September saw a donation of medical supplies of bandages and sterile gloves to Ruarwe Health Centre. Surplus supplies, otherwise destined for landfill, from a health facility in the UK were provided to the clinic. As we come up to planting season here in Malawi, the clinic is seeing numerous wounds and injuries from farming. Both the bandages and sterile gloves have come in really helpful to manage these injuries and wounds. The sterile gloves have also come in useful for the delivery of two babies at the clinic in the last few weeks! We are really grateful to the facility in the UK for thinking of the clinic in Ruarwe and for facilitating this donation, which really does make a big difference. Yewo Chomene!
A nationwide shortage of medications remains a critical issue across Malawi. The most recent 44% devaluation of the currency will unfortunately only add to these pressures. At the plea of Ruarwe and Khondowe health centres, Phunzira provided funds in order to purchase necessary and life-saving medicines to stock the two clinics. Both clinics within the catchment area had run out of all antimalarials as well as antibiotics and antipyretics. The clinic in Usisya, 20Km south, which has helped out in the past, also had no stock.Â
Ruarwe clinic sees an average of 300 patients per month. In the last three months these numbers have risen unexpectedly and drastically. In August 2023 the clinic treated 800 patients, in September 2023 the clinic treated 1200 patients and in October 2023 the clinic treated 900 patients. Of these, a very large portion were malaria cases, which is a startlingly high rate at this time of year, before the peak malaria season begins in December/January. Government supply is not able to keep up with these patient numbers, and patients have been dying of treatable illness as a result.
Phunzira was able to purchase 710 doses of Antimalarials for a wide range of ages, as well as antibiotics and antipyretics whilst further government supply is awaited. While the donation of medications in this way is not sustainable in the long term future, we are extremely grateful to our donors to allow these short-term life-saving donations to take place and we wish that Malawi is able to stabilise her currency and continue to look after her population.
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!
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 was lucky enough to receive a grant this month from The E and N Watson Charitable Trust, originally applied for over the summer by our Heath Coordinator Philippa Mander. The trust was originally established in 2014 and makes a number of grants to charitable organisations each year. Since covid hit in 2020, our charity has suffered financially and has struggled to recover without the assistance and goodwill donations of the volunteers usually passing through. We are extremely grateful to the trust for enabling our small charity to keep running and provide essential community services to some of the poorest people in the world. The extremely kind and sizeable donation will facilitate the re-opening of Phunzira’s community projects and volunteer programme in Malawi at the start of next year so WATCH THIS SPACE!
For over a month there has been a nationwide outbreak of cholera across Malawi. At the request of Ruarwe and Khondowe health centres, Phunzira has sourced funds in order to purchase necessary and life-saving medicines to stock the two clinics. The funds were collected by our Heath Coordinator Philippa during an on-site visit and purchased from a private seller in nearby city Mzuzu, due to poor availability of government stockpiles in all other local pharmacies. The outbreak is hitting worst in southern cities such as Blantyre, where population density is high and sanitation services are poor, however most parts of the country have now sadly felt the devastating and life-threatening consequences of the outbreak, which continues to grow for now.
While we’ve had to pause Phunzira and Nyumba ya Masambiro’s usual activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, hardships within the community continue. We have made it our mission to support the wider community in Ruarwe, that said, we have had to shift our focus. We have been informed by a healthcare professional that all the soap available in the village has been bought up. We all know that washing your hands with soap is absolutely key in reducing the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, we want to source funds to purchase soap in Nkhata Bay and transport it to Ruarwe for distribution within the larger community. We will arrange distribution with elderly and vulnerable citizens in mind and manage it as fairly as possible.
Any additional funds raised will be used for ongoing COVID-19 response activities and ongoing wider needs within the community.
Please head to our Donate Page to help us support the community.
Thank you for your generosity at this difficult time, when everyone is having to tighten their belts globally. Yewo Chomene!
At the end of the year, previous Nyumba ya Masambiro volunteer Mecki very generously donated funds that allowed the purchase of 300 exercise books, 300 pens and 300 pencils. These were distributed to the primary schools in Ruarwe, Mazomera and Nkhoso.
The NYM Project Coordinator, Ishmael, had a wonderful time distributing the materials and sends his deep gratitude on behalf of NYM and the 3 primary schools for this generous donation. The kids were elated!
While state primary education is free in Malawi, parents must provide the exercise books, writing materials and school uniforms for their children, and those without these items are turned away from school. Sadly, for some, even these small costs are prohibitively expensive so this donation allows many children to remain in school, which is fantastic. A huge thank you to Mecki for fundraising and providing this fantastic donation! Yewo Chomene!
This summer Nyumba ya Masambiro was joined by volunteer Mecki Ballantyne. Mecki is an experienced teacher who worked with the Ishmael, the Youth Co-ordinator and Frank, the Project Manager to share her skills and expertise for the benefit of the youth in Ruarwe and its catchment area.
Following her return to Germany, Mecki collected together a wonderful donation of almost 40 early-years reading books for the children’s section of the Nyumba ya Masambiro library. The community children love the injection of new reading materials. Most afternoons the children’s corner of the library is filled with children of all ages enjoying the pictures and sounding out the words alone or in small groups. These books are already making a huge difference to the confidence and desire to read, which is such a vital part of educational development.
Thank you so much Mecki for your time spent in Ruarwe and for continuing to think of Ruarwe with this wonderful and generous donation. Yewo Chomene!
Phunzira 