Meeting with the First Lady of Malawi
We were invited to meet the First Lady of Malawi and were represented by Colin and Alison Cameron and Mary Coles. Brian was there too, representing the Soko Fund.
Funding news
We are delighted to be setting out on a new partnership with Lancashire West Methodist Circuit and please note you will be invited to our official online partnership launch in due course. These new partners will support 6 girls at St Mary’s Karonga for 4 years in the first instance.
The Thomson Fund, set up in memory of Jack and Phyllis Thomson is going very well and has progressed from supporting 3 girls a year at the school for the deaf to supporting 6 girls next year.
A private donor has given us substantial funding for a new fund called Katy’s Fund and this will enable us to further increase the number of girls we support.
The Katy Fund will support:
- 16 girls and 40 school years in MCDSS
- 6 girls and 12 school years in Kaseye, Chitipa
- 4 girls and 10 school years in St Mary’s Karonga
Total of 26 pupils will benefit from one or more years of fees paid and other support;
The Fund will provide for 62 school years of fees and other support.
This includes a new school in the far north of Malawi, Kaseye Girls’ Secondary School in Chitipa.
Handy Kamanga- a case study about the impact of MMF funding
An update on Handy Kamanga who was supported by MMF at Bandawe Girls’ Secondary School (BAGSS) 2008 – 2012 and by the Soko fund for her final year studying Media for Development. You will be pleased to know she now works as a Gender and Protection Officer with Plan International, a role which involves educating communities about women’s rights. She has also had a baby.
Research student Maeve Rafferty
Maeve Rafferty from the University of Edinburgh joined MMF this year on placement for her dissertation research. Maeve was a student on the MSc Africa and International Development programme.
She interviewed 21 women who had been supported by MMF at secondary school. Her report found a group of highly motivated women who want to achieve professional jobs so that they can educate their own children without the need for outside help.
Grateful for the support of MMF, several of those interviewed reported that they already support girls who come from similar backgrounds and need financial help through their education. We are glad to hear of this long-term impact of our work.
Doreen and the admin role
Last year we welcomed Doreen Lowe as our new administrator. Unfortunately, Doreen had some health issues and resigned in February this year. We are grateful for the work she did for us.
Moira now does the admin role on a voluntary basis, and this has been helpful at a time of uncertainty through Covid and the lockdown restrictions. Moira now supports MMF in several ways: the admin role as a volunteer; as a Trustee on the Board and as Marketing Lead. She has also been known to get on her bike!
Governance
As part of our on-going governance strengthening, we are particularly aware that we need to keep our data secure. We have engaged in a number of activities designed to strengthen our cyber security during the year. Most recently we have engaged in the Terranova Gone Phishing Tournament in October; this provides organizations like ours with the insights we need to grow our security awareness training strategy.