Covid-19 has all hit us very hard. The impact in Africa is even bigger. In Malawi, people spend 60-70% of their income on food. No work means no income in turn no food.
The generosity of our delegates and partners of our Virtual Plant-Based Foods & Proteins Summit June 2020 has enabled us to transfer a sum of €10,000+ to the NGO Twesa in Malawi. They have built a community centre to feed the infants, inform mothers about a healthy diet, and offer farmers access to small-scale multi-crop grinders, pearl millet threshers and peanut processing tools. These small machines can save 35% of the crop and also reduced labour to grind millet with 5 hours per day. They have also expanded all the good work to make Malawi more sustainable https://bit.ly/2NcatYl.
A number of different activities, projects, and workshops are designed to be hosted in addition to the current projects such as raising awareness for climate change and better cooking practices and cleanliness campaigns. Activities that are new or extended within the centre are planned as follows:
>Children feeding programme
This project has been developed in collaboration with Feed The Children and aims to help those children in most dire need within Karonga district, a region already facing many problems with orphans, malnutrition, and cholera. Many of these children only get one or two meals per day.
>Tree Planting and Seedling
Over the past three years, TWESA has been successfully planting 5,000 trees in Mwenelondo Community Day Secondary School. To increase its already achieved impact, TWESA intends to increase its tree planting activity.
>Briquette Making
Briquettes made out of rice husks and shreds of used paper, which are in abundance in Karonga, are an environmentally friendlier alternative to firewood for cooking. There is a rice mill next to the centre so farmers who sell rice (one of the staples in the regional diet) don’t have to throw away husks but make extra money from “rubbish”.
>Computer lab
Computer skills are becoming more and more important nowadays but in Malawi, less than 5% of the total households have access to a computer or laptop. Therefore TWESA plans to train in particular the youth in typing and computer workshops.
>Tailoring and Needling
TWESA plans to also do tailoring and needling workshops at the Community Resource Center. The workshops are provided for free using environmental-friendly products and recycled materials. Participants are supported as they receive 30% of the proceeds of their created products. Moreover, school uniforms, which are highly demanded at the beginning of each term, shall be created and sold at affordable prices for the poor.
>Sports, Recreation and Library
In Northern Malawi, there is an inadequate distribution of sporting and recreational centres where youth and women can spend their time in a positive way. Furthermore, a library, that can be used for free by any community member, shall be set up as libraries in Malawi are rare to find and expensive to reach.
>Women’s Restaurant
The women’s restaurant is allowing 20 women to run their own small business in which they share the profits. It was opened already in 2018 and shall move into the centre so that the women can better involve themselves in the community and also teach others.
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