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10/05/08 - MEP on Bristol Community FM
Projecteers Ellen and Joe have been invited to the Bristol Community radio studios on the 29th May to chat about all things project related. They will be on air with Vic Harrison sometime between 5.15 and 6 so keep an ear out! The show is broadcast on 93.2fm and on the web www.bcfm.org.uk. Hopefully, the broadcast will help to give the project more publicity in Bristol and garner even more supporters.
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14/04/08 - Next Curiosity Auction announced
The MEP's Silent Auction is back on 15th May, to celebrate the spring like the crazed little lambs and bunnies we are. As usual we can't give too much away about the goodies on offer, but we can tell you that you can expect the usual selection of Festival tickets, art from our talented buddies in the UK and Malawi, hampers of delicious local food, fun things to do and see and much, much more.

The event kicks off on the 15th of May at its new home in the Full Moon Pub in Stokes Croft. We'll be getting started at 7pm and calling the winners out at 10pm, so be sure to come down and browse the lots and chat to the team about what we've been up to.

This Auction will also function as a launch party for our new 'Sponsor a Box' appeal. In a nutshell, we are looking to find sponsors for 200 of the boxes of educational resources that we are sending in our October 08 shipment. For more information on sponsoring a box, see the Get Involved page of this site, or email Ellen for an info pack.
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14/04/08 - We are looking for two new volunteers
MEP is going from strength to strength and we are looking for two new volunteers. The roles on offer are Community Liason Volunteers and Commission-based Charity Fundraiser. See the descriptions below for more details...


Community Liaison Volunteer

The Malawi Education Project is looking to recruit a volunteer to help spread the word about our work with local community groups and other organisations in Bristol.

We are looking for an outgoing, enthusiastic and committed volunteer to co-ordinate visits to libraries, residents associations and community groups. On visiting these organisations, the volunteer will be delivering leaflets and information about the project, talking confidently and enthusiastically about our work, and securing support for the projects activities.

The volunteer will need to actively pursue these links and spend time researching to find them via the internet and other sources.

The role will involve using a lot of initiative and self-motivation. We will support and train you on the aims and objectives of the project, and you will be required to feedback on a daily or weekly basis on any progress and contacts developed.

This role requires a commitment of between 5 and 15 hours per week. It will involve some travel around Bristol, and access to a computer.

The role is an unpaid position but is a great opportunity to work for a dynamic and effective organisation.

Please reply to Ellen with a CV and a short covering letter outlining what similar experience you may have, any relevant charity work and why you link you will be suitable for this role. Please also state how many hours per week you would be prepared to commit.


Commission-based Charity Fundraiser

The Malawi Education Project is looking for a freelance charity fundraiser to join our team, and help us raise the money we need to keep operating and continue creating and maintaining libraries for the children of Malawi. We need you to locate sources of funding, put the funding proposal together, and then make the application. See the process through from start to finish. The work is purely commission based, at a return rate of 10% of all funds raised.

The hours will vary depending on the volume of proposals being dealt with, however, we would ask you to be able to commit at least ten hours per week. Your own desk space in our office will be supplied, as well as access to telephone and WiFi. This vacancy is available now.

The Malawi Education Projects objective is to make better use of valuable educational resources, mainly books, that would otherwise go to waste in the UK. We collect and store the materials, and then redistribute them and create resource centres and libraries in rural school and communities in Malawi. We are a small friendly team of three (Lou, Ellen and Joe), working away very hard at our offices at King Square near The Cube.

Experience of fundraising, writing proposals and proof of raising money is essential for this position. If you think you would be a suitable candidate, and would like to work for a happy organisation like ours, please send your covering letter and CV to Joe.
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01/04/08 - Walking Hadrians' Wall for the MEP
All-action girl and good friend of the project Lorraine Hardman is going to raise money for the MEP by walking the Great Wall of China next year. As a warm up in anticipation of 2009's mammoth trek she's starting locally, whilst thinking globally, and staying a little closer to home.

Hadrian's wall is on the border of England and Scotland, and the Trail is 84 miles, or 135 kilometres, long. It's a beautiful part of the world, and if you have any breath left after all that walking it will be swept away by the spectacular landscape around you!

Lorraine is recruiting a team of stompers to trek this amazing path and fundraise for the Project.

The dates intended to walk are 23 May - 31 May, or until 2 June for those that want to continue for longer. The approximate size of party is growing due to demand, starting at 10 we hope but its upwardly mobile and open to more people, up to a maximum of 50!

