In case you missed it on our Facebook page… We have a new Student Board including: President – Dyson N, Vice – Stella K, Board Members/Program Advisers – Haswell N, Catherine C, Falida K, Shepherd C, Chisomo C, Aubrey M, and Biziwick C. Our Student Board represents the voice of the students whom EKARI supports by relaying information to our in-country staff as needed.
We are excited to share that 100% of EKARI-sponsored high school seniors passed their senior-year exam… again! This represents a 100% pass-rate for the 4th year in a row! (This is also terrific news considering that there is a country-wide pass rate of only 63%.) And for the 2nd year in a row, 100% of the seniors qualify for university! This shows that EKARI’s Tutoring, Library, and Mentorship Programs are making a significant impact, allowing students a better chance for attending higher education and increased likelihood of future employment. These students are currently participating in our Computer Program. As first generation college students, they will now start to receive guidance through our Higher Education Preparation Program.
EKARI is continuously expanding our life skills training. First, through our Mentorship Program we ask exceptional professionals from various fields of work to share their stories to motivate our students. This year we included younger professionals and had Gift ‘Sukez’ Sukali speak with our students. He started his own business while in college and now, only a few years later, has 15 employees. Sukez stressed to our students the importance of becoming ‘job creators’ to help employ fellow people from their communities. Next, we will now offer career guidance through our Apprenticeship Program to students while they are still in college! In the past, we were only able to offer this guidance after a student completed college, which proved difficult for them to find employment within a reasonable time frame.
EKARI has officially changed its name! We are no longer using the word “Foundation” and are now simply, EKARI. Our work and our mission hasn’t changed, but we have found that the use of the term “foundation” is confusing to some who might expect us to be an organization that provides grants to others. We hope the name change will help clear up the confusion. Our website and email addresses aren’t changing (for now). You can still find us here at www.ekarifoundation.org. Also, in case you missed it, EKARI has a new informational video about the work we are doing in Malawi.
Support EKARI on Giving Tuesday, November 27th!