Location
Malawi is a landlocked country located in southeast Africa and has a population of approximately 14 million with 2.8% annual growth rate. Malawi shares boundaries with Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. Since Malawi is a landlocked country, its economy is based on agriculture. Some of the striking challenges that Malawi faces are poverty, poor education, HIV/AIDS, and high rate of unemployment. Malawi is one of the most rapidly urbanizing countries in Africa with a growth rate of 6.3% per annum. 20% of the total population lives in urban areas and 90% of the urban population lives under slum conditions. Children and youth are often the most vulnerable to these challenges that arise in these conditions.
Rays of Hope works with children and youth in the southern region of Malawi, a city called Blantyre. Blantyre is the commercial city of Malawi with a population of 661,444 and it covers an area of 2,012 km2.
In Blantyre, most children only attend school for the first half of the day. In the afternoon, children need to pay to return to school and most families cannot afford the fee. There are currently no AfterSchool programs in Blantyre to provide additional support to these students. In addition, the teacher to student ratio is 1:107, which creates a difficult learning environment for children during their limited time in school.