The plan is to walk the trail, east to west, starting in Newcastle, having a north eastern night out on Friday, having an easy walk for the first day on Saturday, and ending in the picturesque Solway around a week later. Along the way we will take in some amazing Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Roman Sites and World Heritage Sites. Other details will be confirmed closer to the time, and upon contacting Lorraine to confirm you'll do it!

Participants will need to self fund between 50-100% of the cost of the activity themselves, and then raise through sponsorship as much as humanly possible for the project! It's an amazing challenge and we are very grateful to Lorraine for organising it.

More Hadrian's wall information. If you want to jump on board, please email lorraine8@gmail.com
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22/03/08 - Events galore!
The MEP team have been busy over March with two events aimed at raising awareness and money for the project. Check out the events page to see the lowdown on the Silent Auction and our Open Office day.
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07/03/08 - Bristol City Council supports MEP
Following a meeting this week, Bristol City Council have given MEP first access to an eternal wealth of resources that are no longer required by primary and secondary schools around Bristol. Described as a partnership, we have our first dibs in newly closed schools which are looking for new homes for tonnes and tonnes of reusable resources.

Excited... yes we are! Now if someone will give us free shipping (please) this opens us up to a much higher rate in library installations.

The city of Bristol continues to do good things, that don't cost the earth!
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25/02/08 - MEP Offices Open to All
The crew are opening up the office to the world on Wed 12th March. An opportunity for locally based people with an interest in the project to come and have a look when we operate from, see some displays of photographs from work and trips undertaken so far, for people to find out more about getting involved and volunteering, for local press to come and have a nosey, to chat to the people behind the project... and to initiate some university projects.

With tea and chatting flowing all day, we invite you all to come by and say HI! Located in the new office, the address is 1st Floor, 12-13 King Square, Bristol, BS2 8JH. See you there!
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11/02/08 - MEP Moves to Bigger Offices
On March 1st the project steps up into a larger premises to get the sorting, logging and packing underway for the next shipment, planned for October this year. Not far from the current office, the new place is on King Square - a bright and inspiring 3-roomed floor of a building to be shared with GoodGroove - the life and souls behind Glastonbury Dance Village and the World Famous Pussy Parlure venue that tours the summer festivals in a Spiegal tent. We're all thankful to the staff at BRAVE where our current office lives, for being so nice and supportive.

From March 1st you will find us at:
Malawi Education Project, 1st Floor, 12-13 King Square, Bristol, BS2 8HJ.

Please feel free to drop in for a cuppa tea. Hopefully our phone number will remain the same... we are yet to have fistycuffs with the phone companies.
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11/02/08 - Short MEP film Coming Soon
Great friend of the Malawi Education Project Gary Thomas from Bristol has signed himself up to make a 5 minute film for the project. Using his high tech skills in video editing, and using some of the best of our photographs, Gary is putting together a 5 minute story of the project to some beautiful music. Showing operations in the UK and Malawi, what we've achieved so far, our aims for the future, and the significance of our small-scale project amongst other things, we hope you'll enjoy the masterpiece. It will be available through a link on the homepage when it's ready. Thank Gary!
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24/01/08 - 12,000 Recycled Pens and Pencils for Malawi
'I used to be a CD case' and 'Made from a plastic cup' are the words inscribed on many of these colourful pens and pencils. Luckily for us, a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend had sourced loads of pens and pencils that were imperfect in the printing, and was looking for some projects or places to distribute these as they could not be sold. Having called him and told him about the work of the Malawi Education Project, he was very happy to hand us approximately 12,000! The fact they are recycled is amazing, and many of them will break down without trace when they run out, as some are made from recycled paper! With the lack of a disposal system in Malawi, this is of concern to us.

Hopefully this won't be the last donation we get through Lakshman. He has proven to be an amazing new contact for MEP, and knows the pens and pencils supplied will be put directly into the hands of the school children.

MEP's aim is to give and pen or pencil to each person in each school that we put a library into... at this stage we don't know how many that will be from the next shipment... our rough guestimate right now is around 30,000!
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04/01/08 - Malawi Education Project Fundraiser Gig
Shitmat///DJ Scotch Egg///Big Joan///DJ Anton Maoivvi. Shitmat, the king of mashcore returns to Bristol, after a blinding set at last year's Goatlab. The man himself has said to expect something completely different for this gig. Mashed up gabba rave hardcore at it's very best. And as an extra treat..... Coming up from Brighton is noise musician Nintendo Gameboy 'n' megaphone gabba-punk explosion DJ Scotch Egg. He offers a live show like no other with his uber-dirty, uber-fast, uber energetic electro twiddling. Bristol favourites Big Joan, a hard rock breakcore-esque genre defying noise group, (who were remixed by Shitmat last year) are also playing, as is Legendary Turin based Italo producer, DJ Anton Maiovvi.

