On 25th May, I’ll be travelling back to Malawi for the third time — this time with my two sons, Albert and Reuben, who turn 18 this year.

I first went out in 2019, then again in 2024. Each time, I came back changed. You see what education really means when it isn’t guaranteed. You see classrooms with cracked walls, children sharing desks, teachers walking miles because there’s nowhere for them to live.

This year feels different.

We’ll be working at Chankokwe Primary School, a rural school supporting 410 children in the Nkhotakota district. Alongside a team of 12 volunteers and local builders, we are building:

• Two new classrooms

• Three houses for teachers

The classrooms matter — but the teachers’ houses are just as important.

In rural Malawi, if teachers don’t have safe accommodation nearby, they leave. And when teachers leave, education stops.

I wanted my sons to see this first-hand. Not through a documentary or a headline — but by mixing cement, carrying bricks and working alongside the local community.

Chankokwe School has already been transformed through the support of The Tongole Foundation, including classroom renovations, desks for every child and a daily feeding programme in partnership with Mary’s Meals. But progress only continues if projects like this keep happening.

This isn’t about “going to help Africa.”

It’s about supporting a community that is working incredibly hard with very limited resources — and doing something practical that will still be standing long after we’ve flown home.

If you’re able to donate, thank you.

If you’re not, sharing the page means a great deal.

410 children will feel the impact of what we build this year.

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