TWU award for ‘turning educational barriers into sustained action’ in Zambia

Mandelena Chetty, a graduate of Trinity Western University (’25, BA Applied Linguistics and Psychology) was presented with the university’s 2026 Act Justly Award September 18.

Presented during TWU’s Alumni Awards Dinner as part of Homecoming Weekend, the Act Justly Award recognizes an alumnus or alumna making a significant impact through justice, advocacy and care for marginalized and oppressed communities.

Chetty was selected for turning the educational barriers she witnessed into sustained action.

Before she came to the stage, a video carried the audience thousands of kilometres away to Zambia, where a four-week volunteer experience had grown into something much larger: Julie Chetty’s Primary School of Love.

Today, more than 100 children attend the school, and there is a growing waitlist. For many students, it is the first time they have ever been able to attend school.

“I’d still love to see the school continue to expand,” Chetty said at the awards dinner. “We’d love to be able to accommodate more students in the future, grow into higher grades and expand to secondary school if possible.”

When compassion becomes action

For Chetty, acting justly began with paying attention. She first travelled to Zambia in 2023, during the summer after her first year at TWU. The country already carried special meaning for her family. Her late mother, Julie, had travelled there when she was around Chetty’s age and spent a year teaching.

“The classes were very full. There was no electricity in there,” she recalled. “Seeing how they make things work and adapt with different resources that they have there was really cool, but also seeing the struggles that were there at the same time.”

Some classrooms had more than 70 students to one teacher. Other children could not attend school at all. At the awards ceremony, Chetty reflected on why those realities stayed with her after she returned to Canada.

“It was really placed in my heart: the deep need for help with their education system there and how many kids couldn’t attend school,” said Chetty.

She began developing the project while completing a full course load at TWU. In 2024, Chetty returned to Zambia for four months, where she purchased land, worked through government approvals, hired local staff and began turning the idea into a functioning school.

Her applied linguistics studies became practical preparation for the cross-cultural work. In January 2025, she returned to complete student enrolment and finalize the hiring of teachers. One month later, Julie Chetty’s Primary School of Love opened.

Love as a form of justice

The school’s name carries the story back to where it began. When it came time to name it, Chetty thought about the quality that best represented her late mother, Julie.

“‛Love’ is what we landed on,” she said. Julie Chetty’s Primary School of Love became both a tribute to her mother and a reflection of the kind of place Chetty wanted to create. Today, that legacy continues through more than 100 students filling its classrooms, children attending school for the first time and a growing waitlist of families hoping for the same opportunity.

That is what Chetty’s 2026 Act Justly Award ultimately recognizes: a need that was seen, an opportunity that was seized, and a conviction that was turned into action.

Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students for life; its main campus is in Langley, with other campus sites in Richmond and Ottawa.

This article is re-posted by permission from the TWU site.