This gig will be in the back room of The Croft on Saturday 19th January. Tickets £6. Music will start at about ten and finish at about two.

All profits from this gig will be paid directly to The Malawi Education Project. See the poster. Any queries contact Joe.
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01/01/08 - MEP's hero 2007 award goes to...
Bruce Lee! It's tough to single out one person as so many people have given so much to this project throughout the year, but this particular 75 year old Aussie gentleman, who discovered us through Bristol's Freecycle network in 2006, is right-royally amazing! We have long weekly chats and he passes on an abundance of useful and good willed contacts. So far Bruce has lead us to copious amounts of books, clothing and soft toys from Special Needs school Hop, Skip & Jump, enough for our entire supply to 2 orphanages on our next shipment.

Bruce has also lead us to Lakshman, a Stroud-based Malaysian who donated over 10,000 recycled pens and pencils, with a pledge of more to come in the future.

Another large stationary distribution company in the South West have pledged around 2 pallet-loads of other stationary are arts materials for the schools - again thanks to Bruce. Through Bruce we had £100 worth of meal vouchers donated for sale at our Silent Auctions, for top Bristol Tapas Restaurant El Puerto.

Bruce delivered a stock of hand and woodworking tools to us, and delivers from Hop Skip & Jump when we can?t make it there ourselves. He even offered to go to our lockup to oversee some relocating of materials as he had a free moment in his day... I don't think he has that many free moments at all!

Bruce lives with his lovely wife just outside Bristol and Bruce is a long-time volunteer with REMAP... an organisation that makes, adapts and fixes equipment for the elderly or disabled, revolutionising lives.

Bruce... You're a fabulous man and we love you very much.We are very, very grateful to you!
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14/12/07 - MEP Waves off their emigrating web designer
This week Hannah and her boyfriend are leaving to go and live in the West of Canada for evermore! Leaving this Friday, the pair are off to snowboard, travel and study near Vancouver. Hannah remains to be the web-designer extraordinaire for the Malawi Education Project website... just from a distance!

Hannah has been working with the project since March 2006, when she took over the website from the scraps that existed. Since then she's developed every angle of it, and has introduced a fundamental system known as BaseCamp to the project, enabling very effective communications between volunteers located everywhere.

Hannah's got some time to take on more fun projects from the web design side, so do give her a nudge and have a chat with her!

We're very luck to have the skills and dedication of such a lovely lady to our cause, and we all wish her lots of love, luck, safe travelling and happy studying!
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04/12/07 - MEP gets £10k of funding!
Following a presentation by Lou & Ellen to a board of trustees and many of their donors, Malawi Education Project received a cheque to the value of a staggering £10,000 from the Charity 'Not Pointless'!

Having overrun on the length of the presentation, the whole room were totally involved in the story of the project... how it had affected so many people with all the wasted resources, and into how much detail the project had thought about each aspect and its impact. The trustees were all in agreement that this was one cause that ticked all their boxes.

The presentation was set in a gorgeous converted barn house in Somerset, hosted by the Chairman of Not Pointless Martin Casey and his wife Julie. With a large screen in place, MEP showed an impressive collection of photographs taken by volunteers whilst working on the project in Malawi in 2006 and 2007. After talking about the whos and hows and whys, the floor was opened to questions and comments about the project.

A result leading not only to the fantastic financial donation, people who attended that night offered invaluable advice, services and time to us. Thank you all so very very much.

This money is around 20% of what the project needs for 2008, a year which will see significant developments such as the opening of a warehouse space in Bristol in February, full operations leading to and the shipping of the packed container in October, and the rent and set-up of the project's home and distribution space in Malawi from November, and the purchase of a project vehicle in Malawi in November. It's going to be a very busy year, and with thanks to donations such as this, we have a lot less to worry about in order to make it to our goal!
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21/10/07 - Next Silent Auction announced!
The Malawi Education Project will be holding our second silent auction at the Halo Cafe Bar on Gloucester Road! It will take place on Thursday 22nd November, and everyone is very welcome to come down and bid on the prizes that have been donated to us.

