Why Malawi?

photo Stevie Mann

Twice Upon a Dress was founded to support young scholars living in Malawi, Africa. The area was chosen because of the connection of the founders to the region. Jody Stephenson had traveled to Malawi with Children of the Nations, during which time she met local Jocelyn Kumwenda and together they decided to support students in the area.

Malawi was historically part of the British controlled zone of central Africa. It is south of Kenya, nestled between Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. It is a small country with a long lake stretching most of the eastern border. Malawi shares much of its climate and wildlife with neighboring regions.

Mkulumadzi Lodge, Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi

Above, Misuku, a region of protected springs, part of land and well initiatives here

Above Lake Malawi via

 via

Despite the beauty of Malawi, there are many social and economic challenges, especially for girls. According to the World Bank, only 27% of Malawi’s girls enroll in secondary school, and just 13% will attend. Only a fraction of that 13% will actually finish 4 years of secondary school. Girls also consistently perform worse on national examinations and face dropout at a much higher rate. Stats via.

The causes for these numbers are due primarily to the costs of education. If girls have educational support their average marriage age raises, early pregnancy decreases and income increases. For this reason, Twice Upon a Dress uses your existing dresses to sell to support young scholars staying in school. See a great summary below.