APU Malawi

APU TOUR - Day 26

2012-02-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

Henry outside the Victoria Legislature

It has been a whirlwind of a month filled with speaking engagements, meetings, and fundraisers, with the occasional bit of recreation and pure fun thrown in! Everywhere we go the energy of APU supporters helps to motivate us and the growing momentum of support for our GIRLS ON THE MOVE is evident in the number of people who are eager to share their ideas, support, and energy as well as pledging their support in the form of sponsorships for our girls, and funding for construction.

It is snowing outside today and I am personally very pleased that Henry is finally learning about a real Alberta winter after such unseasonably warm weather. Today is a much needed day off and Henry is spending the day learning to snowshoe and ski at Castle Mountain in Pincher Creek. It hasn't taken him long to figure out which button to press to turn on the seat warmer and is racing me for the front seat in any vehicle that might have one. We are both feeling a wee bit sluggish after too many hours riding in cars on the way to make various presentations and too many rich meals at Rotary meetings, but we certainly can't complain!

Schools Visited:

SMUS Senior School

Pearson College

Interact Clubs

Terwilligar

Dawson Creek

Oak Bay

Rotaract Clubs Visited:

University of Lethbridge

Rotary Club of Olds, Alberta, Cheque Presentation

Rotary Clubs Visited

GREATER VICTORIA DISTRICT

Royal Oak

Saanich

Nanaimo Daybreak
Oak Bay

Harbourside

Sooke

Sidney By The Sea

Victoria

Westshore

ALBERTA

Barrhead

Stony Plain

Spruce Grove

Parkland After Dark

Morinville

Northern Lights

Whitecourt

St. Albert

Cochrane

RC of Calgary Downtown

RC Calgary South

Lethbridge

Kiwanis

Lethbridge East

Lethbridge Urban Spirits

Lethbridge Sunrise

Community Visits

Metchosin House

University of Lethbridge Health Sciences

Southern Alberta Teacher's Convention

As you can see, Henry and I have truly been ON THE MOVE in an attempt to keep Atsikana Pa Ulendo also ON THE MOVE!

Take care everyone, and thanks for all of your support!

Christie

Simon, Laura, Henry, boating in Pedder Bay, Vancouver Island

Christie and Henry, Calgary Stampede Grounds

Henry & Maness at the Observatory, Pearson College

Henry's First Sled Ride

Rotary Club of Calgary Downtown

APU Fundraising and Information Tour 2012

2012-01-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

February

2012

Goodbye Agogo - You will be missed

2011-11-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

It is with deep sadness we inform you of the death of APU Malawi's greatest benefactor and friend, Agogo to all the girls at APU, Ken Haywood. Ken died in Edmonton on November 25th at the age of 83 years. An active Rotarian, Ken was moved by Christie and Memory's desire to establish a secondary school for girls in Malawi. Using his remarkable networking and communication skills, he rallied behind them, encouraging others to follow his example and to give generously to the cause. What you have read in previous posts here is largely due to Ken's unfailing devotion to APU Malawi. All of us at APU Malawi send condolences to Ken's wife Sheila and his family. We will all miss his leadership, his integrity, and his love.

Project Manager in Malawi, Henry Mdyetseni, has written this poem for Ken.

Ode For Ken

Though i never saw you
I felt your presence
Though I never met you
I heard your eloquence.
Though I never faced you
I got to know your mind
As if your thoughts were carried in the wind

When we started the journey

You took the first step
When the road was rough
You made us laugh
When the climb got steep
You gave a tip
When it was impossible
You did the plausible

Goodbye Ken

Goodbye Agogo
See you then
Rest not in Agony
And when things got tight
You fought with your life

HJM.

National Exam (MSCE) results out!!!

2011-10-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

I have some wonderful news from Malawi to share. The results for the Form 4 National Exams, the MSCE (Malawi School Certificate of Education) have been released and I am thrilled to report that our Form 4 girls have achieved a 95% pass rate. The national pass rate was 54%. The national pass rate includes boys as well as urban students. All 73 of our APU students are rural girls. It would be interesting to know what the national pass rate for rural girls was. Memory and I suspect that it is less that 15%.