Some examples of the prizes on offer are:

• one years subscription to Venue magazine
• a family pass to @Bristol
• meal for 2 at El Puerto (lovely Spanish Tapas restaurant behind the Arnolfini)
• a years 'Cubester' membership at The Cube cinema
• a weeks accommodation in a Cave Apartment in Southern Spain
• a pair of tickets for Shambala festival 2008

There are many other amazing prizes to be auctioned on the night, so come along and get bidding...

ALL the money raised from the auction will be going directly to The Malawi Education Project.
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30/09/07 - 6 People going with MEP to Malawi 2007
This year 6 people will be traveling to Malawi with MEP, to research and check on the progress of the 2 existing libraries, a year on from when we made our first delivery out there.

Two of the 4 people that went over in October 2006 are going again this year - Ellen Doherty, the projects photographer and all-round volunteer, and Lou Fitzpatrick, the project founder.

Introducing the travelers...

Eddie Llewellyn. Eddie has helped us in the UK with all of our design work - he created our pamphlets, made last years t-shirts, helped load up the 2006 shipment, and more. Eddie is also a photographer and cameraman, and will be capturing some moving images whilst we are out on this trip.

Danny Slade. Danny is a primary school teacher, and he said that if he hadn't got a job by the time we leave, he'd come... horray! He's the first teacher that we've had come out with us, and his input will be invaluable to the development of the project on the ground in Malawi.

Ed Fluffy (Haynes). Fluffy works at the Music Festivals with Lou, is a very jolly fellow with a lot of energy. When he's not at festivals, Ed works in TV and film industry in London. Ed has been interested in and followed the workings of the project as it's grown, and has now found himself joining the travelers. Fluffy's got an extra month on the trip and is flying back from Mozambique...

Jason Hutter. Jason runs a collection of role-play Grannies from a pink shed, known as Granny's Gaff, throughout the UK's music festivals. For the past few winters he has skipped off to India, but this time he wanted to join us on our adventure with the project, having heard about what we've been doing over the past few years, in the hope of getting his hands really dirty. Grandad is the oldest of the team, having just celebrated his 40th Birthday... wooh!

Ellen Doherty. Ellen runs a small cooperative in Bristol doing photo printing, as well as being a successful freelance Photographer. Ellen got involved with MEP in early 2006, and has been photographing events and helping in a million dimensions ever since. Ellen also ran our first and very successful Silent Auction in May '07, having worked hard at sourcing many of the ingenious prizes herself. This will be Ellen's 2nd experience to Africa.

Lou Fitzpatrick. Having landed from a fantastic summertime throughout many UK festivals, Lou is currently working full time on the project from Bristol. Having had almost a whole month in her own bed, she's excited to be going to Malawi for the 4th time, and develop the projects future, as well as see her Malawian buddies.

It will be the first time to set foot on African soil for all 4 guys, and we're hoping to get some feedback up on the website from everyone when they return.
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12/08/07 - A big hello to our first MEP employee!
We're pleased to introduce Joe Volk to work with us on a regular basis. He's a musician by trade after having studied Music Systems Engineering and graduating in 2001. He's now self employed and is also signed under three recording contracts. Joe also writes music for documentaries and short films, and occasionally promotes nights at The Cube in Bristol.

Joe has said "I am very happy to be working for the Malawi Education Project. I think it's a very worthwhile project that I am happy to give my time and energy to. I hope I can play a part in making the project grow over the coming years, and thus be able to reach and help more of the children in Malawi.

People can contact me about anything and everything regarding the project. I'm working on loads of different things simultaneously.

People should contact me if they have anything they think is suitable to donate to the project, want to set up a fundraising event of any kind, want to give their time, want to help me with research, want to donate money, have any questions about the project, have a scanning system to donate to the project, have any advice for the project.... Anything and everything!"
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17/07/07 - The Next Trip to Malawi
Following up on our first trip to Malawi where we installed the 2 school libraries, the MEP team are heading out again to follow up on the progress of the schools, and to check out the schools to be the next recipients of goodies we send over, which are planned to reach there in January 2009. Sounds like a long way off, but giving ourselves time to raise the money to do it, this is the next time a container of our goods will reach its destination. With the rate at which the excellent donations are coming in, we'll have to do some extra-strategic packing to get it all in there.

