Habitat Donates MK1.9 million Construction Materials to Malawi Police Service Driven by the vision of a Malawi where everyone has a decent place to live and a mission of seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity Malawi (HFHM) supported South Lunzu Police Station with various construction materials to assist in the construction of a shed and some offices at the Police station. Some of the construction tools and materials include brickforce wire, galvanised wire, wire nails, dump proof course, plastic drums, wheelbarrows, lime patty, and shovels to the tune of K1,901,875.00. Presenting the donation to South Lunzu Police on behalf of Board and Management for Habitat for Humanity Malawi, the Construction Coordinator, Architect William Kachikopa, had this to say, ‘Despite that Police wrote to us a request for assistance, we at Habitat acknowledge the complementary services of Police in our work. Without Police providing public safety and protecting the rights of persons in Malawi, our efforts towards decent housing for all would be futile.  As such, Malawi Police Service is a key stakeholder in alleviating housing poverty in Malawi. And when we learnt of their plans to construct some offices and shed, we were quick to support. That is why we are here today to present this donation of various construction materials to Police worthy MK1.9 million. On behalf of the Officer in Charge (OC), the Station Officer Mphwatiwa expressed sincere gratitude to Habitat for Humanity Malawi for the kind gesture saying; “This is a contribution to the entire community, as the Police is in service to all.” He further said that the neighbourly heart demonstrates what a true humanitarian organisation Habitat for Humanity Malawi is. The donation was made on 6th of May 2022.  

HFHM takes Safeguarding awareness meetings to communities. On 5th May 2022, HFHM sensitized the local leaders in Group Village Head Gwirize in TA Kabudula in Lilongwe on principles of safeguarding which the organization follows. The community was oriented on how HFHM staff and its agents are expected to respect and safeguard the rights and dignities of all people especially vulnerable adults and children from exploitation and abuse.  The meeting was attended by Village Development Committee (VDC), Community Based Organization, Local artisans, Beneficiaries, Chiefs, and members of the Madando Committee (Complaints and Feedback Committee). The Chairperson of the Gwirize VDC, Saidi Malikebu was impressed with the safeguarding meeting and the principles shared during the meeting. “The safeguarding principles shared in this meeting will guide us as we work with HFHM to ensure that projects do not harm partners, beneficiaries, and community members that are served while providing transformational and sustainable community development through shelter”, he said. Safeguarding is preventing and responding to harm caused by physical or sexual abuse or exploitation, harassment, or bullying of the people in the communities.  HFHM is mainstreaming the protection and safeguarding in its programming. HFHM opposes to any form of discrimination, exploitation, and abuse, including slavery, coerced conscription, prostitution, trafficking of persons for any purpose, vulnerable adult, or child abuse.

