Umi Wango is Yambone's education arm. It supports learning across the five communities of Chipanje Chetu. Education opens doors. It leads to secondary school, to careers, and to a future where community members lead conservation and development in the place they call home.Umi Wango brings together three programs. These are the Secondary School Scholarship, the Primary School Feeding Program, and the Teaching Assistant Program.
Secondary School Scholarship
The Secondary School Scholarship covers transport, school fees, uniforms, and supplies. It supports students in grades 7 through 12. In 2025, 129 students from Chipanje Chetu received scholarships. Of these, 69 were girls and 60 were boys. The program achieved a 95.3% retention rate. As a result, students who complete secondary school gain the qualifications to pursue teaching, healthcare, and conservation careers within their own communities.
Primary School Feeding Program
Regular meals keep students in the classroom and ready to learn. In 2025, five primary schools served 187,789 lunches to 1,027 students. This helped support a 98% average attendance rate, with near-equal participation between girls and boys.
Teaching Assistant Program
The Teaching Assistant Program trains community members to work alongside certified teachers in their own villages. In turn, these assistants provide extra support and personalised attention in the classroom. In 2025, eight teaching assistants joined primary schools in Chipanje Chetu.
Results That Last
Waite and Sara, both from Lilumba, recently completed their teaching qualifications through Umi Wango. Now, they are returning to teach in the schools where they grew up. In doing so, they bring stable, community-rooted educators to classrooms that have long relied on teachers from outside the region.
Cross Pollination Between Programs
In August 2026, assistant teachers were trained to coordinate the Primary School Feeding Program in each community primary school. To do this, they learned how to record student attendance, take stock inventory, and place orders for the school kitchens.
Learn more about Umi Wango's impact by reading our Annual Impact Reports.