The school was opened and dedicated to the village on July 21, 2022, with a massive celebration that included the MEI team and representation from every surrounding tribe.

The school educates 1,200 students, serving them with meals and medical care.

MEI and Mosaic Global have been serving in Malawi since 2016. Over the past seven years, we have sent many teams in service of Malawi: medical, legal, children/creative arts, leadership, and women-focused teams, to assist the local population and to build relationships.

In an annual Malawi Chief’s Conference, the 120 chiefs were desperate for leadership development. MEI’s board chair, Kim McManus, met with Chief Chilinza and his leaders, where he asked for help in education for the territory of Chilinza. Not one student had ever completed school beyond grade eight. No one had ever graduated from high school nor had gone to college.

MEI agreed to take action and developed a deeper partnership with the community leaders. A mutual generosity was agreed upon, where the village leaders brought what they could and Mosaic Global would bring what they could and together they would share. The chief gave Mosaic two acres of land in Chilinza Village for the building of housing so service workers could stay among them. In the culture of Malawi, this is a gesture meant to indicate true partnership and family with land of one’s own.

For the next two years, our organization began to assess needs, vet contractors, raise money to complete Phases 1 and 2 of building the campus, and began to learn the culture and the system of education in Malawi. We have visited Malawi over eight times with multiple teams, where our volunteers have been extremely intentional about understanding the men and women of Malawi. Malawi is known as “the warm heart of Africa,” and we have found its people to be inviting, generous, kind and hopeful.

Blessings Chimbambo served as the director for the Chiliinza build, and Chilungamo Majawa is the director of community development. Both of these Malawian men have masters degrees in community development, and Majawa has an additional degree in business. With an accountability structure in place and the right leadership, the elementary school build progressed on schedule and was successfully completed.

The new school buildings include administrative offices, a nurse’s room, seven classrooms, a kitchen, restrooms, a new water tower, six handwashing stations, and a storage room. The buildings are powered by solar energy and each has indoor running water.

MEI is committed to the chiefs, leaders, educators, and students in that village and territory. We believe the whole ‘family’ of the Chilinza region is worthy of investment, and we operate from a development model where the whole family rises together.

One day the best leaders with the best minds will emerge from the Chilinza Village Elementary School, and we hope that this model school and the methods we used in working together with the local chiefs and community members will be replicated throughout Malawi.