Support me in giving Ngara Nursery Children in Malawi Porridge and Resourses

My name is Devon Kilkelly, I am 20 years old and an Otago nursing student. I’m also from Greymouth and I am fundraising on behalf of Ngara Nursery (pre-school) in Malawi, Africa.

In 2015 when I was 18 years old I travelled to Ngara, a village in Malawi, Africa. I spent six months volunteering in Ngara and taught in a secondary school, nursery school, and I volunteered in a children’s health clinic and midwifery clinic. This experience opened my eyes and inspired me to make a difference.

I was able to make an impact within the Ngara community through many different ways but the most significant to me was through the Ngara nursery school. Ngara nursery was extremely run down, unsafe and there was limited equipment. The building had massive holes in the floor, the paint was coming off the walls, there was five toys between the 20 children and the drop toilet outside had no door. The children coming had not eaten breakfast because their families couldn’t afford three meals a day. To me this environment did not resemble a nursery. The building was unfit for purpose and children were trying to learn on empty tummies. I decided I needed to do something about this.

The two most important things I felt I needed to do for Ngara nursery was to renovate the building and give the children a nutritious breakfast of porridge. Some of the things I was able to achieve through fundraising included:

-filling holes, resealing the floor and building steps to get into the building

-painting the walls with pictures, letters and numbers for learning

-constructing wall blackboards for teaching

-supplying chalk slates for each child

-building a door on the toilet

-supplying toys and sports equipment

-making the building secure with lockable doors

-supplying bowls, spoons, cups and water filter buckets

-enabling a teacher to undertake early childhood education training

-and providing porridge everyday for breakfast.

I was able to make this impact thanks to generous donations from my family, friends and the Greymouth community. Since arriving home in July 2015, I have continued to support Ngara nursery. I have been able to fund this through word of mouth, selling electronic fly swats, and most recently running the Dunedin Cadbury Half Marathon. Because of this fundraising and the support of others, I have been able to continue to fill hungry tummies and encourage the learning and development of these children.

Ngara nursery is now a safe, educational and fun environment that today accommodates 90 children. To accommodate this expansion, I am hoping to renovate another building and potentially one day build a playground. Most importantly I want to keep filling hungry tummies which is made possible by generous donators. To feed a child a bowl of porridge its 8cents, for 90 children 5/7 days a week that’s a mere $36 dollars. A little goes a long way in Malawi and any contribution is helpful. I and the Ngara community are whole heartedly grateful and I hope helping fundraise can warm your heart as much as it does mine.

Thank you,

Devon.