Dubai start-up Cafu aims to raise more than Dh150,000 to help build school in Malawi

Fuel-delivery and vehicle services platform aims to raise money to construct and run primary school that will cater to 100 pupils.

Cafu and Dubai Cares join forces to fully fund the building and development of a school in Malawi. Photo: Wam

A Dubai-based start-up has announced a pledge to raise more than Dh150,000 to help fund and build a school in Malawi.

In collaboration with the Dubai Cares Adopt-a-School programme — part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives — Cafu is aiming to raise about Dh154,000 in donations that will help to provide Malawian children with access to education.

As children around the world head back to the classroom, the fuel-delivery and vehicle services platform hopes to construct and run a two-room primary school that will cater to 100 pupils.

It plans to build the school within a year and also create 18 months of literacy activities that will benefit parents and adults in the surrounding community.

Through its Brick by Brick campaign, Cafu’s pledge to sponsor the school will ultimately increase school enrolment in the community by 15 per cent to 20 per cent, helping to break the cycle of poverty in the area, the company said.

With the money raised, and with help from Dubai Cares, the campaign will also provide everything the school needs to run successfully, including furniture and textbooks.

The school will also host up to 60 adult men and women for literacy classes and educational programmes.

Cafu has rolled out several community initiatives in the UAE, including Al Ihsan Charity Association, which provides free fuel to low-income families in Ajman, and “Cafu Creates”, a programme that aims to empower young people by offering a platform for them to pitch innovative ideas, the company said.

Brick by Brick is the company’s first international campaign.

Senegalese pupils benefit from Dubai Cares programme — in pictures