Photo 1 Guava Trees.JPG — **Michael Jackson’s Legacy**

**in partnership with Starfish Malawi**

The support of Michael Jackson’s Legacy (MJL) has been amazing.

Since 2017 they have been passionate about what we are doing in Malawi and have supported and helped us with a number of projects.

Here is an overview of MJL

Michael Jackson Legacy (MJL) is a charitable organisation dedicated to continuing Michael Jackson’s humanitarian legacy in his absence, and thereby making the world a better place. Michael Jackson inspired love, hope and compassion worldwide through his music and through his humanitarian work on behalf of the suffering and underprivileged, and we are committed to continuing his legacy of love in his memory and through his example. Our projects will reflect issues that he cared deeply about: the welfare of children and animals, the protection of the environment, and the elimination of needless suffering. We as individuals do not have the influence a worldwide superstar can procure, but as individuals, we can ‘make the change ‘ and collectively, we can make a difference.

The Earth Child Ngolowindo Orchard

This was the first project that MJL contributed to in 2017 enabling 1000 fruit trees saplings to be planted in a small area of the Glad Tidings Orphan Care (GTOC) site to enable them to be well-watered to grow, before being transferred to the area designated to be the orchard.

A well was dug by hand in the orchard area and the plants began growing and producing fruits.

The vision for this orchard was two-fold.

1. To provide a source of fresh fruit to add to the diet of those children fed at GTOC and to the community.

2. To be a source of education for students from Ngolowindo Primary School to learn about the plants and the benefit of them

Saplings

Richard by the well

Garden Club among the papayas

Guava bushes

Mango fruit

Mango trees

Banana fruit and flower

Desks 4 classrooms

Many school classrooms have no desks which mean the children have to sit on the concrete floor, which in some schools is breaking up. We wanted to address this problem and therefore launched an appeal so that desks could be made locally and delivered to the schools. In 2018 MJL stepped up again and funded enough desks for two classrooms at Ngolowindo Primary school. The children and teachers were so pleased and excited on the day they arrived and can now learn a lot better and have a place to put their books.

Heel Malawi

In 2019 this was a small but much needed project to provide durable footwear with an expandable strap to allow for growth of the feet. MJL have donated 100 pairs of these shoes in branded bags so that many children who currently have now shoes and run around in bear feet, can now have footwear to keep their feet safe.

Chris Knott - CEO and Founder of Starfish Malawi is showing one of the bags. The shoes went on the container

Everland Malawi Special Educational Needs Centre

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In 2020 during conversations with MJL about the needs of children with disabilities, we shared that a future goal of Starfish was to build a special educational needs centre to provide for those children who had various disabilities and were finding it hard to learn in the very large class sizes of Std 1 and 2 in Ngolowindo primary school. We wanted to provide a safe environment where specialist teachers could give a better, targeted, education in the early primary school classes, enabling the children to have a huge step forward in their studies that would set them on a good path to return back in to the main school in Std 3.

We were delighted that MJL not only wanted to fund the construction of the centre but to equip it with resources and desks as well. The centre opened in 2022 and has already made an impact to the children that are being taught there. The Government supplied two trained special needs teachers who welcome the opportunity to provide structured teaching to these children.

MJL have also raised funds to construct a teacher’s house.

Everland Malawi is an amazing centre and we so appreciate the support of MJL.

Humphrey one of the teachers saying how much they appreciate the centre

Please see below the building of the Everland Malawi Special Educational Needs Centre.