Its Aims

The Fund's slogan 'Help for the Heart of Africa' is derived from Malawi's catch-phrase 'The warm heart of Africa'. This captures not just the climate and geographical position, but a social culture that has made Malawi an impressively stable and peaceful country. Yet, it is also the fourth poorest country in the world, and in common with the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, faces unrelenting difficulties in the struggle for development, especially since its natural resources are severely limited. This makes human resources vital to the country's future, and education is the key to their development.

Both men and women are crucial to this development, but securing an education can be more difficult for women because of traditional roles. Fewer than 50% of Malawian women over the age of 15 can read and write. In recent years, with the help of several international agencies, great strides have been made in primary and secondary education, especially for women.

The Soko Fund is unique in its focus on higher education. By supporting women through local universities it aims to contribute to both the advancement of talented individuals and the development of the country. Soko scholarships are restricted to women students born in Malawi undertaking a course of higher education at a college or university there. Support is given to students registered for courses of a more practical or vocational kind, and preference is given to those from relatively poor backgrounds.

In addition to its own scholarships, the Soko Fund also administers some special awards whose aims are in accordance with the fund.

Its History

The Soko Fund was set up by Trust Deed in 2003 and is a registered charity. The idea arose from the experience of two of the current Trustees, who spent the year 1999 teaching at Bandawe School for Girls in Malawi. Working with these students and seeing the barriers to higher education for female students made evident the great need to provide support for them.

The fund was named in honour of Mr Yesaya Soko, a Malawian science teacher formerly at Bandawe, whose astonishing resilience and determination in finding the means to pay for his own university education provides a fine example of the sort of person the fund is designed to help. His dedication to improving his teaching skills and working within Malawi inspired a fund to support Malawians who want to contribute to the development of their country by acquiring the higher skills a university degree can provide. The Soko Fund has, initially, limited its support to female students since they face the most obstacles to higher education.