Company blog
Find out everything about our passion project in Malawi
Education and perspective
Why education is so important in Malawi
Due to population development, there is a great shortage of schools in Malawi. 35% of school-age children and young people have no school at all. Others learn without a roof over their heads and sit on stones. Millions of children, especially in rural districts, are therefore unable to attend school or have to walk 5 to 8 km each way. The journeys to school are dangerous for the children because girls are repeatedly assaulted, so parents do not want to send their children to schools that are far away.
The existing schools are all completely overcrowded and there are sometimes 150 children crammed into one classroom. This makes learning impossible. By building new schools in Malawi, we want to ensure that a maximum of 50 children are taught in one class. And that the children no longer have to walk to and from school for hours every day.
The village of Nakonya has a Christian population. In the Mulanje district, 88% are Christians. The village and the surrounding 6 neighboring villages consist of 4,500 families and has a Christian community, which is looked after by a priest from the neighboring village of Namungela. The nearest school is in Muonekera, 6 km away. This means that the children have to walk 12 kilometers to and from school each day. For this reason, only a few children from the village go to school.
The village chief had already selected a flat plot of land that was easy to build on for the school building and made it available free of charge. The new school building with 4 classrooms, office, storage room and toilets was to be built here. The Ministry of Education promised to send the principal and the necessary number of teachers in good time. Some residents of the village helped to carry out simple and skilled work on the building and were paid by our master builder. This enables them to carry out subsequent maintenance work on the building themselves.
Baak schools in Nakonya, Malawi
Because all children need a future
Support our school project to build and equip the Secondary Baak School with your donation so that children in Malawi have a future!
All donations benefit the projects 1:1, as all of the foundation's costs are borne privately by Reiner Meutsch or covered by sponsors.
Are you donating more than 50 euros? Then please state your full name and address in the subject line of the bank transfer so that a donation receipt can be issued to you.
All donors who make a donation with the code word "BAAK Schule" automatically agree that the FLY & HELP Foundation will share their name, address, donation date and amount with BAAK GmbH & Co. KG with their name, address and donation date and amount.
Donation account:
Reiner Meutsch Foundation FLY & HELP
IBAN: DE94 5739 1800 0000 0055 50 | BIC: GENODE51WW1
Reference: Baak School
Westerwald Bank eG
Summer 2019
How it all began - how the school project came about
In summer 2019, Andrea and Ingo flew to Tanzania with the FLY & HELP organization to attend a school opening ceremony. "Once you've experienced it, you can't let it go," says Andrea, describing her impressions, which quickly led her and Ingo to the plan to collect enough donations together with family, friends and colleagues so that a school can be built in Nakonya, Malawi, in 2021.
1st school building
Full primary school for grades 1-8 with space for 520 children
2. school building
Extension of the school building, additional space for 250 children
Various purchases
Solar system, toilet block and a further 40 tables
May 2023
A special kind of school inauguration
Andrea and Ingo Grusa have made it possible to build a school in Malawi. The Baak School is a full primary school for grades 1-8, where 769 children are taught. They traveled to Nakonya, Malawi, with family members, friends and employees for the inauguration.
"It was an unforgettable day that we will all look back on for the rest of our lives."
Andrea Grusa, former Managing Director at Baak
On 23.05.2023, the plane took off for Africa and a delegation of 25 people made their way to Malawi. Many hours by plane and car later, the travelers arrived at the hotel and, together with Rainer Meutsch, were looking forward to the school opening the next day.
On the bumpy road to the school, you could see from the people along the way that they were very happy to see the visitors. Shortly before the school, we were certain that we were on the right path. Hundreds of people came singing and dancing towards the buses and accompanied them to the school. The teachers, parents, local chiefs and many children welcomed the guests. The principal had already taught children in the open air and was now particularly proud to present the school.
The children joyfully presented a program of songs and dances. Andrea and Ingo gave a speech and encouraged the children to develop their talents in line with the Baak slogan, "unbox your nature." With the help of Intersport Dorenkamp, Borussia Dortmund, and SV Nienkattbek, gifts were presented for the children to play with: frisbees, jump ropes, jerseys, and balls. A few days after we left, we learned that the school had shared the 40 soccer balls with 12 neighboring schools, true to the African motto: UBUNTU – I am because we are!
"That's exactly the impression we have of these people. Where they have the least, they share the most," says Andrea Grusa.
Ingo adds: "It was absolutely a meeting at eye level, because the way the people deal with their very poor economic situation and the joie de vivre they still radiate is deeply touching. We can really learn a lot from that. We are happy and grateful that we were able to experience these goosebump moments with the group."
Convey
About FLY & HELP
The main aim of FLY & HELP is to promote school education in developing countries. To date, more than 650 school projects have been initiated with a total funding volume of around 34 million euros. The new buildings will enable many thousands of children in Africa, Asia and Latin America to attend school and lay the foundations for a self-determined future. The aim is to implement at least 50 new projects every year.
The experience and the selection criteria were decisive for us to implement the project together with FLY & HELP:
- The foundation employees research, check and personally select the projects worthy of support.
- Each project has a local representative.
- The progress of the construction work must be regularly documented in project reports.
- The project-related use of donations must be disclosed on an ongoing basis.
- The projects are based on the fundamental idea of "helping people to help themselves".
- Sustainability must be guaranteed (e.g. state recognition and funding of teachers' salaries).
- All donations flow 1:1 into our educational projects, as Reiner Meutsch pays all of the foundation's administrative costs privately or these are covered by sponsors.
Donation account:
Reiner Meutsch Foundation FLY & HELP
IBAN: DE94 5739 1800 0000 0055 50 | BIC: GENODE51WW1
Reference: Baak School
Westerwald Bank eG
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