CHIEF EXECUTIVE, OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK, EDWARD FOX
I know it’s a cliché, but people are the same the world over. Every time I visit Africa and meet our clients, this universal truth hits home – they’ve got the same fears, the same hopes, the same dreams as you and I.
Take education. Those of us with families will know how often this theme crops up at social gatherings and how making the right choices for our children can become something of an obsession.
It’s just the same for parents in Malawi. Except there, state education is only available up to the age of 11. After that it’s a fee-paying school, or nothing. For many that brings it down to a simple choice of educating or feeding the child.
So many of the parents I talk to there are anxious to help their children build a better life through education. Being able to put by a little each week into a savings account that earns interest makes that particular dream more of a possibility.