The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) are a collection of seventeen interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” RiseUp is currently addressing 13 of the 17 goals through our various educational programs.
We are actively working towards poverty alleviation across all our programs. All of our educational initiatives are carefully implemented to foster independence and long-term sustainable outcomes for our families. We are dismantling the systemic “dependency syndrome” mentality reinforced by aid and handouts that has kept most of Malawi trapped in extreme poverty for decades.
Our farming training programs equip subsistance farmers with better farming techniques that result in adequate harvests and income generation. These programs are reducing hunger and improving nutritional levels for entire households.
RiseUp regularly provides emergency medical interventions during health crises (COVID19, the cholera outbreak of 2022, Cyclone Freddy 2023) as well as medical coverage for children in our programs. Our girls empowerment and music programs create awareness around mental health issues and volunteer workshops allow for mental health discussion and counseling.
Our Youth Entrepreneurship after school program is the only of its kind for students in our community to receive supplementary learning in the areas of math, literacy and life skills. Secondary school scholarship gives our students the opportunity to attend private schools where the quality of education is significantly better than public.
Our monthly girls empowerment program and annual retreat confronts issues of gender inequality by empowering our girls through fellowship, motivational talks, prayer and skills development. We also maintain a minimum 50/50 gender balance within our scholarship program.
Our community center is equipped with solar power, allowing us to power our programs off-grid and not place further burden on an already overwhelmed electrical grid.
We are a majority Malawian run organization which means we prioritize in-country job creation. All of our employees receive fair wages and benefits. We also hire local contractors for major building projects and source materials from local entrepreneurs.
Capital building projects such as our community center and guesthouse contribute to local infrastructure growth while our farming training programs bring innovation and improved processes to the farming space. Our students have access to computers and the internet, further fueling industry by reducing the technology gap.
Almost all of our programs are working towards reducing inequalities and promoting economic inclusion as we prioritize the most vulnerable in our community.
Our two major in-country assets which include our community center and guesthouse were built with ISSB blocks instead of traditional brick to reduce CO2 emissions and combat massive deforestation.
Our farming trainings promote climate change resistant decision making to combat deforestation. We’ve also successfully advocated for river sand mining control in our community.
We’ve designed all our in-country building projects with a green thumb to preserve the local environment. Conservation efforts are also a part of our farming trainings.
We are regularly seeking out partnerships to best align our work with these goals and be held accountable to our commitments. Current and past partnerships include CSO Network, Mangochi District Council, Bountiful Grains Trust, Healing Hands International & AGE Africa.