INVESTING IN WATER POINT SUSTAINABILITY – HOW TO ACHIEVE IT Introduction Access to safe drinking water, good sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is essential for good health, welfare and productivity and is widely recognized as a human right. In Malawi, 87.9 percent of the Malawi population use improved sources of drinking water, which means that 12.1 percent (about 2.3 million people) lack access to safe drinking water, MICS 2019-20. In Malawi, Boreholes are the most common water source seconded by taps (piped water) and protected shallow wells. With reference to the year 2020, Malawi had 112,160 improved water points (90.3%) and 12,042 unimproved water points (9.7%). Of the 112,160 registered water points 54% were functional, 20% partially functional, 20% non-functional and 6% were abandoned (Mwater, Malawi CFJ) This confirms that despite sources of improved water being available for households, functionality of the water sources is a huge problem and this drives people to be accessing water from unsafe and unreliable sources.   Existing Challenge Although Malawi has about 112,160 boreholes, 54% of the boreholes were deemed functional at that time while 46% were either partially or completely not functional. This means that a greater percentage of the communities use unsafe sources of drinking water at a certain period due to malfunctioning of their boreholes.   Key challenges affecting borehole functionality that needs to be critically addressed include; Poor workmanship during construction Borehole management by Water Point Committees (WPCs) Lack of accountability, transparency, and a sense of ownership by community members Lack of access to borehole spare parts Theft of borehole parts on the installed water points Current Experience & what works HFHM’s experience from its ongoing WASH projects in both rural and peri-urban areas has shown that over 90% of the boreholes can be fully functional if and only if; borehole resources collected are well managed, borehole workmanship during actual drilling was well managed, the effectiveness of water point committees in borehole management is improved and area mechanics are readily available, supported and well capacitated to do their job.   Borehole resource management At the community level, Water Point Committees (WPCs) are given the capacity to support the management of the water points. WPCs are expected to perform the following tasks to ably manage the water points; Collection of fees from users Fixing minor defects on the water points (boreholes) Source external support (i.e. Area Mechanics) to fix major defects on the water points Procure spare parts for fixing the water points (boreholes) Despite performing these roles, some of the hindrances WPCs face with borehole funds is; how to invest in the funds collected, lack of access to banks to manage their funds due to geographical distances, and high costs of banking services. Therefore, borehole funds are often kept by water point committee members as cash which often leads to loss of borehole funding due to misuse of funds. HFHM has learnt that failure in the management of borehole resources by WPCs contribute to borehole non-functionality.  HFHM has also learnt that most community members lose trust in Water Point Committees (WPCs) because there is little or no transparency and accountability on how borehole funds are managed. This has led to frustration on both the committees and the community. To improve the status quo, HFHM in its interventions has focused on the management of borehole funds through mobile banking approaches. Mobile Banking has proved to be an effective solution to increase financial transparency and protect borehole funds. In the areas where HFHM is working, communities are highly recommending the use of mobile banking in the management of boreholes funds.   Some of the testimonies captured on mobile banking are as follows: “There is none from the members who have hard cash meant for repairing boreholes. This reduces the temptation for members to use or borrow money for personal use”, Anesi Jekete from Mpani village   “We used to get a bus just to get to the bank and collect funds for borehole repairs. It was expensive and time-consuming. Now we can go to the nearest Airtel money agent and collect funds when need be”, Rodrick Kalimoni Chairperson for Mbala WPC   Our Call for Action Given the existing gaps and the practical lessons that HFHM has harnessed over the years, investing in waterpoint sustainability calls for the following actions; WPCs to be using mobile banking: This is a proven and effective means of improving financial transparency and safeguarding of borehole funds. Mobile banking (such as airtel money or Tnm Mpamba) is widely accessible in all rural areas. With this system, Water Point Committees (WPCs) will collect funds, record in their cash book, and bank the money at a mobile banking agent at the nearest marketplace. Mobile Operators to harness this opportunity: Service providers should provide payment collection and management solutions for free. This will enable WPCs to use the service with ease. Supply chain of spare parts. There should be adequate approved spare parts shops within the community. Once WPCs have enough funds for borehole maintenance, there should be a provision where these members can go and access spare parts at a convenient shop. All Water Point Committees (WPCs) must enter into a service contract with the Area Mechanics for the purpose of servicing the borehole so that it can remain functional even beyond its lifespan. In view of the above, HFHM is calling on all the NGOs that are working on WASH to encourage all WPCs to register for mobile banking to ensure that borehole funds are kept safe and that all WPCs should enter into service contract with Area Mechanics available in their respective areas.   For more information, please contact Anock Kapira, Habitat for Humanity Malawi akapira@habitat.mw   Safeguarding covenant: Habitat Malawi in affiliation to HFHI work towards safeguarding the right of its stakeholders, as such any unwelcome sexual advances, comments, expressed & implied unnecessary demand for a Service, unnecessary touch, joke, gesture are strictly not tolerated in any form.  

