Gertrude Banda outside Ganet's Adventure School, Malawi
We’re very excited to announce that Ganet’s Adventure School has been named as the organisation with the most entrepreneurial approach to education in Malawi in the Educating Africa Pan-African Awards.
Our unique and entrepreneurial approach to education meant that we caught the judges’ attention amongst the 350 entries from across Africa. This is the fourth time that the Pan African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education have been run by UK-based international development charity, Teach A Man To Fish.
As a country prize winner, Ganet’s Adventure School are entitled to prize winnings of USD $1,000. The school’s founder and director, Gertrude Banda, was overjoyed on hearing that her school has won the award, and said: “I am very happy that we have won because it will help us to build new classrooms. That is very important to us.”
The school receives no government funding, and relies on very modest school fees, as well as grants and donations from supporters around the world. Orphans and disabled children are educated for free. It has a large permaculture garden, and runs workshops for pupils and parents on ways to grow crops using less water and with no artificial fertilisers. The school is currently trying to find funds to build a new block of much-needed classrooms for its growing numbers of pupils.
The aim of the competition was to identify and celebrate the achievements of social entrepreneurs who understand the role education can play within their communities.
Gertrude is a widowed mother of four, and her tenacity and endless enthusiasm has enabled her to overcome many hardships and problems to ensure the school’s survival. These include being evicted from the school’s original location, and negotiating with teachers who in the school’s early days sometimes had to work without pay when money could not be found for salaries.
‘’With this competition we were looking for programmes which are innovative, sustainable and create real impact – and we have found them. By awarding them we hope to encourage others to imitate winner’s approach and work towards more and better education in Africa’’, says Nik Kafka, Managing Director of Teach A Man To Fish.
If you would like to get involved in our campaign to build new classrooms at the school, please email info@ganetsadventureschool.org
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