Meanwhile, on the trip in October this year, we plan to ship a few cubic meters of toys and tiny-peoples clothes within a shipment made by Computers For African Schools www.cfas.org.uk, to support a number of orphanages. CFAS were our shipping partners in 2006 - and they also went through the motions of almost losing 100 PC's in the shipping accident. We all still count our lucky stars, yes we do!
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22/06/07 - Transport needed
MEP volunteer, Caitlyn Baldwin, is taking part in a boot sale and street sale next weekend in aid of Malawi Education Project. We have lots of donations that we desperately need help transporting on the day. Please get in touch if you have any kind vehicle you'd be willing to transport stuff in. Otherwise why not come down and see what bargains you can grab on the day and find out more about the work we're doing!
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18/06/07 - Pancakes for Breakfast?
Two girls from the West Midlands will be making Pancakes for festival campers this summer to raise money for the project! Elaine and her buddy will be making their way around a number of music festivals this summer, and if you're lucky enough you might just be awoken by their culinary delights right outside your tent! For a donation which goes directly to the project, the girls are making filled pancakes... mmmmmmmm, and will have information about the project to hand for morning munchers to look at. Thanks girls!!
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31/05/07 - Glasto Fundraiser
Glastonbury Festivals annual Raffle and Skittles night chose MEP to be the beneficiary this year! With some fantastic raffle prizes, over £300 was raised for the project on Tuesday 29th May in Pilton Village Hall. Lou faced a fear, and was put on a stage with a microphone to give a speech, which went surprisingly well! Loads of fun was had, lots of people, new and old friends, and many others learned of the project, and hopefully this will generate a small amount of continual support from the Festival.
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18/05/07 - Looking for a camera operator, sound recordist and teacher to come to Malawi in Oct
Got skills and wanna join the team? We are looking to document our trips to Malawi not only in photography but with sound and film, from this trip onwards. Resonance FM (London) are behind us and are giving us a MD Recorder to take with us to document some of the trip for radio. We are keen to build up enough video footage to make a documentary after the next container has gone out and the next libraries have been installed. And why not... it's such an experience that we want to share it!

We are also looking for a qualified teacher to join the team to add to the value of our combined skills that we take out there with us.

Please get in touch with us on info@malawieducationproject.com or call us on 0117 330 8732 if you're interested in coming out with us!!
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10/05/07 - Sunrise Celebration supporting Malawi Education Project
After a brilliant gig a the Trinity in Bristol a couple of weeks back with Sunrise Celebration running their Eartheart Cafe upstairs, they have offered to support us with proceeds raised from the festival! Hurrah! They loved the work that the Malawi Education Project is carrying out, and what it stands for, so having chatted amongst themselves, they wholesomely offered this wonderful support to us! The Celebration is one of the UK summers first festivals, taking place at the beginning of June. This year will be their second Sunrise, and is known as the UK's leading sustainable festival. Thank you to Sunbird and all the other Sunrisers that took part in our event, and for supporting the decision to help the Malawi Education Project!!
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03/05/07 - We have pamphlets!
For the first time in the projects history we have a pamphlet, telling people about the project and containing a select few of the photos we took while we were in Malawi. Designed by Eddie Llewelyn (Bristol Uni Final year student and very good friend), and printed for free by PCL Wollaston Print Ltd (Birmingham), the leaflets are circulating now, spreading the word about the Malawi Education Project! If you'd like one or some, drop us a line and we can post them to you!
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25/04/07 - Job vacancy
Things are going well for us at the moment with loads of activities and events going on. We're looking for someone to work with us on part-paid and part-voluntary basis to help us get more done and quicker too! Please contact Lou at volunteeruk@malawieducationproject.com if you are interested, with a paragraph stating why you would like to work within Malawi Education Project, your CV / work history, and your contact details. Closing date for applications is Thursday 17th May 2007. Apply early!

Download the job description.
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04/04/07 - We present our very own version of the 'Silent Auction'
Bid for things that money just can't buy! To be held at Halo Cafe Bar, Gloucester Road on the 3rd of May. Have a look at the events page for more details about this opportunity to bag yourself some unbuyable treats and help us raise those much needed funds!
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11/03/07 - MEP Office Opens
The project now has a bright and sparkly office space, near to the centre of Bristol. Small but perfectly formed, we have an inspiring space where project volunteers can get together and work from, and where interested people can call by for more information. You can find us at 19 The Coach House, 2 Upper York Street, Bristol, BS2 8QN. The space is shared With Bedouin Tents UK, and the only thing we paid for was floor-standing lamp� everything else was donated through Freecycle Bristol. Thank you Freecyclers!
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21/02/07 - Malawi Traveller puts furniture in Library!
Dan Watson, a traveller in Malawi discovered our project while he was out volunteering and travelling. He offered a month of hands on help at Cape Maclear Primary School. In the new library, as in the rest of the school, there were no tables or chairs. Dan used his own money to finance the installation. Using a local carpenter he got tables and benches built and installed into the new library space while he was there. As one of the two schools to receive our support so far, they we just getting to grips with all the resources that had arrived at their school. Dan also developed the library systems by making numbered cards to give to pupils on entering the library. As the children take books off the shelves, they put the number in its place, so they can easily find where they took the book from and return it to the same place, helping keep the library in order.