  Habitat for Humanity Malawi (HFHM) joins the rest of the World in commemorating the World Water Day (WWD) that falls on 22nd March every year. The aim of the WWD is to highlight the importance of freshwater. Another intention is to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This year’s global theme is celebrated under the theme “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible”. In Malawi, the WWD will be celebrated under the sub-theme, “Building Resilience in Communities through Ground Water Use”. HFHM affirms its committed to build resilience in communities on the importance and sustainable use of ground water. HFHM promotes measures for sustainability of boreholes as an adaptation method for use of ground water. This idea is based on the background that a lot of deep wells are being dug and ground water is continually being extracted from the ground and less action is put on retaining the water in the ground. As Malawi commemorates the WWD, HFHM advocate for sustainable water technologies that integrate environmental sustainability. HFHM believes in empowering communities to take up the responsibility of maintaining and sustaining their water source. Therefore, HFHM envisions the following. Improvement in the effectiveness of water point committees. Improvement in the availability of area mechanics. Improvement in the coordination between different actors (i.e. District Council key WASH stakeholders, Traditional Authority, Water Point Committees, area mechanics, and water monitoring assistants). Improvement in the effectiveness of the District Water Office´s water point committee trainings to achieve improvements to transparency and sustainability on a larger scale than the communities directly reached by this project. Raised awareness (popularize) of the Community Based Management manual which is currently not widely and effectively used district trainers.

On Wednesday 23rd February, 2022, Habitat for Humanity Malawi staff participated in the Virtual Build currently taking place in Gwilize Village in Traditional Authority Kabudula in Lilongwe where 2 houses are being constructed for the families of Dorothy Mkomba and Evelesi Jesitala respectively. The Virtual Build is being supported by USA Global Volunteers from Alaska in the United States of America and is led by Bob and Leslie Bell. The Global Volunteers could not physically be present in the country because of the travel restrictions following the effects of COVID-19. The Virtual Build is aimed at engaging previous Global Village participants who supported and built a house for the most vulnerable families in Malawi. Malawi is currently experiencing an increasing housing poverty caused by recent devastating effects of Tropical Storm ANA and the COVID-19 pandemic. About 56 percent of the Malawi population is in need of decent housing and the need has since increased due to the effects of Tropical Storm ANA where 190,429 people have been displaced and are in urgent need of housing support in the affected communities. The upsurge of the COVID-19 cases also negatively affected the Global Village Program since 35 teams of Global Volunteers who were expected to come to Malawi to build the houses for 70 families were cancelled in February 2020. COVID -19 has also worsened the housing poverty due to the suspension of the Big Build initiatives introduced by Habitat for Humanity Northern Ireland which was aimed at building more than 10 houses for vulnerable families. The current housing needs in Malawi calls for a deeper commitment by HFHM, its Affiliates and Partners to the mission of providing decent housing for all. Excited by the efforts of the USA GV Sending Team to pilot the virtual build in Malawi in these unprecedented times, the National Director and staff of HFHM participated in the Virtual Build by being physically present at the site and supported in different works at the site. The National Director of HFHM, Mr. Anock Kapira could not hold his excitement and had this to say, “The housing poverty in Malawi has worsened due to the current effects of floods and on-going COVID-19 pandemic. As such we are so grateful to Bob and Leslie Bell for leading and mobilizing the team from Alaska to support and pilot this Virtual Build in Malawi. This Virtual Build gives me hope that the Global Village Program is back on track amidst the COVID-19 associated setbacks. As such I call upon all GV Sending Teams and Affiliates to consider reaching out to Malawi so that we build hope and stability to the vulnerable families through provision of decent housing in this current period when the need for decent, resilient and safe housing is ever increasing and is the way to go

