Africa Innovate
50 girls and other students risk failing to continue with their education as Bikema Academic Centre faces likely permanent closure
Background
Africa Innovate is a non-governmental organization registered in Malawi with a mission to encourage entrepreneurial mindset in students and currently running its pilot program at Bikema Academic Centre. Bikema Academic Centre is a secondary school located in Lilongwe, Malawi in Africa. The school gives access to secondary education to children from low-income families by charging an affordable fee of US$27 per term i.e. three months and gives scholarships to 50 girls whose parents and guardians fail to raise the fee charged so as to reduce inequality of access to education between boys and girls. Unlike other schools, Bikema Academic Centre unlocks the economic potential of its students by educating them in entrepreneurial skills, financial literacy, and leadership. Bikema inspires its students to start their own businesses and provides them with the knowledge to make sound financial decisions as adults. Its aim is to produce job creators rather than job seekers. Bikema is a school where diligent young people from low-income families are offered an opportunity to pursue their dreams and build a poverty-free future. The school was founded in 2015 by an ambitious Malawian young man Emmanuel Mzembe. Through the help of people who believed in Emmanuel and gave him an opportunity, he went as far as university and chose the teaching profession because he wanted to lift other young people from low-income families out of poverty through education. Emmanuel is a qualified educator who pursued his undergraduate degree in education from the University of Malawi. Since its opening, Bikema Academic Centre has taken in around 1000 pupils from low-income families in Lilongwe’s Area 24 where the school is located it has become evident to families in the area that the school is making a big difference in their children's lives.
Impact of Covid-19 on school operations
On the 20th of March, 2020 the President of the Republic of Malawi declared that all schools should be closed because of the threat of the Covid-19 Pandemic. The buildings which the school was using were being rented so during the time that schools were closed we couldn’t afford to pay rent to the owner of the buildings which made the landlord also to go through tough financial situation and later on he decided to put up the premises for sale at the price of US$50000. The premises have now been sold leaving the school management with no option but to announce its closure.
Effects of the Closure of the School
50 girls between 13 to 19 years will have their dream of attaining education comes to an end after the school which is sponsoring them gets closed. These 50 girls are picked from poor households from slum areas the school is operating in. If the school permanently closes its operations the girls will just be staying at their parents/guardians' homes as they will be unable to join any school because their families can’t manage to pay for their school fees. The situation will put the lives of young girls in a very dire situation. As a result, they will be exposed to early marriages. Once they get married at those tender ages the society may lose a lot because if they get an education, they are the ones to develop their poor families and society as a whole.
In addition to the 50 girls, 150 other students who learn at the same school and pay affordable fees will be left hopeless. The nearby schools are very expensive making them hard to restart their studies as well.
The founder of the school Emmanuel Mzembe together with the teachers, watchmen, and cleaners who are employed will be been rendered jobless.
Way forward
The way forward is to find funds, buy land and construct a basic campus on the land. With a minimum of US$35000, a new campus can be constructed comprising of four classrooms, four pit Latrines, and an office.
I believe we should keep the school open.
I believe the journey of transformation of students of Bikema should continue until it reaches its final chapters of triumph.
I believe if we band together, we can raise the $35000 to build the school.
If you also believe this, please click the following link to make your contribution, and please share the fundraiser
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We are a group of people, looking to improve equity in this world, this means giving everybody the same amount of opportunities, the whole project started in Bikema Academic Center, a School in the peri-urban area in the capital city of Lilongwe in Malawi, that besides giving vulnerable children the opportunities to get a good and really accessible education, focused in their future, granting them a set of abilities and skills to be entrepreneurs, to be able to see and react to the market, for them to become economically sustainable, independent and believing in themselves.
That's why we want to create "Africa Innovate" an NGO, that improves this entrepreneurial education and creates an open and free educational program, so every school in Africa and the world can access this simple step-to-step program.
We want to create and give the people tools for development.
All of this with the help of pro bono experts and NGOs from all around the world, but always looking for new and more ways to get support.
Goal 1- Hi everyone, we are looking for a new goal, COVID hit us all pretty bad, especially in Malawi, Bikemas school, without students or support from the government, wasn't able to sustain itself, and now that the worst has passed, we and the kids need it again. Please help us raise Bikema again.
Why do these kids need it? It was a great school with a focus on Innovation that only charged 53 USD a year, so everyone could go, and the goal of Bikema was to create a better future for these kids. There were a lot of female students this is a big difference from the rest of the country where girls don't have many opportunities
Why do we need it? to create the open Innovation Program, we were starting the world's best projects and technics to teach Innovation right here in Bikema. so it is our first step to change all the education in Africa.
Goal 2 - 3.000 Euros ACHIEVED!!!!!! We are already creating the NGO!!!!
We don't need too much, because most of the work we are doing is pro bono, but we need these funds to create the NGO in Malawi:
-Register with the Register General
-Register with the NGO Board of Malawi
-Register with Council of Non-Governmental Organisations of Malawi
So we can start applying to international funds.
And finally, basic creation, support, and transfer costs to start working and changing the world, one step at a time.
Please join us how you can and let's change the education and opportunities of African kids.
Goal 2 - 46.000 Euros
Start Working!!
We need the following things to start making changes!!
- Repairing Bikema School for it to be considered a school that has all the minimums to receive governments support (8,329 euros)
- 3 specialists to work on the project for a year (paying them each 700 euros a month)
- Communication of the problem all in a social network, to get to the people in Africa (100 euros a month)
- Printing the educational programs and giving them to teachers in African Schools. (2000 euros)
- Fly tickets to do the tests and first approaches in Bikema Academic School.
Malawi is a landlocked country located in southeast Africa. It is referred to as “The Warm Heart of Africa” by both locals and visitors for its friendly spirit and welcoming people; but behind the optimism of its culture, Malawi is one of the poorest places on earth. Poverty continues to be chronic and widespread- Malawi is ranked 174 out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (UN, 2013). According to the United Nations Development Program, over 60% of Malawians live on less than $1.25 Dollars per day, with a huge rate of unemployment up to 60% in young people. The country’s development is thwarted by a fast-growing population, limited arable land, natural disasters, food insecurity, malnutrition, AIDS, and a high incidence of malaria. Malawi is home to approximately 17.3 million people, almost 50% of the population is under the age of 15, meaning that a large number of Malawian children are living in poverty. Poverty threatens children’s most basic rights to survival, health, nutrition, education, and protection from exploitation. Millions of children, particularly in rural areas, face unimaginable living conditions. They remain without access to running water, decent sanitation, and medical facilities. Malnutrition is devastating and the single biggest contributor to child death in Malawi (UNICEF).
While primary school is free in Malawi, costs such as uniforms, pencils,
notepads and shoes often prove too great for struggling subsistence farmers and make even free primary school too expensive for many families. Secondary school (high school in the US) is not free in Malawi and school fees are unaffordable for many. Although secondary school education remains a basic public service in many countries across the world, many children in Malawi will never have the opportunity to experience a secondary education at all. For all of the hardship, hunger, disease, lack of education and lack of opportunity, the people of Malawi remain optimistic and continue to strive for advancement through hard work and honesty.
More info on Bikema School: https://www.africainnovate.org/
Thanks a lot for putting attention to our project, and leave us your comment for any ideas or ways to help.
Regards
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