Big thanks for Dan for his input and energy, from Malawi Education Project, and the teachers and pupils at Cape Maclear Primary School.

Watch this space for photos when Dan returns
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19/02/07 - MEP Presentation & Forum in London
Project coordinator Lou Fitzpatrick was invited to do give a presentation on the project last Friday in the office of Urban Chill & Urban Leaf in Central London. It's something that hasn't happened much in the past and should definitely happen more in the future! The evening was really successful and informative to everyone that attended; it gave everyone more of an insight into the project, opened the opportunity to ask questions and put forward suggestions, and enabled volunteers to discover ways in which they can get involved. A slideshow of some of our best photos were projected onto the wall, giving inspiration to tell stories and discuss issues. Urban Chill have offered us the use of their space for future presentations and meetings, and have also offered some stationary resources to take to Africa.
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14/02/07 - Fundraiser Gig Date Confirmed
28th April is the magic date for the Malawi Education Project Fundraiser Gig in Trinity Arts Centre, Bristol. The line-up will be released soon... but what we can tell you is that we have some great prezzies to give away on the night, including 2 VIP festival tickets!!
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12/02/07 - Accountants Donate their Services
South-West based accountancy firm Robson-Taylor offered us their professional helping hand last week! Having popped by with our arms full of paper and folders for some advice, they showed their support for the Malawi Education Project by donating their services completely free of charge!! Thank you! Robson-Taylor are the most recent company to join our gently-growing repertoire of organisations, helping the project gain strength for the future!
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5/2/07 - MEP Volunteer in Malawi this month
English traveler Dan Watson got in touch with us from Malawi and is dedicating a month of his time to developing the M.E.P. in Cape Maclear Primary School! Dan is investing some of his own money in providing tables and benches in the library, protecting the library walls against termites, and is working alongside teachers to improve the usage of the new library facility, and develop the loan-out system. Dan is able to keep us up to date with photographs and news on the ground, in the remote lakeside village. We thank Dan very very much, and hopes he sends a picture of himself out there soon, so we can add him to the gallery!
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5/2/07 - Photos from Africa now in the Gallery
We're excited to release our Project photos for you to see! It's been tough and time consuming, but we've whittled it down from 2,000 pictures, displaying to you the best of the selection, telling the tale of our journey and experiences, putting faces to the names, showing you the change and impact we have made. In separate galleries, you can see pictures from the project working in Malawi and working in the UK, photos from fundraising events, pictures of the beautiful Malawi, and the Photographers Choice pictures. Have a look and feel free to leave your comments on the message board.
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4/2/07 - Fundraising is kicking into swing
Tis the season to be fundraising! M.E.P is on a serious fundraising mission to enable the project to continue making a big difference in Malawi. Peoples Republic Of Disco (PROD) are donating the money raised from their night in London on March 31st, and Trinity, Bristol is the place to be on April 28th for a great big celebration, featuring Atomic Hooligan, Cakeboy, Dubrovnik, Kreutz and more acts TBC.

A number of companies have pledged to support the project by donating a percentage of profits, and we now have a dedicated paperwork-loving fundraiser working to get the money we need to pay for the essential stuff.

Any fundraising ideas or efforts very very much appreciated... help us keep on helping others.
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4/2/07 - Website is currently being updated
Malawi Education Project has got a fantastic voluntary web designer dedicated to updating and bettering the site! The new site is up now, and content is being updated over the next couple of weeks to keep it fresh. A mailing list will be with us shortly, which is a welcome upgrade from the Outlook address book that has been used up until now. PayPal is almost here too... and we're paying attention to the little details within the site to keep it fun and full of life.
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4/2/07 - Next project trip planned
A small group of volunteers will head back out to Malawi in September 2007. Although there is no container going out this year due to insufficient funding, happy travelers are heading out to assess the effectiveness of the libraries that have been set up, look at the use of the other resources, and look at how the project should adapt to improve the use of resources sent out.

