28 November 2011

Habitat for Humanity & WaterAid Site Visits

Update from WildFox Fiona on a field visit to Malawi to see the work of Habitat for Humanity and WaterAid, two beneficiary charities of the Martin Currie Rob Roy Challenge.

Habitat for Humanity’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live.  Since 1986 they have been working in Malawi to address poverty housing by building free houses for orphans and vulnerable children and providing loans to build or repair houses to people who would never normally qualify for a bank loan.

We spent a day with Amos Kalawe, National Director of Habitat for Hummanity Malawi, to find out more about the work of the charity and the impact of the funds we helped raise.  Over 3 years the Martin Currie Rob Roy Challenge raised over £300,000 for Habitat and this money went towards families such as Aines Gideon who we had the pleasure of meeting.  Below is her story. 

Aines is 62 and has four of her grandchildren living with her, including two of her late daughters children.  Until Habitat came along, Aines was living in a tiny grass thatched mud house which had a leaky roof and was poorly ventilated.  Their living conditions made life extremely difficult for the family, for example, when it rained they couldn’t sleep as anywhere they tried to lie down they would end up getting wet.  They couldn’t store food in the house either due to the leaks as it would get wet and go off.  Finally, the house was so small and they had to sleep in the same room as the goats which led to skin irritations and other diseases. 

With the help of the local community, Habitat identified Aines as someone who would benefit greatly from a new house.  Aines and her grandchildren contributed sand and water during construction of the new house and her other relatives assisted in digging the toilet pit and collecting building materials from the field office.  Aines is happy that her grandchildren are now able to study comfortably and they can keep their notebooks safely.  They are all able to get a good nights sleep now and don’t have to worry about diseases from the goats.  When we met Aines she didn’t stop smiling once and is so pleased with her new house and grateful for the work of Habitat. 

WaterAid on the other hand is dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people and have been present in Malawi since 1999.  We were taken around one village where the work of WaterAid has had a huge impact on those living there. 

WaterAid, along with the help of the Government and public water company, has installed a water tap in the village.  The water comes from a river some 15 miles away and is supplied by a series of pipes.  Having access to a clean water source makes a huge difference in these villagers lives. 

WaterAid’s work continues even after they have provided the water source, for the water provision acts as a stepping stone for them to then talk to the community about hygiene and sanitation.  We saw examples of the change in behaviour towards hygiene and sanitation as we walked about and saw dishes drying on homemade tables rather than on the muddy floor, and hand washing facilities outside each toilet. 

What impressed me most with WaterAid was how they aim to empower communities to make sure they have sustainable water facilities, for example, by providing training to sustain the water supply.  They talked often of exit strategies and leaving the community to be in charge of their water supply in the long run. 

It was fantastic to see the work of both charities and both visits reaffirmed my belief that the funds raised through the Martin Currie Rob Roy Challenge are having such a positive impact.