During the COVID 19 pandemic, the students are not on campus. But they do want to extend a warm thank you for all your support and prayers. Many of the students may have some materials to keep them busy at home, but all will be eager to return to their studies when the world health crisis is under control. According to the United Kingdom’s Financial Times and the Guardian newspapers, several NGOs have reported that Malawi, with a population greater than 18 million, has only seven ventilators and 25 intensive care unit beds. This makes physical isolating even more important in Malawi. While the campus is located in a rural area that is helpful for physical distancing, the campus is still following national health guidelines and recommendations to keep our students safe.
The Power connection from the National grid was connected to the school at the beginning of March. This is a big deal for the students and staff at Kuwala. The classrooms now have lights and power for their donated laptops. With the power on, the girls can study late into the evening. They will feel safe and secure while walking to and from the Hostel to the Classroom as the grounds will have pathway lighting as well as the existing perimeter fencing around the campus.
Exciting news from Kuwala! The
school now has POWER! Malawi has one of the highest “energy poverty”
rates in the world, having some of the least number of people with
access to electricity. Being both grid connected to hydroelectricity and
having on site solar at our school is a huge deal! The staff and
students extend a huge THANK YOU to
everyone who has supported them and ask that you continue to tell our
story…there is so much we can be thankful for and still so much that
can and will be done to impact the lives of these girls!
The greenhouse materials arrived and assembly has taken place. With the addition of some wood structure supports and the installation of the irrigation system, the greenhouse is almost ready to begin teaching the girls at Kuwala about agriculture and produce crops that will help feed the students and even the surrounding villages.
The irrigation set up for the greenhouse and assembly with wooden supports.
There is a lot of space! All the girls are smiling and excited as they anticipate all the learning and “hands on” application about to take place within the greenhouse. The first crop will be tomatoes, followed by produce and other vegetables. The students will also learn about producing organic fertilizer. There are extreme challenges in Malawi with famine and starvation, including in the villages surrounding the school. Community help is important in the lives of the students. Kuwala provides support, work and a community within and around the villages nearby. The communities are so thankful for the school and the opportunities for their girls. The girls are learning to become strong, bold and compassionate disciples for Jesus.
The Staff House is ready for window fittings. This beautiful structure will allow for a staff member and their family to live right on campus. This provides better community for the girls. Our Canadian board members connect with our Malawian partners on a weekly basis, communicating and sending pictures and videos of the progress of the school and in the lives of the girls at Kuwala.
The St. Peters Assembly Hall is also preparing for window fittings. They are now painting and finishing the interior. The design of the Assembly Hall will provide excellect ventilation with the addition of the tiered level of roofing. Our construction team on the ground have made extremely well designed structures for Kuwala. We are very blessed to have them; as you can see there are no machines or scaffolding as we would use, everything in Malawi is constructed by hand and small tools.
Prepping the interior walls before painting begins.
Sponsorship Opportunities are still available!
For $100.00 a month/$1200.00 a year you can positively impact the life of a girl in Malawi! You can even get a group together to sponsor a girl, your sports team, your extended family, your congregation!
Thank you for your encouragement, support and patience as we continue to grow, continue to learn and continue to impact the lives of girls with no other option in life; to educate and to deliver them out of poverty; giving them a chance to positively impact their families and communities.
Happy New Year
January 2020
As we welcome in the New Year with our resolutions and goals, take a minute to reflect on the amazing blessings that have made such a positive impact on a boarding school of girls, halfway around the world, in a country experiencing such harsh conditions, struggling with poverty, with no hope of changing the cycle of poverty. This positive impact continues with the generous support of your prayers and the generous financial support from all of you!
Welcome to a new year of hope, a new year of growth and a new year of hard work. Can you add one more resolution to your new year? We are praying for more sponsors to support our students during their four years at Kuwala. Can you pass along our story, talk to your congregation, help us make a measurable difference in the lives of these girls and the next classes to follow, their families and their communities.
Our students received new file folders! These are very important for organizing all their projects, notes and tests. Exams in Malawi take place every year and at the end of their four years. These folders allow them to keep everything together, neat and tidy and allow for easy reference to study. School life at Kuwala starts very early, the girls are up at 4:00 am and start classes at 7:10 am. Classes end at 3:30 pm and depending on the day of the week, they may then be in sports activities, story telling in English sessions, community service and then study time. Dinner, a shower, more study time and a good night sleep completes their day. Saturdays are study days, Bible activities and laundry, traditional games and songs. Sunday is a traditional church service.
There has been significant construction taking place at Kuwala! The construction crews are working hard on the St Peter’s Cafeteria/Assembly Hall. The gardens and grounds are looking green and lush with trees and grass growing beautifully and a good crop of tomatoes and greens.
The students are working hard and enjoying life at Kuwala. They are learning in faith, living with thankful hearts, sharing with each other and their communities and believing in God’s plan for each of their lives.
The girls in their soccer uniforms enjoying a sports day!
If you have any questions or suggestions to enhance your relationship with Kuwala Christian Girls School, please respond to this email and we’ll do our best to help. Thank you for your encouragement, support and patience as we continue to grow, continue to learn and continue to impact the lives of girls with no other option in life; to educate and to deliver them out of poverty; giving them a chance to positively impact their families and communities.
The meaning of Christmas
December 2019
Finding ways to share the love of Jesus!
As the students finish classes with a year end Christmas Party, they are preparing for a two week break with their families. They will return to classes January 5, 2020.
At the same time, our
team at Kuwala, diverted some of the funding provided for their
Christmas Party, to address a growing problem in the country.
Malawi has been struck by hunger due to flooding in parts of the country. As a result, many of the subsistence farmers in the villages surrounding our school do not have enough food to take them through until the next harvest time, and cannot afford to purchase food. In addition to that challenge, is that food prices have in many cases doubled, adding to the extreme food shortage.
The Staff at Kuwala were able to purchase bags of flour and distribute them to 250 people from the surrounding villages.
It was a thrill for our school to
see how happy the people were, with some villagers openly sharing that
they had gone days without eating.
To put this in perspective, one bag of flour is 16000 Kwacha which equals $29.00 CDN or $22.00 US.
The bag of flour weighs 50 Kg and will last one person for three months…. giving them two meals per day.
Your financial support goes a very long way in Malawi – Thank You.
The opportunity to share not only
food but our belief in giving back to our communities wherever they are,
certainly aligned with the celebration of Jesus at Christmas time.
We thank all of you who have
supported the journey we have been on and welcome others who may want to
join our program as we move into 2020. The need is great and our
opportunity to impact those much less fortunate than us is very clear.
We are always looking for partners to help us change the lives of girls through education helping them change the lives of their families and their communities. Join us by supporting our capital campaign as we build our school or as a scholarship sponsor for one of our future students.
