Issues Common Among Sites

Student Education

The need for IPE support for secondary education was apparent through peoples’ comments that students’ attendance would not be possible without IPE support. Peoples’ expression of this need and their gratitude that some support was available was consistently expressed. Many additional students at each site need tuition support.

All partners monitor student progress in some way. Though achieving certain grades is not an IPE requirement for funding, IPE encourages students to do their best. Each of the three IPE sites in Africa monitors student progress in school in some fashion such as observing grades. IPE supports partners’ oversight of student progress. Students in Malawi have the chance to repeat a class or form if they fail. Discussion ensued about whether to support repeating a course or form. Preliminary discussion supports the idea of students who have been supported have every chance to succeed. This will be discussed at the next board meeting.

Being successful in school and qualifying for college is very challenging. It is apparent that students at times need further support to succeed. Discussions took place to see how partners could implement more mentoring and support for student success. For example, peer mentoring was suggested. IPE encourages and supports the idea of further mentoring so students can succeed.

Needs of Children and Families

Through this visit, US visitors were awed by the needs of children who have been orphaned. Conversations with leaders in Africa, visits with students, student letters, and home visits made it apparent that children are impoverished and at times experience circumstances hazardous to their well-being. In addition to school funds, students need uniforms (Lesotho), transportation fees, and glasses.

Budget Process

Each partner has a system in place for managing the funding. Each partner sends receipts for each term. Though the match between funds sent and receipts returned is generally good, the system needs to be revised so that the match between funding sent and receipts returned is improved. IPE must decide if there are conditions missing receipts are acceptable. Each site identifies that distributing funds and obtaining receipts is a time-consuming, laborious process. IPE supports transportation and food/lodging costs and a modest stipend for this to St. James/CWG and BACOMA. Funds for transportation only have been allocated to the Lesotho volunteer. Participants explored the idea of having a generic receipt that school administrators could sign, thus making receipt retrieval easier. An idea that might be pursued in the future is obtaining grant funding to support volunteer’s time for managing the funding.

IPE Partnership Development

In addition to the partnership that grows with each partner group in Leostho and Malawi, visitors were encouraged by the involvement of the local community. Each partner site showed evidence of community involvement with the IPE initiative and the education of students. For example, student groups and school staff provide clothing and transportation money for students when possible. The community education group in Mt. Moorosi is active in advocating for students’ education. St. James/CWG has offered some training sessions for students. St. James/CWG and BACOMA have families purchase the students uniforms. BACOMA has helped some students to attend better quality schools. Local involvement of IPE families, schools, and communities is commendable and strongly supported by IPE. Local involvement reflects the spirit of partnership and recognizes that the mission of educating students can only be achieved as IPE supports the vision of local leaders.