teachers' salaries

solar powered well

women's entrepreneurship program

Classroom improvement

What are we doing?

We are supporting a wonderful Women's Entrepreneurship Program in Chigumula, Malawi. The program has two trainers, qualified from a "Training Entrepreneurship Trainers" course at the Street Business School in Uganda. The program teaches local women how to start and run their own businesses, and then helps them grow their business once they have started. There is no cost to the participants at all. The results so far have been amazing, with some women who previously were struggling to feed their family now earning enough to employ someone to help them.

What is our record to date?

Thanks to our donors we funded the second trainer so more local women can access the project.

With your help we can continue to increase the amount of funding we can provide.

Recent Projects

A selection of the projects we're working on, and some we've completed

What are we doing?

We are currently raising money to help complete The Jacaranda Vocational College.

Why are we doing it?

Some of our secondary school graduates do not go to University. We want to give them the chance to learn practical skills that they can take out into the real world and use to earn a living.

How far have we got?
Thanks to generous donors we have already raised enough money to build and fully kit out two workshops in which the children will be able to learn woodwork and mechanical engineering, and we are currently raising money to build further classrooms and workshops so they can learn skills such as metal work and hairdressing.

Please click here to help us raise the money we need to complete this incredible project.

What are we doing?

We asked schools and education projects in Malawi what their most urgent financial need was. Without exception they said funding for teachers' salaries. Funds for building classrooms or buying textbooks are very important, but very few organisations are willing to pay for salaries. That is where we step in.

What is our record to date?

From 2016-2023 we have been able to fund a total of 35 months of salaries at the Jacaranda School for Orphans and 12 months of salaries at the Jacaranda Vocational College. Our long term goal is to be able to cover six-months of salaries at both schools annually.

With your help we can continue to increase the amount of funding we can provide.

​​​​​​​​​What are we doing?

We believe that all children deserve the best facilities possible to learn in. Many schools in Malawi are using old, broken classroom furniture and supplies that urgently need replacing. We also want to replace all blackboards with durable whiteboards, to eliminate chalk dust from the often poorly ventilated classrooms.

What is our record to date?

With support from the Lujenna Education Trust, we have raised money to replace all the old double desks in the middle and senior schools at the Jacaranda School for Orphans, with 160 new, durable single. We have also provided 109 desks for the Jacaranda Technical and Vocational College. 

Click here to help us continue to provide the best possible facilities

VOCATIONAL college

What did we do?

In February 2015, we completed our first project: funding the drilling and building of a solar-powered well in the Jacaranda school yard, providing unlimited, clean, free water to the school.

Why did we do it?
We saw that the school frequently went days without water. Sometimes the city services turned off the water supply, often for days at a time, leaving the children with no drinking water or any water to wash in. A few times this even resulted in the school having to close over hygiene concerns. 

What does it teach the children?

​The well is powered by solar panels that will keep the 250 litre tank full at all times, so even when there is no rain for a few days, there will still be a store of water there for the school to use.  This is a wonderful example to the children of how green technology can improve the lives of people in Malawi. The water will also be used to grow crops for the school, so we can provide even healthier, nutritious food for the children, and so we can teach them how to grow food sustainably for themselves. 

This project has made a meaningful and sustainable impact on the school and the surrounding area. We are delighted it is finished and running successfully.

Jacaranda UK Foundation