A COMMUNITY group in Reading has fostered further education through its support of a student to settle here for their studies.
The Rotary Club of Reading Abbey has helped Grace Mkangama, who is from Lilongwe in Malawi, to settle in Thames Valley while she undergoes a course at the University of Reading.
Donations from the club were added to the Rotary Foundation Grant to total around £26,000 of funds raised to help support Grace’s studies.
Members will also be on hand to help her settle into student life in Britain.
Grace has arrived in the UK and is beginning her year-long Masters course in Climate, Environment, and Development at the university.
Once she has graduated, Grace plans to return to Malawi and hopes to work with programmes helping to improve food production and environmental conservation.
The UN published a report in July estimating that more than 2.8 million people will face hunger in Malawi as the country faces its worst food crisis in a decade.
Rotary Club member Peter Mason said: “The global Rotary Foundation supports and funds thousands of Scholars worldwide to study for Post Graduate Degrees in a range of subjects that fit in with Rotary’s areas of focus.
“Our arriving scholar is from a low income country, Malawi, and has received our support as Grace will return to Malawi with new skills to assist young people and small crop farmers to lead more sustainable lives.”
Statistics from the United Nations World Food Programme show that 2 in 5 children in the country suffer from stunted growth through undernutrition.
The WFP said a swift response was “imperative” in saving the lives of children across the country, as the President of Malawi, Peter Mutharika, launched an appeal to the international humanitarian community and declared a state of national disaster in the country.
The group is one of the six Rotary Clubs in Reading, aimed at helping others through volunteering, fund raising, and community services as well as fostering connections between members of the public and business contacts.
More information about the Rotary Club of Reading Abbey is available via: www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs
