The inspiration that became “Lessons with Love” first grew from a chance meeting at an online teachers’ group.  Members of the community from around the world, including our founder, came to know a gifted and ambitious young teacher from Malawi Africa who was reaching out in an effort to improve the education and lives of her students.

Knowing Malawi was the 6th poorest nation in the world and upon hearing that the teacher led a class of 264 students, our Co-founder, Nancy Donahue, engaged in the conversation by asking how she could help – the response was “pens”.

This began a journey of a friendship and continuing effort to help the young teacher, Temwani at her primary school in Malawi meet the needs of her students.  For the next year, our founder joined efforts with friends and neighbors and made presentations to interested groups.  This resulted in providing school supplies, assistance for housing orphans, and food and clothing to help these children living in extreme poverty who lacked government support to stay in school in the hopes of enabling brighter futures.

Two other teachers, Theresa Reando in Missouri and Carly Schwartz in North Carolina, had also met Temwani online. When our founder discovered that Carly had obtained an educational grant to bring Temwani to the USA, she reached out to Carly and Theresa to extend Temwani’s trip.  Stephanie Jones from Indiana and Joanne Westbrook from Missouri also joined in funding and hosting to lengthen Temwani’s USA visit.

During her trip, Temwani learned that man had been on the moon, saw a space shuttle up close, put her feet in both the ocean and a swimming pool for the first time, and was able to see and experience schools in the United States.  Temwani was introduced to many people to share her story and provide insight into the many obstacles confronting children and families working to improve their futures and find a path to sustainable lives through education.

On one of Temwani’s final nights at our founder’s home, Nancy asked why she always said she wasn’t hungry before meals.  Temwani’s response, “Hungry is when you haven’t had food in two days.”  That statement stayed with Nancy long after Temwani’s departure.  Each sponsor of the trip was indelibly changed by what they learned from Temwani and knew they had made a lifelong friend.  The trip also resulted in all of them bonding not only with Temwani but with each other.  They began to pool resources and work together with Temwani to identify priority needs.

This experience and everything Temwani had taught the sponsors, inspired Nancy to found Lessons with Love for the express purpose of ensuring children have the opportunity for education and assisting teachers like Temwani all over the globe in gaining the necessary resources to keep these seemingly forgotten children in school.  Lessons with Love’s goal of giving students the support they need to become educated, and turn that education into self-sustained lives for themselves and their communities is central to Lessons with Love’s mission.

The Lessons with Love Co-founders (Derek Donahue, Nancy Donahue, and Barb Garofalo) and initial caring volunteers developed the concept of “partner schools”. The concept centered on those in need of adequate education working side by side with Lessons with Love volunteers to provide safe, accessible environments for classes, and the tools and supplies needed to provide education.  All facilities, food, and educational supplies are provided at no profit.

The only cost to teachers and the communities is the volunteer labor required to make it all possible. The community’s “sweat equity” is freely donated toward the brighter future and in support of the students.  The “sweat equity” ensures community investment and often provides the opportunity for students to learn skills from local craftsmen and artisans as a vital part of a meaningful education toward sustainable careers within their region.

Temwani, her colleagues and their students, as the first Lessons with Love Partnering School, have continued to grow and learn through access to dormitories for orphan housing, school meals, classroom supplies and access to several Little Free Libraries ™ locally. The mission continues to grow and flourish, and has begun the journey to expansion with outreach in other impoverished countries such as Indonesia and India underway.

As times and needs change for each community, the very real change that Temwani, Nancy, Theresa, Carly, Stephanie and Joanne undertook to eradicate poverty through education will continue to grow and change to meet the needs of this vital mission.

Thanks in no small part to all of our volunteers and the awareness they continue to raise, and the generosity and hearts of donors, Lessons with Love looks forward to helping poverty-stricken students worldwide achieve stability and independence through safe and sustainable education initiatives.