Jacaranda Primary and Secondary School

The Jacaranda Primary and Secondary School currently educates 391 children. Most of our students come from families who lack the funds required by government schools to purchase school supplies, books, and uniforms for the children. By providing these necessities, we have made it possible for thousands of orphaned and vulnerable children to attend school. We inspire these children to recognize and value their own potential and motivate them to dream big and work hard to achieve their dreams. And with 95% pass rate on the 2019 primary school national exams and 87% pass rate on the secondary school exams, our educational outcomes far exceed the surrounding schools.

Jacaranda Jan Kulczyk Vocational School 

Supported by the Kulczyk Foundation and with early seed funding from the So Family, the Jacaranda Foundation will open the Jacaranda Jan Kulczyk Vocational School in 2020. The school will give our students the technical and vocational skills that they need to get jobs, start businesses and succeed in life. Located on a satellite campus, the Jacaranda Jan Kulczyk Vocational School facilities include classrooms, workshops, a conference room, a multimedia production center including a sound studio, editing room, photo studio, TV studio and visual effects green screen room.

College Scholarships Program

The Jacaranda Foundation helps university bound student pay for college. Currently, 37 Jacaranda students attend colleges in Malawi, and five are studying in universities outside of Malawi with the help of the MasterCard scholarship program, one at the African Leadership University in Mauritius, one at the African Leadership University in Rwanda, one at the Africa University in Zimbabwe, one at the University of Botswana, and one at the United States International University - Africa in Kenya. In addition, two of our students joined the Watson Institute in Boulder, Colorado’s Semester Accelerator 4-month program.

The Jacaranda Mullen Preschool

With generous support from John and Ann Mullen and Mike and Barbara Tarnoff, the Jacaranda Foundation will open the Jacaranda Mullen Preschool in 2020. This early childhood education center will serve the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community and will give them the tools to thrive in their early years and succeed in primary and secondary school and beyond. Using a holistic approach that integrates cognitive, emotional, and social development, the school will provide our youngest students with a strong educational foundation.

Health Programs

Jacaranda School Clinic -Jacaranda Foundation operates a school-based clinic that provides health services. Students visit the clinic for general preventive and immediate health care needs and health education, including sexual health education.

 Jacaranda Physiotherapy Community Clinic -The Jacaranda Physiotherapy Community Clinic is a community based pediatric physiotherapy center that provides care for children with disabilities. Our takes a holistic approach to treating each child’s disability and engages family throughout the treatment program.

Nutrition Program

Ensuring nutritious meals for our orphaned and vulnerable students, particularly our HIV positive students, has become one of our most important jobs. Our program is made possible by our long-term partnership with Mary’s Meals. Jacaranda’s students are served a nutrient fortified hot porridge cooked at our main campus twice a day. This has resulted in a dramatic improvement in the health and educational outcomes of our students.

Home Support Program

Jacaranda Foundation’s Home Support Program was developed to help keep students in school by improving their living standards. This program is especially vital for child headed families, families with elderly guardians, or families with sick guardians. Support includes assistance with food, clothing, blankets, money for rent, microcredit loans for guardians, renovation of homes that are in severe disrepair, constructing new homes, and energy efficient clay cooking stoves. Since this program began, we have helped over 63 families with food and money for rent and 41 families have benefitted from home repairs or received new homes. 

Visual and Performing Arts

The arts serve a backbone to the Jacaranda School. Every day, children participate in numerous performing and visual art classes, a program made possible thanks to our partnership with Raising Malawi. These classes enable students to express themselves and build their self-confidence. Many of our students have experienced the trauma of family deaths and the arts provide a healthy emotional outlet. Our students have become highly accomplished artists, performing at major festivals both in Malawi and internationally, and gaining admission to prestigious arts colleges.

Environment & Ecology Program

The Jacaranda School teaches environmental stewardship and operates a number of environment and ecology programs. We teach sustainable agriculture to give our students sustainable farming skills and address food security issues. We also run a reforestation program, an environmental conservation program, a permaculture program, a bee keeping program, and wildlife clubs. And we operate a small farm with goats, sheep, donkeys, chicken and turkeys. 

Women’s Entrepreneurship Program

The Women’s Entrepreneurship Program was developed to ensure that the guardians of children attending the Jacaranda School and the Jacaranda Physiotherapy Clinic have a means of generating income and escaping the vicious cycle of poverty. The program coach is a Jacaranda School graduate who attended the Street Business School entrepreneurship training program in Uganda with the support of the Segal Family Foundation. This program gives young women the skills to find jobs or start their own businesses and the ability to earn an income and uplift their families. After program completion, they each receive an interest free microloan for their business. 

Mr. Luc’s Libraries

In alignment with national literacy goals, the Jacaranda Foundation is helping to foster a culture of reading in Malawi. Mr. Luc’s Libraries, developed by Jacaranda Foundation Executive Director Luc Deschamps, builds, stocks and staffs community and schools libraries throughout the Blantyre region. In just five years, the program has opened 17 community and school libraries, reaching 41,000 children. 

Each library project involves transforming a vacant space into a library: adding shelves, chairs, tables, and painting and decorating the space. The majority of the books are donated by Jacaranda Foundation supporters in America and the UK, and they are sorted according to children’s reading levels. In conjunction with the opening of each new library, Jacaranda conducts a tree planting exercise.

Jacaranda Cultural Center & Maison de la France                    

Jacaranda Cultural Center & Maison de la France strengthens the relationship between the French and Malawian cultures and hosts the French Consulate. The Center provides a platform for Malawian creatives to come together and showcase Malawi’s rich cultural heritage, through the visual, literary, and performing arts. It also helps create a pathway to careers in the arts industries and enables people to learn the French language and culture. The center offers French classes on weekdays and on Saturdays. Courses at the Center adhere to the Common European Framework (CEFR) Guidelines and allow learners to prepare for the DELF and DALF diplomas, the only French foreign language diplomas issued by the French Ministry of Education.