Sifu Roberta Laurie on Atikana Pa Ulendo

Atsikana Pa Ulendo (APU) means Girls on the Move, and that’s what APU is doing. This joint Candadian/Malawian initiative led by Christie Johnson and Memory Mdyetseni is giving Malawian girls the opportunity to move forward, to improve their lives, and to take ownership of their futures. APU is an all-girls’ secondary school (grades 9-12) in rural Malawi. With a total of 72 students, APU’s goal is to reach its capacity of 320 students within the next four years. The first group of girls began form 1 (grade 9) in January, and the hope is that 80 more will fill their places next January when they move up to form 2. It may seem like a daunting goal, but during my stay in Malawi, I realized it is already a small miracle that each of these girls are where they are today.

Although primary school (grades 1-8) is paid for by the government, not everyone attends. Around 20% of the rural population never sees the inside of a school. Out of the children who attend Standard 1 (grade 1) less than 20% will complete Standard 8 (grade 8) – fewer still are girls. The classrooms are overcrowded and often hold over 100 students. The teachers are often less than qualified due to poor wages and lack of resources, and generally speaking it is the poorest teachers employed in rural schools. Most would prefer to find employment in the cities where there is better housing and there are more conveniences. In the schools, there are problems of alcohol abuse (by the teachers), student exploitation, gender inequality, teacher absenteeism, overcrowding, lack of resources and the list goes on. It’s truly a miracle that these 72 girls have made it this far.

Because of the less than ideal situations that these girls came from, most struggled during the first term. In anticipation of the standardized Malawi School Certificate Examinations (MSCE), APU implemented a policy of “English Only” in the classrooms (except for Chichewa classes) and on the school grounds. Although students begin learning English in Standard 5, many of the girls’ knowledge was minimal when they started at APU. Learning English was a great hardship for most of the girls, but their work is paying off. The girls’ English is improving. They no longer sneak off to speak Chichewa. They are proud of their English skills.

The girls are kept busy with a full Malawian curriculum: Social Studies, Physical Education, History, Life Skills, Geography, Mathematics, Agriculture, Physical Science, Biology, Bible Knowledge, Chichewa and English. They are also expected to attend two study periods per day as well as clubs, sports and community service. It sounds like a lot, but it’s a schedule designed to maximize their potential, to make up for some of the deficiencies they encountered in primary school and to give them the best possible chance at a post-secondary education. And it’s easy to see the girls are thriving on the structured schedule. They have a sense of pride in their accomplishments and a sense of purpose in their lives.