Tropical Cyclone Freddy Post-Disaster Update, Malawi

In the wake of Cyclone Freddy’s devastating impact on Malawi, Child-Help Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (CH SBH) Malawi has been on a mission to assist those affected by the disaster. This text highlights their efforts to provide shelter and support for individuals facing the challenges of spina bifida and hydrocephalus in the aftermath of the cyclone.

It’s been over 6 months since a deadly Cyclone “Freddy” struck Malawi and displaced over 659,000 people, while leaving a trail of destruction. Our target group was also affected in this disaster. Child-Help Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (CH SBH) Malawi went out and did a situation assessment, and discovered:

Individuals with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus were placed in temporary camps, along with other people. The issue there is, for individuals with Spina Bifida, doing daily continence management requires privacy and a sterile environment.
Majority of families with individuals with SBH have their own local businesses as a primary source of income. Not repairing the businesses brought a risk of not seeing children at the hospital for treatment because of lack of money for transport.
Solution: Build 15 quick built houses for our target group and repair 30 businesses

From the financial standpoint:

Cost for 15 Basic ‘quick build’ houses was estimated at 47,475 eur (3,165 eur per house)
Cost for 30 Business repairs was estimated at 8,100 eur (270 eur per business)

After planning, inquiring builders, materials, and raising funding, CH SBH got enough funds for 4 houses.
Child-Help provided funding for 2 of those 4 houses.

The building started in June, and so far 2 houses have been built, while the 3rd house started being built on 11th September, and will be finished within the next 10 days.

These are durable houses, being made by cement and burnt bricks with a sand to cement mixture ratio of 5:1.

The 1st house was built in Ndirande, and had media coverage of 3 major Malawi media houses: Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Times Television (TTV) and the Nation Newspaper.

Beneficiaries of the 1st house are the family of Francis Mponda, a person with hydrocephalus, who’s been receiving care from CH SBH for years now.

The 2nd house was built in Chilomoni, which is a locality in Southern Malawi. The house was handed over to the owners on 30th August. You can watch the handing over here.

Beneficiary of the new house is Vanessa Manda, a youth with spina bifida who is being looked after by her mother.

Both these houses were built in two weeks.

CH SBH has funding for 4 houses, and the goal is to build 15 houses for people with spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus who are affected by Cyclone Freddy.

Goal achieved: 27%

We are grateful for all who have donated so far.

If you wish to contribute, please visit the link below:

http://childhelp.koalect.com/en-GB/p/emergency-cyclone-relief-for-malawi

IBAN: BE56 7380 1971 7088