Disaster Preparedness in Malawi

Marist Brothers Farm is located in Central Malawi, started by the Marist Brothers to generate income for the Brothers’ ministries and to improve food security in Malawi. Additionally, the farm will participate in socially uplifting the lives of poor people around by providing employment and reliable source of livelihood, and at the same time empower them with best farming practices. The greatest need at the moment is to have a disaster preparedness that will enable us to provide the very basic sanitary amenities in order to safeguard the wellbeing of our staff and their respective families as well as the communities they come from. The idea is twofold: disaster preparedness which will include purchasing and providing materials to prevent infection and spread in case of the virus attacks. The second is about management of a likely case(s) in terms of isolation, cost to manage the situation and medication. The farm does not have any contingency for this unprecedented global crisis. The farm is now struggling to run its day-to-day operations. The closure of schools, for example, means the farm has no direct and reliable market for some of its goods to the schools until they open. This means the farm will struggle to pay its employees. We hold the belief that at the end of it all, the crisis will teach other new ways of doing things, and that we WILL emerge stronger and wiser. A serious and specific concern for Marist Farm is the life of our workers, their families and the communities where they come from. If we can save lives through awareness campaigns, encouraging hygiene practices and avoid contacting the virus/spreading it among our workers and their families, this will ensure we have personnel available to continue the works of Marist Farm. We will also save the expected harvest for the year and continue with main objectives of the farm project which is to contribute to the national food security which improves people’s wellbeing. The second is the management of a likely case(s). The grant will assist to manage the epidemic and mitigate its impacts. Practically, the grant will enable us: to purchase 900 sanitizers that could serve up to 3 months; to provide ten (10) water dispensers for different locations in the farm; to provide large quantities of disinfectants and five (5) sprayers that will be used in the farm and beyond; to equip our employees with protective clothing like face masks, gloves, overalls to be used to care for patients and when disinfecting areas; to cater for actual medical expenses; to support farm workers to survive the disaster period in terms of packages and subsidies.