In November 2010, the Peninsula News Review told the story of Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move), a girls secondary school in Malawi, Africa.
Founded in 2006 by Canadian teacher Christie Johnson and local volunteer Memory Chazeza, the school offers a full education to more than 300 girls selected from the impoverished area, all on full scholarship.
Now, five years after it first opened, the small school hosted its first graduation ceremony in June.
According to the APU newsletter, 72 young women, having completed four years at the school, will go on to either study at the University of Malawi on scholarship, or recieve loans to open their own small businesses. Three have been selected to study in Canada on full scholarship, at Pearson College in Victoria and at Northern Lights College in Dawson Creek, BC.
The students at the school take classes following Malawi curriculum, along with receiving physical education and community service hours. One hundred per cent of the students passed the state-wide exams, compared to the rest of country, where only around 25 per cent of female students pass.
The school relies heavily on outside donations, many of which come from Canadian Rotary clubs and other charitable organizations.
To learn more, visit the school’s website at www.malawigirlsonthemove.com.