Christie Johnson
Co-founder and Executive Director
Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Malawi Education Foundation
650 Pearson College Dr.
Victoria, BC V9C 4H7

Letter from Maness at Pearson College to all supporters

2011-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

At our monthly APU Malawi Education Foundation board meeting, Maness Samuel read the following message to our board members. Maness graduated from APU in June 2011 and is currently studying at Pearson College in Victoria (http://www.pearsoncollege.ca ) on full scholarship.

I, on my own behalf, and on behalf of APU students would like to sincerely thank you for such a wonderful and great work you are doing to us.

In the first place, I would like to let you know that we are very proud of you. This is so because through the free education you are giving us, you are making a great change in us. The way we are now if quite different from the way we were before we came to APU. Furthermore, to show that we are very proud of you, we composed a song of which the title is “We Will Never Be The Same Again”. This song is there to assure you that you are really bringing a very wonderful change in our lives. Thus we really appreciate you for that.

Secondly, we were girls without hope, but now that you are helping us, we have much hope that we are going to have a bright future. Also, before we came to APU, we were just a nobody, but now that we are getting this high education you are giving us, we are no longer a nobody, we are in the process of becoming a somebody in future. Therefore, we thank you so much.

Thirdly, your help is also preventing us from being involved in things which have negative results to our lives. For example, prostitution, stealing, early marriages, and many others. In addition to that, I believe that without your help, most of us would have had nothing to do, as a result, we were definitely going to be involved in the previous mentioned activities and so you can see that you are really doing a lot and a very good and great work to our lives. Hence, we are very thankful for that.

Fourthly, the work you are doing to us is planting in us that spirit of helping others freely so that we bring change to the world. And this forces us to work very hard so that we make it. Moreover, its our desire o help with the potential of others. As a result, we are very proud of you.Finally, I would like to say something about my life at Pearson College. At Pearson College is very nice with quality education and food.

I am so happy to be here and I am really working hard so that I catch up on the work which has already been covered. In addition to that, its my desire to be successful in my studies at Pearson College for me to achieve my goal, that is why I am working hard. Also, I am very glad to be at a place where there are people from different countries with different cultures. I have already started learning a lot from these friends and they are so friendly and so hopefully, I am going to learn as much as I can from them definitely, I will not be the same again, the change in me is just becoming great and great.Also, despite being my first time to fly, my journey was very nice and I really enjoyed it. Furthermore, I am so excited that I am exposed to an environment with a wide range of learning new things. For all this to happen, it is your support and so I am very proud of you.

Therefore, thank you very much. I am happy to have the opportunity to talk to you.

In Their Own Words: The Girls of Atsikana Pa Ulendo Tell Their Stories

2011-10-11T22:59:00.000-07:00

After meeting Christie Johnson in 2003, I was amazed at the determination of this young Canadian teacher who decided she would help a group of Malawian girls after their Canadian-funded school closed its doors. I remember thinking, How can one person decide to do so much for so many and then succeed? Christie’s vision and determination seemed extraordinary to me. Later I met Memory Chazeza, and I was confronted with yet another individual whose drive and tenacity appeared almost audacious. These two women have taught me that with passion and perseverance, anything is possible.

In 2007 I set out to write Memory’s story and the story of her school. Of course it is a story in which Christie also plays a prominent role, and it has grown in scope since it’s inception, now encompassing “the story” of all Malawian women along with their dreams, challenges and triumphs. To write this book — A Light in the Warm Heart of Africa — I have travelled to the country on several occasions. On my last trip, in 2009, I thought, Well, I’m here anyway, why not collect some stories from the Atsikana Pa Ulendo girls and turn them into an anthology? I had the means to accomplish this task through the small publishing company that I co-own: Prairie Dog Publishing. I thought it would be an interesting project, and it seemed like an obvious way to raise awareness about the school and to help people begin to understand the lives of these young women. In Their Own Words: The Girls of Atsikana Pa Ulendo Tell Their Stories was born.

