Village Schools International

REQUEST: $2,500 for electricity and technology at Mazengera Secondary School in Central Malawi.

MALAWI

Population: 20,300,000
Languages: English (official), Chewa (common), Lambya, Lomwe, Ngoni, Nkhonde
Religions: Protestant 33.5%, Roman Catholic 17.2%, other Christian 26.6%, Muslim 13.8%
Median Age: 16.8 years

VILLAGE SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL

Village Schools International (VSI) partners with people living in villages to help them build secondary schools for themselves so that one day every kid in every village can go to school. We then hire teachers and send missionaries who will not just teach students, but build relationships with them, love them and share the Gospel.

THE NEED

Almost all our schools have been built in villages where there is no electricity. Students who want to study at night need money to buy kerosene for their lamps, which most of our students can’t afford. It impacts the teachers’ ability to prepare their lessons and our ability to install computers and printers, so all notes and exams need to be written on the blackboard. Our students are not complaining, they are thankful that they get to go to school. We want them to have the best possible education, and so we need to figure out a way to get electricity to the most remote villages.

THE PROJECT

Village Schools wants to make sure that by the end of 2023 all of their schools (61) have electricity. This project will install a generator at one of those schools, Mazengera Secondary School in Central Malawi. With a generator, students will have more time to study, our teachers will be able to prepare better lessons, and the school will be able to have a laptop and printer to print off notes and tests. Doing this in other villages has had a huge impact on how well our students do in school, and this project will help the students and teachers at Mazengera do better as well.

1. Village Schools – Students in Tanzania in study hall Josh vinton

Image Copyright: VSI

VSI students in study hall

Serving with Village Schools

2. Village Schools – Students in Tanzania carrying foundation stones for school construction Josh vinton

Image Copyright: VSI

Story

When Yotam finished primary school in 2009 in the small Tanzanian village of Ujirani, he wasn’t among the few in his village who were chosen to go on to the 8th grade. However, his grandma had heard about one of our schools that was 140 miles away. He left his family in 2011 and 4 years later finished at the top of his class, enrolled in our college, and was elected class president. He graduated in 2019 and along with three of his classmates felt called to travel to Malawi. God blessed their efforts and today we have 6 schools open (and another 4 under construction).