Program Updates

Thank you all for your continued and dedicated support of our growing programs over the months. Your support continues to be meaningful to us and our partners, as together we work toward a "better life" for all. We hope you enjoy reading the stories below and staying connected to the amazing women and youth who find community and hope through our programs.

Sincerely,
Dustin & Cara, Co-founders

Bola Moyo Youth Centre

The House of Many Stories Youth Centre has experienced unprecedented growth in the past few months. Last year we had about 20-50 youth attending per day, but recently we've often had more than 150 youth in attendance on any given day! The youth continue to experience our multi-faceted curriculum - including music, drama, art, debate, sports, and agricultural training - which is designed to engage them in creative problem-solving and critical thinking. Our recent growth indicates that our programs continue to fulfill a great need within the community.

Our Board Secretary, Desirée, recently took a trip to Balaka and had fun traveling to Najuchi in east Malawi on the train with a group of our youth. On this trip, Desirée, two Bola Moyo staff members, and many of our youth had the opportunity to see the Malawian countryside and even briefly visit Mozambique! This was quite the exciting trip for the youth, as many of them had never before had the opportunity to leave Balaka.
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ALiCE (Adult Literacy and Continuing Education)

ALiCE is proud to announce our first graduating class of Adult Education students, who passed their Standard 8 exams in Fall 2008! This year we continue to support Katherine, an ALiCE 2008 graduate (age 25 and married with two children), as she pursues her education at a secondary school in Balaka. In the future we hope we can support more students as they continue onto secondary school. Our new class of Standard 8 adult students can only be described as studious - perhaps even nerdy(!) - as they eagerly devour lessons in English, Mathematics, Chichewa, and Health Education every weekday at the Bola Moyo Center. The Adult Literacy School has also recently been flooded with new attendees, who came as a result of an announcement at the Balaka Muslim
Association. In Malawi there has traditionally been some animosity between Christians and Muslims. This is the first time for many of the women of these two groups to work together so closely, as they learn every day at the Bola Moyo Literacy School.