Meet Mary Wasani, a divorced mother of four from Livetere village in Mulanje. Mary and her four children became homeless after Cyclone Freddy destroyed her home and all her property in early 2023. Their neighbor Mrs Kaipa has been accommodating them for free for close to one year.
In February 2024, Mary’s sad story took a positive turn as she became the next beneficiary of the Monthly Housing Initiative for the Vulnerable run by the Othakarhaka Foundation in partnership with International Development Institute (IDI). Through the initiative, we aim to rebuild better houses for vulnerable families that were affected heavily by Cyclone Freddy and completely lost their houses.
Mary was full of joy with tears when Othakarhaka and IDI handed over the keys of her new 3-bedroom house to her and her kids in the presence of her neighbors, OTK volunteers, and senior chief Nkanda. She thanked OTK and IDI for the huge donation which she said had come at the right time.
In her remarks, Senior Chief Nkanda praised the efforts by OTK/IDI to construct better homes for people who were affected by the storm in her area. Senior Nkanda also pleaded with other stakeholders and well-wishers (through media)to come and join Othakarhaka on this life-transforming project.
Finally, our Programs Director Ted Mwango remarked that the monthly house initiative aims to address the homelessness problems that poor rural families are experiencing as they still struggle to fully recover from the effects of the storm.
Ted also explained that homelessness is hopelessness and hopes that constructing a house for people like Mary, gives the children hope to work hard and concentrate in school. The houses are also strongly built in comparison to the average houses in rural areas to withstand future shocks.
Othakarhaka Foundation specially thanks our partner International Development Institute (IDI) as this project would not have been possible without their support. If you would like to learn more about our Programs and initiative, send an email to info@othakarhakafoundation.mw