The libraries were implemented in places that had little or no resources at all, so it will take a little time for the schools to get used to them. Malawi Education Project is a new organization too, so we foresee that this will be a valuable trip for the projects future.
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26/1/07 - MEP Joins the MySpace revolution
Yep, it had to happen some time... we're now part of the great network that is MySpace! OurSpace contains an overview of the Malawi Education Project, as well as a selection of photos and an evolving comments section. It’s a great tool for spreading the word and provides us with a valuable source of feedback and interaction. Have a look at www.myspace.com/malawieducationproject and add us to your Friends network!
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18/1/07 - New Library Building in Cape Maclear
Cape Maclear Primary School, one of the two schools that M.E.P supplied resources to in 2006, has been given a brand new 3-room building! Due to the donations from our project, the Icelandic organization came in and supplied improved infrastructure, and already this is up and running! Our Malawian team based in Cape Maclear, assisted in the relocation of all the books and shelving into the new library. M.E.P originally installed the shelving and books in the room that was also the headmistress, Mrs Kaunda's, Office. Within a week after we left the village, we received news that, due to M.E.P's input at the school, the Icelandic organization had offered to provide a new and improved building which would provide more space for library use, expanding to make it more user friendly. This is great news for us, as our work has already snowballed significantly. Having provided the resources in October 2006, the new building was turned around very quickly and ready for the start of the new school year on 3rd January 2007!

Both Cape Maclear Primary and Sambani Secondary Schools have spoken to us about intentions to expand, creating more opportunities in education. Dan Watson has sent us a photo of the building... check the photo gallery.
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14/01/07 - Project crew return home after taking the project to Malawi for the first time!
We're all back from our 3-month working and traveling adventures in Malawi and South-Eastern Africa at last... what a successful experience!

Keeping it brief:

• We've affected the education of around 2,500 people, by providing learning resources where there were none!
• We've exposed teachers to more learning resources than they could shake a twig at.
• We've reduced costs by providing a computer and super-economic printer to the secondary school.
• We've created some employment opportunities.
• We found that each and every single book and item sent over carries so much resourceful value that it's blinding... each book, each musical instrument, each piece of sporting equipment, even down to each pen, opens the opportunity for more than one person to learn something new.

The project made more of an impact than we'd ever contemplated, and for that, all of us involved are amazed, happy, proud and inspired!

We brought the Malawi Education Project out to Africa for the first time since it began 22 months earlier, and it truly was a really great success! In all honesty we didn't entirely know what to expect, and as 4 x 20 something-year-olds, we successfully set up 2 substantial school libraries, had great fun, a lot of full-on experiences, met lots of brilliant people and actually made a real visible difference.

The secondary school library turned out pretty large, with over 5,000 books in it, and the primary school library was a more manageable size containing 2,500 books.

As for the accident the container was involved in en-route to Malawi, the only damage was to one guitar... now that is amazing! Other than that, some of the rulers melted, now they won't measure so accurately :o).
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14/1/07 - A Brief Diary from Malawi, October 2006
Sambani Secondary School:

We arrived first at the Secondary School on a Sunday just before sunset, and we were surprised with a very high-spirited celebratory ceremony. The students were dancing, raising dust from the road as we arrived, then in the hall they hosted a special assembly. Students had painted a huge banner saying "Welcome to the Malawi Education Project, Louise Fitzpatrick"; Form 4 student Thokko Kachingweh had written 2 songs which were performed using the instruments the project had provided, sung and rapped by himself and 2 fellow students; a teacher John wrote and read out 2 poems; we each stood at the front of the hall and spoke a bit about the project and about being there; then some local ladies came in and danced and chanted around the djembe (drum). Translated for us, everyone was showing their appreciation for the project helping them and those around them through song. That was the celebration. It was truly amazing, quite overwhelming and a very special experience to be there.

That week was spent stamping the books with the schools name and assembling a library. Working with the students who had no classes at the time, we built it up, showed how to care for the books, played sports and games, and they had the TV and DVD player up and running with Malawian music videos on it.

Sambani is in a back street in Zomba town, which decades ago used to be the capital of Malawi, and we stayed in Ndindeya hostel just across the road from there.

