Rihanna teaching math to Malawian children is a reminder that there is good in this world
In the East African country of Malawi, only 8% of children have the chance complete secondary school. This is due to a lack of funding for quality education in impoverished areas. Through her Clara Lionel Foundation, which fights for human rights to education and health, Rihanna joined Global Citizen, and the Global Partnership for Education, on a trip to Malawi to see what can be done to improve the country’s education system.
Rihanna, a GPE Global Ambassador since 2016, spent time with government officials and the children of Malawian schools. She spent time teaching kids math and even hopped in on a soccer game.
Global Citizen put together a video showing the highlights of the January trip and the kids of Malawi will melt you heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqmFKnHG5q8?feature=oembed
Being one of the poorest countries in the world, with 50% of the population living below the poverty line, Malawi has many hurdles to leap to achieve higher quality education for their kids.
As of right now, an average Malawian primary school class has upwards of 100 students and usually only 1 teacher at the helm. And because most school houses are too small for those numbers, kids are forced to take their learning outside, which can easily be deterred by the weather.
Rihanna spoke to a Malawian official who told her that most students drop out because of poverty.
"It's such a pity that they have to drop out because they are so smart," Rihanna said, "and everybody is learning together and learning at the same pace it seems. It's sad that, that has to end for some of them because they could probably do so much if they had the resources to continue and compete."
The Clara Lionel Foundation and Global Citizen are working together to convince world leaders to increase their education budgets and funding to the the Global Partnership for Education. The GPE hopes to raise $1.3 billion between 2018 and 2020.
What’s more is that Global Citizen Co-Founder and CEO, Hugh Evans, said the foundation hopes to end extreme poverty by 2030.
To learn more check out the GPE Malawi trip blogpost and the GPE replenishment plan for 2020.
