Support school costs for children in rural Malawi

POSER bolsters PIH/APZU’s (PIH’s sister organization in Malawi) clinical efforts by providing social and economic accompaniment to families and individuals in the greatest need. To ensure our efforts are integrated with broader development goals, POSER, like all of APZU’s departments, works closely with various government ministries. We’ve partnered with the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to equip students with necessary school supplies.

With your support, children like Esther continue to benefit from the program, gaining access to essential resources and materials for attending school.

Esther, a seventeen-year-old student in Form 2 at Chikondi Secondary School, lives with her father and mother and 6 siblings in Helani village, 2 km from Neno boma in rural southwestern Malawi. Five of her 6 other siblings are girls as well and her parents, who farm maize, are both HIV-positive. For several years, the family members have been beneficiaries of the Program on Social and Economic Rights at AZPU. Types of support range from housing, cash transfer, and psycho-social to school fee payment for older students like Esther and school material provision for younger primary school students like her sisters.

Esther, whose favorite subjects are English, Mathematics, and Physical Sciences, says “had it been without POSER, I would not be in school now. Before I started getting support from POSER (towards the end of primary school in Standard 8), I would absent myself because I had no materials.” She goes on to say that “my vision is to complete secondary school and if I do not make it into college, I would like to work within POSER, to identify other needy people in the community… I am from the village, so I know how people are struggling I would like to be on the team bringing interventions to the community.”