Category: Fundraising

Community, Donations, Education, Fundraising, Healthcare, Malawi, Volunteers

Volunteers Jeremy and Norma assist for 3 months in Ruarwe

Phunzira

Nyumba ya Masambiro and Ruarwe Health Centre were delighted to host volunteers Jeremy Dobbs and Norma Coward for three months. Jeremy and Norma joined us from the UK for July, August, and September 2025. A retired GP and midwife respectively, their main aim was to spend time supporting Paul Kabuzi and the medical team at the health centre, but once they got to Ruarwe, they got stuck in with so much more.

Initially supporting Paul in seeing patients, and supporting midwife Dan with antenatal appointments, care, and teaching, as well as the distribution of reusable maternity pads, they then took on reorganising the clinic, which needed all hands on deck following both Covid-19 and a subsequent cholera outbreak. They provided funds for much-needed medications and organised and funded the repair of all inpatient beds, as well as the toilet and shower plumbing systems at the clinic.

Meanwhile, in the afternoons, they both got stuck in at Nyumba ya Masambiro. They helped to reorganise the library, creating new labels so that all the books could be easily found and facilitating the distribution of excess books to Bunga CDSS, Khondowe CDSS, and Stepping Stones Primary School. They painted two beautiful murals on the library walls and refreshed the existing ones, which had faded over time. They worked with Stanley, the NYM nursery school teacher, to teach phonics, nursery rhymes, and early reading skills to the children, and then headed into Ruarwe Primary School to paint two murals there as well at the request of the teaching staff.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to both Jeremy and Norma for the incredibly generous gift of your time, your financial contributions, and your energy during your stay in Ruarwe! Yewo chomene! We all look forward to welcoming you again in the future!

Community, Donations, Education, Fundraising, Malawi, Nursery

Upwards of 35 Nursery School students this academic year

Phunzira

We are delighted to announce that in this academic year, 2025–2026, Nyumba ya Masambiro’s nursery school has 35 children enrolled – the maximum capacity.

Over the years that NYM has been in place, a number of other nurseries have opened within Ruarwe and the NYM catchment area. However, due to the prohibitive cost of covering both the staff members’ salaries and the porridge meal, these have all closed within a short period of opening. Nyumba ya Masambiro has been able to maintain the nursery as a result of ongoing financial support from Phunzira.

Within the community, there are calls for NYM to open a second nursery class, as there is growing demand for children to attend the nursery at NYM. At present, this would be an unsustainable cost for NYM and Phunzira, but we would be very happy to accept donations towards the nursery and all our other ongoing activities at NYM.

Do get in touch for more information about donating to Phunzira.

Donations, Education, Fundraising, Malawi, Nursery

New Nursery Uniforms for NYM’s Youngest Learners!

Phunzira

Following ongoing requests from the Nursery School parents, Nyumba ya Masambiro has successfully purchased brand new school uniforms for all of the Nursery School children. Uniforms play a vital role in fostering a sense of belonging, equality and school identity, helping to build a positive and focused learning environment. 

The nursery school at NYM provides foundational education for dozens of children in the local community, setting them on a strong path for future academic success. With early childhood education being a critical component of lifelong learning, initiatives like these make a lasting impact. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this possible. While this first round of uniforms was purchased by NYM, going forward they will be purchased by the Nursery School student’s parents, though no child will ever be turned away from NYM’s nursery for not having a uniform.

Community, Donations, Education, Fundraising, Malawi, UK Schools

Donation from High School in Scotland Towards Education Projects in Ruarwe Area

Phunzira

Phunzira has been extremely lucky to receive a donation of just over £350 raised by students at Inverkeithing High School in Scotland. Ruarwe Village was fortunate to have a visit in October 2024 from two school teachers, Madeline and Pilar, from Inverkeithing High School who forged a link between their school and Ruarwe Primary School, as well as getting involved with projects at Nyumba ya Masambiro such as dance sessions, time in the library with students and more. During their time in Malawi, Madeline and Pilar purchased a range of bright and colourful local ‘chitenge’ materials. They took these back to Scotland where the students in the Craft Club at school used the materials to make a range of items for sale. These included covered notebooks, picture frames, keyrings and more. Once created, these items were sold and the money raised donated towards education projects in Ruarwe.

In collaboration between NYM staff and Madeline and Pilar on behalf of Inverkeithing High School it was decided that the funding should go towards school student sponsorship by way of provision of School Uniforms to community students unable to afford these. While primary education is free, students’ families must provide both uniforms and school supplies such as exercise books and pens etc for the student to be allowed to attend. This provision of school uniforms to families identified as severely in need allows their children to attend school and gain their primary education.

A huge Yewo! (thank you) to Madeline, Pilar and the students at Inverkeithing High School for this generous donation, which allows for 50 students to receive a sponsored uniform.

Community, Donations, Fundraising, Malawi

Repairs to buildings in the aftermath of tropical cyclone

Phunzira


On the night of 10th to 11th January a tropical cyclone ripped through Ruarwe Village and its surroundings. Whilst many buildings in the village received mild damage, they were largely protected by the valley they sit in. Sadly extensive damage occurred at the Nyumba Ya Masambiro and clinic sites as they sit up the hill from the main village. The roof was ripped off the Life-skills Room at NYM, half the roof was ripped off the new Midwifes house and the whole roof ripped off the Medical Assistants House. We are hugely grateful to our donors who reached out to assist with the repairs needed to the properties as well as the replacement of items damaged and destroyed by the water ingress as a result of the missing roofs. Repairs at the two clinic residences were a matter of replacing the damaged roofing beams and roofing iron sheets. At NYM these steps were needed as well as some repairs to the damaged walls and re-limewashing of all the Life-skills room walls. We were delighted to see how quickly the community members and contractors and carpenters came together to make the repairs as soon as the supplies had been purchased in Nkhata Bay. A true demonstration of community spirit, and once again a huge Yewo! (thank you!) to our donors who made this rapid response to crisis possible.

Donations, Fundraising, Healthcare, Malawi

Emergency Malaria Medications

Phunzira

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. 

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.

Community, Donations, Education, Fundraising, Malawi, Nursery, Youth

Youth activities go from strength to strength

Phunzira

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!

Community, Donations, Fundraising

Grant awarded to re-open community centre

Phunzira

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!

Community, Donations, Fundraising, Malawi

Donation appeal during coronavirus crisis

Phunzira

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!

Community, Donations, Education, Fundraising, Malawi

Donation of exercise books, pens and pencils to primary schools

Phunzira

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!