Namalomba Secondary School

Location: East of Ulongwe Township, Balaka District, Malawi

Sponsoring Organization: The Rosemary Pencil Foundation

Launch Date: May 2013

Approximate number of students and teachers: 280 students and 10 teachers

Number of devices: 50 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Secondary, Form 1-4

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks, reference materials

Deployment model: E-readers in a library/learning center

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Namalomba Secondary School is a government school near Ulongwe, Malawi. It has been a a co-ed day secondary school but is now in transition to becoming a boarding school. When school starts in September 2013 girls can board while boys will continue to be day students. Two large dorms have been built to house a total of about 100 girls, with a boys’ dorm to be built in the near future.

Bandawe Secondary School for Girls

Location: Central Region, Malawi

Sponsoring Organization: The Rosemary Pencil Foundation

Launch Date: March 2015

Approximate number of students and teachers: 280 students and 10 teachers

Number of devices: 60 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Secondary, Form 1-4

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks, reference materials

Deployment model: E-readers in a library/learning center

Students take devices home: No

The Story: Bandawe Secondary School for Girls is situated close to the shore of Lake Malawi, approximately 250 miles north of Lilongwe. It has a been a girls boarding school for many years.

Padre Pio Lusangazi Catholic Secondary School

Location: Mzuzu, Malawi

Sponsoring Organization: Active Africa

Launch Date: October 2013

Approximate number of students and teachers: 115 students and 12 teachers

Number of devices: 50 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: High School Form 1 & 2

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks, reference materials

Deployment model: Classroom

The Story: The school fees at Padre Pio Lusangazi Catholic Secondary School are 10% those of the nearest Catholic school, because the school is committed to improving the standard of education for the poor. And it has succeeded: since the school began in 2009, and since then has always received top marks on the MSCE national exams.

Namitembo Primary School

Location: Namitembo, Malawi

Sponsoring Organization: The Bellew Family

Launch Date: June 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 2010 students and 18 teachers

Number of devices: 100 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary

Types of books: Learn-to-Readers, Storybooks, and reference materials in English and Chichewa

Deployment model: Library

Students take devices home: No

The Story: The Namitembo Primary School library is a good source of reading material for students to learn English and practice reading comprehension. It serves the primary school students that come from 16 neighboring villages. The total student population is 2010 with 18 teachers. The Bellew family is the primary contributor to the Worldreader program having helped in several community projects. Namely, the Namitembo Trade School and Nursery School construction. The Trade School has programs in bricklaying, computer science, tailoring, and carpentry and joinery. The Nursery School teaches children ages 1-5 and follows the Montessori curriculum.

Embangweni School for the Hard of Hearing

Location: Embangweni, Malawi

Sponsoring Organization: Jim and Carol Nussbaumer and the people of Estes Park, Colorado

Launch Date: September 2014

Approximate number of students and teachers: 160 students and 15 teachers

Number of devices: 50 Wi-Fi Kindles

Students’ grade level: Primary

Types of books: Textbooks, storybooks, reference materials

Deployment model: Classroom

Students take devices home: No

The Story: The Embangweni School for the Hard of Hearing was started in 1994 at the urging of a former teacher who understood the value of education for the hard of hearing. Beginning with 19 students, there are currently 200 students at school, all of whom board there. The school is owned by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian and religious education plays a big role in daily life. Students learn sign language as well as English, Chichewa and Chitumbuka though sign language is usually the language of choice for most activities. The school has 17 teachers, 2 of whom are deaf. Many graduates have been selected to attend secondary school and one young woman has completed teacher training and is employed at another school for the deaf in Central Malawi.

Malawi National Library Service

Locations: Various Regions, Malawi

Sponsoring Organization: Book Aid International

Launch Date: July 2016

Approximate number of students and teachers: 2,500 library patrons

Number of devices: 100 Kindle 7s

Types of books: Literature, fiction, poetry, reference, storybooks

Deployment model: Library

Patrons take devices home: No

The Story: Book Aid International, an NGO that distributes books across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, in partnership with the Malawi National Library Service (MNLS), is embarking on a project that aims to put 100 e-readers and 10,000 e-books into 5 libraries across the country, with 20 devices in each location. They are running a very similar program in Ugandan libraries as well.