DAPP Malawi is in 2021 celebrating 26 years of active involvement in development work with communities through out the country
DAPP is implementing 17 projects within education, health, agriculture and community development in 25 district that span across the country's three regions
Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Community Development
On 10 May 2019, DAPP Malawi through Chilangoma Teachers Training College (TTC) participated in the launch of the Blantyre District Development Plan (DDP) and Socio-Economic Profile (SEP). The launch took place at Chisenjere Ground in Lunzu, Blantyre district. The Director of Rural Development Ms. Malango Bottoman was the Guest of Honour at the event and was joined by Government Officials, Development Partners, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Private Sector.
Display made by students from Chilangoma
Students from DAPP Chilangoma presenting
Ms. Malango emphasized on the importance of local development planning for all the councils in the country. “Planning is a key area in development, which tries to zero on the importance of sustainable local development,” she said.
Blantyre District SEP contains the situation analysis of the current state of development gaps and opportunities that exists in the District while the DDP contains a monitoring and evaluation framework that will be used to track the progress in the implementation of the projects. Student teachers and Tailoring students from DAPP Chilangoma made displays of some of the products made during their course of training. The development and launch of the documents was made possible with the financial support of USAID and UKAID through Local Government Accountability and Performance (LGAP).
Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Community Development
Development Aid from people to People (DAPP) is a nonprofit organization which is working hand in hand with the Government of Malawi as well as local and international organizations in implementing social and economic development activities in Education, Agriculture, Health, Community Development and Fundraising through the sale of second hand clothing in order to improve the lives of local Malawians.
With this in mind, DAPP Malawi using its Social Development Fund (SDF) component introduced a one year Child Aid project in Machinga district in November 2017 with the aim of improving good sanitation and hygiene practices at household level.
Hand Washing Prevents The Spread Of Diseases
Households Are Encouraged To Construct Dishracks To Keep Their Plates Clean
The project implemented in Traditional Authority Chamba in group village headman Mapata, Mitawa and Puteya, reached 581 families and a total of 2,240 beneficiaries in its one year implementation period.
Through the project, beneficiary with the guidance of project unit leaders (PUL) managed to construct pit latrines with drop hole covers, Tippy taps which are a hand washing mechanism, rubbish pits and firewood saving stoves as well as encouraging children to go to school and community members to establish vegetable gardens to ensure they are eating balanced meals. With the increase in sanitary facilities, the implementation catchment area recorded Cholera and Diarrhea cases.
Mr Paul Mponya who was the PUL in the area said “the project was truly a success but it also faced some challenges. For instance, some of the households found it difficult to find bottles for the construction of the tippy taps while some found it a challenge to mold bricks for the construction of toilets” he said . Having met these problems, Mr Mponya encouraged the community members to join Village Saving Loan Groups in order for them to save money and make things happen.
“From conversations I have had with the beneficiaries, the most important aspect of the project has been the pit latrines and tippy taps as the majority say these have helped to reduce diseases like cholera and diarrhea in the area” Mr Mponya said
Traditional Authority Chamba was declared Open defecation Free before the project phased out in December 2018
Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Community Development
Confronting the belief that women achieve less in society, Mapemba club extraordinarily came out the best to represent batch 5 of GIZ Kulima MIERA Project Peer Leaning Event (PLE) held at the Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe district from the 3rd to the 5th December 2018.
Mapemba club is an all-women’s club with 63 members who solely depend on farming for their livelihood. The club was established in 2014 with an objective of growing crops for food and to sell the surplus so that they can finance their household development. In 2018, Mapemba club was trained by DAPP Malawi in Business development through the GIZ Kulima MIERA project. The objective of the training was to assist the farmer organization (FO) to develop business strategies that will enable it to grow into a viable farmer organization that has the potential to positively contribute economically to the club member’s families, community as well as the nation. DAPP Malawi as a business development service provider for GIZ Kulima MIERA project successfully trained 10 Farmer Organizations of which seven are in Salima and three in Dedza districts on collective marketing, farmer organization techniques, business training and negotiation skills in the market in order to grow their businesses so that they provide goods and services at a profit.
