Our story

After a Kayaking expedition went wrong back in 2016, Alex Hill (Co-Founder of The Chazuka Project) ended up in the Malawian fishing village of Chazuka. After a close call with mortality, Alex received an immense amount of warmth and hospitality from local people… So much so that he grew a great affinity for the place and ended up spending 6 months immersing himself in the community and learning the language, Chichewa.

One day he was sitting underneath a mango tree, teaching children the alphabet and a young man approached and asked ‘Alex, can I be a teacher at your school?’ This was the moment from which The Chazuka Project was born. Fast-forward 3 years and we are no longer gathering underneath a mango tree. Together with the local community, we have been building a nursery school and we were delighted to officially open the doors to 25 excited children and 2 teachers on 25th February 2019. You can read more about the story here.

Progress So Far

We’ve been delighted to hear about all the progress the children have made. Teachers Ashia and Grace have worked their magic and shown the children that learning can be fun! Most children in Malawi enter primary school unable to read or write but our children practise these skills every day. No day at school is complete without learning a song or nursery rhyme. Africa is a very musical country and the Chazuka village is no exception.

At The Chazuka Project we believe that no child should have to study on an empty belly so the children of the school enjoy a bowl of porridge each day to help them concentrate. Child malnutrition is a widespread problem in Malawi. Not only does our feeding programme encourage hungry children to come to school to provide them with an important meal they wouldn’t otherwise get, but it gives them the energy and enthusiasm to learn, bettering their chances of a brighter future.

Our Priorities

In Chazuka our main priorities for the next 2 years are:

Finish the building of the school (floor, toilets, second classroom, water source)

Employ an in-country project manager

Provide salaries for those in Malawi who are currently volunteering their time (e.g. school cook and caretaker)

Buy uniform for the pupils

Increase training and support for teachers and school committee

Boost feeding programme to 2 meals a day + fruit

Create a progression pathway for the Chazuka pupils once they have completed their nursery education

Build relationships with key stakeholders (government, local NGOs, local businesses)

Why Support Us?

We are a small, grass-roots charity and therefore your money will have significant and very visible impact. We have very small overheads and therefore you can be sure that your money is going directly to our projects on the ground.

£5 buys porridge lunches for one child for one month

£15 funds a full school place for one child for one month

£50 covers all the school resources for one month

£125 supports a teacher's salary for one month

Be a part of our exciting initial phase of growth and donate today to change a child's life.

Zikomo... Thank you