As I read the stories, I began to realize the wealth of narrative I held in my hands. These girls had given us all a great gift. With their words, they had welcomed us into their lives. These are precious snapshots of the girls’ personal dreams, private tragedies and quirky humour. Since then the book has slowly taken shape. The making of this book has not been an easy task, but I believe it has been well worth the effort.

We, at Prairie Dog Publishing, hope you will enjoy reading this book as much as we enjoyed producing it. These stories are precious. We pass them on to you.

Roberta Laurie, 2011

It was Like a Dream: A report by Maness Samuel, Pearson College Scholarship Student

2011-10-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

It was like a dream when I heard that I am provided with a scholarship by people from Canada. I was so excited, so much so that I jumped up and down in praise of the people who are doing such a great job. Sometimes I could go in my room, fortunately most of the times I could find the room empty. This enabled me to sit down in my bed and think deeply about the scholarship. During the time of thinking about it, I could ask so many questions without answers of which one of them is how much love do these scholarship providers have for me? This question was hard for me to respond because studying outside the country is very expensive and not always possible and so I was like, these people are wonderful and their work which they are doing to me is so great and marvelous. Thereafter, I composed a song which goes like:

Marvellous

The have done marvelous

They have done marvelous

Praise Them

They have done marvellous

Praise Them

I really like this song and I don’t feel comfortable when a day goes without singing it. Its my desire to praise my sponsors for the great and excellent work which they are doing to me. The song may seem to be too short but the most important thing I look for in the song is the content (marvelous and praise). These words are very nice and to me, it's really hard to live without these two words of appreciation to people like my sponsors who are doing such an expensive work to me. Wow!

Let me switch on to something different but very interesting. It is more or less like a drama. Time for me to leave Malawi for Canada was just very close but then I still had problems with the visa. When it was one day more I started doubting about the journey to Canada and finally the departure date passed up and I was like my fellow students are in class that is when the day of opening the school was over. I used to say so when I was alone at Atsikana Pa Ulendo Girls Secondary School. Memory could find me lonely and when she asked for how the days were going I could tell her that fine, while in actual sense days were very bad for me for I just wanted to leave Malawi for Pearson College in Canada.

Some friends use to tell me that when in doubt, be bold. This really encouraged and motivated me and when doubt comes I could tell myself that when in doubt be bold and so, so it was. I became bold and a lot of people used to ask me about the departure date which I did not know. Some people could tell me that the journey is no longer there but I could boldly say, I am going to study in Canada whether you like it or not and I am going to be successful in my studies regardless of the entry delay to Pearson College. Due to my boldness, people came to stop asking me such kind of questions.

I remember this other day when I was in Memory and Henry’s house at APU where I said to myself, one day the visa will be out and my journey to Canada will come true which it is today for I am at Pearson College. I was in the office the same day and a parent who came to leave her daughter at school said to me “I have heard about your journey to Canada and the visa problem but don’t worry your visa is already out, you are going to Canada.“ I looked straight into the eyes of this woman and proudly said, thank you very much. In no time, Memory called me from the office and told me that the visa was out and I couldn’t understand and I was completely shocked and paralyzed. It took me 10 minutes to understand what Memory said. Now I was fine and remembered what the woman said in Memory and Henry’s house and in the office respectively.

From there I couldn’t want to do anything. The only thing I wanted was to be at Pearson College and work very hard so that I please Christie Johnson, my sponsors, Memory, Henry and my family, even my teachers. Since it was my desire to be at Pearson College and work very hard and now that I am there this is what I am doing. I love all my teachers and fellow students, even everyone at Pearson College. I am learning a lot from the school and people there. And when I go back to Malawi I will also let people learn from me what I am learning at Pearson College. Even while I am here I will be sending them e-mails now and again just for them to learn more as much as they can as it is my desire to do so. I have already written one on the 2^nd of October to be sent to the students at APU and I am very glad that I have made it.

