By Erin Balas | Vice President of Communications
Hello all!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our donors for making the work we do possible. Through your generosity, our 2019 trip to Malawi, which concluded on January 7th, was a huge success. We began the New Year delivering 600 long-lasting, insecticide treated mosquito nets to 3 villages in Malawi. So how exactly did we accomplish this?
Stage 1 - Planning
The decision to expand to a third village stemmed from a planning meeting with our RPI and Malawi Polytechnic teams upon our arrival to Malawi. Our teams decided to expand to this new village in the Chikwawa district in addition to the two villages previously visited in Mulanje due to their location in the warmer valley, resulting in increased risk of malaria throughout the district.
Stage 2 - Introductions
After our planning meeting, our project team visited each village in person to meet with village leaders. We asked for feedback on how they have been doing since our visit last year, if our aid has helped, what we can provide to help more, and ran ideas for supplemental projects by them for approval. Conversations like these are the backbone of our organization – they allow us to truly act as partners and allow for the greatest impact possible for the villages we work with. One village in the Mulanje region informed us that they have only had three cases of malaria since our last visit, and children have completed the educational books provided and are eager to learn more.
Stage 3 – Net Distribution/Youth Engagement
It was decided that we would distribute 300 of our 600 nets to the village in Chikwawa, and 150 to each village in Mulanje. In addition to nets, the villages in Mulanje received soccer balls, jump ropes, and primary school books for the children. Because this was our first time meeting the villagers in Chikwawa, we focused on teaching them the dangers of malaria, how to use the nets, and busted some common myths about them that would prevent use. It was a truly beautiful day, and we are excited to further build on the new relationships formed that day. We also spent one day in the Mulanje villages distributing the additional nets, running reading groups, and playing games with the children. It was a blast for all!
Stage 4 – Planning (again!)
We concluded our trip with a planning meeting for next year. Feedback we received included tackling other issues their villages face, such as water accessibility, school infrastructure, and food availability for children during the school day. Our RPI and Malawi teams are currently brainstorming how we can work with villages to solve these issues and implement them in our project next year.
Until next time,
Erin
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