  
Children are getting clean water from the epicenter pump to bring back to their village. |
Water is a necessity for all human beings, and clean drinking water is vital to maintain good health. The epicenters are a closer and cleaner source of water than most villages had previously. In addition, the time that is saved getting water each day, can now be spent on education or income-generating activities. |
only 68 percent of malawi’s rural population has access to adequate drinking water —UNICEF |
The Jali epicenter community food bank is administered by local committees. |
Rowlands Kaotcha, country director for THP Malawi, explains how the community food banks at the epicenters provide security for the local people: “The communities themselves have the responsibility of producing the food and [storing] it. Some of the food they keep in their homes, for their household food security. The [rest of the] food, they keep in the community food bank.” He goes on to say, “What we do is empower communities to improve their food production … [by teaching farmers techniques] like the use of improved hybrid seeds … to produce more food than before … and the use of organic manure for them to improve their soil fertility.”
At the epicenters, farmers also learn to utilize small-scale irrigation systems and food processing equipment in order to preserve food for their household and community food bank. Healthier and more abundant crops are produced through crop diversification training. When the community food bank is stocked, it not only acts as a reserve in times of hardship, it also stabilizes prices for farmers in the area. |
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22 percent of children in malawi are malnourished —european commission |
It is estimated that 14 percent of adults in Malawi are HIV positive. Malawi also has one of the highest infant and child mortality rates in the world. To address these issues, THP has developed a voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing program, and they train women to be traditional birth attendants (TBAs). TBAs have successfully reduced the infant and maternal mortality rates by assisting women with prenatal care, education and the birth itself.
Epicenter health clinics are staffed by community health workers and remain open to the public seven days a week. These workers are specially trained in preventative and curative health care. It is not uncommon to see one of these community health workers in the local villages caring for those who are too ill to reach the epicenter. |
malawi only has two doctors
for every 100,000 people
—united nations development programme
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A visiting doctor from a government hospital administers a shot at the Jali epicenter. |
Adult literacy is an essential component of the epicenter strategy – particularly for women. The Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) program allows people to learn basic skills that make tremendous improvements in the quality of their lives. For example, if a woman can read the directions on a bottle of her child’s medicine, then she greatly reduces the risk of that medicine causing her child harm. Individuals learn math skills which enables them
to receive fair prices at the market and to maintain savings and credit records.
Women learn critical health and hygiene information on a variety of topics through the FAL program. These topics include nutrition, maternal care and the prevention of water-borne diseases. When a woman acquires the knowledge to be more confident, healthy and economically successful, it ultimately has a positive impact on her children and enhances the quality of life for her family as a whole. John Coonrod of THP states, "The most important factor proven in the reduction of child malnutrition has been the education of women." |
Women are learning basic skills in the Functional Adult iteracy (FAL) program. |
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