Habitat for Humanity Malawi (HFHM) in partnership with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with funding from Government of Japan, successfully completed the construction Disaster Resilient Houses in Zomba and Phalombe. The main aim of the project was to support human security through safe and dignified access to climate-resilient housing for affected communities in Malawi displaced by floods from Cyclone Idai. The project was implemented in two districts of Zomba and Phalombe. The project was implemented in the four communities in the two districts of Zomba and Phalombe. In Phalombe, the project was implemented in Traditional Authorities Kaduya and Mkhumba while in Zomba the project was implemented in Chikowi and Malemia. Through this partnership, the project constructed 200 flood-resilient houses for the most vulnerable flood-affected communities in Zomba and Phalombe districts and also constructed two community markets and four community water points. The project also strengthened the capacity of district and national authorities, private sector firms and communities to apply techniques from the Safer Housing Construction Guidelines (SHCG) including training on inclusive disaster recovery through climate- and weather-resilient housing targeting the most vulnerable, that includes; women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities. During the project period (1st July 2020 to 31st July, 2021), the project constructed 200 houses and Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines. The houses directly benefited 200 most vulnerable flood affected families with 963 people. Out of these people, 392 or 41 percent are males and 572 or 59 percent are females. These direct beneficiaries included 707 or 73 percent children (below 18 years) while 52 or 5 percent were elderly (60 years and above). Out of the people benefiting from the project, 86 or 9 percent were persons with disabilities. These persons with disabilities had difficulties or problems in one or all of the following areas; seeing, hearing, walking/climbing, speaking, intellectual, self-care and other difficulties. Out of the 86 persons with disabilities, 11 percent had difficulty in seeing, 9 percent had difficulty in hearing and speaking, 42 percent had difficulty in walking/climbing, 20 percent had other difficulties. In its approach to assist the affected communities to recover quickly from the effects and build back better, the project adopted the recovery strategies recommended by the Post Disaster Needs Assessment Report (2019) which include dissemination of the safer construction guidelines, training of the artisans in Safer Housing Construction Guidelines (SHCG) among others. The project trained 900 artisans in SHCG as well as disseminated safer construction guidelines through production and dissemination of Build Back Better and Safer Brochures and project sign posts elected in various targeted communities. The project also constructed two community markets (one in each district) to ensure continued availability of livelihood sources and connectivity and access to markets. The project also drilled four boreholes (one in each targeted community) to support flood affected community avoid prolonged unavailability of water resulted in many people, mainly women and girls, being required to spend greater time fetching water, thereby reducing the time for other economic activities. The project had also successfully completed the implementation of other project activities such as supporting all project beneficiaries with knowledge with land and property rights issues, Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs), Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and many others. Regardless of the progress made in the project period, the project experienced challenges such as impact of COVID-19, slow supply of construction materials and works on the market by the contractors. Phalombe MAP Showing Disaster Recovery Project Climate-Resilient Housing Beneficiaries Zomba MAP Showing Disaster Recovery Project Climate-Resilient Housing Beneficiaries

On May 4, 2021, UNDP Resident Representative, Shigeki KOMATSUBARA visited HFHM Disaster Recovery Project sites in Zomba district, including: safe, green and climate-resilient houses for most vulnerable flood-affected households; community markets; and water points. The project is supported by Governments of China and Japan. Under China funding, HFHM concluded the construction of 180 disaster resilient houses and Ventilated Improved Pit latrines on 31st March, 2021. Under Japan funding, HFHM is expected to complete the construction of 200 houses by July 2021 under Japan funding. One of the key objectives of the visit was to appreciate the progress and impact of the project in the targeted communities. KOMATSUBARA toured the houses, markets, and water points and had the opportunity to communicate with the project beneficiaries, who shared their first-hand experience and satisfaction of benefiting from the project.

