Programmes
Health
Most countries put a lot of emphasis on addressing communicable diseases. At the same time noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 71% of all deaths globally. Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17.9 million people annually, followed by cancers (9.0 million), respiratory diseases (3.9million), and diabetes (1.6 million). Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behaviours factors. Poverty is closely linked with NCDs. NCDs disproportionately affect people in low- and middle-income countries. Countries with inadequate health insurance coverage are unlikely to provide universal access to essential NCD interventions.
Risk factors are genetic as well as behavioural and metabolic. Tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and the harmful use of alcohol, all increase the risk of NCDs. An important way to control NCDs is to focus on reducing the risk factors associated with these diseases.
While sensitization is key in imparting knowledge about the diseases, it is vital to couple this with means and ways that people can address these challenges. We will work with health centres and rural hospitals to impart knowledge and support healthcare delivery in these areas.
You can join us by adopting a project or adopting a healthcare facility and give your support.
Education
The major educational reform in Malawi in recent decades was the introduction of free primary education in 1994. This resulted in large increase in enrolment numbers. This increase in access has also brought major challenges and resulting in a decline in quality of education due to factors such as:
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Infrastructure: - some children have to learn under trees because there are more children attending primary schools and not enough classrooms to house them. They are are also exposed to hardships such as cold, rain and wind since most of them are learning outside.
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Teaching and learning materials: - these children have no access to desks, books, teaching materials etc.
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WASH: - most of these children live in an environment that has very poor sanitation, without proper toilets and clean water sources.
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Teachers: - the Government recommends a teacher for every 60 children, but in most cases the teacher pupil ratio is higher.
Education in Malawi stresses academic preparation leading to access to secondary school and universities. However, few students go on to high school or university. Currently, dropout rate is very high particularly among primary school pupils. While the factors above affect both boy and girls, the challenges for girls include gender inequality and gender-based violence in and on the way to and from school, inefficiency in the education system which results in high repetition and dropout rates, low levels of completion and progression to secondary school.
Activities in the education portfolio will include provision of school supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene and infrastructure. Join us by adopting a school or a project component.
Agriculture
Being landlocked and with plenty of arable land, it is no surprise that Agriculture remains the mainstay of Malawi’s economy, contributing significantly to employment, economic growth, export earnings, poverty reduction, food security, and nutrition.
The main economic products of Malawi are tobacco, tea, cotton, groundnuts, sugar and coffee. These have been among the main cash crops for the last century, with tobacco becoming increasingly predominant in the last quarter-century.
The main staple crop is maize, grown by smallholder farmers mostly at the subsistence level. Production varies, and depending on climate conditions, maize may be imported or exported. Sorghum, millet, pulses, root crops, and fruit are also grown. Another staple, as well as an important source of protein, is fish from Lake Malawi. The fishing industry accounts for about 200,000 jobs, but problems with pollution and over-fishing threaten to reduce yields.
Smallholder farmers produce about 80 percent of Malawi’s food and 20 percent of its agricultural exports. Poor agricultural practice has left the country with low crop yields and rampant food shortages. This is why self-sustainability through agriculture is absolutely vital.
We will work with the relevant agriculture office and the community to improve access to food and nutrition. This will be done through training on good land husbandry practices (permaculture), production of organic farm foods and keyhole gardens at household level. Join us by sponsoring a community or a project
Entrepreneurship
The Government of Malawi has a national healthcare service which is government funded, and free to all Malawians at the point of delivery. The Government offers free primary education. The Government provides input subsidies, which aims to support farmers and boost the economy by subsidising seeds and fertilizers. Despite these efforts, the majority of Malawians still lack means to access to healthcare, education and food sufficiency.
We at Umoyo.org Ltd will work with the communities, especially women and the youth to implement programmes that will facilitate access to finances that can enable the people pay and access decent quality healthcare, education and food and nutrition security. We will promote our own version of 'social accountability' and encourage the youth to 'adopt' and elderly person in the community to provide support that they may need. These projects will include skills training and production units which will manufacture items for sale.
Join us by adopting a project or purchasing some of the community products.