Published: 15/03/2010 09:00 -
Updated: 11/03/2010 12:20
A FORMER head girl who was inspired to teach by her tutors at Herts and Essex High School is helping to raise the standard of education in Malawi.
Michelle Rowe has been an unstoppable force in improving schooling in rural parts of the impoverished African nation since she first visited it after completing her A-levels in 2003.
Last month, she officially launched her charity Inspire Malawi at a star-studded party in London’s Covent Garden.
The event was attended by actress Felicity Kendal, television personality Tania Bryer and the Malawi High Commissioner Dr Francis Moto.
Michelle teaches Felicity’s two grandchildren and Tania’s two daughters at a prep school in South Kensington, south-west London.
Michelle, whose parents Kate and Mick still live in Salisbury Close in Bishop’s Stortford where she grew up, first travelled to Malawi as a gap-year volunteer before starting teacher training at the University of Bedfordshire.
She spent four months teaching at the Mlanda Girls’ Secondary School in the rural Ntcheu district, where she was charmed by the warmth and friendliness of the local people.
“When greeted with beaming smiles at the start of every lesson, it was impossible not to fall in love with Malawi,” the 26-year-old said.
As a private school, Mlanda could afford many luxuries -- including a science lab, hall, library, dormitories and four new classrooms - that others could not.
However, despite the facilities it was overcrowded, with 83 girls in just one class. As one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish primary school fees, it was a problem experienced by most Malawian schools.
It meant that although more children could access education, the exceptionally high class sizes put a strain on the quality of teaching.
During that trip, Michelle also volunteered at the local primary, where the conditions were worse.
The teacher-pupil ratio was such that the largest class had more than 100 pupils, leaving many struggling to get the support they needed.
“It was there that I saw first hand the challenges facing both staff and pupils alike,” Michelle said.
“Most children were sitting on the floors sharing any books and stationery they had. I recall in one of my lessons four children trying to share the same pencil!”
Despite the huge burden on resources, she said the youngsters were eager to learn, well behaved, respectful and a pleasure to teach.
“I realised then that despite their situation these children really were motivated by education and the challenge was to provide them with a good education.”
When her posting finally came to an end and she flew back to the UK, Michelle was already planning her return.
Her bond with the country was strengthened through her correspondence with pen pal Moses Chautsi, a 16-year-old schoolboy and nephew of a teacher at Mlanda.
Michelle said: “He promised faithfully that he would write to me. And he did -- every month for almost three years!”
As their friendship deepened so did her connection with Malawi. She returned the following summer and has been back every year since.
During a visit in 2005, she was invited by Moses to visit his former school Lizulu Primary, where Michelle was again shocked by the poor conditions. All 12 classrooms were dusty and dirty, with crumbling plaster and blackboards.
She was so moved by the school’s plight that it spurred her on to start fund-raising to support it.
Still a full-time student at the University of Bedfordshire, she rallied four friends to her cause and secured the backing of the university, that year raising £16,000.
Along with her four volunteers, Michelle flew to Malawi again that summer and, with the help of local builders and craftsmen, worked for three weeks to transform the school.
Floors, walls, doors and blackboards were replaced and the classrooms were brought to life with colourful murals.
She was also able to provide 50 new desks as well as sports equipment and donated £8,000 to the neighbouring secondary school to build a much-needed science lab, which was completed in 2007.
Since then Michelle, who lives in Stoke Newington, north London, has been involved in the development of five other schools in the Lizulu area. Moses, now 23, is her project manager.
Last year, she built a new school in the village of Chipigera and took the first steps towards improving the standard of education in rural schools by delivering a four-day teacher development course in PE, which involved more than 100 teachers.
Such was the enthusiasm for the course that many travelled miles to attend, with some even sleeping each night on the concrete floor of the training centre.
The project’s success has inspired Michelle to deliver further courses working alongside Malawi’s primary education adviser and local education authority.
A team from the University of Bedfordshire will travel to Malawi next month to deliver a second course in the Dedza district.
Michelle is so passionate about improving the experiences of Malawian children that parallel to her teaching she raises awareness of her cause by giving presentations to schools, churches and community groups across the South East.
“I’ve gone on to set up penpal links between schools here in the UK and those in Malawi and am preparing to lead my second school group to Malawi in August in order to build a new school in Khombwe,” she said.
After dedicating seven years of her life to helping to build a better future for the Malawian people, Michelle finally decided to register her work as a not-for-profit organisation and Inspire Malawi was born.
“I have spent the last seven years dreaming of this moment,” she said. “Having started small, we now have a proven formula that works.”
All the money donated to Inspire Malawi directly benefits the rural communities, with plans already in place to train a further 100 teachers and build two new schools.
Over the next five years, Michelle also wants to reach out to the neighbouring Kanyimbo and Bembeke zones.
“The impact of our work cannot be underestimated,” she said. “All the materials [for our projects] are sourced locally and we always strive to hire local builders and craftsmen, injecting money right into the heart of the community.
“In the next five years, we hope Inspire Malawi will be able to reach out into the neighbouring zones, developing more schools, supporting more teachers and inspiring these communities.
“We hope to train hundreds more teachers in a variety of subjects, which will directly benefit thousands of children.”
