Nchetana, Malawi, constructed in 2023. Named M’mbula, this building serves serve one hundred fifth and sixth graders.)
(PHOTO: The Team Dayā school in Nchetana, Malawi, constructed in 2023. Named M’mbula, this building serves serve one hundred fifth and sixth graders.)

Our Malawi ‘25 team is composed of five individuals whose work will make a difference to girls and boys, their families and their community in a rural community in Malawi. This will be Team Dayā’s second project in Malawi and its the 10th school overall. The group funded its first school in the country in 2023 in the community of Nchetana in the Kasungu region of Malawi.

Malawi, often referred to as the “Warm Heart of Africa,” is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa. Malawi’s economy is predominantly agricultural and the population is impacted by high poverty and illiteracy rates.

Please consider supporting  Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:

  • $40,000 Fund an entire school
  • $1,000 Paint for a school
  • $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
  • $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school

Meet our Malawi ‘25 team and please consider supporting them. All contributions go directly to our school building fund. Team members pay all their own travel costs.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Mike Benedek tamping down the a foundation footing on a 2023 project in Guatemala.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Mike Benedek tamping down the a foundation footing on a 2023 project in Guatemala.)

Benedek. Mike “The Bricklayer” Benedek joined the team during the depths of the pandemic and immediately started fundraising. The Malawi project will be his fourth Team Dayā school. Beyond being an inveterate travel and supporter of our efforts, Mike is president and CEO of the data marketplace Datonics. Read his first person account from one of our Guatemala projects Mike Benedek on Building Change in Caserío Sector Los Castro. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Gabe Matta. Contributed.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Gabe Matta. Contributed.)

Matta. Gabe is a rising senior at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., where he plays on their nationally ranked varsity rugby team and is a member of the National Honor Society. Outside of school, he enjoys working with kids by coaching youth football, teaching Catholic Faith Formation classes and volunteering with the Young Men’s Service League and the Downs Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Serge Matta. Contributed.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Serge Matta. Contributed.)

Matta. Serge is the president, Global Ad Sales at LG Ad Solutions. His expertise lies in leading sales teams across industries to meet revenue goals and creating strategic, symbiotic partnerships. Prior to joining LG Ad Solutions, Serge held multiple leadership positions at different companies – he was the CEO at comScore, president of global sales and marketing at GroundTruth, and CEO at video audience and content intelligence provider ICX Media. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā founder Jay Sears at the groundbreaking for the school in Aldea Santo Tomas Xacalta, Guatemala.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā founder Jay Sears at the groundbreaking for the school in Aldea Santo Tomas Xacalta, Guatemala. December 2024.)

Sears. Jay is the founder and CEO of Team Dayā, Inc. He also operates the local community news site MyRye.com in his hometown. He spent over 25 years at media and technology companies including mastercard, Rubicon Project, Pulsepoint, ContextWeb, EDGAR Online and Wolff New Media. Donate.

(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Andy Sriubas.)
(PHOTO: Team Dayā member Andy Sriubas.)

Sriubas. Andy was Chief Commercial Officer of OUTFRONT Media (NYSE: OUT) until January 2025. Prior to media, he spent 25 years in the investment banking industry. Andy held Managing Director roles at JPMorgan, UBS, and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he provided strategic advice to, and raised capital for, technology, media & telecommunications industry clients. Donate.

Our 2023 Malawi Project

In 2023, Team Dayā worked alongside members of the community of Nchetana, Malawi 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 have proper classrooms and latrines to use. Until this construction, they were using 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 in 2023 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.”

Construction workers painting the exterior of a school building in Malawi, with several people using ladders and scaffolding while surrounded by paint buckets.
A new school building in a rural community in Malawi, featuring a modern design with red brick walls, large windows, and a paved walkway.
A group of children in purple uniforms happily gathered in front of a new school building, holding a banner that reads 'Team Dayā Building Change.'
A group of children in purple uniforms stands in front of the newly built M'Mbula School in Malawi, holding a banner for Team Dayā and celebrating the completion of the school.
A classroom filled with smiling students of various ages, seated at wooden desks, engaging in a learning activity. A banner for 'Team Dayā - Building Change' is visible on the wall.
Students in a classroom in Malawi, smiling and engaged while writing at their wooden desks with a banner that reads 'Team Dayā Building Change' in the background.
A group of smiling children in purple uniforms sitting at wooden desks in a classroom, engaged in writing and learning.
Two smiling children at a classroom desk, one wearing a red shirt and the other in a colorful striped shirt, with classmates visible in the background.
Smiling children in a classroom in Malawi, engaged in writing and learning at desks with a Team Dayā banner in the background.
A young boy in a purple shirt smiles as he writes on a black chalkboard at M'Mbula School in Malawi, with the words 'Thank You Team Dayā' visible in the background.
Two children in purple school uniforms stand in a classroom holding a banner that reads 'Team Dayā Building Change', with a chalkboard filled with math equations in the background.
(VIDEO: School parent and worksite volunteer Lusiyi Anderson.)

“It (the new school) will be safe for (my) kids to learn in,” said school parent and worksite volunteer Lusiyi Anderson in Nchetana, Malawi.

If you are interested in joining a future school build, please contact our head of recruiting, Jaryd Knutsen.

Your Support & The Team

Please consider supporting  Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:

  • $40,000 Fund an entire school
  • $1,000 Paint for a school
  • $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
  • $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school

Three Ways You Can Help

  1. Make a Donation Online
    • Example investment opportunities:
      • $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
      • $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
      • $1,000 Paint for a school
      • $40,000 Fund an entire school
  2. Spread the Word
    • Share our mission with your friends, your company and your industry
    • Invite us to speak about our mission to your network
    • Follow us LinkedIn, X / Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
  3. Join the Team & Travel on a School Build

Team Dayā 2025 Plans

We are now actively recruiting members for our 2025 groundbreakings. These builds represent our second schools in Nicaragua and Malawi and our third school in Nepal. 

Our Team Dayā 2025 school building dates:

Nicaragua, Central America [groundbreaking completed]
Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Saturday, February 15, 2025

Malawi, East Africa
Sunday, June 22, 2025 – Saturday, June 28, 2025

Nepal, South Asia
Sunday October 26th, 2025 – Sunday, November 2nd, 2025

If you are curious to learn more about joining a build, please reach out to our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen. Not sure? Watch the documentary Building Change, the Team Dayā Story (8 minute run time), by Kathmandu based filmmaker Shyam Karki of Samson Film Productions.

Thanks again for your continued support,

All of us at Team Dayā

Logo of Team Dayā featuring stylized houses and the slogan 'Building Change'.

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