Construction is almost complete on a new Airtel Money Office. This building means that community members coming to NYM to carry out Airtel Money transactions have a dedicated place to go to complete those transactions. This keeps the NYM management office free for management members to complete their tasks undisturbed.
The Airtel Money business continues to be very popular amongst community members, with multiple people coming to complete transactions every single day. Each transaction gains a small commission for NYM as the Agent, and that commission is then reinvested into NYM for the benefit of the community. Having a dedicated space for these transactions to be carried out is a great step forward for this business.
Following another rainy season the team have been busy making repairs and finalising maintenance around the Nyumba Ya Masambiro education centre. Firstly, a new bridge has been built over the stream bordering the NYM land. This year funds have allowed for a raised foundation to be built to support the bridge, hopefully allowing for it to rise above coming years rainy season flooding and keep a safe access to the education centre and all its services throughout the coming years.
Additionally, following the roaring success of the Airtel Money business the team have started building a dedicated Airtel money kiosk on the NYM property. This frees up the Management Office to its original administrative tasks and provides a secure dedicated space for community members to access this vital financial service.
Nyumba Ya Masambiro has successfully run a community-wide football and netball league for mens and womens teams around the community. The League ran at weekends from 7th June to 8th July. 36 Football and Netball teams from the wider area competed and all teams won financial prizes to go towards their clubs for equipment such as new balls, new nets, new bibs and kits, as well as travel funds to allow them to continue to play against other teams in the wider area in the future.
Played at the football and netball pitches at the top of the big hill above Ruarwe Village, the games drew huge crowds from around the area. Bringing wider communities together to support their teams and each other, the joy was palpable and spirits really high.
NYM Youth Club football team took part in a football tournament playing the youth team from Khomola Village in our catchment area. They had an afternoon of hype and entertainment together on Friday 3rd May at the NYM youth hall and in the gardens around the centre (think a Ruarwe version of a Pep Rally!). This was followed by a match at the Ruarwe football ground at the top of the hill on Saturday 4th May in the afternoon. Everyone was in really good spirits and both teams played well, with an end result of 3:2 to the Khomola youth team. With a winners prize of MWK3,000 and a losers prize of MWK2,000 paid out for the players to buy essential supplies for their teams.
The NYM youth club is going from strength to strength with 50-70 kids turning up to each session, which still focus on education, creativity and sports and exercise. Having a safe space for kids to hang out and socialise is so important for Ruarwe village and the surrounding areas and linking up with other youth clubs and teams builds a network in our wider area.
NYM is now preparing for a Senior Youth Football league for both men’s and women’s football teams in the area. With 40 Senior Youth and community teams taking part (20 men’s teams and 20 women’s teams), and further cash prizes to keep the clubs supplied with footballs, boots and kits. The league is due to begin in mid-June so watch this space for upcoming updates!
Nyumba ya Masambiro education centre has set up a new Income Generating Activity for the benefit of the community. They have become an Airtel Money agent. Airtel Money is a mobile commerce service offering money transfer by phone run through the Airtel telephone network by means of an app and SMS messaging. This service gives community members access to sending and receiving money digitally to any registered number anywhere in the country. A digital service of this kind breaks the circular economy experienced within remote communities such as Ruarwe and its surrounding areas by allowing community members to engage in financial communication nationally and opening the doors to wider buying and selling inside and outside the community. It has been a heavily requested service and the team are delighted to have been able to set this up. Since starting as an agent hundreds of thousands of Malawi Kwacha have been transferred in private transactions into and out of the community, each transaction earning a nominal commission fee, which can then be returned back into the education centre to fund the ongoing community activities available to all community members.
The largest project undertaken beyond the maintenance and reopening of Nyumba Ya Masambiro this year is the construction of a house for a Nurse-Midwife at Ruarwe Health Centre. This is a project which was requested by the community, Medical Assistant (Doctor) and Health Centre Management Committee. Having housing available is a pre-requisite for government recruitment into any available post. Ruarwe Health Centre sees dozens of deliveries every quarter and at present the Medical Assistant needs to attend all births, as he is the only qualified member of staff present at the clinic. This results in him being on call 24/7, 365 days a year. The Midwife’s House will allow that post to be recruited into with the next round of recruitment, taking all antenatal care, deliveries and post-natal care off the Medical Assistant’s hands and providing safer maternal care for the community.
