Health and Nutrition

“Health is like money, we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.” – Josh Billings

Aim

Savers from the Heart focuses on providing education and resources on health and nutrition within the community to meet its needs. It involves teaching individuals about the importance of healthy diets and behaviours. It also involves engaging the community to be informed about their health needs.

Key Facts

• - Prevalence of stunting among children under 5 years (0–59 months) = 37%
  
• - Prevalence of underweight among children under 5 years (0–59 months) = 12%
  
• - Prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age (15–49 years) = 33% pregnant and non-pregnant women
  

Source – Malawi Nutrition Profile, USAID, 2018

Main Activities

• - Promote and support breast feeding.
  
• - Capacity building of health surveillance assistants, community members, extension workers and children.
  
• - Promotion of community gardens.
  
• - Promoting community interface with service providers at community and district levels on issues of health and nutrition.
  
• - Building awareness among children, community leaders and community members on health seeking behaviours amongst them.
  

Quality Education

”We have the ability to provide quality education to every child on earth right now.” – Adam Braun

Aim

Savers from the Heart ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all children. Education liberates the intellect, unlocks the imagination and is fundamental for self-respect. It is the key to prosperity and opens a world of opportunities, making it possible for each of us to contribute to a progressive, healthy society. Learning benefits every human being and should be available to all.

Key Facts

• - In 2019/20, 88 percent of primary school aged children were in primary school, while only 15 percent of secondary school aged children were in secondary school
  
• - More than two-thirds of household members over 14 years of age have no official educational qualifications.
  
• - Between 2010/11 and 2019/20 literacy rates for women increased by 11 percentage points, while for men they increased by 8 percentage points.
  

Source: Integrated Household Surveys (IHS), IFPRI, 2023

Main Activities

• - Capacity building of teachers and school management committees.
  
• - Promotion of conducive learning environment that is healthy, inclusive, secure, protective, inspiring and adapted for both boys and girls.
  
• - Provision of teaching, learning and sporting materials to children.
  
• - Provision of clean water and sanitation facilities that are age and appropriate to teachers, boys and girls.
  
• - Facilitation of dialogue between government officials and communities for the promotion of quality education.
  

Early Childhood and Development

“Please excuse the mess, children are making memories.” – Anonymous

Aim

Savers from the Heart wants all children to have the early stimulation and care they need in the early years to develop to their potential. In their early stages, children are provided with strategies that help them develop the emotional, social and cognitive skills needed to become lifelong learners formally and informally. Integrated approaches are used for children from the age of conception up to school entry (0 – 8 years). Main focus is on Early Childhood Centres and parenting.

Key Facts

• - Only 0.77 per cent of the total national budget in 2021/2022 was allocated to early childhood development, which is lower than the 2020/21 share of 0.93 per cent.
  
• - Only 32% of the eligible children including those with special needs had access to Early Childhood Development meaning that 68% had no access.
  
• - About 95.8% Early Childhood Development centres did not have a proper and adequate infrastructure (children’s classrooms, caregiver offices, kitchen, storeroom, pit latrines and boreholes). In most cases, the structures were grass thatched, had walls made of unburnt bricks and mud floors.
  

Source: ActionAid Malawi, Early Childhood Development Initiative in Malawi, 2021

Main Activities

• - Building the capacity of Early Childhood Development centres and their caregivers.
  
• - Promoting nutrition among children accessing Early Childhood Development centres.
  
• - Strengthening capacity of communities and local committees in the management of Early Childhood Development Centres.
  
• - Preparing children transition from Early Childhood Development centres to primary schools.
  
• - Providing Early Childhood Development centres with water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.
  

Women and Youth Empowerment

“Empowerment is a word that comes with liberty.” – Karol G

Aim

Savers from the Heart aims at empowering women and youth in order to create equal opportunities, rights and representation for both groups in all spheres of life. It recognises the inherent value and potential of women and youth and seeks to eliminate the barriers that hinder their progress. Women and youth are equipped with knowledge and skills as tools to have more influence in decision making in social, cultural and economic circles within their communities.

Key Facts

• - Out of every 100 girls who begin Standard 1, only about three will enter into secondary education. Of those three, only one will enter university.
  
• - Women make up 75% of the agricultural labour force and produce 70% of household food. Despite this however, most women are constrained in terms of access to productive resources such as land, credit and entrepreneurship (UN Women, 2018).
  
• - Only 21.7% of the youth aged 15-24 are neither in employment, education or training, and approximately 27% of those with a job are underemployed (ILO, 2018).
  

Main Activities

• - Sensitising women on their rights particularly on the issues of inheritance and property rights.
  
• - Promoting sexual health of young people and girls including intensifying reproductive health rights awareness, sexuality education and addressing child and early marriage.
  
• - Promoting youth-led media, youth rights, youth councils, youth involvement in community decision making and other methods.
  
• - Promoting women and youth participation in community economic activities such as village banks.
  
• - Supporting girls and women in crisis especially in times of disasters.
  

Food Security & Climate Change Management

“If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” – Mother Teresa

Aim

Savers from the Heart aims to offer sustainable solutions to end hunger in all its forms and to achieve food security. The aim is to ensure that everyone everywhere has enough good-quality food to lead a healthy life. This entails improving the productivity and incomes of small-scale farmers by promoting equal access to land, technology and markets, sustainable food production systems and resilient agricultural practices.

Key Facts

• - A total of 3 million people representing 15 percent of the total population are experiencing high acute food insecurity in 28 districts and four cities. (Malawi: IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis, 2023).
  
• - Carbon dioxide (CO2) is at its highest in 2 million years. (Nasa, 2022)
  
• - Yields in sub-Saharan Africa are projected to decrease by as much as 50 per cent over the century by 2100, with small-scale farmers being the most affected. (Trocaire, Malawi Climate Change Case Study, 2016).
  

Main Activities

• - Raise community awareness that climate change is already impacting the food security and nutrition of the most vulnerable.
  
• - Increasing agricultural productivity, climate resilience and sustainability, particularly for smallholder farmers (for example, by promoting conservation agriculture practices, restoration of degraded soils and agricultural biodiversity).
  
• - Promoting rights of vulnerable people, particularly women, to critical livelihood resources such as land and water.
  
• - Improvement of food security monitoring to incorporate indicators related to gender equality, nutrition and climate variability and change.
  
• - Linking emergency food assistance to longer term food security responses
  

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

“You will never solve poverty without solving water and sanitation.” – Matt Damon

Aim

Savers from the Heart through its WASH programmes aims at reducing the transmission faeco-oral diseases and exposure to disease-bearing vectors through the promotion of: good hygiene practices, provision of safe drinking water and reduction of environmental health risks in communities and at schools.

Key Facts

• - 1 in 3 people in Malawi don't have clean water. That's 5.6 million people.
  
• - More than 3,100 children under 5 die every year. From diarrhoea caused by dirty water and poor sanitation.
  
• - 9.6 million people don't have a decent toilet. That's more than half of the entire population.
  

Source: WaterAid Malawi, Facts and Statistics Malawi

Main Activities

• - Responding to Covid-19.
  
• - Improve access to basic water, sanitation and hand washing facilities at schools and health facilities.
  
• - Raise community awareness on the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene.
  
• - Facilitating dialogue between community and WASH service providers.
  
• - Promotion of personal hygiene, proper infant diapering and feeding, and everyday cleaning.