January 2024: FOMA grants – new projects underway
FOMA Trustees have recently awarded grants to 7 organisations in Malawi to support community projects. Over the coming months communities in Blantyre, Zomba and Machinga will benefit from improved water supplies through renovated boreholes and water systems. School students in Mulanje will soon be learning in a new classroom and new toilets will be constructed in Kasungu. In Karonga expectant mothers will find new beds and mattresses in the maternity wing of a rural health clinic and in Blantyre disabled adults and children attending a physiotherapy clinic will be supported with mobility equipment. Keep an eye on the FOMA Project pages for further updates and photos soon.
PACODS
2024 Project Summary
A £1000 grant to support the refurbishment of beds and purchase of new mattresses for the maternity wing at Lupembe Health Clinic in Karonga District.
Buthelezi Sichali, Executive Director at Partner for Community Development Services (PACODS) states that the health care clinic serves approximately 25,000 people. Women attending the clinic to give birth currently have no beds so this grant will increase comfort and dignity, reduce infection and support better mother & baby health.
This project is currently underway – please check back soon for an update!
Joint Villages Development Initiative (JVDI)
2025 Project
A grant of £1000 to support the connection of Umi Community, Chikowi, Zomba to the piped water supply as part of community development and improved health.
Jenny Liu, JVDI Project Lead explained that Umi community has only been able to access to water from untreated river sources risking health through waterborne diseases. The FOMA grant helped to provide critical infrastructure, materials, and technical expertise that the community alone could not fund but they helped in digging the channels for pipes to be laid and the water point is now fully functional providing clean, safe water for all.
2024 Project#2 Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of two shallow wells for Binali and Chilunga communities in Zomba District.
Jenny Liu, JVDI Project Lead explained that following several awareness and planning meetings with the local communities, they worked together to gather sand and bricks before local contractors were hired to undertake the construction work.
The project has now been completed and the communities are enjoying access to safe potable water which will help reduce the spread of waterborne diseases in the area. Click on the video clips below to see the project in action!
2024 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the connection of Malonje Village, in Zomba District to the water board to maintain a clean, safe water supply. The grant will help to purchase the pipes while the community will help dig the channels to place them in.
Thandie Maufulu, Director of JVDI, explained that the water connection point is approximately 20km from the village and once connected, it will help stop the need to walk the long distances to fetch water and reduce water related diseases. The village water committee will be responsible for ensuring the community contribute to the water charges and any maintenance costs.
HO HO Action Plus
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the installation of 8 shallow wells for Nkamalumo, Mdyaudzu and Mkhalapadzuwa Village in Kasungu.
Noah Nhlane, Programmes Manager with Ho Ho Action Plus, explained that the water project has benefited 150 surrounding families (over 2500 individuals). The hand pumps have improved access to clean, safe water helping to improve the health and wellbeing of the communities by reducing the risk of water-borne diseases. Ho Ho Action Plus conducted a one-day training workshop for Village Development Committee (VDC) members, equipping them with the skills to repair and maintain hand water pumps, thereby ensuring their long-term functionality and community ownership.
Ho Ho Action Plus made a short documentary about the project – you can see it here
2024 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of 4 toilets for people that have settled in Nthunduwala village in Kasungu district after relocating from tobacco estates.
Noah Nhlane, Programmes Manager with Ho Ho Action Plus, stated that through collaborative
efforts and adaptability, the pit latrine toilet project at Thunduwala Village has been completed successfully and handed over to the health centre.
The project has marked a significant milestone in the efforts to address sanitation and hygiene needs in the rural communities and they are looking forward to building on this achievement and continuing to make a positive impact in the area.
Annika Children’s Initiatives
2024 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the renovation of a classroom at the Chingoli Primary School that was damaged in 2023 during Cyclone Freddy. The FOMA grant will help with activities such as fixing the roof, walls, floor, doors and windows and also painting the blackboards. The local community will provide river sand, bricks, fetch water and other necessary works throughout the project.
Blessings Mukhumba, Grants Office at Annika reported back once the project was finished saying that the second classroom was handed over to Chingoli primary school and is now being fully used. Over 250 happy and smiling students are using the new classroom and the school is better equipped to offer access to quality education and promote long-life learning. The whole community sent thanks to FOMA and in order to protect the new building from from future storms, each surrounding village has planted 10 trees on the school campus.
AMECA
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the purchase of mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, adaptive chairs, walking and standing frames and orthotics for patients attending the various physiotherapy clinics at government health centres that AMECA has renovated.
Ruth Markus, CEO and Founder of AMECA said that the grant will be used to supply patients with aids once assessed by qualified physiotherapists and their use will help ‘uplift their mobility, social inclusion and quality of life’.
This project is underway – we recently received a photo of the first items to be purchased, ready for patients to use. Check back soon for further updates or read more about AMECA’s work here
2024 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the purchase of physiotherapy equipment such as wheelchairs, standing frames and crutches to aid rehabilitation of patients attending the AMECA Health Clinic in Blantyre.
Ruth Markus, CEO and Founder of AMECA said that the grant will be ‘life transforming’ for the adults and children with disabilities that are supported by the physiotherapy clinic.
Please click here to read more about AMECA’s work and the physiotherapy equipment FOMA is helping to fund.
www.ameca.org.uk
December 2023 – FOMA Christmas market
In early December several FOMA members raised funds by selling homemade Christmas decorations and gifts at a local market. All money raised will go towards supporting the community projects in Malawi.
For more information on FOMA gifts please see our shop page.
November 2023
Thank you to all organisations that submitted an application for a FOMA community grant in the recent ‘open round’. All projects are being considered and decisions will be made, and communicated by email, in mid-January 2023. Zikomo!
May 2023 – FOMA visits Joyful Motherhood project
Two FOMA members, Jamie and Sophie, visited Malawi in May 2023 and were able to see one of the supported projects – Joyful Motherhood (Chimwemwe mu’bereki). Accompanied by Program Manager, Glory and Nurse, Verina, Sophie went on one of the site visits and heard how the organisation is the only one integrated with public health services that provide care to family/friends taking care of orphaned children in Malawi. They see approximately 250 children a month and, although the motorbike purchased with the FOMA grant was in for repairs, it has made accessing difficult to reach areas much easier.
Community Support Initiative (CSI)
2021 Project Report
A grant of £900 to support the construction of a Community Crop Storage Facility in Mzgola, Luwinga, Mzuzu District.
Joy Simwaka from Community Support Initiative explained that CSI conducted a community survey and discovered that approximately 45% of all food is being wasted through inadequate post-harvest storage and lack of reliable markets. This wastage results in income loses for local farmers, spoilage of resources and insufficient food supplies. This project is set to change the situation and help farmers preserve his/her crops longer, keep the quality intact and thus sell more at higher price.
The project started with CSI providing 30 bags of cement to build with the bricks and sand the community contributed but the facility stalled at window level. The FOMA grant will help procure the remaining 28 bags of cement, 46 iron sheets, five door frames, six window frames and roofing nails.