Malawi

Malawi – known as Nyasaland until independence in 1964 – is an African landlocked country with a growing population of 18 million. A fifth of its landmass is water, with Lake Malawi spanning 350 miles north-south. Chichewa is the national language and Kwacha the currency. Lilongwe, the capital, was founded as a trading post in 1906 and only recognised as a town in 1947. Malawi’s vibrant beat, open skies and welcoming people with a passion for music and dance all contribute to the country being affectionately known as The Warm Heart of Africa.

Making it happen | Ndizotheka!

Just as Bhubesi Pride Foundation made itself known on the world wide web, Malawian special needs coordinator, Wordsworth Rashid, sent the charity an email. He invited BPF’s founder, Richard Bennett, to stay with his family in Lilongwe and he showed Richard what was possible through sport and education. Fast-forward to today and Wordsworth is employed full-time by BPF Malawi, helping to realise a long-term plan to engage a rural Lilongwe community in meaningful activities, uplifting hundreds of lives. BPF Malawi now employs an executive director, finance team, two development officers (one of whom is Wordsworth), a maintenance team and 44 part-time sports & life skills coaches. We’re bringing to life the 5-year construction project of a sports & education community centre. In 2022, BPF started working with ChildFund Sport for Development (S4D) to deliver a youth rugby, netball and life skills program with over 900 children. 

Malawi is listed as one of the poorest countries in the world economically, with HIV/Aids, malaria, teenage pregnancies, sub-standard literacy and numeracy rates and school drop-outs presenting persistent social challenges. Through sport, education and promoting healthy life choices, BPF Malawi is enabling transformational change.

Mtema, where we work, is a 710 square kilometre rural village community an hour’s drive north-west of Lilongwe with a population of 59,000; 35,000 of which are below 18 years of age. Homes here are traditionally constructed of sticks, mud and burnt or unburnt bricks (made from a mixture of water and sand placed in moulds and dried in the open air). Cooking is done over the fire in a separate building with a smoke hole in the roof. People bathe outside. Water is carried manually, often over great distances, for cooking and bathing.

BPF’s strategic and operational focus in Malawi is to safeguard children and stakeholders in its programming, optimise the centre, progress S4D programming, develop and deliver supplementary education, enable access to program recourses, initiate CPD for staff and program participants, engage key stakeholders, implement policies effectively and ensure good governance.

Inspiring and engaging Africa and the international community

With trusted ‘friends of the Pride‘ in other African countries and an established network of global partners, we welcome the opportunity to utilise BPF Malawi’s centre in Lilongwe as a safe place to foster local and international engagement and shared learning, contributing to BPF’s impact goal. Join us…