Habitat for Humanity Malawi
 | |  | | | Habitat's Work in Malawi | New families served this year*: 536
Total homes constructed/rehabilitated: 6,323
House sponsorship cost: US$1,620
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Malawi -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
Why Habitat is needed in Malawi
Malawi is a country of immense beauty, yet also of extreme poverty. The country is rated as one of the least developed countries in the world.
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A Habitat Malawi house.
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Ninety percent of its population lives in rural areas and 75 percent live on less than US$2 a day. The economy is predominately agricultural and is dependent on substantial international assistance.
Because of the widespread poverty, four out of five families live in substandard homes, with little hope of ever being able to afford a decent house. A typical village hut is built of mud and daub with a dirt floor and thatched roof and requires frequent repair. The conditions put families at high risk of all kinds of diseases, with leaky roofs making the house damp and mud floors attracting insects.
How Habitat helps
Habitat for Humanity Malawi opened its first community-based office in 1986, in the city of Lilongwe. Today, it has 18 affiliate offices across the country, in both urban and rural areas. Habitat Malawi houses are made of kiln-fired clay bricks, glass windows, air vents for good ventilation and cement tile roofs. Each house has a foundation made from large stones, brick or cement.
By providing improved housing to families, Habitat Malawi has enhanced the lives of people and reduced the occurrence of malaria, respiratory illnesses and intestinal parasites.
Highlights
- Building in Stages. This incremental building program allows low-income families to improve their living conditions gradually over time, based on their resources. The Building in Stages project starts with a one-room house that costs less than half of a full-size Habitat house. The house can be fully paid off in about 3 to 5 years. After the first stage is paid-off, families can add another room to extend the house. When the extension is paid-off, the family can extend again until they finally complete a house. This incremental building keeps payments and repayment periods down, and incents pay-off in order to move to the next stage of building. It also means that Habitat can help more families in a shorter period of time, because the capital needed to start each house is less.
- Home Improvement Loans assist families in improving their living conditions and health in a way that they can afford and is not a burden to them. HIL allows families living in thatch houses to receive small loans. The loans can be used for a durable roof, floor, latrine, doors and windows or even plastic sheeting and termite treatment. As one loan is paid off, the families may select another home improvement and receive another loan. The model introduces shorter loan periods.
Facts about Malawi
Location: Southern Africa
Population: 13.5 million
Languages: English, Chichewa, Tumbuka, Ngoni, Yao, Lomwe, Sena
Climate: Tropical
Religions: Christianity, Islam
Government: Republic
Economy: Tea, tobacco, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods
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