M.E.L.T. is comprised of a group of education and business professionals with a passion for young children and the doors that can be opened for those children through literacy. It is our mission to equip the children in the Northern Region of Malawi, Africa with up to date, culturally appropriate early literacy materials and readers. The readers we publish are about Malawi village daily life, science and culture, and basic health concepts. We will continue teacher training in the twenty schools that we serve so the teachers can get top results when using these materials.
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Between 2008 and 2014, five short term trips in Northern Malawi focused on training primary teachers to teach early reading. Although the Malawian teachers were grateful and enthusiastic learners, the trainers were dismayed by the severe lack of curriculum materials and early reading books.
A three-person team (Margot McGorman, Mike Miller, Heather White) traveled to Malawi in April 2015 to meet with government education officials and Malawian teachers who had participated in the training program. This visit confirmed the ongoing need for early literacy readers, teacher training, and supplemental classroom literacy materials.
The M.E.L.T. Committee was formed December of 2015 to continue these early literacy efforts in Malawi. M.E.L.T. has commited to a literacy project in the Northern Region of Malawi which:
MELT is an Ecumenical Mission Project of the Watertown First Presbyterian Church.
Meet Our Team
M.E.L.T. provides the teachers and students of Northern Malawi with four key services: early literacy publications, teacher training, teachers' edition manuals, and a mobile library that transports the materials to the classrooms.
MELT is committed to providing culturally appropriate early readers. These readers will be about Malawian children for Malawian children. Research shows that when children are learning to read, they are more successful when the pictures are familiar to them. In a country where most homes do not have electricity, a picture depicting 'V is for vacuum' is useless. The book collection will include readers written about Malawi village daily life, Malawi science and culture, and important basic health and safety concepts.
The MELT program includes ongoing early literacy training for primary teachers in northern Malawi. All teachers will receive an alphabet literacy kit and classroom training in the best practices with these materials. We will continue to provide teacher training as we publish additional early literacy materials. This will ensure that children receive high quality instruction as they learn to read.
We will provide instruction manuals for teachers to use after each training workshop. These manuals will include detailed examples of the best practices for the early readers, ABC Fluency Kit, and other early literacy materials.
Our purchase of the Land Cruiser allows the MELT Field Director to transport materials to and from teachers in rural schools. Most of our village schools are located in the bush, over very rough terrain, making access quite difficult. The Book Mobile allows these remote schools to share a large pool of early literacy materials to teach young children how to read.
You can help us provide these vital services in a number of ways: donate funds, sponsor a book, ask us to speak at a meeting or function, and spread the word.
Many of you have been a huge help providing the funds for the purchase of the M.E.L.T. Land Cruiser. However, our expenses don't stop there. Building and publishing our early literacy library, creating and printing the teacher manuals & sound cards, and maintaining the Land Cruiser will be regular expenses we incur. Our mission trips to distribute new materials and hold teacher workshops will also require regular fundraising. Any amount you are able to contribute will help us to continue providing our services to the children and teachers of Northern Malawi. Make checks payable to MELT. If you would like to specify how your donations will be used, write memo line: general funds, mobile library, publications, mission trips, or teacher resources, or selecting from a dropdown menu when donating online below. Checks can be sent to: MELT c/o H. White, 424 Paddock Street, Watertown, NY 13601.
DonationsBy sponsoring one of our books, you will provide the funds necessary to print and distribute the book. The book you sponsor will be dedicated to you or a person of your choice.
Our goal is to publish and deliver six new books by mid-2019. Help us reach our goal. Use the link below to see the books that are written and designed, and just need to be published and shipped.
Sponsor a BookThe Malawi Early Literacy Team is excited to announce our Outreach Opportunity. We would love to come and speak to your organization, church, or family gathering about our work in the Northern Region of Malawi, Africa! We have: a PowerPoint presentation, tri-folds, and samples of the materials we are using in Malawi. Please consider scheduling a visit from a team member and learn how you can help the young children of Malawi achieve literacy!
Contact UsLet your friends, family and co-workers know about the cause that is taking action to fortify early literacy in Northern Malawi: the Malawi Early Literacy Team. Spread the word about our mission to create and distribute much-needed litereacy supplies to the children and teachers of the remote regions of Northern Malawi. Whether you share information verbally, on paper via one of our flyers or trifolds or via social media, spreading the word about M.E.L.T. will help us garner the support necessary to carry out our goals!
We're on FacebookWe would love to hear from you. Use one of the forms of contact listed here to ask questions, join the conversation, voice your concerns, or book us to speak to your group or organization.
Thanks for keeping in touch!
MELT is an Ecumenical Mission Project of the Watertown First Presbyterian Church.
Make checks payable to:
MELT
Checks mailed to:
MELT c/o H. White
42822 St. Lawrence Ave, Unit 51
Thousand Island Park, NY 13692
*If you would like to specify how your donation will be used, write memo line: general funds, mobile library, publications, mission trips, or teacher resources.
Donations