Construction began with a large-scale shopping trip to buy all the necessary resources. The NYM staff and some community members then began hand-making the necessary bricks for the construction of the building. In a remote area like Ruarwe, there is no access to any power tools so the whole process is being completed by hand. These bricks were then carried up by hand to the construction site.Â
Following the construction of the bricks, the land allocated to the Midwife’s House next to the Health Centre had to be prepared. Ruarwe is surrounded by a ring of mountains and the clinic building is in the foothills of these mountains. As a result, the land for the house needed to be levelled out – again an arduous process involving digging into the mountainside and breaking rocks by hand.
Once levelling had commenced, the foundations could start to be laid – again as a result of the landscape, very high, sound foundations are required to ensure a level and stable base for the construction of the house. The build itself commenced at the end of November and the contractor (from the community) and Health Centre Management Committee aim for completion before the end of December.Â
The Nursery continues to go from strength to strength, having initially reopened with just over 20 students, there are now over 35 registered and attending daily. NYM’s nursery continues to be praised by the local primary schools for assisting children to enter primary-level education with sound educational knowledge and solid foundations for learning. Nursery students receive a subsidised fortified maize porridge breakfast every day. Given the recent devaluation of the currency and increase in prices, this subsidised meal is a vital provision for the majority of these children. NYM has not increased the price of the nursery fees to cover this change, and is currently assuming that cost with the support of the grant money. As ever we remain grateful for any and all donations, which continue to support the projects ongoing at NYM.
Following a change of nursery teacher due to maternity leave, NYM’s former Youth Co-ordinator Ekhesha, known to many of our former volunteers and now a qualified teacher at Ruarwe Primary School, has commenced voluntary training with the new nursery teacher on all the activities previously run at NYM. This includes activities undertaken within nursery school as well as teaching around Youth Club, sports events, educational quizzes etc, all of which we aim to restart in the coming months. We are delighted to see Ekhesha thriving in his new post, and also coming back to support NYM in its ongoing projects! Yewo Chomene!
July saw extensive carpentry maintenance at Nyumba ya Masambiro including the replacement of all damaged and aged roofing timbers, which had first been installed in 2010 when the centre was built, as well as the replacement of any door frames and window shutters showing damage. This was followed in August by the replacement of any damaged or leaking iron roofing sheets. NYM has returned to being secure and water-tight, meaning the resources housed at the centre remain secure and undamaged for access for the whole community.
August to October saw the repair of the foundation to NYM’s Library building. All books were removed and placed into secure storage, the shelving was removed (and some repaired and replaced as necessary) and the floor taken up to gain access to the foundation where it had become damaged by natural waterflow. Following the diversion of the waterflow and the repair to the foundation, the flooring was re-laid, the shelving returned and the books cleaned and returned ready for community members to come and borrow them or read on site as they wish. The staff anticipate the Library to be fully operational before the end of November 2023.
Saturday 29th July 2023 marked the joyous occasion of the wedding of John (the father of Philippa, one of our Trustees) to his partner Annett. In lieu of wedding presents, they asked for donations towards two charities close to their hearts and Phunzira was lucky to be one of these charities. The donations made to Phunzira came in at just over £700, which is hugely generous!
On behalf of the entire Phunzira team and the communities we serve, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to John and Annett for thinking of Phunzira and to each one of the guests who generously contributed to our cause. Their support makes a real contribution to our current and future projects and means we can continue to make a positive impact in Ruarwe.
Once again, Tawonga Chomene for being a part of our journey and for sharing the love and joy of John and Annett’s special day with the community in Ruarwe!
During the years of NYM’s closure we have been fortunate enough to source funds via trustees for medical emergencies, such as the provision of sanitation units during the three years of covid. Since receiving a recent grant, NYM has assisted two clinics in the catchment area with life-saving medicines during a recent nationwide outbreak of cholera (which has fortunately subsided), as well as recent purchase of antibiotics due to a government shortage affecting clinics nationwide. There have been no antibiotics in either Ruarwe or Khondowe clinics for many months, resulting in unnecessary deaths due to simple illnesses that were otherwise treatable. Both clinics are now stocked for many months to come, by which time the usual government provision of medicines will have hopefully resumed.
Phunzira 