On the morning of June 18, 64 students dressed in traditional graduation caps and gowns were joined by more than 1,000 Malawian and international guests to celebrate the completion of a two-year agricultural program from the School of Agriculture for Family Independence (SAFI) at Mtalimanja Village.

Husbands and wives stood proudly together as they waited their turn to receive their diplomas and congratulations from Blake Roney, Nu Skin founder and chairman, and chief of Mtalimanja Village, as well as Callista Mutharika, First Lady of Malawi, and Napoleon Dzombe, SAFI chairman. The group was the second SAFI graduating class and represented 32 families whose lives would forever be changed by their newly gained knowledge.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the First Lady of Malawi said, “We have here this group of people lead by Mr. Blake Roney, and they are doing something. If there were many people like the people from Nu Skin, Malawi would be a different country altogether.”

Thanks to generous donors to the Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation, which provides funding to SAFI, these students have gained the tools necessary to improve their own lives, as well as the lives of their children and others in their respective villages.  Many graduates have already increased their maize yields as much as seven times more than previous harvests thanks to a better understanding of irrigation and fertilization. The students report that they now have great hope for their future and their children’s future.

Among those in attendance was the Malawi Minister of Agriculture and Principal Secretary of Agriculture, Nu Skin Force for Good Foundation Board members, Steve Lund, Sandie Tillotson, Truman Hunt, members of the Nu Skin Board of Directors and more than 40 Nu Skin distributors, as well as international journalists.

To donate to the school of agriculture, click here.