School Project

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Partnering together with the British based organization, Ripple Africa, Taking Back Lives is pleased to announce the building of our first classroom block in the Nkhata Bay district of Malawi, Africa, with construction beginning Summer 2010!

Here's a video of the headmaster, informing us that the bricks are ready for us to construct the school!

Understanding that community involvement is crucial to the long-term success of the school, villagers are required to demonstrate their commitment to the project by supplying all of the unskilled labor necessary to build the school, as well as provide locally available materials. Through this model, villagers become stakeholders in their own futures, taking pride in the school and their accomplishments.

Read the following account describing just how desperate communities are to have adequate space in which to educate their children:

Geoff Furber and his wife, Liz, founded Ripple Africa in 2003, and have since been busy with several projects pertaining to education, healthcare, and agriculture. During our time with Ripple Africa, Geoff showed us one particular primary school located in the community that was in great need. As he showed us around, I couldn't help but wonder how eight different grade levels could manage to fit into two classrooms. It didn't take long before my question was answered as the headmaster informed us that about half of the school conducted class outside due to a lack of classrooms. He then took us to a massive pile of mud bricks lying by the side of the school and told us that the community had constructed about 50,000 bricks in preperation for school construction, but were lacking the funds to pay for the skilled labor, cement, timber, etc.

Through our student clubs, fundraising events and contributions, our goal is to raise over $40,000 to cover the costs involved with the building of the school and equipping it with the necessary resources.