All too often, particularly in developing countries, it is young girls who have to give up on their dreams, but I am tremendously proud to be able to say that Memory and the 320 girls currently attending Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls On The Move) Secondary School, are not amongst them.  In fact their dreams are becoming reality in the most profound of ways. Under the powerful and inspiring leadership provided by Memory Mdyetseni, the director of APU, the transformative power of education is being fully realized.  Our students are being empowered to learn and to lead, to give of themselves to their communities and to share their knowledge with others.

Christie Johnson, 2010

Academics at APU

On September 6th, 2010, APU became a full secondary school with 80 girls in each of four forms.  APU is registered with the Malawi Ministry of Education and follows the Malawian curriculum.  We employ 12 full time teachers and 5 part time teachers and have class sizes of 40 students. Our Form 1 and Form 2 students take 11 courses, including English, Math, Chichewa, Agriculture, Biology, Geography, Social Studies, Life Skills, Bible Knowledge, Physical Science and History.  Our Form 3 and Form 4 students take 6 compulsory courses, including Math, English, Chichewa, Social and Development Studies, Biology and Geography, and one of either History, Agriculture or Additional Maths.

Clubs and Sports at APU

Our APU students are also involved in a variety of clubs, including Science and Technology, Debate, Chess, YCS, and SCOM (Students Christian Organization of Malawi) and AIDS Toto (Toto is Chichewa for NO).  We have a competitive netball team as well as a very active choir.  This year, our students have gone on field trips to the Kamuzu College Of Nursing, the Lilongwe Water Board, the Chitedze Research Station, and the Southern Bottlers Industry.

Service Learning At APU

Our APU students spend three hours each Wednesday afternoon engaged in service activities both at the APU construction site as well as out in the community.  At first our girls did not understand the importance of giving their services for free, stating that they were poor and had nothing to give.  Their teachers have convinced them that indeed they have hands, feet, brains and energy, in fact they had everything to give!  Our girls are proud that they can offer their help to those around them and are beginning to understand the importance of volunteering their time.  It gives them a sense of power, that they have the ability to do something of value for others.  It is the start of their leadership training as they start to understand their ability to make change in their communities.

Measurable Achievement at APU

At the end of the school year, following the Junior Certificate Examinations (J.C.E.), and this year the Malawian Schools Certificate of Education (M.S.C.E.), our students and staff join in celebrating the school year with a special dinner and dance attended by all.  Candles are lit to represent the importance of sharing knowledge with their families and communities in order to make their villages, their communities and their country a brighter place for all.

Academic achievement at APU is an expectation of all of our students. APU gives our students every possible chance to succeed at a very high level.  We provide our students with safety and security, female role models, well qualified and hard-working teachers, good nutrition and clean drinking water, comfortable warm beds with mosquito nets, strong partnerships between teachers and parents, time to study, trips out of the village to see the rest of Malawi and broaden their perspectives, and the support that comes from knowing that they have a sponsor in Canada that ensures that their tuition is paid.  With all of this support, our teachers have good reason to be optimistic about their students’ performance on government exams and future chances to attend university and further training.  

These high expectations are already resulting in unbelievable achievement in our students.  Our first class of Form 2 girls achieved a 100% pass rate on their Junior Certificate Exams in 2009 and this was followed in 2010 with a 98% pass rate.  This type of achievement is truly unheard of for girls living in poverty and orphanhood in rural Malawi.