In response to Covid-19

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Health

DAPP Malawi in partnership with Humana People to People Spain is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic through donation of sanitary materials in selected rural communities around 16 districts of Blantyre, Neno, Mangochi, Dedza, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa, Machinga, Mangochi, Ntcheu, Zomba, Mulanje and Chiradzulu.
The three-month Covid-19 response initiative targets to reach 10,000 people, running from May to August 2020.
In Traditional Authority Mbwatalika in Lilongwe district, Mdzobwe CCAP (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian) Mission church is one of the beneficiaries of the intervention. The church received a bucket with a tap and tablets of soap for handwashing.
According to one of the church elders Mr Latiel Malela, the church congregates over 700 people weekly.

Refilling water from the borehole

Mr Latiel using the handwashing facility

DAPP in Covid-19 Fight

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Health

DAPP Malawi in partnership with Humana People to People Spain is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic through donation of sanitary materials in rural communities around 16 districts of Blantyre, Neno, Mangochi, Dedza, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Ntchisi, Dowa, Machinga, Mangochi, Ntcheu, Zomba, Mulanje and Chiradzulu.
Targeting to reach 10,000 people, the Covid-19 response activities will be carried out from 8th May to 7th August, 2020.

Handing over of handwashing materials and soap

Using the handwashing facility

Targeting to reach 10,000 people, the Covid-19 response activities will be carried out from 8th May to 7th August, 2020.

According to the Project’s Coordinator Jimmy Kayange, he said this is one of the collective efforts in fight against the spread of the coronavirus and reaching out to people in rural areas with correct information on Covid-19, how it is spread and how to avoid reduce its further spread.
“We are going to work with teachers who have graduated from DAPP Teachers Training Colleges and are working in the aforementioned districts to mobilize communities to avoid contracting the virus. These are teachers who are trained to become agents of social change and to work with people in the rural communities,” he added.
A total of 300 handwashing buckets 1,020 tablets of soap and information flyers and posters valued MWK3,675,000 have been distributed.
Expressing his gratitude after receiving the hygiene materials at his maize meal in Kumitete village, Traditional Authority Mpama in Chiradzulu, Mr Walapa said he is thankful for the donation which will enhance the sanitation at the maize mill.
“I have close to 100 customers coming here on a daily basis and I believe apart from washing their hands, they will also be inspired to practice this hygiene in their homes, and I will make sure that this facility is being utilized and the soap is available at all times,” he said.
The target is to reach over 1000 people directly with reading materials and while promoting the handwashing practice with the facilities which will be placed in strategic points like market entrances, maize mills, bicycle taxis ranks and hair saloons among others.

DAPP Malawi Accomplishments in Fighting HIV and AIDS

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Health

Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Malawi began its work to tackle HIV and AIDS in 1998 when its first HOPE Humana project was launched. HOPE Humana established community HIV facilities that served as resource hubs and activity centres for everyone in a given community.

Building on this work, DAPP Malawi has worked closely with the Malawi government since 2007 to combat and prevent the spread of HIV, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria through its innovative programme, Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE). TCE is a comprehensive and systematic HIV and AIDS prevention, support and care model that combines counseling, field-testing, education, and community mobilisation.

Door to door meetings

Janet (Left) conducting an infection test for a couple in Thyolo

According to UNAIDS Malawi, progress has been made in curbing the number of HIV-related deaths since 2010 to 2018, with a 55% decrease, from 29,000 deaths to 13,000 deaths. Again, the number of new HIV infections has decreased, from 55,000 to 38,000 in the same period.

From 2007 - 2017, the TCE programme reached more than 1,5 million people with HIV prevention messages; over 800,000 were counseled on risks of HIV infection; and more than 500,000 people were tested for HIV; 16% tested as couples and 54% of the total number of people tested were women.

The programme adopts a house-to-house interpersonal campaign methodology that encourages lifestyle changes and preventive behavior, reaching every individual and household within a given area over a period of three years.

The TCE approach has helped to reduce the spread of TB by raising awareness. Through community mobilisation, there has been an increase in both access and demand for TB and HIV testing, as well as TB case detection. The intervention has helped to ensure treatment adherence through the innovative ‘TRIO system’, where two family members or close friends support HIV/TB clients during the critical initial weeks of treatment where loss-to-follow-up is common.

Use Face Masks to Reduce the Spread of Coronavirus

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Health

Staff members at DAPP Dowa Teacher Training College are producing protective cloth face masks to be distributed to staff members and their families at the institution.
The development comes amid the viral Covid-19 pandemic which is spread through contact with droplets from mouth or nose of people who contracted the virus. As such, as one way of reducing the risk of contracting or spreading the virus, the use of face masks is being encouraged.

Mustafa showcases some of the masks sewn

Staff members participate in sewing of masks