Maness Samuel

APU Graduate 2011

Pearson College Student

APU GRADUATES STUDY IN CANADA

2011-09-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled to report that Maness Samuel, Blandina Diva and Angella Benjamin, right, of the APU Graduating Class of 2011, have had their student visas approved and are packing their bags in readiness for their long journey to Canada. All three girls have received full scholarship to study for two years in Canada. I will be picking Maness up at the Victoria International Airport and driving her ‘home’ to Pearson College where she will study for the next two years. Blandina and Angella will be arriving on Oct 10th and will be studying at the Northern Lights College in Fort St. John. They will be hosted by the Rotarians of the Dawson Creek Rotary Club. Having met all three of these incredible young women during their graduation in June, I have no doubt that they will be wonderful ambassadors of APU and Malawi. I know that their fellow students will learn a great deal from getting to know them and their world will expand a thousand fold from their experiences over the next two years. Congratulations Maness, Angella and Blandina!

ANOTHER 100% PASS RATE FOR APU JUNIOR CERTIFICATES!

APU’s third class of Form 2 students wrote their JC Examinations in June 2011 and their results have just been announced. We are so proud to share the news that every single APU Form Two student who wrote the exam passed! The national pass rate this year in Malawi was 60%. This is the third year in a row that APU has beat the national pass rate by at least 40%. CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS, YOU HAVE MADE US ALL SO PROUD!

Christie Johnson
Co-founder and Executive Director
Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Malawi Education Foundation

Graduation Song, 2011 Graduates

2011-07-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

This is the theme song written and performed by the first 73 graduates from Atsikana Pa Ulendo Secondary School in Malawi on their graduation day.

Henry Mdyetseni describes the lessons he has learned as the Project Manager of APU over the past 6 years. This video provides excellent history of the project.

2011-07-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

View more APU videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mdyetseni#g/u

APU Graduation Day Video

2011-07-12T07:26:00.000-07:00

APU's First Graduation Day - June 25, 2011

2011-06-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

APU Class of 2011

Well, the big day has come and gone and although we feel drained after all of the effort, we are also elated. Every detail of the event was rehearsed many times and the entire three hour ceremony went flawlessly.

Friday was a busy day full of final preparations. The cooks arrived and started preparing the beef, chicken, vegetables and rice in readiness for the feast on Saturday. The DJ arrived with his sound system and we practiced playing the two national anthems, as well as the processional music. The Form Four girls practiced the songs they had written and they practiced filing in and out of their seats and filing across the stage to receive their diplomas.

The special APU Alumni Pins were presented to each girl and they were instructed to wear them during the ceremony. The roar they gave off when the pins were distributed was overwhelming! The female teachers remained behind in the hall and put up all of the decorations, set out the chairs and tables, and hung the two flags on the wall. The hall looked amazing and it took a bit of effort to get the excited girls to go to bed. Graduation day started at 6:00 with the Form 4 girls in full uniform gathering in one of the class blocks. I handed out the green graduation caps and gold tassles and the girls were over the moon with excitement. The caps were fitted to their heads (It was a difficult job because they kept slipping off – bobby pins don’t work on very short hair!), tassles were attached, and instructions were given as to how to wear their caps. We really wanted them to be wearing the pins during the ceremony. I can’t quite describe their joy upon receiving these very special pins, prepared for them by their Canadian Agogo.

Maness receiving Diploma

Canadian Scholarship Recipients

All of the special invited guests arrived in time, including our Guest of Honour, Justice Esme Chombo, and the MP for Lilongwe North, Mr. Titus Malipa, 10 representatives from the United Nations, including Pearson College Graduate John Nsabimana, and the APU Board Members and their families. Our MC was Monica Chanangamuno (APU Malawi board member) and she did an incredible job. All speeches were translated into both English and Chichewa. The students who presented speeches and poems spoke with confidence and represented APU extremely well. The Guest of Honour is a judge in the supreme court of Malawi. I was most impressed by her and felt honored to sit next to her.

