ISSUES TAKE ACTION REWARDS PARTNERS POWER OUR PLANET DOWNLOAD APP ENGLISH

NEWS DEFEAT POVERTY

Inside Rihanna’s Humanitarian Trip to

Malawi for Education
"It's one thing to read statistics, but I want to see it firsthand."

! SHARE ' SHARE ( SHARE " TWEET ✉ EMAIL

Evan Rogers

By Cassie Carothers
June 7, 2017

Inside Rihanna's Trip to Malawi for Education

Share

Watch on

Rihanna has jumped right into her role as Global Ambassador for the Global Partnership for Education.

The singer and artist traveled with GPE in January on an educational trip to Malawi, where she visited schools
to meet students, teachers, government officials, and mentors to better understand the issues and challenges
surrounding education.

She traveled with former Australian Prime Minister and GPE Chairperson Julia Gillard and Global Citizen CEO
Hugh Evans.

Take Action: Tell Our Most Powerful Leaders to Support Education

The trio visited the Muzu Primary School on the outskirts of Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, and the Lilongwe Girls
Secondary School, where they went to math and biology classes. They also watched a student debate on
arranged marriage.

Image: Evan Rogers

There she met with education experts, talked with children, and lead them through singing and learning
exercises.

“I’m really here to see it,” Rihanna said. “It’s one thing to read statistics, but I want to see it firsthand, and find
out all that can be done and where to start first.”

Read More: Rihanna Named Ambassador to Global Partnership for Education

Half of the Malawi population lives below the poverty line and the average income is around 90 cents a day.

Classrooms sometimes have as many as 100 students with just one teacher. It’s harder for students to
succeed in classes that big and they are at greater risk of dropping out.

“It’s such a pity that they have to drop out because they are so smart and everybody is learning together and
learning at the same pace it seems. It’s sad that has to end for some of them because they could probably do
so much if they had the resources to continue and complete.

Another challenge is food — many students come to school without having eaten yet, and meals aren’t
provided at school.

Read More: Rihanna Isn’t Just a Superstar — She’s a Super Giver as Well

Image: Evan Rogers

Rihanna became an ambassador for GPE in September 2016 after hearing the stunning statistics around
refugees — there are 17 million school-aged children who are refugees or displaced due to conflict. Globally,
there are 75 million children age 3 to 18 who live in countries facing war and violence, where education is
threatened, according to GPE.

This isn’t her first act of education advocacy. She founded the Clara Lionel Foundation in 2012 — named after
her grandparents — as a way to give back to the world.

The Clara Lionel Foundation’s mission is to improve education, health, arts and culture in communities around
the world.

Read More: Rihanna Saves Students From Debt With Global Scholarship Program

Currently, the foundation provides micro grants to schools in Barbados, Rihanna’s home country, where it has
also established the Clara Brathwaite Center for Oncology and Nuclear Medicine. The singer’s foundation also
awards scholarships to bright, motivated students from Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, and other countries to attend
college in the US.

The singer and businesswoman also recently got the president of France to commit more funds to the
Education Cannot Wait fund.

Ahead of the 2016 Global Citizen Festival in New York City, which Rihanna headlined, the Barbados native
decided to give France’s President Francois Hollande a little nudge when his government was slow to respond
to Global Citizens. And of course, it worked. Hollande tweeted back that education was indeed his No. 1
priority and committed $2 million to global education.

Rihanna's already accomplished a good deal for education — and we can't wait to see what she does next in
this new role.

TOPICS | Rihanna GPE Global Partnership for Education Malawi Julia Gillard

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Join the movement

Email Address →

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.

Read more

itar‐ You Can Attend Rihanna’s Diamond Ball by Do‐ Rihanna Meets With President & First Lady Riha
nating to Girls in Malawi Macron to Support Global Partnership for Edu‐ dent
manity. A dollar can go a long way. cation Overcr
for stu
264 million children are out of school and the funding needs are critical.

BY PHINEAS RUECKERT BY CASSIE CAROTHERS BY MEG

2 MIN READ 2 MIN READ 6M

JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL

Email Address → ! " # $ % &

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.

L A N G U AG E

ENGLISH DEUTSCH FRANÇAIS ESPAÑOL

SU P P O R T T H E M OV E M E N T

DONATE NOW
↑
ABOUT G E T I N V O LV E D WAT C H + L I S T E N GLOBAL CITIZEN ENQUIRIES

PROGRAMS
Who We Are Donate to Global Global Citizen Live Contact Us
Citizen Cisco Youth
Impact Vax Live FAQs
Leadership Award
Take Action
Terms of Use Every Vote Counts Press
Global Citizen Prize
Jobs
Privacy Policy Global Goal: Unite
Waislitz Global
Merchandise Shop
Rewards Winners Color Esperanza Citizen Awards
The Red Circle
Global Citizen - Together At Home Fellowship
Rewards Program Program
STAND UP
Sitemap Emerging
ACTIVATE: The Creatives
Global Citizen Global Citizen
Ambassadors Movement Youth Leaders
Award
The Cry Power
Podcast with Global Citizen
Hozier Fellowship
Program

© 2012-2023 Global Poverty Project, Inc All Rights Reserved

This site uses cookies to provide you with the best experience. Read more. ×