Cape Maclear Primary School:

The following Saturday we travelled with a truck and all the books to the Primary School in Cape Maclear. Delayed (of course), we arrived to drop off the books at 9pm. It was dark, and we unloaded into a house with only one paraffin lamp and a couple of pocket torches - we could barely see what was going on and repeatedly walked into the washing line. Told as planned that we'd be back in on Monday morning (Sunday we spent playing in the lake, swimming with colourful fishies), Mrs Kaunda had piled the boxes neatly and opened nothing until we came back.

Monday morning we sorted out the boxes and showed Mrs Kaunda and some of the other teachers what we'd sent, and that was so much fun. Some of this stuff you could see that they'd never encountered before, again it was so beautiful to be part of. They each took an almost uninterruptible interest in the goods... looking, reading, playing, touching, and very protective of it all. Incredible.

They showed us the shelves that the books could go on and it was no more than a small shelving unit in the office, with 2 of the shelves fit for crumbling had you put Favourite Fairy Tales on it. With Wislord and Soft, now known as 'Team Cape Maclear', we organised a local carpenter to come and fit shelving to an entire wall surrounding the window. By Wednesday afternoon we loaded the books onto the shelves, demonstrated how everything worked, briefed on care of books, games and equipment, and had most of it done.

One morning when classes had begun, Mrs Kaunda, the class teacher and team Cape Maclear went into each classroom and handed out a biro to each and every pupil. We later heard that, inspired by Soft, they had made 160 A4 pads into 480 exercise books by cutting them into 3rds. Genius. They have book clubs planned, and during school holidays lend books out to villagers.

Cape Maclear is a very remote village that stretches along the shore of Lake Malawi on the edge of Lake Malawi National Park. People live in thatched huts, there is one primary and one secondary school, and it's a beautiful place for snorkelling and diving. Here we stayed on the beach in tents or under mozzie nets hanging from a tree, and played Bao game a lot.

The volunteers on this trip, to whom the project owes a huge amount of thanks for their support, initiative, patience and brilliance are: Rob Pocklington (age 21, housemate / volunteer in Bristol), Ellen Doherty (Age 23, photographer / volunteer, met in 2005 workingat Glastonbury), Malik Brinkworth (age 27, fundraiser from Switzerland, met in 2001 working at Solipse Festival in Zambia), Brighten Ndawala (age 24, Malawian, met in 2001 on a beach and is the projects main man) and me, Louise Fitzpatrick (age 27, Irish rooted traveller / festival production girl & project founder). We give thanks to so many more people who make it possible in so many ways... have a look at the thanks page.
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01/11/06 - First container landed safely!
The Malawi Education Project's first container landed safely after it's crazy 4 month journey! Phewie! No water damage, nothing broken, nothing missing... amazing! A team of 4 (Lou, Ellen, Rob & Malik) are in Malawi now establishing the project along with Brighten, and have so far successfully installed 2 school libraries, and started a local art project fundraiser. The stories will be out once they reach home in late December, but meanwhile it is proving to be a very successful project there on the ground, with around 4,000 students having access to the new resources. Photo's coming soon...
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05/09/06 - M.E.P's Container Ship Ran Aground
The container ship carrying the MEP donations ran aground off the coast of East London, South Africa, en-route to Malawi. So many of the 450 containers that were on the ship were destroyed by eater damage, or remain on the ship even now. The MEP container was due into Malawi in mid-July. Full of luck and positivity from supporters, our container is safely on dry land. Only when the container is opened by the receivers will we know if anything has been damaged by the forces produced during the crash, so fingers crossed. It cleared customs at the end of last week and due to arrive in Blantyre any day now. The ship, Safmarine Aguilas, is still in the water and is a write-off.
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23/05/06 - Our First Container has left - yippeee!
It's due to arrive in Malawi July 14th for Sambani Secondary School & Cape Maclear Primary School. With the greatest thanks to many fantastic supporters and volunteers, the contents of this shipment are really amazing, including 7,500 text, reading and reference books, 10,000 pens (the rest have been shared with other organisations resourcing schools in Africa), loads of Stationery, 500 A4 Pads, 4 Acoustic Guitars, 2 Violins, 3 Keyboards, a Drum Kit & a Clarinet, 75 Puzzles & Board Games, 50 pairs of Trainers, loads of Bats, Balls & Rackets, 2 huge boxes of Shorts & T-shirts, a Bicycle, a Stereo & 150 CD's, 2 TV's, Video Recorders & DVD Players, 200 Videos & DVD's, Teachers Resources, Art Materials, 2 PC's with printers and a scanner, and a few other bits & pieces.
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