The people of Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are still struggling to recover from the vast destruction caused by Cyclone Idai in March 2019. The massive cyclone took lives, destroyed homes, schools and infrastructure, and left students wondering how their education would continue.

With climate change increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, triggering droughts and floods that displace populations, and turning economies on their ends, more and more girls and boys are experiencing first-hand what the climate crisis means for their learning, for their communities and for their future.

Nelah Kaphatikiza, a student at the Sekeni Primary School in the Chikwawa District of Malawi, was worried what the future would bring after Cyclone Idai ripped through her community. Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies, provided quick relief in the form of education supplies and other supports to her school.

“When a disaster strikes, learning suffers as our minds switch to things we lost and the immediate problems we go through. When classes resumed, I expected to be fighting for books with my classmates, but we not only received new textbooks, but also notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, mathematical sets and play things of different shapes.” ~ Nelah Kaphatikiza, student at Sekeni Primary School, Malawi