Education Malawi Project #4898

BeeHive School nurturing future Malawian leaders

by A Self-Help Assistance Program (ASAP)

BeeHive School nurturing future Malawian leaders

Project Report | Sep 19, 2012
BeeHive School Finishes The Term with Triumph

By Katy Harrison | Volunteer

Students race to the finish line

I can't believe it's already time for our next update! BeeHive School is doing great - the yearly "Sports Day" was a smashing success and the students did just as well in their Cambridge International Exams.

Sports Day is an end-of-term tradition for the school. The school is broken into four “houses” or teams that compete for the House Cup - a giant trophy! BeeHive’s Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs and Leopards strive to outperform their peers in this good-natured competition through sporting events, mental math matches, spelling competitions, acts of kindness, good manners and class participation. During the last week of term, the houses competed in Sports Day. Events in jump rope, soccer, netball, three legged, potato sack and running races allowed the students (and teachers!) to each points for their houses. The Lions beat out the others, for the third straight year.

Another highlight of the last week of school was the end of term assembly where the new class captains were announced, Academic Achievement presents were awarded, and the House Cup was presented to the Lions.

The students may have left the school in early July, but the excitement did not end. The results for the Standard 7 class came a few weeks later. Standard 7, the most advanced grade at the school (and also the smallest) took the University of Cambridge International Exam. The exam covers science (biology, chemistry, physics, and scientific enquiry), math (geometry and measure, handling data, and number) and English (reading, usage and writing). Each section is based on a score of 0-6, with 6 being excellent, 3 good, and 0 poor.

Students, parents and teachers were all thrilled with the results. The class got an average score of 4.1 for science, 4.8 for English, and 3 for math. It’s nice to see the hard work of everyone pay off in a quantifiable way.

The school is looking forward to another great term ahead! We'll be in touch with more exciting updates!

Next Term's Team Captains

The last day of school - end of term assembly

End of Term Assembly

Three legged race at sports day

Teachers Race on Sports Day

The Tigers cheering on their teammates

Congratulations Standard 7 Exam Class!

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Jun 18, 2012
Students Sing About The Stigma Associated With HIV and AIDS

By Katy Harrison | BeeHive School Volunteer

Standards 6 and 7 sing their song about AIDS

Students Sing About The Stigma Associated With HIV and AIDS
The AIDS epidemic is alarmingly present in Malawi. According to UNAIDS, 11% of adults aged 15-49 suffered from HIV/AIDS in 2009, but only 42% of youth had accurate knowledge about the disease. The discrimination that still surrounds the disease in Malawi can partly be attributed to this lack of information and awareness.

Most children at BeeHive School, aged 4 to 13, have been affected by HIV/AIDS in some way. The school not only teaches the boys and girls about the health and safety aspects of the disease, but also about its many complicated stigmas. The standard 6 and 7 students studied HIV/AIDS as one of their social studies topics and were also assigned to write plays and songs that explored the disease.

The song they chose to perform and record, “People Dying Day by Day Because of HIV and AIDS” tells the story of people diagnosed with AIDS-- how their friends push them away, they get fired from their jobs, become suspended from school, lose their friends, and die from the disease. The entire creative process, from brainstorming, to writing lyrics and performing the songs, was not only educational but empowering for the BeeHive students.

You can watch their performance here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQoQuZi59GQ

BeeHive School Celebrates
The school has finally received the official registration certificate from the Malawian Ministry of Education. It is valid for 3 years and is framed proudly in the school’s temporary office.

The certificate arrived just in time for the 2nd anniversary at the new site. The teachers worked very hard to put on a huge celebration with the whole school and parents. Everyone enjoyed a bounce house, face and henna painting, ‘wet the teacher’ (50 kwacha for three wet sponges! Great fun (but cold!)), pin the tail on the zebra, parachute games, class performances, a talent show and a fashion parade, plus barbecue and drinks for sale. Each class had a class party at lunch. The hard work paid off - it was an amazing day, the kids LOVED it.

Even though the school has been in the new site for two years, the construction is still in progress. It is progressing slowly and steadily, with the admin block almost complete. The new building is looking amazing – everyone who sees it is impressed by the design and the size and light. The window and door frames are in, the plumbing in the staff room and staff toilets are done, and the conduit has been run for the electricity. The plastering is in progress, followed by the finishing on the window and door frames, and putting in the floor. After that, the doors and windows will need to be bought and installed, and it will be done!

