Chilumba, Malawi
The Project Goal:
To remove barriers that prevent girls from attending and staying in school.
About Chilumba:
Chilumba region lies at a distance of 70 km south of Karonga District Centre, Northern Region, Malawi, Central Africa. It has a peninsula which has a port and a ship comes once per week (on Sunday) from Monkey Bay, Mangochi District of the southern region.
Chilumba lies along the M1 road which connects the major cities of Malawi. It has an area of 30 square kilometers with a total population of about 60,000 people.
There are a total of 6 health centres (2 mission run and 4 government run)
Major Occupation of the Area:
Agriculture (72% of the population engage in this work)
Major Food Crop:
Cassava seconded by maize (corn).
Major Tribe:
Tumbuka is the spoken language. However, there is still a mixture of other tribes in minorities namely: the Ngonde, Chewa, Yawo, and the Swahili from Tanzania as Karonga District lies along the border with neighbouring Tanzania on the Northern part.
How We’re Helping in Chilumba
Click on a link below to read about the various ways we are helping:
- Education
- Our Approach to Empowering Girls
- Relief of Poverty
- Medical Care and Supplies
- Photo Gallery
- Learn how you can help through CHW Collection Campaigns
Education
First and foremost, education is the cornerstone of the project endeavours. Currently there are 150 beneficiaries are being supported by CHANGE HER WORLD in the following ways:
- School fees and uniforms
- School supplies
- Solar lamps
- Blankets
- Mosquito nets
- Toothbrushes & toothpaste
- Soap & Lotion
- Clothing
- Re-usable sanitary protection
- Bicycles when girls must travel long distances
- Post-secondary tuition
The Board of Directors is very proud to have 23 young women attending university and college in this project.
A Holistic Approach to Empowering Girls in Education
CHANGE HER WORLD takes a very holistic approach to its work. It is about much more than school fees, uniforms and school supplies.
Schools need roofs, cooking pots are required to enable feeding programs and classroom supplies for teaching and learning are almost non-existent.
Girls need re-usable sanitary protection and private clean toilet facilities. Girls boarding at school (because their homes are located long distances away) need clean, safe and adequately furnished hostels in which to live and study. CHANGE HER WORLD is focused on improving these living conditions to a much higher standard than what is usually found. The girls in many cases are doing their own cooking too. Their desire to be educated is clearly evident in their determination to make the best of whatever living circumstances they face.
Adequate housing is necessary to attract female teachers to remote rural schools. CHANGE HER WORLD has engaged in a construction project that assisted in providing adequate housing for female teachers.
Relief of Poverty
There are 30 elderly vulnerable women who are also beneficiaries of the charity. They are provided with blankets, food and clothing. Donations of mats and solar lamps have also made their lives better.
As food scarcity is an ongoing reality, every effort is made to address this critical need through shipment of dried soup mix and fruit from the Christian Gleaners Organization. The provision of maize for the girls and their families during specific “hunger seasons” has in some cases made the difference between life and death.
Medical Care and Supplies
A medical scheme is in place whereby the medical needs of the girls are addressed by a Physician Assistant on the Project Committee. We provide ointments, bandages, antibiotics etc. for most local and common medical conditions found in the area.
In addition, we ship medical supplies (donated by Canadians) for the existing six clinics in the catchment area, including blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, glucometers and lancets, gloves, sterile surgical supplies, basic medications, first aid supplies and so much more.
A new initiative in 2015 was the assembly of 1000 birthing kits to address the lack of clean and necessary items for the safe delivery of infants. The contents include a 3×3 foot plastic sheet, examining gloves, gauze pads, razor blade, 2 pieces of string, face cloth and small bar of soap. This is ongoing annual project.
