It’s a special day here at Link as we celebrate hundreds of young learners who have graduated from our community learning centres in Malawi! These young people began their journey with us back in 2019. Whilst it has certainly been a bumpy ride, we could not be more proud of them for persevering through difficult times and still achieving their goals.
As part of our work in Malawi, we aim to equip young people with basic literacy and numeracy skills, as well as developing life skills and understanding of sexual and reproductive health. Many of these girls and boys had either never been to school, or dropped out before learning to read, write and count.
Now, having completed their remedial learning with us, the 1,806 graduates will either be re-enrolling in the education system, or joining vocational training and entrepreneurship programmes. You can hear some of their stories below.
“My name is Memory. I am excited that I have completed my two year learning journey. Apart from school, I was also taking care of my siblings which made it difficult for me to attend all days of school. I would like to thank my teacher for continuously checking up on me and following up when I miss class. I am now able to read and do calculations. I believe these skills will help me run a small business so that I can continue to take care of my family. Thank you Link for your support.“
“My name is Tadala. I lost my dad when I was just starting community learning in 2019. My mother wanted us to move to a different community but my aunt insisted that we continue staying here so that I can continue with my studies. I used to admire my age mates going to school and I started class because I wanted to learn how to read and write so that I can be able to join the mainstream education.
I am happy that I will be transitioning to the mainstream education. When I finish school, I want to become a nurse. My learning journey has been exciting. I made a lot of friends at school and I am thankful for such an opportunity to learn. Thanks to Link in Malawi, for giving us another opportunity to learn.“
“My name is Andrew. I am happy that I have successfully completed my learning journey. I thank Link for creating this opportunity for me to learn. I am also grateful for the wheelchair which has enabled me to associate with my friends at school. I will forever treasure this gift of learning. I wanted to learn how to read and write so that I can become a successful businessman. I am excited that very soon we will be getting entrepreneurship skills after completing community learning. Thank you!“