In this article we reflect on the successful partnership between Seibo and the Yokohama-based Salesio Gakuin High School which in the last 12 months has contributed to over 1 million yen in donations for our activities in Malawi. It all began in December of 2020 when we were approached by the students themselves who wanted to know more about FairTrade products and enquired via their teacher if there was a possibility for the students to directly sell our charity coffee from Malawi, at events which they suggested they could organise. Needless to say we, as a charity reliant on donations, were absolutely thrilled.

Looking back on the last year we can safely say that we did not expect what was to come. We hadn’t accounted for the sheer ingenuity and motivation of the students when it came to organising events & raising funds. It has been an absolute pleasure to have had this last year together to work on life-changing projects. The students absolute belief and trust in our work as an NPO has been for Seibo a breakthrough moment. In the past we have struggled to convince people of our cause and to raise sufficient funds for Malawi. The students of Salesio Gakuin have shown us the way forward- together we can and will change the world.