Building stoves in larger villages is a great challenge for us. In 2025, thank you to support from our 2024 Christmas Big Give donors we were able to send our stove team to Monkey Bay to build in Kamphande village.

Mbedza Volunteers Tom and Bree explore the Beauty of Malawi

Mbedza’s 2025 - 2026 environment programme for tree planting begins with the training and preparation for 6 tree nurseries this month.

We were able to select 6 communities for this task although many more are crying out for this intervention. Important lessons continue to be learned from previous programmes.

Tom recounts his (almost!) first month in Malawi with Mbedza and reflects on his experience so far volunteering with various projects.

Tom and Bree, two students from Leeds University have had a great start to their gap programme. In the blog Bree shares what they have done so far with opportunities to visit Mbedza programmes as well as visit Mount Mulanje.

Maintaining our orphan education programme has never been more challenging in the last 20 years than right now. Difficult decisions lay ahead yet we remain determined to change the story of Malawi where only 15% of young people complete secondary education.

The latest nationally available data on HIV rates is encouraging - Malawi is winning, that said, we are not complacent. We are strategically placed to offer HIV testing and counselling in a part of the country that has some of the highest HIV prevalence rates. We continue to reach out into the communities.

Enduring poverty and the lasting impact of Cyclone Freddy in 2023 are requiring a rethink to our approach in stove building. We have introduced a wider distribution of Gamba Tinsmith portable stoves to deal with realities on the ground.

For young people in Malawi, the barriers to completing Secondary Education can be challenging. In a country where only 15% complete Secondary Education the determination to succeed is impressive. The biggest barrier is poverty.

Our first small Tiyeni plot yielded 8 bags of Maize. A comparable plot using traditional methods and expensive fertiliser yielded less than half that amount. Tiyeni points the way for households to become more food self sufficient and reducing costs.

Mbedza is expanding this training in 2025.

In April 2025 a group from the UK and Belgium visited several Mbedza Projects. This blog looks at visits to some of Mbedza’s environment interventions - tree woodlots at Kagwa village and Mbewe village and a new development helping farmers to grow more food in a more sustaonable way - the Tiyeni method.

We cannot help being alarmed by the uncertainties caused by the news we are hearing about USAID programmes. The US initiatives 20 years ago to provide support for those who are HIV positive have saved millions of lives. This individual story reminds today that the fight against HIV hasn’t finished and Anti Retro Viral Drugs are crucial.

We started 2025 with a question from someone who asked this ‘in 2024 I travelled on several plane journeys. How can I mitigate the impact of this carbon footprint’?

Wow! We don’t get that question very often but we rejoice when we hear it! In this blog post the UK Director reflects on Mbedza’s environments programme and the questions that caused them to start.

Our question at Mbedza is ‘would you consider mitigating any part of your carbon footprint?’ It could be just one aspect such as flights. Or, you could calculate your annual carbon footprint and start there. Every tree makes a difference - even 1. We have the tools to help.

Saturday December 14th 2024 saw the first group of Hope Ambassadors complete the Mbedza Youth Leadership Award Scheme.

The event included a guest musician as well as contributions from other organisation leaders including Mwayi Mpinganjira, country director for Sparkle Foundation and Dalitso Muronya, the Executive Director and Founder of Tigwilizane center for Democracy and Development.

Our Orphan Education students came together recently for a day of motivation and encouragement. They were also blessed with a drama performance from Mbedza’s Hope Ambassadors as well as a distribution of Maize.

On World Aids Day we reflect on the impact that our donors have had in the fight against HIV - a thank you.

Our UK Director shares some of 2024’s successes and challenges.

Since Arpil we have distributed 485 sanitary kits. Not only have girls received this vital health intervention but also sex and relationship education. Our funding has come to an end - can you help?

Only 15% of young people complete Secondary Education in Malawi. We are so grateful to our 47 sponsors supporting our 88 students this year.

How did our Form 2 and Form 4 students do in their exams this year? Find out in this update from our Malawian Student Support officer Daphney Phiri.