The Third Annual Women Helping Women Garden Party! JUNE 2 from 2 till 5, 1220 TRANSIT ROAD

June 2012 In the past two years, together we have raised close to $50,000 for Atsikana Pa Ulendo and we are hoping this year to raise enough money to start development on the Legacy Building. It will be at the centre of the Teacher's Training College. We have girls who have finished their secondary schooling who despite their excellent results continue to have few opportunities. Some of them have been offered places in college but they simply cannot afford to attend. What better way to help than to give them a place to study and also a profession that they can take with them to serve others. There is a shortage of primary teachers in Malawi so with this certification opportunities for employment are fairly certain. This is where we need your help! Please join us on June 2 for the 3rd Annual Women Helping Women Garden Party.  Come and hear an update from Christie on developments from the girls' school; Maness will also be joining us and has some exciting news to share. If we can start construction very soon we will have a place for these girls to continue their education. The opportunity to continue is life changing. They have hope and choice for their future; they can take their teaching credentials to their village. The entire picture is different with this opportunity. Enjoy complimentary cocktails, a dynamic silent auction while sharing a lovely afternoon with incredible women...Bring your mothers, sisters, daughters and friends and your wallets! Together we can make this happen!  Sarah Beeston, Laurie Parker, Bonnie Davidson, Jane Rees, Dariol Haydock, Elizabeth Rodford, Alison Weir, Michelle Driscoll, Tanya Lee, Gillian Donald, Susan Vachon, Becky Anderson, Lori Adam DATE: Sunday June 2 TIME: 2:00 to 5:00 pm ADDRESS: 1220 Transit Road RSVP: malawigirlsonthemove@gmail.com

Great news for APU graduate Maness Samuel

Maness speaking at St. Michael's
University School

Maness has earned a full scholarship to attend Westminster College, a small liberal arts college in Fulton, Missouri.  Maness is committed to becoming a change-maker in her home community in Malawi and wants to pursue a degree that will give her the knowledge and skills that will allow her to improve the lives of girls and women living in poverty.  She has not yet decided on a program of study but is very interested in medicine, economics and political science.  

Maness earned her scholarship to Westminster largely due to her increasingly impressive portfolio, including her position as head girl at Atsikana Pa Ulendo Secondary School, her scholarship to study at Lester B. Pearson College, her strong academic performance, and the public speaking that she has done within Canada in advocating for girls education on behalf of APU.  Maness is becoming increasingly sought after as a speaker in Rotary Clubs and schools on Vancouver Island, and in Vancouver.  

Maness and Christie spoke recently at the Rotary
District 5020 Leadership Training Assembly

Maness has a powerful story to tell, and she tells it well.  She is living proof that education gives 'Girls A Choice' and 'Gives Girls A Voice'.  We at APU Malawi Education Foundation look forward to following and supporting Maness as she pursues her degree, and we have no doubt that she will indeed become the change maker that she be seeks to be.  

Congratulations Maness!  Link to her new college:

Maness speaks to Vancouver Rotary Clubs

Maness receiving a certificate of appreciation
from the President of Richmond Sunset.

The following is a report by APU MEF Director, David Stocks, on speaking engagements Maness Samuel, an APU graduate who is presently a student at Lester B. Pearson College, had with two  Vancouver Rotary Clubs. 

Maness addressed the Rotary Club of Burnaby Metrotown at their noon meeting. The Secretary of the Trustees of APU Malawi, Nahid Mazloum, happened to be in Vancouver so she attended. It was a pleasure to watch Nahid and Maness meeting each other for the first time. Afterward, Nahid sent an email that included: “I am so grateful you provided this opportunity for me to be present when Maness had her presentation; it was impressive and I will surely talk about this experience with our Board of Trustees when I get back home. Thank you again…please extend my loving greetings to…MEF APU members.”

In the evening, Maness addressed the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset. Past District Governor, Dean Rohrs, and her husband Rhino attended. They lived in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial centre, for many years. Rhino spoke a few words of Chichewa to Maness, which delighted her. During the Q&A period, Dean spoke about the typical conditions from which students like Maness have come. Dean’s point was that Maness was illustrating the tremendous growth potential of the young women of Malawi.

Maness is eager to do more fundraising, so Frances and I are planning to take her back to Vancouver during the week of May 27-29. We may go a day or two earlier so Maness can enjoy some touristy things .