The girls receiving full scholarships to Pearson College and the Northern Lights College were recognized and photos were taken. The girls received their diplomas with confidence and poise. Memory, Henry and I, as well as the teachers and board members were just bursting with pride as these 73 young women took the stage one after another, receiving their diplomas with their heads held high. They finished the program by singing one of the songs that they wrote, entitled ‘I’ll Never Be The Same Again’. I have recorded the song and cannot wait to share it with you all. It is stunning. [When Christie returns, I will upload it to this blog so all the world can hear it.] Following the ceremony we gathered for pictures and then were taken on a tour of the campus by Henry while the hall was reorganized for lunch. During lunch, girls sat with their parents and the special guests and teachers sat at tables with the girls. This is a huge break in tradition, as usually the special guests sit alone in a special room and receive special food. The food was prepared in the three HUGE pots that APU now owns (one new one and two refurbished used ones). The servings were enormous but the girls had no trouble cleaning their plates! A special treat was that every girl received a fanta or coke.

Memory and Christie with Grads

At the Grad Feast

Aerial View of the School

It was truly a time to celebrate.

Take care everyone,

Christie

Photos from Lilongwe

2011-06-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Choir Practice

Here's a short report just received from Christie who is at APU presently; she was rushing off to an APU Board Meeting:

The aerial photography happened yesterday. Much vomiting on board the ‘Little Red Devil’ as Henry has named the small plane we hired. A great stir of excitement for the girls and everyone who witnessed the fly by! I’ll share the photos of this as soon as our photographer gives them to me. On board was a laborer, a student, a teacher, myself and Henry, our photographer George Ntonya, and two pilots. It was a day that will never be forgotten by our APU girls, the plane riders, or the hundreds, if not thousands of villagers, who flocked to APU to witness the occasion.
Henry, Memory and I visited the DAPP Teachers Training College and spoke in depth with the project manager, the principal, and two of the teachers. Great news on this front!
Board Meeting today.
Much work still to do with graduation preparation. Excitement is extremely high as we move towards the 25th.

Memory and Little Trevor

Practice for Aerial Photo

Gweneth at Assembly

Cafeteria Front View

APU Tree Farm

Science Lab Front View

Cafe back view

Staff Duplexes

Staff Duplex #1 Front View

Hostel Apartment

Three Class blocks

APU Carpentry Shops

New bunk bed

Preparing Students for Canada

Exam and Graduation Fever in Malawi

2011-06-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

Christie sent the following report from APU Malawi where she will be attending the girls' first graduation. This is an exciting time for all involved with the school.:

After picking me up from the airport, Henry and I toured the grounds where Madonna’s school was supposed to me. It is bare ground, without even the start of any foundations for buildings. All that was done was that the land was cleared of vegetation and levelled where the buildings were meant to me. Now it is just a barren field. Truly sad. Memory, Henry and I are having a wonderful time together, the little boys are absolutely adorable (it was Teloni’s birthday yesterday and I made a chocolate cake over a charcoal burner outside), and the APU girls are truly incredible. I’ve taken photos of all of them already and am spending time in the evenings chatting with them. These girls are truly amazing and it is clear that they are receiving excellent instruction. I’ve met all of the teachers, attended a PTA meeting and made an impromptu speech, and helped Memory conduct the examinations as part of the next intake of Form 1 girls.

SHOWING THE JC EXAM IDENTITY CARDS

BODY SEARCH!

The Form 2 girls started their JC Exams on Monday and I have taken photos of the set up, the body search (conducted by Memory and another female teacher) conducted on each girl as they enter, as well as the police security. They are writing their exams in the newly constructed cafeteria which is a most impressive building. Everyone who comes onto APU property is in awe of the buildings, the girls and their ability and confidence in speaking English, the cleanliness of the grounds, and the air of excitement and happiness that surrounds the place. I have been told again and again that this school is unlike any other school in the country. Henry and Memory are working very hard keeping the labourers, teachers and students in line, preparing for graduation, conducting the national exams, etc. Their list of responsibilities is just enormous but they are clearly up to the task.

Memory and Henry and their staff are thrilled with the diploma’s, the pins, the programs, the graduation caps, and the awards that I brought with me. Although the graduation is meant to be an invitation-only event, we are quite concerned the there might be many many people unassociated with the school ‘crashing the party’ because there is such a buzz about the school!

