The Chesney Trust for Education in Malawi is working to advance the education of girls in Northern Malawi, by building and running a girls’ secondary boarding school in Engcongolweni. This will make a real difference to the remote community by providing employment and improving the infrastructure.

This project will help to benefit the whole community, by becoming a focus for other projects and developments in the area.  We are looking at ways to improve health services, adult literacy, women’s safety and to provide better access to clean water and electricity for the local community. We are involving the husbands, brothers and sons of these women of Engcongolweni to build and support this project.

The Chesney Trust for Education in Malawi

In 2006 The Chesney Trust for Education in Malawi was set up as a registered charity in Scotland to raise money to fulfil the objectives as set out in the Mission Statement.

The first stage in our project was to construct a bridge providing access to the site where our school will eventually be located. See how this bridge was constructed on our construction pages.

The bridge completed in 2008 is named ‘Ubale’, which means ‘Friendship’ in the local language and symbolises the friendship between the people of Scotland and Malawi. 

The Trust’s treasurer, Chris MacLeod, visited the project site in July last year, and witnessed the first use of a motor vehicle crossing the bridge. (See our DVD)  The photo (left) shows a different kind of transport also taking advantage of our construction.

The village elders (pictured right) in the area, asked Chris to pass on his thanks to all our supporters in Scotland for all their contributions that made this bridge possible.  It now means the community is connected with the main road all year round, giving them access to the markets and friends and family much more easily than before.

With the coming of the bridge and the start of work on the school buildings, other developments are starting to take place in the surrounding area.  A maize mill has been constructed near our site, which will allow local farmers to grind their maize into flour more cheaply and easily than taking it to the nearest town. This mill will provide income and increase the safety for women in the area who have previously walked many kilometres to perform this task.

Over the past year, The Chesney Trust has created detailed architectural plans and a clear budget for the building and future running of the school. The school construction will be carried out in 5 Phases on a 16-hectare site donated by the local community. It will be known as the Edinburgh Girls’ High School and is linked to the Mary Erskine & Stewart’s Melville Junior School in Edinburgh, with whom we have strong ongoing links with pupils, staff and parents.  Phase 1 involves the construction of a double classroom, hostel block, administration block, kitchen, a head teacher’s house and a matron’s house. This and will lead to the opening of the school with a first-year cohort of 40 girls. It will cost approximately £250,000.

Construction is due to begin on this phase of our project, scheduled for the 19th September 2009. The Trust’s Board have already transferred £30,000 for the commencement of this work