Global Responsibility and Global Citizenship presentations

Maness and Christie will be presenting two workshops at the Global Responsibility Young Leaders Conference to be held at St. Michaels University School (Senior Campus) on Friday, January 18^th, 2013.  The conference brochure can be found here:  http://www.smus.ca/global

CHRISTIE JOHNSON 

‘Girls Education – The Ripple Effects’ 

Jane & Jack Matthew’s Room 

Christie knows first-hand the power of education in transforming lives. Since her travels and teaching experience in Malawi in 2000, Christie has become a passionate advocate for the rights of girls and women in Malawi. In 2006, she co-founded Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls On The Move) Secondary School in Malawi and in just six years, the school has grown to include 320 students, 13 buildings, employing 21 Malawian teachers, and over 300 labourers. The school is already recognized nation-wide for its reputation for academic excellence. 

In addition, they will be presenting at Pearson College on Tuesday, January 22nd.  The title of this event is the Global Citizenship Summit Program.  

Brilliant Exam Results at APU Malawi

Christie has announced some wonderful news from APU Malawi:

The results for both the Junior Certificate Exam (JCE) and Malawi School Certificate Exam (MSCE) have been published. Our teachers and students at APU are celebrating their amazing success.  Although the results for the JCE were made available in September, the results for the MSCE were only made public yesterday.

These exams were written by last year's Form 2 and Form 4 students in June 2012.  

APU Form 2 students achieved a 100% pass rate on their Junior Certificate Exams.  The national pass rate was 66%.

APU Form 4 students achieved a 91% pass rate on their MSC Exams.  77 APU students wrote this exam and 71 of them passed.  The national pass rate was just 51%.  Not only did 91% of our girls pass, but they passed with grades that are far higher than our last year results, putting APU on the map as one of the top girls' schools in the country.  

This class of 77 girls started Form 1 at APU in our second year of operation.  Every one of these students was on full scholarship and were selected out of thousands of applicants.  This selection process was not based on academic achievement, but on the fact that they had all demonstrated courage and determination in their quest to remain in school despite their stories of hardship, orphanhood, poverty and in many cases, abuse.  The fact that these girls have achieved grades equal and superior to students attending the best government and private schools in the country is truly astounding.

APU teachers have a great deal to be proud of.

Thanks everyone for your continued support!

Christie

Disappointment for APU's first graduating class, the class of 2011 ... BUT THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!

Tiyamike

APU was hoping to have at least 10 graduates from our first graduating class, the class of 2011, receive government scholarships to the University of Malawi. Sadly, only 2 of our girls, Tiyamike Brave (left), and Bridget Guzani (below), were awarded scholarships. 

Bridget

It has been a long journey for the girls whose hearts were set on going to university. They wrote their MSCE (Form 4 national exams) in July 2011. Then they waited. They found out their results in October of 2011. Then they waited. They finally wrote their university entrance exams in March of 2012. They waited again. The names of the students selected to go to UNIMA (University Of Malawi) have just now been released. This news is heartbreaking to many of our APU graduates who, according to Henry, "poured their souls into their studies ... they worked their lungs out ..." in the hope of going to university.

This year, a total of 8507 candidates sat for the 2012 University Entrance Examination in Malawi. 6373 of these students candidates passed. Only 907 in the entire country have been granted government sponsorship to attend the university. Thankfully, this is NOT THE END OF HOPE for our graduates. We have a number of APU students who have earned the grades and the right to a university education. 

The university of Malawi is now inviting applications from qualified students capable of paying tuition. The closing date for these applications is Oct 9, just a couple of weeks away. 

Memory and Henry are going to advise some of their students to apply for self sponsored admission to the university in order to keep their options open. There is an outside possibility that sponsors, their villages or even their extended families might step up to cover the university tuition (approximately $2500 per year) for some of these girls. 

I believe that there is a way for these girls to attend university, and we all know that they deserve it. They have made it this far ... why not keep going ... after all ... they are GIRLS ON THE MOVE!

If you are reading this post, and are interested in sponsoring one of our UNIVERSITY HOPEFULS, please contact us at support@malawigirlsonthemove.com.

Amy's Blog

Link to Amy Bronson's Blog: 
Amy is the daughter of a Rotarian from the Lethbridge East Rotary Club. She is doing an internship with CIDA in Lilongwe and attended the APU graduation ceremony. She has written about her experience in her blog.

The following are recent photos of the girls and the buildings/projects at APU Malawi. 
Thanks to Henry for sending them.

Singing at Graduation

Staff Duplex #3

Getting Ready for Grad

Solar Panels