PREPARING TO WRITE THE JC EXAMS IN THE CAFETERIA

PTA MEETING

Over the next few days I will be working with Maness, Angella and Blandina to fill out their student visa applications. I brought all of the paperwork required from both Pearson and the Northern Lights College (Dawson Creek) and their passports are ready, so it should be quite straightforward. On Friday, Memory, Henry and I will be visiting two Teachers' Training Colleges that are near Lilongwe to ask the many questions that we have regarding this next potential project. We are also working with all of the girls to practice forming the letters ‘GIRLS ON THE MOVE’ on the sports field so that when the helicopter comes to take aerial photographs we can also video the girls waving at their sponsors in formation. It is great fun to work with the girls as they have an amazing sense of humor and are very playful – a wonderful contrast to the young girls you typically find in the villages.

MAKING NSIMA

For the moment, construction at APU has been put on hold as the girls write their exams, as we don’t want them disturbed by the noise. The cafeteria is completely finished and the electric pots are in full use. The science lab is about 80% complete, and the Class Block that was damaged in the windstorm has been repaired and is back in use. The hostels and staff houses are in excellent shape. The water system and electrical systems seem to be very solid and are working beautifully. This is my 8th extended trip in Malawi and it is my very first time sleeping in a bed, having hot showers (or any showers at all!), and using electrical lights rather than candles and flashlights. The standard of living at APU is truly excellent - many of the teachers are saying that they are more comfortable at APU than they are in town.

Take good care everyone and thanks for your continued work with APU.
This is truly an amazing thing that we are part of.

Christie

Christie Johnson
Co-founder and Executive Director
Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Malawi Education Foundation
650 Pearson College Dr.
Victoria, BC V9C 4H7

250-391-0348
www.malawigirlsonthemove.com

Successful FUNdraiser at St. Michael's University School Coctail Party

2011-06-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Letter from Bonnie Davison on behalf of all the party planners:

Our Garden Party FUNdraiser is now over and we can't thank everyone enough for making it such a success. We have raised $19,350! Everyone helped out in so many ways. Thank you for your donations, for your time, for helping to spread the word about this great cause, and for making it such a fun event! What a great gathering of wonderful women! I think now we need to challenge some men to match or top our donation!

Christie and the APU cake

The money we raised yesterday is enough to build a 1/4 of the hostel or 1/3 of the Class Block for the teachers training college. If you know anyone who wasn't able to make it and who would like to donate, here is how they can help out. For those of you on Facebook, posting the link below would be a great way to reach out to those who don't live in town but might want to contribute.

How to donate:

Donate online by
credit card: http://www.malawigirlsonthemove.com/ttc - a tax receipt will be mailed to you

Donate by cheque. You can send it to:
APU, c/o Christie Johnson
650 Pearson College Drive
Victoria, BC, V9C 4H7

Or, if you live near St. Michael's University School (SMUS), you can drop a cheque or cash off at reception for me, Bonnie Davison, and I can make sure it gets to Christie, who is now in Malawi for the first APU Graduation. Please remember to write teachers training college in the memo of the cheque so it will be clear where the donation should be directed. If you would like a tax receipt, please make sure your address in on your cheque and a receipt will be mailed to you.

Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity. We will continue to update you with the progress of this inspiring project.

Hugs on behalf of all the party planners!
Bonnie

WOMEN HELPING WOMEN

2011-06-01T15:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I made a presentation to a group of women from Victoria who are organizing a Women Helping Women fundraising event focused on raising funds for our APU Teachers Training College. It was a wonderful gathering of inspiring, energetic and passionate women who have set their sights on raising the $140,000 necessary to construct the buildings (Hostel and Class Block) for Phase One of this project. Please accept this invitation, on behalf of the APU Malawi Education Foundation, to attend this event.

Bring your friends, bring your sisters, bring your daughters, bring your mothers, bring your grandmothers, bring your wallets!

