2024 Projects Summary
Kadyalunda Community
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of toilets at the Kadyalunda healthcare clinic in Balaka District.
Bertha Khuwi, Corps Africa Volunteer, explained until 2023 women and children under five were travelling approximately 10 kilometres to get to the nearest health facility to access medical care. A previous CorpsAfrica project saw the construction of a new clinic and the provision of long-awaited services, but with ongoing threat of cholera the community expressed concerns about the lack of sanitation facilities on site and resolved to address the issue by constructing toilets.
The community will provide river sand, make bricks and assist with the construction of two toilet blocks.
The project is underway – please check back soon for an update!
Emazwini Community
A grant of £979 to support the repairs to Milala Bridge in Emazwini Community, Mzimba District.
Chakufwa Mwasinga, Corps Africa Volunteer, said that Emazwini is surrounded to the north and south by two rivers and that bridges across have been destroyed by recent flooding in the area making it difficult, and at times, unsafe to travel across. The community is having problems accessing schools, water, healthcare and markets to sell and buy produce.
Repairing the Milala bridge, on the route to Mzinba, will open up travelling again to the 1000+ people in Emazwini. The whole community is involved in the project and will be assisting in the collection of river sand and rocks, providing labour and in-kind contributions.
The project is underway – please check back soon for an update!
Chilembwe Community Based Child Care Centre
A grant of £953 to support the construction of a kitchen for the Chilembwe Community Based Child Care Centre at Ntaja near Liwonde in Machinga District.
Precious Nthondwe, Corps Africa Volunteer, said that the Chilembwe CBBC plays a pivotal role in providing essential care and support to the children of the community but, due to the lack of a proper cooking facilities providing food is challenging, particularly in poor weather conditions. Lack of storage means supplies are kept off site as they are not secure.
To address these challenges, the community proposed the construction of a kitchen with a storage room at the CBCC premises to help provide a better environment for meal preparation and feeding the children.
The project is underway – please check back soon for an update!
Kasumbu Community
A grant of £857 to support the construction of a classroom block at Liphuphwe primary school, Kasumbu, Dedza District.
Wezi Phiri, Corps Africa Volunteer, explained that Liphuphwe Primary school has 3 classroom blocks but, that with over 1300 students, these are insufficient to provide enough space and that the building is damaged making it difficult for students with disabilities to enter the classes. The blackboards used by the teachers are in poor condition and as a result this makes the teaching and learning process really hard for both teachers and learners.
Renovating the school block will help making teaching and learning easier, safer and comfortable for everyone.
The project is underway – please check back soon for an update!
Nyundo Community
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of an Under 5 Clinic for Nyundo Community, Nsakambewa, Dowa District.
Chikondi Dula, Corps Africa Volunteer, said that while Under 5 services are available in Nyundo, Health Surveillance Assistants are forced to conduct these in the open rather than a safe environment as no clinic exists. In times of extreme weather services are cancelled leaving the community without care or having to travel to Dowa Hospital or Dzaleka camp to seek medical services.
With the construction of a clinic, routine check-ups, immunizations, growth monitoring, nutritional assessments, treatment of common childhood illnesses and health education as well as family planning services will be able to take place. A storage room will help to provide a safe space to keep equipment and provide consistent access to health monitoring. The clinic shelter will also serve as a hub for community engagement and education.
The project is underway – please check back soon for an update!
Chiphazi Primary School
A grant of £1000 to support the rebuilding of a classroom at Chiphazi Primary School in Kaphuka, Dedza District.
Linda Malima, Corps Africa Volunteer, explained that Chiphazi Primary School was founded in the early 1990s and provides education to approximately 1000 students. However, the classroom blocks do not provide enough space for all classes and consequently some teaching takes place outside under trees or in a small shelter. Knowing a better solution was needed, the community worked together to make bricks for constructing walls and requested assistance to reconstruct the roof, add windows and doors.
The project is expected to directly benefit over 200 learners by providing a more conducive learning environment. The walls have been secured with new breeze blocks and new roof timbers put in place – the finishing touches are next and then it will be ready to hold classes.
Kanoni Village
A grant of £1000 to support the installation of water handpumps in Kanoni Village, Mchinji District.
Deusederatta Malele, Corps Africa Volunteer described access to clean water as presenting a significant challenge to the residents of Kanoni. The two existing wells serve the entire community and lack any form of water treatment meaning there is a persistent risk to health due to contaminated water.
The proposed project will address the issue by undertaking the excavation and installation of four hand pumps and water treatment facilities to improve access to clean water, help mitigate the health risks associated with waterborne diseases and enhance the overall quality of life for the community members.
