 We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have launched our first sustainable community project with Nsangeni Support Group: beekeeping. Who are Nsangeni Support Group? Nsangeni Support Group (NSG) was founded in 2014 by 20 women living with HIV/AIDS. They formed the group to promote a sense of community, to promote the rights of those living with HIV/AIDS and to encourage members to take part in activities and projects within their villages. Now, 8 years later, the group has 35 members, ranging from 30-55 years old. Since Community Highlight was set up we have supported members of the group, but always in a quite a short term way. Since Thoko joined the team, he has been working closely with them to work out how we can provide more sustainable opportunties. So, what is this project all about? The aim of the project is to train and support NSG members to set up a beekeeping business so they can start selling honey; this will improve their nutrition while also providing them with sustainable income. The project aims to reach the following objectives
 What do we hope to achieve in the first 12 months?
We have purchased 20 hives and all members have already received their beekeeping training. Each hive should generate around 15-25 litres of honey per year. With this in mind, we expect, after 12 months, for the first harvest to generate approximately 2,000,000MKW profit, which is the equivalent of £1,701. Members have set up a village bank account which will allow them to keep the money safe and choose how much to reinvest in the programme, and how much to take out for themselves. Once 12 months is complete, we will analyse the successes and the challenges and decide whether to support the members to purchase more hives, or take up more training. Why is this so exciting for us? This is a huge moment for our little CBO. Since we were founded, we have tried hard to set up and maintain sustainable projects, with an emphasis on wellbeing and income generation. However, it hasn't been an easy ride, and the last few years have really challenged us financially and emotionally. The launching of this project illustrates a huge leap in the right direction for us, and shows how far we have come as an organisation. We are so incredibly excited to see how it goes, and keep you updated along the way. Thank you so much for reading about our brand new un-bee-lievable project. If you would like to support this programme, or any of our work, we would be forever grateful; just hit the button below. Wishing you all a warm and peaceful transition into Autumn, Team Community Highlight
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7/25/2021 1 Comment Welcome, Thoko Msonkho We are delighted to announce that Thoko Msonkho has officially joined the team as Communications Manager. You may remember Thoko as Community Highlight's first ever university graduate. Thanks to you lot, we were able to support him through his education, and in 2018 he graduated from university with a bachelor's degree in Aquaculture and Fisheries Science. We have always been proud and excited to follow Thoko's journey, and now we are absolutely delighted to announce that he will be joining our little organisation in an official capacity. Thoko's role will focus on streamlining and improving the communication between Malawi and the UK. His main responsibilities will include:
Thoko is currently based outside of Domasi, but he will visit once a month and will work roughly 1-2 days a week remotely. Here is what he had to say about his new role: After university in 2018, I have had a lot of experiences in the fields of Education, Agriculture, Aquaculture and Bee keeping. I have been helping people with extension services in those fields and have taught students in different secondary schools. It has always been my dream to serve my people in Domasi. I am therefore delighted and feel honoured to have the opportunity to work with Community Highlight. As an Aquaculture Expert, I always advise people to be patient and calm—for no one can catch fish in anger. It is with this sentiment that I believe everything is possible as long as people understand the process - patience is needed in order to achieve great things. I am dedicated and motivated by results and I'm excited to use my skills to create positive change in my community.  We are so happy to welcome Thoko into the team - his enthusiasm and passion has helped to really lift our spirits over the last few weeks and we can't wait to see what we are able to achieve together. If you would like to support our work as we enter this new chapter, please donate to our fundraiser here Thank you for your patience, your kindness and your support over the last few weeks. We're really glad that we can update you with some positive news. Onwards and upwards, and here's to making Anderson proud ✨ 6/27/2021 1 Comment Goodbye Mr Anderson LiwondeWe are completely heartbroken to announce the passing of our founder, our director, our great friend and our hero Mr Anderson Liwonde. He fell ill Friday evening and passed away a few hours later. Anderson was a true man of the people, an inspiration to so many of us, and arguably the most hard working man in Malawi. We are struggling to work out what to do next and how to get through this but we will do the best we can to carry on his legacy. We ask for a bit of time and space to think about the next steps and the future of Community Highlight CBO but we also understand that this will come as a shock to those of you who were lucky enough to meet him, and those of you who have followed his journey over the last few years, so if you do have any questions or if you need any support from us please do send a message through. If you can, please raise a toast to Mr Liwonde this evening. Goodbye Anderson, you were the very best of us ✨  11/29/2020 1 Comment 1,000 masks on their way to Malawi! A box of 1,000 facemasks are on their way to Domasi, thanks to Beyond Retro and CovCare.
Both companies chose to donate masks to Community Highlight for free, to support our community members through the Covid-19 pandemic. This is incredible news as it means we will be able to reach everyone within our catchment area, something we thought would be unachievable a month ago. "It means a lot to be able to partner with good people doing amazing work, so thank you again for everything. " - Wendell Maxey, CovCare The masks will be distributed as part of our World AIDS Day campaign on December 1st - we will be prioritising individuals living with HIV, making sure they have the PPE and hygiene equipment they need to stay safe. Here's a lovely little write up Wendell from CovCare did for us. We look forward to sharing updates with you in the coming weeks...  The project we initially designed aimed to ensure 812 households across 10 villages had access to tip-taps, soap and information on the virus and hand-washing best practice. As you can see from the graphic above, thanks to your unbelievable generosity we were able to absolutely obliterate these targets. Our emergency project has reached nearly 1,500 households across 30 villages and we were able to offer further support to places of worship, carers and cemetery workers. Local MP Grace Kwelepeta who is also Deputy Minister of Gender, Child Development and Community Development praised the work of Community Highlight and supported our campaign by donating extra resources. The NGO AYIDO assisted us with the distribution of materials. The next stage of our programme is the distribution of masks, and more soap. We've launched a second fundraiser which is gathering momentum each day, thanks to you. Thank you so much for your overwhelming generosity, your empathy and your continued support. You really are an amazing human beings, and we feel lucky to know you.  10/21/2020 1 Comment Official Update - October 2019 Community Highlight has recently gone through a few changes. We wanted to share these with you to ensure that everyone in Team CH feels they are in the loop..
We are excited to let you all know that we have started working with two new schools - Malenga and Liwunga. The community members in Malenga and Liwunga have built the schools themselves - we will be providing teachers, school materials and school meals through our feeding programme. While we are disappointed to not be supporting families in Namalaka and Hayo anymore we are proud that we have shown the community members that they can sustainably run successful education projects without our financial assistance. For clarity, here is a complete list of all the villages we are now working in: (1) Nsangeni (2) Chinyangala (3) Jira (4) Saidi (5) Liwunga (6) Chimwanza (7) Malenga (8) Dagalasi (9) Nkula (10) Ntanga We continue to support our schools in Nsangeni and Chinyangala and all villages continue to be within the Domasi region catchment area. A HUGE zikomo to everyone who has engaged with and been directly involved with the schools, the projects and the work in Namalaka and Hayo since 2014. Together we have achieved some truly wonderful things. I'll be in touch soon, but until then, take it easy. Evie, UK Manager |
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