For more information about Inspire Malawi, visit www.inspiremalawi.com.
Michelle Rowe has been an unstoppable force in improving schooling in rural parts of the impoverished African nation since she first visited it after completing her A-levels in 2003.
Last month, she officially launched her charity Inspire Malawi at a star-studded party in London’s Covent Garden.
The event was attended by actress Felicity Kendal, television personality Tania Bryer and the Malawi High Commissioner Dr Francis Moto.
Michelle teaches Felicity’s two grandchildren and Tania’s two daughters at a prep school in South Kensington, south-west London.
Michelle, whose parents Kate and Mick still live in Salisbury Close in Bishop’s Stortford where she grew up, first travelled to Malawi as a gap-year volunteer before starting teacher training at the University of Bedfordshire.
She spent four months teaching at the Mlanda Girls’ Secondary School in the rural Ntcheu district, where she was charmed by the warmth and friendliness of the local people.
“When greeted with beaming smiles at the start of every lesson, it was impossible not to fall in love with Malawi,” the 26-year-old said.
As a private school, Mlanda could afford many luxuries -- including a science lab, hall, library, dormitories and four new classrooms - that others could not.
However, despite the facilities it was overcrowded, with 83 girls in just one class. As one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to abolish primary school fees, it was a problem experienced by most Malawian schools.
It meant that although more children could access education, the exceptionally high class sizes put a strain on the quality of teaching.
During that trip, Michelle also volunteered at the local primary, where the conditions were worse.
The teacher-pupil ratio was such that the largest class had more than 100 pupils, leaving many struggling to get the support they needed.
“It was there that I saw first hand the challenges facing both staff and pupils alike,” Michelle said.
“Most children were sitting on the floors sharing any books and stationery they had. I recall in one of my lessons four children trying to share the same pencil!”
Despite the huge burden on resources, she said the youngsters were eager to learn, well behaved, respectful and a pleasure to teach.
“I realised then that despite their situation these children really were motivated by education and the challenge was to provide them with a good education.”
When her posting finally came to an end and she flew back to the UK, Michelle was already planning her return.
Her bond with the country was strengthened through her correspondence with pen pal Moses Chautsi, a 16-year-old schoolboy and nephew of a teacher at Mlanda.
Michelle said: “He promised faithfully that he would write to me. And he did -- every month for almost three years!”
As their friendship deepened so did her connection with Malawi. She returned the following summer and has been back every year since.
During a visit in 2005, she was invited by Moses to visit his former school Lizulu Primary, where Michelle was again shocked by the poor conditions. All 12 classrooms were dusty and dirty, with crumbling plaster and blackboards.
She was so moved by the school’s plight that it spurred her on to start fund-raising to support it.
Still a full-time student at the University of Bedfordshire, she rallied four friends to her cause and secured the backing of the university, that year raising £16,000.
Along with her four volunteers, Michelle flew to Malawi again that summer and, with the help of local builders and craftsmen, worked for three weeks to transform the school.
Floors, walls, doors and blackboards were replaced and the classrooms were brought to life with colourful murals.
She was also able to provide 50 new desks as well as sports equipment and donated £8,000 to the neighbouring secondary school to build a much-needed science lab, which was completed in 2007.
Since then Michelle, who lives in Stoke Newington, north London, has been involved in the development of five other schools in the Lizulu area. Moses, now 23, is her project manager.
Last year, she built a new school in the village of Chipigera and took the first steps towards improving the standard of education in rural schools by delivering a four-day teacher development course in PE, which involved more than 100 teachers.
Such was the enthusiasm for the course that many travelled miles to attend, with some even sleeping each night on the concrete floor of the training centre.
The project’s success has inspired Michelle to deliver further courses working alongside Malawi’s primary education adviser and local education authority.
A team from the University of Bedfordshire will travel to Malawi next month to deliver a second course in the Dedza district.
Michelle is so passionate about improving the experiences of Malawian children that parallel to her teaching she raises awareness of her cause by giving presentations to schools, churches and community groups across the South East.
“I’ve gone on to set up penpal links between schools here in the UK and those in Malawi and am preparing to lead my second school group to Malawi in August in order to build a new school in Khombwe,” she said.
After dedicating seven years of her life to helping to build a better future for the Malawian people, Michelle finally decided to register her work as a not-for-profit organisation and Inspire Malawi was born.
“I have spent the last seven years dreaming of this moment,” she said. “Having started small, we now have a proven formula that works.”
All the money donated to Inspire Malawi directly benefits the rural communities, with plans already in place to train a further 100 teachers and build two new schools.
Over the next five years, Michelle also wants to reach out to the neighbouring Kanyimbo and Bembeke zones.
“The impact of our work cannot be underestimated,” she said. “All the materials [for our projects] are sourced locally and we always strive to hire local builders and craftsmen, injecting money right into the heart of the community.
“In the next five years, we hope Inspire Malawi will be able to reach out into the neighbouring zones, developing more schools, supporting more teachers and inspiring these communities.
“We hope to train hundreds more teachers in a variety of subjects, which will directly benefit thousands of children.”
For more information about Inspire Malawi, visit www.inspiremalawi.com.
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