Some facts about the country
Known as “the warm heart of Africa” because of the kindness of its inhabitants, the small country of Malawi is located in South-East Africa. 83% of the population lives in rural areas and only a few children in these rural communities have access to education before primary school age because the government does not train enough preschool teachers to reach the most remote areas of Malawi. The efforts of Bambino Foundation to introduce pre-school in rural communities has therefore helped improve the quality of education in the villages and solve te problem of the long distances between some communities and schools, a fundamental barrier to children's access to education.
Our partner
Created in 2007 and recognized as an NGO in 2010, the main objective of the Bambino Foundation is to promote pre-school and primary education by providing training for teachers and encouraging communities to take charge of their children’s education through the creation of Community Schools.
In addition to supporting education of children, local communities and teachers engage in an agricultural action-research program by establishing a school agricultural plot aimed at meeting the nutritional needs of children, increasing income for the school and learning about how to increase agricultural productivity in the community surrounding the school.
Unity Foundation has been supporting Bambino Foundation’s community schools since 2011, and since 2018, we have also been financing its training center for organizations in other African countries that work with community schools: Kenya, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. In this context, Bambino Foundation gathers and shares knowledge that will advance the activities of these organizations in their respective countries in the development of community schools.
Finally, one of Bambino Foundation’s strengths is the relationship established with the authorities and the recognition it receives. At the national level, an example of this is the award given in October 2018 to our partner for Best Practices in Advocacy for early childhood education, awarded at a ceremony to launch a national policy on early childhood development organized by the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Wellness. In addition, Bambino Foundation is engaged in ongoing consultations with the Ministry of Education on the support it provides to schools in remote and hard-to-reach rural areas of Malawi. At the local level, the collaboration between schools and community leaders has led to schools receiving free land. In addition, the inclusion of community leaders in the school committees has positively helped with implementing plans and they assist in mobilizing the community towards school development activities.
Goals
Some of the numerical goals of the five-year project (2022-2026) supported by Unity Foundation are as follows:
- 6,500 children enrolled in 100 schools and accompanied by 327 teachers,
- 40 agricultural plots cultivated,
- 4 organizations from English-speaking African countries supported in their activities.
Updates & stories from the field
LINES OF ACTION
Community Schools & Training Center
LOCATION
15 districts in the 3 regions of Malawi
PARTNER
Bambino Foundation
COLLABORATION WITH UNITY FOUNDATION
Since 2010
DURATION
Framework agreement “accord-cadre” 2022-2026
TOTAL BUDGET
€1,023,050.88
