In this week’s blog article, we talk to Cellina Samson, a lead farmer from Mantchondo village in Dowa District. Cellina shares her farming journey and experience for the 2023/24 farming season. Visit today’s blog article and read Cellina’s story and how she is crossing the bridge of uncertainty, one step at a time.
How Orant Spends Donor Dollars
Orant Charities Africa operates its budget according to two guiding principles:
- Efficiency:
We aim to make the highest impact possible per dollar. - Client-Focus:
100% of donations go straight to Orant Charities Africa in Malawi. This means no donations are directed to the support staff in the US. Even in Malawi, 90% of funds are used for program operation costs. In other words, donor dollars go straight to the people. Only 10% of funds go to management and administration, and less than 1% to fundraising.
Here’s how our spending is distributed over our programs:
Healthcare
Stable communities require institutions that give people hope and build trust. Even though Malawi offers free healthcare, government clinics often take hours to walk to from rural villages. Worse, their medical supply isn’t reliable. Government hospitals and clinics routinely run out of even the most basic medicine. Orant fills the gap.
Our healthcare programs take up the majority of our funding. Medicine is the largest cost of this program. Spending is split between our static clinic and our Mobile Outreach Clinic. Our Mobile Outreach Clinic reaches patients in rural areas. Our on-site pharmacies maintain a reliable supply of medicine.
Water & Sanitation
Our largest Water & Sanitation expense is drilling new water wells. Wells cost around $5,000 to drill. Once installed, they provide safe water for hundreds of people for a decade.
Education
Our education budget is spent on student sponsorships. Secondary school is not free in Malawi. Investing in students, especially in young girls, is an investment in the future of the community and country.
Agriculture & Business
Our agriculture & business allocates most of its budget to loan programs. BOMFA, a local farmer’s cooperative, distributes Orant loans to over 600 rural farmers. The Irrigation Club Program offers farmers seed and fertilizer loans. Our FEM for Women program supports female entrepreneurs with loans, banking assistance, and business training. All loans are paid back to Orant and reinvested in the programs for the next loan period.
Management and Administration
Orant Charities Africa has a seven-acre campus that houses much of our staff and their families. Administrative costs include phone service, internet, gas, and campus maintenance.
Fundraising
The Malawi team assists with grant writing. Otherwise, fundraising efforts are supplemented by the US support team. The US team receives no donor dollars.
If you want to donate to a specific project or program, leave us a note.
We want our donors to see and feel the direct impact of their contribution!
Stories from the Field
World Malaria Day 2024
Every year on the 25th of April, the whole world commemorates World Malaria Day, which is aimed at highlighting the need for continued effort in malaria control and prevention.
Improving Healthcare Services through Quality of Care Assessment
Last week, we were visited by the quality of care assessment team from Dowa District hospital. Read today's blog post to learn about how this exercise is important to us and the community we serve.
New Wheels from Orant’s Healthcare Program
We are always happy when our support brings a smile on peoples faces and changes their lives. In this week’s blog article, we are talking to Andrea Mwale, a 41 year old man from Chapuwala village in Kasese. Andrea shares his gratitude towards the support that our Healthcare program has recently provided to him.
Promoting Education Equality through Student Sponsorships
On Saturday, April 27, we are holding a Spring Bingo fundraiser in support of education in rural Malawi. Read today’s blog article to learn more about how your support will help in promoting education in rural Malawi.
Commemorating World Water Day 2024
Every year on the 22nd of March, the world commemorates World Water Day as a way of raising awareness of major water-related issues and to inspire action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis. This year’s World Water Day is themed “Water for Peace.” Read our blog article to learn more about what our WASH program is doing to promote peace and foster harmony.
Women’s History Month with FEM for Women
Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month. In this month, we honour and celebrate women’s contributions to history and contemporary society. In today's blog, we talk with women from our FEM program, and they highlight the roles they play in their families and Kasese community. Read the blog article to learn more!
Urbanisation in Malawi: MW2063 Pillar #3
As we have discussed in some of our past blogs, Malawi Vision 2063 has three key pillars that guide the focus of the Vision. These three pillars are meant to build on each other to create the inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation that they envision. In this blog, we will look at the third pillar of MW2063: Urbanisation.
The Life of a Subsistence Farmer in Rural Malawi
In Malawi, there is a famous saying that goes “Chuma chili mu nthaka” meaning “there is money in farming,” or in other words, “wealth lies in farming.” This saying is true for Malawi as farming is the backbone of the economy, with 85% of the population highly dependent on it. However, as much as most Malawians are involved in agriculture, they suffer persistent food shortages. This is because many smallholder farmers depend on rainfed and low-cost subsistence farming to meet their food needs. In this week’s article, we will explore what the life of a subsistence farmer looks like in the rural part of Malawi, in Dowa district near Orant’s headquarters.
School Surveys Lead to Better Learning Outcomes
Data is one of the most important tools in all our programs as it helps us measure whether our programs are making an impact or when it’s time for change. For the past three weeks, our Education program has been surveying schools in our catchment area. Check out today’s blog to learn more about how this survey is going to contribute to our Education program.