Date: June 5th, 2011
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: 1220 Transit Road, Victoria
RSVP: Please RSVP so we order enough wine!
You can RSVP by emailing: malawigirlsonthemove@gmail.com
or by calling Bonnie at: 250 588-3303

This fundraising event will be an exciting party full of fun and inspiring women, hopefully including you! It has been organized by a small group of educators who are passionate about starting a teachers' college that would drastically change the lives of omen in Malawi.

Please visit www.malawigirlsonthemove.com to learn about how the APU school in Malawi is changing lives, one girls at a time. Attend this Cocktail Garden Party and hear how building a teachers' college is the best hope for securing a future for the graduating girls of the APU school in Malawi. But please also attend because it will be a fun, wine-filled afternoon with a wonderful group of ‘women helping women’.

We hope to see you there!
-Susan Vachon, Dariol Haydock, Becky Anderson, Gillian Donald, Sarah Beeston, Allison Weir, Lori Adam, Laurie Parker, Kirsten Davel, Bonnie Davison
--
Christie Johnson
Co-founder and Executive Director
Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Malawi Education Foundation
650 Pearson College Dr.
Victoria, BC V9C 4H7

250-391-0348

www.malawigirlsonthemove.com

Canadian Charitable Status Achieved

2011-05-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

Good News!

Atsikana Pa Ulendo Malawi Education Foundation has been successful in its application for Registered Charitable Status! Our BN/Registration Number is 808514657RR0001.

Our transition from the Sooke Rotary Community Organization (SRCO) will take place over the next six weeks. All donation cheques can now be made out to the APU Malawi Education Foundation rather than SRCO. Donations made on line will automatically be redirected to APU-MEF on or before June 30th.

Our deepest gratitude goes out to SRCO for the role it has played in ensuring financial accountability to our donors over the past six years.

Christie Johnson
Executive Director
APU-MEF

In Loving Memory of Chikondi Matitiyo.

2010-12-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

October 1986 - December 2010

It is with a heavy heart that I share the tragic news of Chikondi Matitiyo’s sudden death on Dec 7th, 2010. Chikondi (a Chichewa word meaning love) was one of the youngest girls in the group of 24 students that Memory and I originally taught while volunteer teaching in Malawi in 2000. Chikondi was a sweet, loving girl with a contagious laugh, a beautiful smile and an eager curious mind.

Christie and Chikondi

Chikondi finished Form 1 at the ERGO school where Memory and I first met her. I found a sponsor for her, Glenys Berry (my former vice-principal from the Oliver School Nellie McClung Program), who then paid for her to complete her secondary schooling at Phwezi Girls Secondary School in northern Malawi. In 2003, Chikondi succeeded in passing her M.S.C.E. (Malawian Secondary Certificate of Education), an achievement that no one else in her village has ever matched. Still under sponsorship from Glenys, Chikondi completed a two year diploma in Business Studies and the Phwezi Women’s Training Center. She was then given a micro-credit loan and opened her own nursery school at the Kalenga Trading Center, just a short walk from her village. Her income supported her mother and cousins for many years, paying tuition for many of her younger cousins, nieces and nephews.

During the drought in 2005, Chikondi helped Memory in distributing maize and seeds to over 1500 people purchased from money raised through my friends, teaching colleagues, sponsors and students.
More recently, Chikondi had succeeded in securing a position as Burser and Secretary at the Chamama Day Community Secondary School, a position that she enjoyed very much.

Chikondi was the only one in her village earning an income and without her, her mother is absolutely destitute. I would like to be able to provide Chikondi’s mother with a small donation of $300 to be used during this period of grief to help her cover Chikondi’s funeral expenses and ease her most pressing and immediate financial needs. If you would like to contribute to this fund, please contribute by either sending your cheque, made payable to the ‘Sooke Rotary Community Organization’, to:

Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Malawi Education Foundation
650 Pearson College Dr.
Victoria, BC V9C 4H7

Goodbye Chikondi.
You have made us all proud and you will be missed terribly.
Christie.

APU's first graduation celebration date has been set!

