Self Help Africa reposted this
Impressed, honoured and humbled. A few words to sum up my recent visit to Malawi, which I’ve really enjoyed sharing an insight into, through my posts here over the last few weeks. First of all, I want to pay tribute to the fantastic Self Help Africa Malawi team, delivering impactful programmes to directly reach more than 1.6 million people in across districts in 2023 alone. None of this happens without our Malawi team, and exceptional leadership from our Country Director Kate Hartley-Louis and Deputy Country Director, Programmes, Smorden Tomoka to name just two amongst a team of exceptional leaders. As a former country director myself, I know that the results and impact achieved above, doesn’t happen by accident. Strong leadership and an exceptional team is the bedrock upon which we can build and deliver truly life-changing programmes. Malawi holds so much opportunity and I was blown away by what I saw during my time there. There’s an incredibly vibrant civil society. Engaged district governments, that want to serve their communities, and a national government open to constructive and pragmatic dialogue with civil society in order to co-create the solutions to the challenges we're trying to overcome. There’s so many opportunities for partnerships in Malawi, especially in WASH in relation to agriculture, nutrition and health. At the same time, the impact of the climate crisis here is heartbreaking. There’s a lot to be done. Malawi will continue to be a country of amazing importance to Self Help Africa, particularly given our legacy and history as an organisation. We stand ready with our Malawi team, led by Kate, to continue to work together in effective and efficient partnerships to do everything we can here, given the enormous challenges that face this country and the region. I’m pictured here with SHA Board Member Hadi Husani and members of our fantastic Malawi team: Smorden Tomoka, Agatha Chitawo, Wezi Gibson, Baxter Givens, Joseph Kiyambuti and Kate Hartley-Louis.