Our Path Towards Sustainability: A Look at Our 2026 Goals & Projects
2025 was a beautiful year for RiseUp as we completed construction on our Agrarian Center building, establishing a third major in-country assets along with our community center and guesthouse. This marked another step towards our sustainability goals of in-country income generation that will shift funding away from foreign donors dollars and towards in-country income generation. As we head into 2026 our focus remains on equipping and resourcing to put agency and ownership fully into our community. We believe true development does not occur by increasing dependence on foreign donor dollars but by investing these dollars into projects and programs which can become self-sustaining over time and actually lessen dependence in the long-term. Our theme for 2026 “Building Foundations, Growing Futures” reflects this spirit of independence, that once the foundations are set, futures can be grown and lives transformed without the need for traditional aid. It’s a unique take on development, but one that places human dignity, potential and agency at the heart of our programming and decision-making.
“Building Foundations, Growing Futures”
The Power of Solar pumps
After securing funding in 2025, we struck water with a borehole before the years end that will now provide us with year round water supply at our Agrarian Center. When we complete this solar pump project in the first half of 2026, we will be able to directly combat increasingly erratic weather patterns that are fueling the hunger crisis in Malawi’s rain dependent agricultural economy.
Sustainability feature: Our solar pump will allow us to nourish crops year round which can then be taken to market for reinvestment in our programs our distributed to families in need.
A new Conference Hall
With the completion of our guesthouse in early 2025, the need to attract guests became a priority and it was decided that income generation could be improved from the guesthouse with a conference hall offering. One of our major projects in 2026 will be renovating one of our classrooms into a conference hall for corporate retreats and meetings.
Sustainability feature: All income generation from our guesthouse and conference hall will be reinvested after expenses back into our educational programs.
Small Business Grants
As our secondary school scholarship scheme continues to grow, the need to support students post-graduation also grows. Not all of our graduates get accepted into university or want to pursue tertiary education. 2026 will be a year of exploring and experimenting with an apprenticeship scheme focused on the trades and entrepreneurship.
Sustainability feature: Access to business loans is very limited in rural Malawi, but with the right training we believe small business grants can fuel local enterprise for our young graduates.
Additional projects for 2026 include:
growing the number of secondary school and university scholars
investing in additional skills workshops for our in-country staff
expanding our Bokashi organic fertilizer training
deepening our partnership with World Bicycle Relief to get more bicycles and greater mobility to our most remote villagers
hosting our first ever VENTURE group trip and bringing a diverse team of volunteers to Malawi