In the classroom
Lessons follow the Malawi curriculum, from reading and writing in Chichewa and English to maths, science and agriculture.
Our story
Built brick by brick
Pang’onopang’ono ndi mtolo. Little by little makes a bundle.
Andrew Banda grew up in Nkhandwe Village, near the shore of Lake Malawi. As a boy, he had a big dream: a school close to home. Before Chankhasi, the nearest primary school was more than 6 km away, so many of the village’s young children were not going to school. It was a long walk for small legs, and in the rainy season the rivers were too dangerous for them to cross.
The people of Nkhandwe talked the problem over with local leaders, and the village was given a plot of land for a school. The first building had mud walls and a grass roof. On weekdays it was a school, and at weekends it was an Anglican church. Andrew was part of it from the start.
Little by little, the school grew. A new school committee rebuilt the church in brick. In June 2009 building began on the first classroom, and supporters sponsored its roof trusses one by one. By 2016 there were seven classrooms, 377 pupils and seven teachers, and Andrew was one of those teachers.
The dream kept growing. Chankhasi now has its own secondary school, Canon Hunter Secondary School, so pupils can carry on to Form 4 without leaving the school family. There are boarding houses for girls and boys, a clinic run by Andrew that also serves the whole community, and solar power day and night.
Today, Andrew is the Very Reverend Father Andrew Malovu Banda. He is the Founder and Director of Chankhasi Private Schools, and Dean of the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi, at All Saints Cathedral in Nkhotakota. He has said that building a better Malawi is a shared responsibility. Chankhasi shows what that looks like: a school built by many hands, near and far.
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The beginning
A church and a school
After talks with local leaders, the people of Nkhandwe Village are given a plot of land for a school. Its first building, with mud walls and a grass roof, is a school on weekdays and an Anglican church at weekends.
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Early days
Brick walls and a teacher
A newly formed school committee rebuilds the church with brick walls and a tiled roof, and employs a teacher, with visitors giving monthly gifts towards the salary. Lessons are held in the church and under the surrounding trees.
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2008
Planning the school’s future
The school committee plans the school’s future, and an architect checks the plans before any building starts.
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2009
The first classroom
Building begins in June. Supporters sponsor the roof trusses one by one, among them pupils at Morna International College in Ibiza, who raise money with weekly biscuit sales. When the first classroom is finished, the school holds an open day for local leaders, education officials, parents and pupils.
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Every summer
Visiting builders
Students from Kingswood School in Bath visit through Open Arms Malawi, helping to raise new school buildings year after year. Kingswood also helps to pay teachers’ salaries.
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2016
Seven classrooms
The school now has seven classrooms, a library, a staff room, a storeroom, separate toilets for boys, girls and staff, and a water tank, with 377 pupils and seven teachers. Andrew Banda is one of the teachers.
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2017
Fresh paint and plaster
Students from Ashville College in Harrogate whitewash and plaster classrooms, paint the blackboards and start building an eco-toilet. The school doors get a coat of bright blue.
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2020
Speaking up for girls
Andrew writes for a British website about why girls’ education matters, and how few pupils, especially girls, win a place at a government secondary school. The primary school has 329 pupils.
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[Year]
A secondary school
Canon Hunter Secondary School opens at Nkhandwe. With Chankhasi Primary School it makes up Chankhasi Private Schools, so pupils can go from Standard 1 to Form 4 in one school family.
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2022
A secondary classroom
Students from Lancing College in Sussex help to lay bricks for a new secondary classroom, and teach some of the lessons.
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2024
A boarding house for girls
A Lancing College group returns to help build a boarding house for girls at the secondary school. Canon Hunter’s first Form 4 students sit the national MSCE exams.
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2025
Caring for health too
In July, Father Andrew, Founder and Director of Chankhasi Private Schools and the Smart Village Clinic, gives medical equipment worth about US$25,000 to Nkhotakota District Hospital. A few days earlier, he gave a similar gift to St Anne’s Anglican Hospital.
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[Year]
Boarding houses for girls and boys
The girls’ boarding house opens, and boys have a boarding house of their own. In 2025 Kingswood School in Bath reports that its gifts are helping the school to keep building a new dormitory.
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Today
Chankhasi today
Chankhasi Private Schools brings a primary school, a secondary school, boarding houses for girls and boys, a clinic and solar power together in one place. The primary school has more than 300 pupils and eight teachers. In 2026, 78 per cent of Canon Hunter’s Form 4 students passed the MSCE, up from 74 per cent the year before. There is still more to build, led by the Founder and Director, the Very Reverend Father Andrew Malovu Banda, now Dean of the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi.
