Donors Build Schools & Strengthen Ties in Malawi
by Matt Gross, Trek Specialist
August 2008
Religious Science International (RSI) is one of buildOn’ largest supporters of our work in Malawi. In 2007, RSI funded the construction of three buildOn schools as well as three adult literacy programs. This past summer, under the leadership of Rev. Keith Cox, RSI returned to Malawi with a group of nearly 30 youth and adults. Through buildOn's Ambassador Trek program, the RSI Trek Team spent a week helping to build schools in two villages, Mpapa and Mwanadindi, both in the Kasungu district of Malawi.
Malawi is known as the "Warm Heart of Africa" and the RSI group was treated to typical Malawian hospitality. The people are some of the kindest and friendliest in the world, and they are proud to tell you that there has never been a war in Malawi.
Besides spending time on the worksite, helping to bring education to two rural villages, RSI members visited the three completed schools they funded last year. They saw the completed classrooms, talked to students who now attend the school, and learned how attending a buildOn school has changed their education and outlook on education.
RSI members also had the opportunity to speak with the adults who attend adult literacy classes in the evenings. Besides funding the building of the schools, RSI also supports buildOn's Community Education Program, where adults and older children can learn to read and write and other skills to improve their own lives and their community.
Next, the RSI Trek Team toured the town of Kasungu and visited both a hospital and an AIDS orphanage. During our visit to the hospital, we learned that healthcare is free for all Malawians and that you can walk right in and receive treatment. However, the hospital in Kasungu, as other Malawian hospitals, is overcrowded and lacking sufficient resources to treat patients. They are also without an Emergency Room. While at the hospital, the team talked to patients and even met a woman who had unexpectedly given birth to triplets!
At the AIDS orphanage, many children were there because one or both of their parents had died from HIV/AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa, and Malawi in particular, has been devastated by the disease. According to interactworld.org, "An estimated 1 million Malawians live with HIV, with a prevalence rate of 14.1%, however only around 3% of the adult population know their status. Discrimination and stigma of positive people are rife. Women and girls are at higher risk of contracting HIV, with females 15-24 years old six times more likely to be infected by the virus than males of the same age range."
The RSI team met the teachers and leaders of the orphanage and spent time playing games with the children. The team gave two soccer balls to the orphanage as well as their signature "We are One" bracelet. The bracelet symbolizes that although we may live on different continents and be of different religions or race, we are unified in our struggle to overcome many of life’s problems.
The trip to Malawi was an amazing adventure and the RSI group left the country feeling proud of their accomplishments and with a renewed energy to continue funding buildOn schools in Malawi. RSI has committed to building at least six schools this year while also funding the Community Education Program. They hope to send more of their members to the Warm Heart of Africa next year.