Beehive School in Mzuzu, Malawi - Donate or Volunteer
beehiv...@gmail.com
www.beehiveschool.com
The summer after graduating, some good friends and I traveled to
Malawi where we put together a series of science demonstrations for
some local schools. We were really impressed with one school in
particular and after several weeks of living with the founder and
director of the school became keenly aware of the precarious state of
education in Malawi. Recently, education became public and free to
everyone, which means that now roughly 82% of kids go to school - but
due to the lack of infrastructure, underpaid/under qualified teachers,
and severe lack of resources, only 44% reach grade 5 and only 32%
reach secondary school.
The country is ripe for change. Never have I seen such a people so
busy - it seemed that every man, women and child had a purpose to
their walk - a place they had to be and something they had to do.
Malawi is a very poor country, highly sensitive to seasonal changes -
especially droughts - causing wide-spread famine. The schools we
visited were struggling - it was not uncommon to see six kids on a
desk meant to seat two comfortably and they nearly all shared
pencils. The children were absolutely fascinated with the science
demonstrations we brought - some of the kids had never even seen
magnets!
Although Beehive School is marginally better off than some of the
other schools - it's not by much. At Beehive every student has one
pencil with their name on it. Beehive was founded by Nial Dorey
several year ago and started with eight students sitting in the living
room of the house he was renting. Since then, Beehive has by grown
leaps and bounds to a school with seven grades and over one hundred
students. They are at capacity currently and are forced to turn away
students - and the semi-permanent structures they've erected from
particle board barely pass as legitimate school rooms.
After returning to the US, Niall contacted us with a proposal to
relocate and expand the school. My friends and I jumped on the
opportunity and have since then created a website ( http://www.beehiveschool.com/)
and procured non-profit status. We are currently in the process of
attracting volunteers, fund raising, publicizing Beehive's Cause, and
building collaborations with like-minded organizations. We are also
currently in the process of forming a student group at MIT and have
recently intercepted interest from a local high school student in
Cambridge who might be interested in starting a group at his school.
We have also formed a strong collaboration with the Rotary Club of
Woodside/Portola Valley and ASAP Africa.
We are hoping to improve education for the children in Malawi and
through that end procure a better and brighter future for a country
that has suffered greatly, but still managed to keep a warm and loving
attitude towards life. This is not something we can do alone and we
need the help of volunteers from all types of backgrounds to come
together and make this possible. So far times have been up and down -
road blocks arise and it seems that we will get no where. But slowly
and surely we are making progress as volunteers, advisors,
collaborators, and donors join our cause to extend the gift of
education.
Please - tell your friends and join our cause by becoming a Beehive
Volunteer. Everyone has talents and everyone can help, so let me know
how you want to get involved - here are some ideas:
We're 100% volunteer, so any help at all is greatly appreciated - we
need help with:
grant writing,
publicity - contacting media sources,
posting fliers,
presenting power points with companies and organization (like the
rotary club),
selling cards designed by Beehive students,
bake sales,
building collaborations with other clubs (like engineers for a
sustainable world or Circle K)
Plus any other great ideas you might have!
Thanks so much!
Eva