The new wells have now been dug and are awaiting the installation of the pumps – due to be completed soon.
Iyela Community
A grant of £586 to support the construction of an Under 5 clinic for Iyela community, Chitipa District
Lara Mugula, Corps Africa Volunteer explained that the Iyela Community has struggled for many years with the lack of a proper health facility meaning people must walk 15-20 kms to the District Hospital. This means pregnant women and children often can not access essential services such as vaccinations, preventative care, and treatment for common illnesses such as diarrhoea, eye infections & malaria.
This project involved renovating a building to become a new Under 5 clinic. It included rebuilding parts of the structure, fixing the roof, floors & doors, repainting & plastering walls and installation of electrical wiring and sockets. The project is in it’s final stages and will be open soon.
2023 Projects Summary
Makoka School
A grant of £720 to support the construction of pit latrines at Makoka School, Zomba.
Wonderful Mudolo, CorpsAfrica volunteer, expressed the concerns of the community at the lack of sanitation facilities at Makoka School, especially with the cholera outbreak affecting the area placing the school children vulnerable to diseases and infections. In order to solve this problem, Makoka community members identified the Pit Latrine project to constructing six new toilets and a girls changing room with the aim of improving the sanitation and hygiene for pupils.
The construction activities for both the boys’ and girls’ latrines were completed by the contractors. With the plastering and painting as finishing touches, the new toilets were opened for use and are helping to improve sanitation at the school.
Ntonya Village
A grant of £545 to support the construction and renovation of under-5 health centre for Ntonya Village, Mulanje.
Hope Ngondo, CorpsAfrica volunteer working with Ntonya village describes the lack of healthcare services for children under the age of five as a serious and pressing issue. The clinic in the community is in bad shape, with worn-out walls, no windows and floor – it is not safe to use. This means people must travel at least 7km on foot to get medical care. Renovation of the under 5 clinic will involve a new floor, windows, doors and re-doing the roof.
This project is currently underway – we recently received this update report: Approximately half the work is now completed. The building has had a first coat of lime paint, next the doors will be installed to ensure the building’s functionality and safety.
Kadyalunda Community
A grant of £800 to support the construction of bridge for Kadyalunda Community, Balaka.
Wongani Mwasinga, CorpsAfrica volunteer in Kadyalunda community reports that the lack of a bridge across the Ntchesa River means that people are forced to use longer routes, especially during the rainy season, making it hard for students to get to school, for the community to get to the markets, the graveyard and medical help. So, the decision to construct an overhead bridge was made and the FOMA grant will assist in construction.
The bridge construction project began in May 2023 by clearing the construction site and excavating the foundations. Construction of the bridge was completed on 17th June 2023 and then finally a sign post installed. The project has benefitted 8750 community members in Kadyalunda.
Makanani Community
A grant of £890 to support the construction of a bridge for Makanani Community, Mwanza.
Prisca Kadawati, CorpsAfrica volunteer working with the community reports that the Nyagambe River causes problems and concern in rainy reason when it floods, preventing people crossing safely to school, to the market and to access health services. Therefore, it is with all these reasons that the community came up with the idea to build a bridge on the river. They started by collecting border stones in 2022 and they have shown commitment to assisting in the construction.
This project started in May 2023 with the the site being cleared and foundations laid. The pillars were constructed and finally the concrete slab prepared. Once it was set and dry a new sign post was added and the bridge opened for use.
Chipata Village
A grant of £790 to support the construction of an Under-5 health clinic for Chipata Village, Kasungu.
Khumbolawo Mkochi, CorpsAfrica volunteer in Chipata village explained that the aim of the Chilamphuma Under-5 clinic project is to essentially finish the construction by providing a roof and cemented floor. The building was started in 2013 by the community members but due to a lack of funds it sits unfinished, and due to this, women and children are forced to access medication, basic counselling, under-5 and family planning services at the Mission hospital 15 km walk away.
This project was completed in August 2023 and the building is now in use holding the Under-5 clinic.
Huwa Village
A grant of £850 to support the construction of an Under-5 health clinic in Huwa Village, Dedza.
Washington Chifunda, CorpsAfrica volunteer in Huwa village explains that the Health Surveillance Assistants assigned to this area are meeting a lot of challenges as they were working under trees only with no proper health facility. The community decided on the health shelter because it improve the health services to include health education, immunization, growth monitoring, prenatal and postnatal care, disease surveillance, nutrition, water and sanitation, contraceptive distribution, and treatment of minor diseases among under 5 children.
