Walk Away Plan
Celebrating the financial sustainability of the Malawi Girls On The Move Education Project in Malawi! The nonprofit APU MEF has now voluntarily revoked our CRA Charitable Status and is no longer receiving donations towards our Charity. Thanks to all of our donors who have helped us to achieve our goals!!
This page provides some information about the construction of the school and some of our many past projects, the most recent of which we have not yet updated.
Construction Vision
Our vision is to bring high quality education to poor girls in the rural areas to give them the very best chance of achieving their dreams and becoming self sufficient, independent leaders in the future.
To achieve this, we need to attract highly qualified and experienced Malawian, preferably female teachers. This is a real challenge as APU is located in the rural area, away from the safety, security and amenities of the city, which is where the majority of qualified teachers choose to live. To attract these teachers we need to provide them with a place where they want to stay and raise their families. Our teachers need to be taken care of, respected, and supplied with secure, well-maintained homes with running water and electricity. We also need to provide them with teaching facilities, including classrooms and laboratories that will allow them to do their best teaching.
Our sustainability plan relies heavily on being able to attract private students who will pay tuition that will cover the cost of their own tuition as well as the tuition of students on scholarship. This means that we must be equal to or better than the best girls schools in the country, providing excellent living and learning facilities to give our girls the very best chance to succeed in their studies.
At APU we believe in using home grown labour and expertise, hiring both men and women from the Nsalu region as our carpenters, bricklayers, sand and water carriers, and carpenters. Our surveyors, architects and engineers, including our Project Manager Henry Mdeytseni, the mastermind behind these beautiful, strong and cheaply built buildings, are all Malawian. Our bricks are fired right on APU land out of soil found at the school site. Our construction projects at APU employ over 300 people, many of whom are women.
Hear from APU’s Project Manager, Henry Mdyetseni, as he describes the lessons he has learned throughout the 6 years of APU’s construction (2005-2011). Since 2007, APU has grown to a campus of 19 buildings and 9 additional capital projects
Recently Funded Projects
Rotary International Global Grant – Multiple Projects ($320,000 ($235,000 USD))
Funded by Rotary International Global Grant.
Thanks to the hard work of APU MEF Director Pat Kiloran for leading this initiative, and to the Rotary Clubs of Lethbridge, Alberta (Rotary District 5360), and Lilongwe, Malawi (Rotary District 9210). This Global Grant will fund: a solar electric project that will put solar power in all buildings (except cooking areas), gas-cooking facilities, 60 new Chromebook computers (that will work off Servers rather than the unreliable internet), Projectors and Screens for classrooms, brand new textbooks to follow the Government’s cirriculum (one for every student!), new lockers for students to store belongings by classrooms, and new mattresses for students. Additionally, the project will fund a teacher-education program to help teachers incorporate technology into the classroom.
These funds are a combination of $90,000 USD from the Rotary Foundation’s World Fund, $72,250 USD in contributions from the Government of Canada (matching funds), $35,000 USD from Rotary District 5360, $3,937 USD (x3) from each of Rotary Clubs of Calgary South, Calgary Chinook, and Calgary West ($11,811 USD Total), and $23,887.50 USD from the Rotary Club of Lethbridge.
Legacy Building ($150,000 of $150,000)
Funded in part by a private donor on Vancouver Island ($40,000)
The construction of the Legacy Building is our most challenging and exacting project undertaken so far at APU. When it is completed, it will change the entire feel of the school from one of ‘pioneering and making do’ to that of a complete and high -functioning school. We will no longer be limping along, squished into shared classroom space. Our teachers will have the preparation and meeting space that they deserve and our administrators will finally be able to have offices.
Student Hostel #6 ($60,000)
Staff Duplex #5 ($60,000)
Funded by Private Donors from Vancouver Island
Primary Class Block #2 – Victoria Gardens Academy ($37,000 of $37,000)
Funded by Women Helping Women.
The project will be completed by end of November 2016, coming in slightly over-budget of $37,000 – which is very reasonable considering the economic instability and additional costs of conversion. See More
APU Campus Security ($22,000 of $22,000)
Funded by Rotary Club of Calgary West, Rotary Club of Olds, & Interact Club of Olds
The money has been wired and received by the school
Science Materials ($10,000 of $10,000)
Funded by Rotary Club of Calgary Downtown
Food for Work ($34,388 of $33,000)
Funded by APU MEF’s crowd-funding campaign
In response to the plight of hungry families, APU (Girls on the Move) Girls’ School in Malawi has developed a project that will provide work that will help families survive during this time of crisis
Water Expansion Project ($12,000)
Funded by Rotary Clubs of Sidney By The Sea, Langley Central, and North Delta
Project included the drilling of a third well and the installation of a rural BP (mono) pump, which works using diesel or electricity (solar or from the grid). APU uses 45,000 L of water per day and our tank capacity is is 30,000 so we need to fill the tank 1 ½ times per day.