Members of Mapemba Club
The ladies accredit their sucess to hard work
During the event at Golden Peacock Hotel, the 10 Farmer Originations presented their plans and achievements following the training of which one Farmer organization was chosen as the outstanding one. Mapemba club emerged the winner through votes beating the other nine farmer organizations. In her remarks after making it to the national level where they will compete with other batches, the chairperson for Mapemba club, Zainab Abi, thanked DAPP Malawi for the training that has opened their eyes on how to grow their businesses as a club. “Our wish is to be a reliable FO providing services and goods that will enable members and nonmembers to grow socially and economically” said Zainab smiling with satisfaction. In addition to growing crops, the FO also practices fish farming as an Income Generating Avenue to finance the Famer Organization and member’s development. Commenting on the development, the Trainer/Coach for the club Mr. Elvis Banda expressed satisfaction over the Famer Organization’s methodology that DAPP Malawi is implementing with the GIZ MIERA project. “It has shown that FO’s can quickly transform into viable FOs if they apply the knowledge attained in the training and coaching sessions under this project. Despite the short implementing period of the FO cycle, the FOs have already shown positive change towards being viable business entities” he said. The GIZ Kulima MIERA project is being funded by the European Union. It commenced in August 2018 and phases out July 2019.
Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Community Development
The Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare launched the 16 Days of Activism campaign against Gender Based Violence (GBV) on 23 November 2018 at College of Medicine in Blantyre. Malawi is commemorating the 16 days under the theme “End GBV in the World Work and Tertiary Institution”. The campaign against GBV tallies with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5 which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The event was graced by the Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Honourable Cecilia Chazama MP who called on individuals, Civil Society Organisations and different stakeholders to join her ministry in order to strengthen collaboration in the fight against GBV. She emphasised that GBV issues need to be addressed in all areas not only the work place or tertiary institutions as this year’s theme stipulates. Adding in her remarks, she highlighted of how GBV is counterproductive and retrogressive as it undermines a country’s productivity, prevents attainment of SDGs and the Malawi Development Goals and Strategies.
Participants During The Solidarity March
Performances Marking The Official Launch Of 16 Days Of Activism And Launch Of Ndiulula Campaign
Apart from the 16 Days of Activism activities, the event also marked the official launching of the Ndiulula (I Won’t Be Silent) silent campaign; a joint government and civil society national advocacy initiative whose goal is to break the silence and strengthen response mechanisms on violence against women and girls in the world of work. The day was characterised by a solidarity march, storytelling from survivors of GBV also spiced up by music and dance performances. The 16 Days of Activism campaign is commemorated in over 160 countries since its introduction in 1991. In Malawi, it is being supported by various stakeholders which include Action Aid, Plan International, WORLEC, ZATHU, United Nations, Engender Health, SAT, University of Malawi, Timveni, LUANAR, Self Help Africa, MCTU, Norwegian Church Aid, Malawi Human Rights Commission and DAPP Malawi.
Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Community Development
The DAPP Child Aid projects builds on the idea that the people in a community should work together in a structured way to discuss and come up with solution to issues of mutual interest in particular those that involve the wellbeing and upbringing of the children. The aim is to create safe and conducive environment in which families can raise their children. The projects are operating in Machinga, Zomba and Neno districts focusing on the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, agriculture as well as climate change. In Machinga DAPP is working in four Traditional Authorities (T/A) of Nsanama, Mlomba, Nkula and Chamba while in Zomba the project is operating in T/A Nkagula. Currently, district’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene coordination team are carrying assessments to determine if the villages are not practicing Open Defecation.
Verification team visiting communities
A Latrine constructed in one of the villages
The aim is to establish that people in the target villages are not practising open defecation so as to be qualified for and ODF status by the National ODF taskforce. During the verification phase carried out between 16 July to 25 August 2018, the district teams have declared 150 villages to be open defecation free. The criteria used to declare a village open defecation free is that all households should have latrines with drop whole covers, hand washing facilities next to the latrine and without any traces of human faeces at any place within the villages. There 48 villages from T/A Chamba, 40 from Nkula, 15 from Nsanama, 17 Mlomba and 30 from Nkagula which have all been declared open defecation free.
