Private Secondary School, Ntchisi, Malawi

Muli Bwanji! (that's Chichewa for Hello!)

My name is Shaina Fieldstone. I served in the Peace Corps in Malawi, in Southeast Africa, about 15 years ago. I've kept in touch with a few Malawians, though one special one, Lasford Kesinala Mambeya ("Mambeya"), has kept up my philanthropic relationship with Malawi. Mambeya was the principal at the secondary school where I taught reproductive health (while Brian, now my husband, taught mathematics). While in Malawi, we secured the donation of thousands of books to build a library (the photo above) for the catchment area of 20,000 people. Keeping in touch after our return to the USA, we started a sponsorship program to fund secondary education, especially for girls. We were able to fund the education of about 100 students for 3 years at an approximate cost of 40 USD per pupil! After which, we paid for the building of a girls' dormitory. In these projects, 100% of the funds were wired directly to Mambeya, who gave frequent updates and sent pictures. My nephew had a Malawian pen-pal for a while, a boy he sponsored for 2 years with his own money.

In the past few years, Mambeya has retired from public service though clearly his yearning to help his community thrives. Recently he told us of a need for more secondary schools. In Ntchisi, some students pass all their exams after primary school but there aren't enough slots to place them in secondary school. Mambeya hustled! He has found a building with desks, though they are in need of repairs. He will request some school fees, but needs enough funds to pay teachers/staff for 4 months. He has created a proposal and a budget (available upon request). Now, he needs funding to get this going. This school will serve 300 students who would otherwise be unable to attend high school. This school will be promoted especially to girls, as often if only one spot is availble, the family chooses to send their boys. Mambeya, a man we have trusted for over 15 years, will be the founder and the principal. A man who sounds exactly like Mufasa from the Lion King.

Please let us know if you have any questions.