2010-12-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

Memory has just informed me that the Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls On The Move) Secondary School in Malawi graduation celebration will take place on Saturday June 25th.

This will be the greatest celebration so far in the lives of our 80 graduates. For village girls to achieve a full secondary school education is very rare, particularly for girls in the rural areas, many of whom are orphans living in poverty. Memory and I can barely believe that our first 80 girls have come so far and that APU, as a school, has achieved so much in such a short period of time. I will be celebrating this graduation along with Memory, the girls and their families and can’t wait to see them once again. The last time I met with these girls was in March 2008, just before being diagnosed with breast cancer. Now, just over two years later, I am cancer free and able to travel to see their smiling, happy, healthy faces once again as they mark the incredible achievement of finishing four years of secondary schooling.

Preparations for this event, which will be attended by all 320 girls, people from their villages, the 19 chiefs responsible for donating the land, and over 1000 special guests (including the local MP and his wife who are the guardians of one of our APU girls), include the hiring of photographers and videographers, dances and songs by the girls and their parents, a concert by our APU Choir ‘Young Women We’, and a dance attended by all teachers and board members and their spouses as well as our Form 4 girls and their parents; there will also be a candle lighting ceremony and speeches by the girls, teachers, Memory and myself.

Sponsors from Canada are encouraged to attend this celebration and can contact me for help with travel arrangements and preparation.

Christie Johnson
Co-founder and Executive Director
Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Malawi Education Foundation
650 Pearson College Dr.
Victoria, BC V9C 4H7

Presentations pay off - and the news media takes heed

2010-12-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

Several publications have carried the story of APU Malawi. Here are a couple of links:
Vernon Morning Star

BC LOCAL NEWS

Champions of Change article

Christie has set up a Face Book page too.

CBC PODCAST - Christie interviewed

2010-12-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

Check this link to listen to an interview with Christie about APU Malawi on the CBC's All Points West radio show.

Alberta and British ColumbiaTour - Christie and Memory cover thousands of kms telling the story of the Malawi Girls' School

2010-11-26T19:07:00.000-08:00

Memory will be returning home to Malawi on Friday (December 3) after a successful and inspiring presentation tour she and Christie have almost completed. Unfortunately seven of the Vancouver Island Rotary Club presentations had to be cancelled because of bad weather and poor driving conditions, but plans are underway to reschedule these clubs later in the year. There are still a few presentations to be made - Harbourside (Victoria), Sooke, Sidney and Victoria. An excellent article on the school's history and progress appeared last week in the Peninsula News - you can read it at this link. The article covers how Christie's inspirational volunteer work resulted in her being nominated on CBC’s Champions of Change. She made the final cut of 50 - more than 1000 were nominated. Last Tuesday evening at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney, Christie and Memory presented the story of the school's outstanding success in Brick by Brick. As well as being an informational talk, it was a fundraiser for educational sponsorships and a new science lab and cafeteria.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
			1	2	3	4
			Henry arrives
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	12:00 Royal Oak 6:00 Saanich RC	12:00 Oak Bay	6:30AM Harbourside 12:15 Sooke 6:30 SMUS	7:15 Sidney By The Sea 12:00 Victoria RC 7:00 Metchosin House	12:00 Westshore	8:15 H and C to Edmonton
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	12:00 Barrhead 3:45 Terwilligar 6:00 Stony Plain +		7:00 Morinville	7:00 Northern Lights RC 12:00 Whitecourt	7:00 St. Albert 5:30 DC Interact
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
	H and C to Calgary	7:00 Cochrane 12:00 RC Calgary	12:00 Rocky Mtn House	7:00 Olds Drive to Lethbridge	8:45 Catholic TC 10:30 Alberta TC
26	27	28	29
	12:00 RC Lethbridge 5:00 Lethbridge Urban Spirits	12:00 RC Kiwanis 6:00 Lethbridge East	7:30 Business Professional Group 4:00 U of L Health Sciences 7:00 U of L Rotaract	7:00 Lethbridge Sunrise 9:00 to Calgary 6:15 Henry’s departure