Construction in Progress: BeeHive School has broken ground!

We recently recieved an update from Niall's parents who visited him over the winter holidays. Here is an excerpt of their recent e-mail:

"As you know, Niall has had a bit of a rough time lately, although there's always a silver lining. Because of the problems with the school being condemned, he has been forced to start building the new school sooner than he had hoped, and certainly before funds are in place. He and Constance [Niall's loving wife] were scouring the countryside for bricks, cement, sand and rubble and by the time we left on 5 January the foundations were dug for the first classroom block. The plot has been cleared and fenced and already looks like a work in progress. I think he's now run out of money and probably won't have any until the next term's fees are due but at least some progress is being made. They're both working incredibly hard and are very anxious to get things moving, and as a result, we spent quite a lot of our holiday looking after the children, which was certainly no hardship to us, while they dealt with builders and officious busy-bodies. Luckily Niall is quite a laid back person, and he seems to be able to deal with the stress by prioritising that which is really important." - Stephen Dorey, Jan 22, 1019

I know this is a hard time for Niall, so please send him words of encouragement - I know he deeply appreciates them. As anyone who has ever had to deal with permits and red tape knows...it can be very trying. Here is a heart felt update from Niall regarding the recent school closure and the legal battle they are in.

"We are precariously open. We had to go to court to get an injunction to keep us open, as the usual channels were kind of closed down - it was a bit of a crisis time in Malawi. The Min of Ed inspected 1228 private schools, and only 228 reached their minimum standards. This meant almost 60000 students had no schools to go to, and the govt provided no dialogue on what they should do. Our situation is actually quite unique - 1) we are an international school, the only one in the north here! 2) all our paperwork is there, showing that we applied for land in 2006 and only got the lease offer enabling us to start building on Nov 12 (same day they closed us!). We have a good case I think and a number of influential people seem to be on our side. the only thing I am a bit worried about is the confrontational nature of a court case. But if it keeps us open while we build then all for the best! We will be in court early Jan I think - I will keep you posted.

Enrollment therefore has gone down as people are still a bit worried. We now have 134 students instead of the 210 weclosed last term with. Bit of a kick in the teeth, but we'll claw our way back...

Development has started!!!!!!!!!!!

WE have paid K1,100,000 development charges (balance of K1,200,000 to be paid in 6 mths), we have paid K30000 to the Survey dept who put the posts in the corners of the plot, we have paid 15,000 for water connection (they say they have no pipes!) and so far we have had five trips of bricks. People are also clearing the site with slashers, and we have put a flimsy fence of wood to demarcate the plot (which is huge, by the way - a good size!) We have also been meeting with various contractors trying to find the best, cheapest and least crooked builder to take on the job of foundation. I am in the process too of getting an updated quotation as everything will have gone up.

Obviously with all the problems we are having, the urgency of building quickly is paramount. Unfortunately, we have a number of large problems. The first is it is rainy season, and everything is harder - from transport, to materials, to labour. Also, the biggest problem is funds. We will exhaust our capital in a few weeks. I have had a number of positive meetings with various business people (Vizara rubber plantation, Raiply wood factory, Kawalazi tea estate etc all of whom have vested interests on the school, either with present pupils or future pupils), and I am getting positive noises for loans. I am trying to write another proposal, with specific details on how much I need, how I can pay back, or provide education in lieu etc, but I am finding it quite hard (I'm notoriously crap at that kind of thing - sorry). I'm just a bit worried about how to make ends meet in all the areas of running the school, building the new school, paying off debts, paying monthly wages, plus lawyers fees now, plus the fear that we may just be closed anyway if we lose our case! Ho hum, sure it will all be ok. But I'm sure you can see if there was ever a time I REAlly need your help - it is now! Every time I look at the drawing plans I fall in love and think wow what a beautiful school this is going to be. Then I remember I've got no money, but we have to build within a year or so. A friend here has also just lost his car, house and everything because he got into so much debt - so that is not helping my confidence. Any words of reassurance, advice wisdom etc would be gratefully received..." - Niall Dorey, Jan 23, 2010

Now is the time to help Niall! If you've been looking for a good cause that could really use your help, well, you've found it! BeeHive is hitting a really rough patch and now with enrollment drastically dropping, they really need your help! So please, donate whatever you can. Even just $5 or $10 goes really far in Malawi and this is definitely the kind of case where small donations make a big impact. Or if you really can't swing any donations right now then please consider volunteering - contact info AT beehiveschool.com for more info. Or consider spreading the word by forwarding the BeeHive School website and newsletter links to your friends with an appeal for help. Thank you from Nial, the BeeHive School students and faculty, and all the members of the extended BeeHive School Community!

Just to be clear, none of the funds being raised through the website are being used to pay for legal fees. Niall is spending his personal savings and the funds left over from school fees to cover those. Here is a detailed list from Niall of what he has spent so far; updated Jan 26, 2010. You can check our Expense Reports Page for regular updates on how your donations are being put to good use.

The photos on the right were sent to us on Jan 26, 2010 and document the purchase of new materials for the school. They also provide some views of the plot of land. They are making swift progress despite it being the rainy season, which slows everything down in general.