That thing, that special "Ujuen"
Education is a human right
Our goal is to ensure quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for the children we sponsor in Malawi.
The Ojeni Organization is a not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) Tax ID: 92-3023324 | IRS exemption letter
The Problem
Everyone deserves the right to an education.
In Malawi, circumstances and means often prevent children from completing even the most basic of schooling. The consequences of failing to learn the basic skills of literacy and arithmetic can easily condemn a child to a life of poverty and severely limit their ability to reach their potential.
Our Mission
In keeping with UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, we aim to ensure quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for the children we sponsor in Malawi. In 2017 almost 17% of all children under the age of 18 in Malawi were either orphans or considered vulnerable. In these cases it is rare that money for schooling is readily available. At Ojeni, we aim to rectify this. By supporting children where no support previously existed, we are able to offer each child the opportunity to continue their studies and acquire the knowledge that will help them go on to reach their unique potential.
Fighting for every kid to be seen
The Ojeni Organization is a not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) Tax ID: 92-3023324 | IRS exemption letter
Why
Once upon a time three tea traders lived and worked in, then fell in love with Malawi. While there at different times, a central figure in all their experiences was Mr John Kalichero, a friend, a colleague, a legend. As life moves, so did the three tea traders, going on to new lives around the world. John sadly passed in 2019, leaving his loving wife Linda and beautiful daughter Tyia behind. Devastatingly Linda passed as well the following year leaving Tyia a young orphan with limited support and facing a challenging future. John was gone but by no means forgotten. His impact on the three tea traders was deep and they decided to support Tyia’s education and work to ensure she was not left behind. Seeing first-hand how impactful this has been and the wonderful young women Tyia is becoming ultimately led to Ojeni.
How
We act as a conduit to ensure those whom wish to support our mission can be assured their donations matter. As a public charity we focus on getting bang for buck. With a core set of partners we provide efficient and direct funding to provide the greatest possible impact versus our mission. We don’t have huge teams but leverage excellent networks to ensure every cent gets to where it matters. Our outreach focuses primarily on fundraising while an Ojeni team member on the ground ensures funds flow to where needed.
Our Pledge
Secondary school fees in Malawi, inclusive of fees for exams and other classroom essentials, range from £85 – £550 per year, depending on the school. In a country that sees its currency regularly devalued, it is incredibly hard for children to maintain their places in the school throughout the necessary years of enrolment. Ojeni is committed to sponsoring a child the whole way through their secondary education of four years and provide additional support should that child also wish to attend university or college locally. Ojeni will only sponsor a child if it can guarantee the full funding of the secondary school place.
How We Work
In order to deliver our mission, we have partnered with the UK based charity Nchima Trust. Established in 1962 the Nchima Trust has been working on the ground in Malawi with the day-to-day logistics of supporting children for many years. We have selected them due to their familiarity and expertise in finding and funding children through school in the Southern Region of Malawi. The Trust employs several volunteers on the ground who, in addition to their day jobs, closely monitor and support the recipients of the funding.
Delivery Partner
Ojeni is proud to be partnering with the Nchima Trust, a dedicated organization committed to uplifting underprivileged individuals in Malawi, with a primary focus on education. Nchima Trust has a commendable track record of supporting talented youth from the most economically challenged backgrounds.
Our partnership marks a significant milestone in our mission. Their strong, devoted and experienced team, will play a pivotal role as our on-ground delivery partner. By aligning our efforts, we aim to ensure the implementation of robust compliance and traceability measures across our funding programs.
This collaboration guarantees that recipients of our charitable initiatives can confidently access a supportive, engaging, and empathetic infrastructure while pursuing their educational aspirations.
Who
Laurie
Spending 2 months in Malawi as a trainee tea taster for Tetley tea was a revelation. I loved the place but found it a contradiction between the life I was living and the majority of folks on the ground. Beautiful, funny, happy and sad it was the ultimate spectrum in human experience. When I got the chance a couple of years later to live in Malawi and run a business I jumped at the chance. Two years forward I was hugely sad to leave. During my time there many people helped me thrive both in work and personally for which I will forever be grateful for. However, our mutual friend john was the glue that held everything together. Ojeni is my homage to a wonderful father, husband and friend who I miss dearly. I hope it’s a good one.
Ross
Tea took me to Malawi for the first time in 2012 where I spent three months working alongside Simon and John in Blantyre. After an additional temporary stint in the same office in 2013 this time with Laurie, I was eventually posted there to run the office full-time in 2014. Working in Malawi, I became increasingly aware of the many hardships faced by children there. As part of my job I visited schools on the tea estates, and on weekends played both football and cricket at schools in the towns: the enthusiasm of the children was universally infectious, but their resources and opportunities for development were often extremely limited.
Prior to joining the tea industry, I had been a teacher in the UK, and additionally spent my summer and easter holidays running activity courses for children of all ages at a variety of sport and language camps. After the tragic passing of both John and his wife Linda, Simon, Laurie and I decided that the least we could do to honour our friend was to help his daughter get a start in life, and we combined to contribute towards her school fees. A passion for education combined with a love of Malawi have played integral roles in the creation of Ojeni.
Simon
I first ended up in Malawi in 2000 for 6 months as part of my tea trading travels & met John in Cape Maclear. We became firm friends at that time & ended up getting into plenty of scrapes & adventures together. When I was lucky enough to wrangle my way back to the warm heart of Africa again in 2007, we reconnected & John then became a part of the new venture I got into running a Beach lodge on the Lakeshore called Gecko Lounge. It’s during this time that he met & married his wife Linda & his daughter Tiya came along. When I moved on from the Beach Bar life to return to selling tea in Malawi, John came to work with me at James Finlay Blantyre. The ultimate man about town, John knew everyone & generally had a plan for most of the chaotic & unpredictable occurrences that took place on a daily basis. I was heartbroken when I heard that John had sadly passed away & then when Linda also passed on as well a year later, we collectively decided that we would always look to help and support Tiya throughout her life. This starts with helping support her through her education & then always being there for her thereafter. We saw first hand the difficulties & costs associated with getting a good education in Malawi & decided that we felt there’s others we’d like to help benefit in the same way as Tiya.
Help make a difference
The Ojeni Organization is a not-for-profit, section 501(c)(3) Tax ID: 92-3023324 | IRS exemption letter
