Our Vision
Phunzira strongly believes in harnessing the power of education as a means of helping individuals and communities to develop, both socially and economically, while preserving the culture and traditions of their surrounding environment. We are hopefully beginning to realise that over-simplified ‘do this’ solutions do not have nearly enough impact on the kind of long-term, structural and abject poverty that is so prevalent in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Phunzira believes in spreading and sharing information, know-how and resources, through the implementation of grassroots projects that have been inspired by looking at the fundamental needs and aspirations of the communities they are designed to serve.
Our projects focus on:
implementing COMMUNITY-DRIVEN initiatives
if a project is being designed to serve a community, we must surely include that community in the design process; if we fail in this, all we will be doing is designing initiatives to serve what ‘we think’ are the communities’ requirements
which are…SUSTAINABLE
a huge part of the success of community initiatives lie in the ability of the community itself to take social, cultural and – in time – financial responsibility for its own ongoing development; Phunzira implements community income-generating schemes associated with its projects so that after a period, the community will be able to take over management
and towards which the community feels REAL OWNERSHIP
being involved in the aims, objectives and operation of ongoing initiatives will only ever enhance the sense of ownership which a community feels towards it; Phunzira strongly believes that community development has the greatest effect when local members feel part of the journey
Where are we?
Ruarwe is a small fishing village located along the northern shores of lake Malawi (formerly Lake Nyasa), roughly 60km north of Nkhata Bay and 500km north of the capital Lilongwe.
It is an extremely rural and beautiful part of the country which suffers from lack of infrastructure: there are no roads (access by boat or foot only) and a very limited power supply.
Who are we?
Rosa Nissim: Founder & Project Co-ordinator 
Rosa has spent over 25 years working and operating in the charitable sphere on both a paid and voluntary basis, as well as partaking in numerous youth leadership schemes in England and abroad. After completing a BA in Literature (Birmingham University, 2004) and a BSc in Mathematics (King’s College London, 2007), she went to the north of Malawi to teach Mathematics at a secondary school in Nkhata Bay and worked in various educational arenas throughout the year. In 2008 she spent two months in Ruarwe before returning to the UK and in 2009 she founded Phunzira. She now works part-time in Malawi co-ordinating Phunzira’s projects on the ground.
Philippa Mander: Co-founder & Health Co-ordinator
Philippa gained her registration as a Paediatric Nurse in 2012. This follows a degree in Applied Psychology from Durham University and 5 years working in Finance, Legal services and IT in two City companies. Philippa has taken time out from work to travel extensively in sub-Saharan Africa where she has undertaken various volunteering opportunities. In early 2012 she went to Ruarwe to complete her nursing clinical elective placement at the local health centre, returning in September 2012 to complete a research audit on malaria testing. In 2013 Philippa became Phunzira’s Health Co-ordinator and in 2014 she moved part-time to Malawi to assist with Phunzira’s initiatives on the ground.
Phunzira’s accounts are fully transparent and can be found here. We want people to know where their donations are going, and we welcome any advice or comments.
For more information on our Trusts and Trustees please click here.
Registered charity number: 1136460
Phunzira 