State of Emergency Declared in Malawi: Largest ever Crisis Looms
On 23 March 2024, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera declared a State of Disaster, in 23 out of Malawi’s 28 districts affected by recent El Niño conditions. Two million farming households and almost half of the national crop area have been affected.
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Today there is heightened anguish amongst 45,000 patients in Malawi who are receiving palliative care. These, society’s most vulnerable are now also facing hunger.
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We urgently need to raise funds to buy and distribute maize flour directly to households where a family member is receiving palliative care. Each bag of maize, a humble yet desperately needed offering, represents sustenance for a family coping with a loved one’s terminal illness. Our partners are on stand-by to distribute food to 2,596 families through our network of 21 hospitals and health centres whose palliative care services we developed. Please help us raise the funds to buy the food for our partners to distribute.
Please donate to our emergency appeal today.
Thousands of families who are facing the personal and economic tragedy that a terminal illness brings, now also face one of the largest humanitarian emergency that Malawi has ever confronted*. As the nation grapples with natural disasters, economic instability, and the effects of global conflict, the most vulnerable families are on the brink of despair.
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Malawi, a land where subsistence farming can sustain millions is becoming ever more vulnerable to climate change. Its proud people have been afflicted relentlessly by cyclones, droughts and floods, leaving fields barren and homes destroyed. Now El Nino conditions threaten drought and bring the second consecutive annual harvest failure.
Imagine facing an incurable illness, too weak and malnourished to absorb life-prolonging medicine and unable to feed your children.
Let's make a difference, together.
For palliative care families, where their modest homes become hospitals, the struggle is twofold. As they navigate the complexities of treatment, they are burdened by the desperation of hunger. Their journey towards a loved one’s end-of-life is fraught with obstacles, from crippling family debts to the invisibility that comes with their inevitable withdrawal from society.
They are overlooked, sometimes no longer able to afford to send their children to school or be a part of their community. Often unable to reach emergency food distribution points, they and their families can be left without food, and left behind. But their plight has our attention, compassion, and support.
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In partnership with palliative care providers, and with your support, we can embark on a mission to alleviate their suffering by providing sustenance to those who need it most.
£27.04 will buy a bag of maize, feeding one family for three months.
£108.16 will buy four bags of maize flour, nourishing a typical family for one year. With a year's supply of maize, we aim not just to alleviate hunger but to restore dignity and hope to families in the midst of this food crisis and in the midst of their family crisis.
£540.80 will feed five families for one year at one of our partner hospitals or health centres.
Just £1,622.40 would provide food security for an entire hospital's palliative care families for a whole year.
With your help, we will be able to buy nutritious food for palliative care patients and their families at the following partner hospitals: Trinity Community Hospital; St Montfort Community Hospital; Malamulo Hospital; Makapwa Health Centre; Mulanje Mission Hospital; Thambani Health Centre; Chiringa Health Centre; St Joseph Hospital; Lulanga Health Centre; Mpiri Health Centre; St Lukes Hospital; Utale Health Centre; Tsangano Health Centre; Mtendere Community Hospital; Mvera Health Centre; Ndimoyo; Kapiri Community Hospital; Nkhamenya Community Hospital; St Gabriel Hospital; Liwaladzi Health Centre and Atupele Community Hospital.
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Please stand in solidarity with the most vulnerable people of Malawi by donating today. Your contribution, no matter the size, will provide nourishment, helping to sustain life and uphold the dignity of Malawian families in desperate need. You can donate:
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Online, using the form below
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Through bank transfer to Account No: 06 00 06 68 Sort Code: 80-02-28
(please include your name and postcode as a reference). -
By calling 0131 313 3828
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By posting a cheque, payable to "EMMS International" to EMMS International, Norton Park, 57 Albion Road, Edinburgh, EH7 5QY
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