The building has now been finished and the community enjoyed an opening ceremony at the end of July 2023.
2022 Projects Summary
ANNIKA Children’s Initiatives
A grant of £1000 to support repairs to the Primary School in Chingoli Community, Mulanje.
Luke Namangale, Board Member of Annika, reports: In January 2022 Malawi was heavily hit by tropical cyclone Ana. One of the most affected areas was in the southern region in the districts of Phalombe, Chikwawa and Mulanje. Chingoli Primary School, in Mulanje, was greatly affected with the classrooms filled with water up to window level which resulted in the development of cracks in the school block walls.
The impact of the funding has been tremendously good and this project has been a success. It has increased the space for leaners with over 100 kids now using this classroom because of the grant from FOMA.
Chiondwe Village
A grant o f £930 to support the completion of a construction project involving a warehouse and a childcare centre in Chiondwe community, Mzimba.
Thokozani Chepuka, CorpsAfrica Volunteer described the main aim of the project was to improve early childhood education outcomes and economic activity among community members which will in turn improve livelihoods. The FOMA grant was used to purchase cement, timber, lime and iron sheets while the community made contributions of £150 towards costs and in-kind donations of sand, bricks, and labour.
Kadyalunda Village
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of a Child Care Centre for Kadyalunda Community, Balaka
Adorah Maere, CorpsAfrica Malawi volunteer reported: The project involved finishing off a building that was not in a good condition and turning it into a nursery school for the community. The grant helped the building to get a new roof, plastering and painting of the walls, cement floor, windows and doors. The community provided bricks, sand and water which were all calculated in kind as their contribution. The construction of the CBCC means a population of about 83 children can learn comfortably and approximately 300 community members are also able to use the building for other meetings.
Mpulula Village
A grant of £820 to support the construction of a timber bridge for Mpulula village, Ntcheu.
Umusa N’goma, CorpsAfrica Malawi volunteer explained: The river in the village has been a problem for many years and during the rainy season children do not go to school because of the inaccessibility caused by the river. Construction of a bridge was well needed. With the FOMA grant received we purchased materials such as 64 bags of cement, a drainage pipe and nails. The community managed to work as a team and start the construction work. – the turn-up was impressive!
Chiyenda Village
A grant of £275 to assist in the installation of a water tap for Chiyenda village, Mchinji.
Funani Matemba, CorpsAfrica Malawi volunteer with Chiyenda village explained that most people were relying on a well as their main water source placing them at risk of waterborne diseases. The community agreed that there would be much benefit in installing a water pipe to connect to tap water 1km away. They identified the land to use, dug the drainage channels, provided bricks and contributed cash donations towards the total budget. The project has benefitted approximately 100 people, providing clean water and reducing the distance they walk to collect it.
Chikonde Youth Organisation
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of a Community Based Child Care Centre (CBCC) in Seunda village, Zomba.
Grace Sichinga, CorpsAfrica Malawi volunteer explained that working through the Chikonde Youth Organization (CYO) the community came together to help construct the building known as the Miracle Community Based Childcare Centre. The project’s main objective was to improve the standard of early childhood education at Miracle Nursery School to approximately 85 children. The parents/guardians of these students will also benefit from this project as the burden of providing grass, poles and plastic to thatch the local classrooms every year is now over as the school has been roofed.
LICODO
A grant of £860 to support the construction of two period friendly toilets for girls at Ligowe Community Day Secondary School, Neno District.
Kaitano Maison, CorpsAfrica Malawi volunteer explained: The single toilet used by the girls at the school fell down due to heavy storm in 2022 forcing the girls to go home for toilet use. The school also had no changing room for girls during menstruation. These affected the girls’ education since they missed class lessons. To solve the problem, the community contributed sand, bricks, quarry, water and labour and with the help of the FOMA grant, the new toilets were constructed. At least 100 girls have started using the two toilets and changing room hence thie grant has greatly improved the sanitation, menstrual hygiene and education of girls at Ligowe CDSS.
2020 Project Summary
Siyombwe Clinic
A grant of £800 to support the purchase of construction materials to complete building a health clinic for the Siyombwe Community in Chitipa District.
Lucky Katundu, CorpsAfrica volunteer working with the community, reported: The Siyombwe Clinic was initially started in 2000 but had no paved floor, no doors, no windows and was not plastered – meaning there was no privacy and prevented people from seeking medical help. It was this that inspired the Ungweru Youth Organisation in collaboration with CorpsAfrica Malawi to approach FOMA for a grant. With the successful rebuilding the clinic now serves over 1000 people.