- Using hydro (4 hrs of electricity/day) it takes 8 hours to fill and only works when the electricity is working!
- Using solar it takes 16 hours to fill
- Using diesel it takes 9 hours
The three wells working in tandem are easily supplying the needed 45,000 L every day.APU now has a very versatile system that can use solar when available, electricity when it is on, and diesel when all else fails. Project a major success!
Construction Update – November 2016
It was another active and successful year in 2016 for fundraising and construction for APU Malawi Education Foundation.
Our focus this year was on six projects, including the bringing of solar power to teacher housing and class blocks, improving the school’s security system (RC Calgary West and Olds), digging a third well and installing a mono pump that has solved our APU water problems (RC Sidney by The Sea, Langley Central and North Delta), constructing Primary Class Block #2 (Women Helping Women Victoria), providing economic support through employment to our most vulnerable neighbours through our Food For Work Road Construction Project, and the continuation of construction on Phase 2 of the Legacy Building. Finally, $10,000 of funding for much needed science lab equipment has been donated by the Rotary Club of Calgary.
Construction and capital projects for the year ahead include the completion of the Legacy Building, the construction of teacher duplex #5 (private donor), the construction of the primary school class block #3 (Women Helping Women) and the construction of student hostel #6. Thanks so a private funder on Vancouver Island, the completion of the Legacy Building and Teacher Duplex #5 are fully funded.
Completed Projects
| Completion Date | Project | Actual Cost | Funding Partners |
| 2007 | Class Block #1 | $40,000 | |
| 2007 | Staff Duplex #1 | $39,000 | |
| 2007 | Student Hostel #1 | $52,000 | |
| 2008 | Class Block #2 | $45,000 | |
| 2008 | Student Hostel #2 | $59,000 | |
| 2009 | Student Hostel #3 | $65,000 | |
| 2009 | Staff Duplex #2 | $45,000 | |
| 2010 | Student Hostel #4 | $72,000 | |
| 2010 | Class Block #3 | $59,000 | |
| 2010 | Electrical Project | $30,000 | |
| 2010 | Water Project | $40,000 | |
| 2011 | Cafeteria | $220,000 | |
| 2011 | Science Lab | $120,000 | |
| 2013 | Staff Duplex #3 | $55,000 | Rotary Club of Lethbridge |
| 2013 | Class Block #4 | $85,000 | Circle of Women |
| 2013 | Water Tower #2 | $20,000 | Funded in Part by the Rotary Club of Calgary West |
| 2013 | Laptop Acquisition – Computer Lab | 75 Donated & Shipped Laptops | Rotary Club of Lethbridge |
| 2014 | Primary Class Block #1 | $35,000 | Women Helping Women & Dawson Creek Rotary Interact |
| 2014 | Staff Duplex #4 | $60,000 | Rotary Club of Lethbridge |
| 2015 | Primary School Playground | $6,800 | Rotary Clubs of Oak Bay & Sidney by the Sea |
| 2015 | School Bus | $47,000 | Private Donors $amp; Rotary Club of Spruce Grove |
| 2015 | Guest House | $4,000 | |
| 2015 | Composting Toilette (three) |
$7,900 | |
| 2016 | Road Upgrades | $34,000 | ‘Food for Work’ Crowdfunding Campaign |
| 2016 | Water Expansion Project | $12,000 | Rotary Clubs of Sidney By The Sea, Langley Central and North Delta |
| 2016 | Solar Power Project #2 (classrooms & hostels outfitted with solar panels) |
$11,369 | Rotary Club of Calgary West |
| 2016 | Science Materials | $10,000 | Rotary Club Calgary Downtown |
| 2016 | Primary School Block #2 | $35,000 | Women Helping Women |
| 2017 | Primary School Block #3 | $40,000 | Women Helping Women |
| 2018 | Student Hostel #6 | ||
| 2017 | Bathrooms – Learning Area | Complete | |
| 2017 | Security – Perimeter Fence | Complete |