The hope is to have the building complete by September, money permitting. The cost of cement has risen dramatically due to the devaluation of the kwacha, so the floor is going to be expensive. The school is extremely grateful for the generous donation of cement from the Malawian company SR Nicholas. The company has 3 families at the school and have very kindly donated 50 bags of cement so far! This could not have come at a better time – cement is MK 4300 a bag now (about $17) – with the devaluation EVERYTHING has gone up.

Thank you for your continued support and generosity, especially during this hard economic time. The students are excited to be at school and are growing, learning, and blossoming every day. The whole school is looking forward to Sports Day coming up on July 5th - we are hoping it will be dry and not too cold like last year!

Students Perform at 2nd Anniversary Celebration

Parents enjoying the performance

Links:

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Mar 26, 2012
Project Share Love & Gabriella Gala

By Eva Markiewicz | BeeHive School Volunteer

Project Share Love - Art By Gabriella

Last summer, Malawi erupted in violent riots and everyone in the BeeHive community passed through a very dark and tense period filled with sleepless nights. Across the world, loved ones fingers repeatedly dialed the country code for Malawi - 2-6-5 in a series of frantic attempts to connect with their friends and family and alleviate their greatest fears. Hundreds of people ended up in the hospital and a few dozen were killed on the street.

I personally remember feeling shivers reverberate through my body when one of Niall's nephews posted a home video of men sprinting along a paved road dragging their machetes along the asphalt to sharpen them. Malawi is known as one of the most peaceful countries in Africa and the imagery seemed completely alien to me or anyone else who has visited this beautiful country - best known as "the warm heart of Africa" - named so for the renowned kindness and hospitality of the people. Fortunately, the BeeHive students and teachers escaped any physical assault, but the emotional trauma was jarring and the students were in shock.

At the same time, a very passionate, talented, and lion hearted young woman in Los Angeles, CA - Gabriella Gala - was following these events unfold with a deep sense of wrenching anxiety and empathy. But sitting and watching was just not enough for her.

It was during the riots that I received a frantic e-mail from this young starving artist where she asked me for BeeHive School's mailing address. That was not the end of it - we connected and spent hours talking. Gabriella is a creative genius - she speaks through her art and through her dance. She understands how art, music, and dance can transcend language and can heal deep traumas - Gabriella herself had recently faced a devastating and near-death experience that put her in the hospital for many weeks. But rather than let the experience cripple her, she decided to use her art to rise above it and to use that trauma as a source of energy to push against and to create beauty and inspire love around her. She told me this was what she wanted to give to the kids - a way to rise above the trauma of the riots.

Next, Gabriella jumped into action. With little more than an idea and her passion to create positive change, Gabriella set out to raise funds for a carebox filled with art supplies to send to BeeHive School. With the help of her friends, she started having dancing/singing fundraisers to raise money for shipping costs and collect art supplies. And little by little - with the generosity of the kind people around her, she raised a dollar here and a few sets of colored pencils over there, until she had the funds and materials to send a carebox across the world.

But hold on - that's not the end - this carebox is not the end of the story. Rather, it was the first carebox of a series of a careboxes. You see, Gabriella, rather than feeling satisfied after sending the first carebox to BeeHive School immediately felt a hunger and need to do more - to send more art across the world to help kids.

Why art? Because art is more than the action of taking a brush to a canvas - it breaks down language barriers and is a way for us to process complex emotional traumas. Art is a way for children to process pain and anger in a safe and constructive way. And it's a way for a stranger from across the world to say in a very tangible way - we're here, we care about you, we're thinking about you - you are not forgotten.

Gabriella's vision has continued to evolve and this incredible young woman is determined to visit Africa and BeeHive School, as well as all the other schools where she has sent CareBoxes across Africa. To follow her adventure, please check out her project page - Project Share Love (what a great name!):
http://www.facebook.com/ProjectShareLove

Gabriella's vision is ever expanding and recently she has enrolled in community college in biology and permaculture - she is determined to learn as much as possible in order to be able to truly serve the needs of marginalized children all over the world. Please like her page and learn more about her journey...I have a feeling this is not the last time you will hear about this amazing young woman. In fact, she might be writing the next update from BeeHive School - so stay tuned!

And guess what! After four months in the post, the first carebox just arrived at BeeHive School! The students nearly had their eyes pop out when they opened up this amazing gift brimming with every sort of artistic goodie. It contained more art supplies than the Mzuzu general store holds in stock at one time! Everyone at BeeHive is looking forward to meeting Gabriella in the flesh and to giving her a very, very big hug.

Links:

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