Pamthunzi Safety Net logo Pamthunzi Safety NetA Shade of Hope
Schoolchildren jumping and cheering on a grass field

We help children across Malawi stay in school.

School support, help for children in need, counselling, and youth and sport. Run by a local team in Mzuzu since 2021.

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Why school?

Too many children in Malawi leave school before their future begins.

A volunteer hands school supplies to a pupil

School support

School fees, uniforms, books and bags, so money is never the reason a child leaves school.

Why it matters

3 in 4 people in Malawi live on less than $3 a day.

When a family has that little, school comes last. Fees, a uniform and a meal at school are the first things parents cut, and children are the ones paying the price.

1 in 3children in Malawi finish primary school.
3 in 100children from the poorest families finish lower secondary school.
Give a child the chance to stay in school

Sources: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform ($3-a-day line, 2025 update) · UNICEF Malawi, School-age children

Our numbers

What we did this year.

Children and young people reached in 2026 so far, by programme. Last year in brackets.

School support64children got a school uniform (2025: 30)
Children in need10children in need helped (2025: 6)
Counselling185children and young people counselled (2025: 100)
Youth and sport95young people reached (2025: 15)

Figures from our founder, October 2026.

Stories

From the schools we visited.

April 2026 · across Malawi

One road, school by school.

In April 2026 we drove from the north of Malawi to the south and stopped at schools on the way.

  1. Mzuzu. Area 1B Primary: a football kit, so the team can play matches again.
  2. Rumphi. Bale Secondary School: the first kit the team has ever owned.
  3. Near Lilongwe. Lowe Primary, a remote school: writing materials for the pupils.
  4. Mangochi. Two schools: games with the pupils at St. Augustine 3 Primary, and a new football kit.

Area 1B, Mzuzu · April 2026

No kit, no match.

At Area 1B Primary in Mzuzu, two of the football team's jerseys had gone missing. Without a full set, the team couldn't play a match, and it stayed that way for a long time.

In April 2026 we brought a full kit, donated by football clubs in Germany. Now the team has a kit of its own again.

The Area 1B team in their new dark-blue kit on the school pitch
The team in the new kit.
Pupils of Area 1B in orange uniforms crowd around a football, cheering
The whole school came out for it.

Bale Secondary, Rumphi · April 2026

Borrowed, every game.

Bale Secondary School sits in Rumphi, surrounded by green hills. Its football team never had a kit of its own: for every match, it had to borrow one from another school.

In April 2026 we handed over a full kit, donated by football clubs in Germany. For the first time, the team plays in its own colours.

Lowe Primary, Lilongwe · April 2026

Writing materials for a remote school.

Our road trip took us to Lowe Primary, a remote school outside Lilongwe. We brought writing materials for the pupils, then stayed for a long game of football on the school field.

Pupils of Lowe Primary in green uniforms crowd together on the field, waving
On the school field.
A Pamthunzi volunteer in a red shirt takes a selfie with a crowd of pupils in green uniforms
With the pupils of Lowe Primary.

St. Augustine 2, Mangochi · April 2026

A new kit in Mangochi.

In Mangochi, on the southern tip of Lake Malawi, we handed over a full football kit, donated by football clubs in Germany.

Two men hold up a light-blue jersey in front of a crowd of pupils by the goalposts
Handing over the kit.
The school team posing in the new light-blue kit by the goalposts
The team, ready to play.

St. Augustine 3 Primary, Mangochi · April 2026

Classes under the open sky.

At St. Augustine 3 Primary, the pupils welcomed us with sack races and high jumps.

The school is short of classrooms, so many classes are held outside. When it's too hot or it rains, those lessons are cancelled.

The classroom for learners with special needs can only be reached by stairs, though one of its pupils uses a wheelchair, and there is no toilet those learners can use.

Pupils in white football jerseys, teachers and a visitor kneeling with a ball in front of a school building
With the teachers and the team.
Seven boys in white football jerseys pose on the school steps, smiling
The team in white.

What the schools say

“The help with our students and with sport reduces drop-out and motivates our students to work hard.”

Alice Soko, deputy head teacher, Area 1B Primary, Mzuzu

“The support helps me and the other students focus on our studies.”

Benjamin, Standard 8

What your money does

What it costs to keep a child in school.

Government secondary school is free, but a family still has to buy the uniform, books and a bag. These are the prices we pay in Malawi.

€10a school uniform
€25–37books and a bag
€54everything a child needs to start school
€35baby formula for a month
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Euro amounts at about MK 4,000 per €1. Football kits come donated from clubs abroad.

Portrait of Abdul Rahim Ntenje, founder of Pamthunzi Safety Net

Who we are

Started in Mzuzu. Run from Mzuzu.

Abdul Rahim Ntenje, a Mzuzu University graduate in Transformative Community Development, founded Pamthunzi Safety Net in 2021. He had seen how poverty keeps children out of school, and how many young people in Malawi were struggling with their mental health.

Today a local team in Luwinga, Mzuzu, carries the work.

Abdul Rahim Ntenje

Founder & Executive Director

The team at work

A team member speaks to a group of pupils at a school event
Two team members in Pamthunzi shirts address pupils outdoors
Three team members, one in a red Pamthunzi shirt, on a school visit

Our team

  • Portrait of Sandra BandaSandra BandaDeputy Managing Director
  • Portrait of Owen MtamboOwen MtamboProject Coordinator
  • Portrait of Sibongire KatsonyaSibongire KatsonyaPsychological Officer
  • Portrait of Ntchindie MkandawireNtchindie MkandawirePsychological Officer
  • Portrait of Faham BandaFaham BandaHead of Communications
  • Portrait of Farouq KalumbiFarouq KalumbiDigital Manager

Our board

  • Soufian El HajuiChairman
  • Bertha GondweCoordinator
  • Shooqran KumbaniLawyer and legal adviser
  • Pontavida LesterProject director
  • Misheck BandaOverseer · Senior lecturer in intellectual property, Mzuzu University

Where we work

Eight schools and Mzuzu University:

  • Area 1B Primary
  • Bale Secondary
  • Choma Secondary
  • Kanthete Primary
  • Lowe Primary
  • Ntchowo Primary
  • St. Augustine 2
  • St. Augustine 3 Primary
  • Mzuzu University

Get involved

Ready to take action?

There are a few ways to help a child in Malawi stay in school. Pick the one that fits you.

Give once Give monthly Donate clothes · next round in March Visit & volunteer
Pupils and visitors gather outside a school building in Malawi

Come and see it

Visit us in Malawi.

Visitors and volunteers are welcome. Tell us what you have in mind and we'll get back to you to plan it with you.

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