I am a member of a Christian Men's Group in Crowborough which is building and sustaining a school at Chapsinja in Malawi. Through a registered charity, Starfish Malawi, by December 2017 we had provided funds for a complete school building of eight classes and four teachers' housing units. Through generous donations, we have also equipped the school with desks, chairs and cupboards. The school now has more than 700 pupils on roll, and teachers' salaries are paid by the Malawi Government.

Now we want to provide the school with a staff room and storeroom before the end of 2018, and are investigating how we can best help the oldest children to continue learning when they leave the primary school in July 2019.

Yet we still have an ongoing commitment to fund the teachers for the nursery class at the school, and to provide the children there with a meal each day. The cost of this is £3,360 per year. This is where we need your help. A gift of £10 would be more than enough to pay for the nursery's needs for a day and £65 will sustain it for a week. 

The Malawi economy is still very much village-based. The villagers still largely survive on what they can grow for themselves, and poor harvests mean that each village has less food. If there is famine, parents tend to keep their children off school because they will use less energy and therefore need less food. With our feeding programme at Chapsinja, parents are encouraged to send their children to school because they know that they will receive a good meal each day. This is where your support can be so vital for the education and well-being of these children.

Thank you.

Graham Johnson