The Parliamentary Committee on Local Authorities and Rural Development hosted delegates from Habitat for Humanity Malawi (HFHM) at Parliament Building in Lilongwe on Wednesday, 31st March, 2021. Welcoming the HFHM delegates, Chairperson of the Committee, Honourable Horace Chipuwa said the meeting was crucial and was meant to appreciate the strategic interventions of HFHM and ensure how the committee can support efforts of housing poverty. In light of this, HFHM’s Interim National Director, Lucy Mwase, made a presentation detailing the organisation’s ongoing initiatives on affordable housing. The goal of HFHM is to have a Malawi where everyone has a decent place to live. HFHM believes housing is the most important asset of the poor. As such improving access to housing can produce transformational impact on household income, health, food security, and equity among others. In 1986, HFHM has contributed in addressing poverty housing amongst the low income and vulnerable groups and has served over 35,000 households through housing microfinance, vulnerable group housing, housing support services and Disaster recovery programs. Regardless of the efforts, most families in rural communities in Malawi still live in sub-standards homes characterized by mud walls and grass thatched roofs with little hope of ever being able to afford a decent house. To meet the current housing demand, HFHM advocates for low cost of building materials which when reduced in cost will make many more people access a decent house. Mwase also urged parliamentarians to advocate for the housing needs in Malawi. She further advised the Parliamentary Committee to consult HFHM and other like-minded organisations during budget consultations to ensure that housing needs are considered in the government budgets. The committee’s Chairperson Honourable Horace Chipuwa commended HFHM’s management for the focus to provide vulnerable families with decent housing. “We are impressed that HFHM is making such tremendous progress to ensure that Malawians particularly the vulnerable families access decent housing. This must be sustained and as a Parliamentary Committee, we will render such organisations the needed support. On behalf of all members we are very glad with progress made by HFHM,” said the chairperson.

Habitat for Humanity Malawi (HFHM) has advocacy initiatives that focus on security of tenure. Security of tenure is vital for the families and communities we work with to be able to enjoy the full spectrum of housing rights and benefits. Security of tenure is the right to feel safe in one’s own home, to control one’s own housing environment, and is the right of individuals to be free from eviction. Lack of secure tenure often lies at the heart of poverty housing, depriving home beneficiries of even the most basic physical, economic and psychological security that comes with adequate shelter. This is why HFHM through its Disaster Recovery Project with funding from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supported the development of land certificates to all the 180 home beneficiries under the project. Today HFHM handed over the land certificate to 50 home beneficiries in Traditional Authority Mwambo in Zomba district. Rights to land are not just a source of security of tenure, but also a basis of social relationships and cultural values and a source of prestige and often power. Lack of secure tenure contributes to inequalities in land, housing and livelihoods, as well as social exclusion, the violation of human rights, food insecurity, forced evictions, corruption and land and property grabbing. When families have secure land tenure, they are more likely to invest in home and neighborhood improvements. HFHM will continue providing support for increased land tenure for all communities we serve. HFHM is closely working with the District Councils through the Department of Lands in efforts around land tenure.

As the “UNDP –HFHM Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Recovery Project’’ is winding up on 31st March, 2021; Phalombe District Council conducted a monitoring visit to the project sites to appreciate the progress on the construction of 90 houses as well as the restoration works on essential small scale infrastructure in T/A Jenala. The Acting District Commissioner for Phalombe who is also the Director of Public Works Mr. Clement Mtambo could not hold his joy and thanked the existing partnership between UNDP and HFHM in constructing the 90 safe, green and climate-resilient houses. Through the project 90 houses have been built for the most vulnerable flood-affected households and additionally restoration works have been done for essential small-scale infrastructure (Maliro community market at T/A Jenala and Sumbeya community water point at T/A Nkhulambe) in the district. Mr. Mtambo was also impressed with the inclusion of the dissemination of the Safer Housing Construction Guidelines (SHCG), training of 270 local artisans and the engagement of the artisans in the construction of the houses in the project. The Council believes that the artisans who have been trained in construction works using sustainable building materials, will be engaged in the Council’s projects such Constituency Development Fund (CDF) as well as Primary School Improvement Program (PSIP) which will also use Sustainable building materials. Mr Mtambo also noted that the houses being disaster resilient, may in the event of a disaster act as rescue centers to the families and their relatives. Overall the project is being implemented in four communities in Phalombe and Zomba districts and seeks to construct a total of 180 disaster resilient houses and restore community infrastructure such as community markets and water points. The project is being funded by UNDP.