The Sonder Project

Meet our Class of 2025 secondary school graduates 🎓

This year, 19 students completed secondary school in Malawi through The Sonder Project’s Education Is Power program.

Their graduation represents years of hard work, persistence, and support from the sponsors who helped make their education possible.

Inside our 2025 Annual Report, we celebrate this milestone and share more from a year of growth across Education Is Power, including Academic Camps and the continued expansion of support beyond secondary school.

Read more on page 22 of our 2025 Annual Report at the link in our bio.

“What do we eat in Malawi?”

From long days visiting partner communities to overnight stays in the field, meals are an important part of keeping our team going.

Here are a few of the delicious meals our team has enjoyed recently while working in Malawi, from staples like nsima (maize porridge), chambo (a type of tilapia from Lake Malawi), and various vegetable greens, to a few improvised dishes along the way, depending on where the day takes us.

Special shoutout to Aunty Mary and Olipa, who help keep our team fed, cared for, and ready for the road while we visit partner communities across Malawi. 💛

What’s your favorite Malawian dish, or what would you like to try? Let us know in the comments!

In November 2025, we installed a solar-powered water system at Kasungu Secondary School, a longtime partner school where we currently sponsor 26 students.

Kasungu is home to more than 400 boarding students, along with teachers and their families who also live on campus. While the school is connected to city water, that supply is inconsistent and sometimes shuts off for days at a time. The new system changes that.

By adding water storage and a solar-powered backup, the school now has more reliable access to water for dormitories, bathrooms, the kitchen, teachers’ houses, and the school garden. That garden helps support the school feeding program and creates an opportunity for the school to generate additional income for school resources. When students have reliable water, they have one less barrier standing between them and their education.

Want to help bring lasting change like this to another school? Reach out at [email protected]

🔥Our 2025 Annual Report is here!

This year’s report is more than a look back at the past year. It is a reflection on 10 years of The Sonder Project, from the vision that started it all to the work our donors, partners, staff, and community leaders continue to make possible today.

Inside, you’ll find some of our most meaningful stories from 2025, reflections on our 10-year anniversary, highlights from our clean water, education, and agriculture programs, and a celebration of our largest class of high school graduates yet.

Most of all, this report is a thank you.

To every donor, partner, volunteer, board member, staff member, and community leader who has been part of this journey: your support continues to help communities access the resources and opportunities they need to build a better future.

See the link to the report in the comments⬇

A day in the field: assessing potential well sites in Malawi 💧

Before The Sonder Project drills a well, our team first visits communities that have formally requested clean water support..

That process includes meeting with local leaders, walking the entire community, visiting the current water sources, understanding how families are collecting water now, and identifying the number of people who could potentially be impacted.

On this day, our Malawi team identified two communities ready to move into the next stage of the process.

There are still important steps ahead, but this is how every well begins: by listening first, assessing carefully, and working alongside communities to determine where clean water can make the greatest impact.

A quick stop in Kajakawo to see a recently completed Sonder well was filled with community gratitude and one very unexpected reunion. 💧

The well in Kajakawo was completed in November 2025 with support from Zurich Middle East. Today, this water point provides safe, clean water to more than 300 people in the surrounding area.

Community members gathered at the well to share words of thanks and reflect on the changes clean water has already brought to daily life.

Then came a surprise connection.

Chad recognized Saidi, who hosted him in this area 16 years ago during a visit with , when he was helping to build a school nearby. At the time, Saidi’s wife was pregnant. When their child was born, they named him Chad.

Stay until the end to see the two Chads meet for the first time. 💛