3 Years After Cyclone Freddy, UMCOR-Funded Recovery Continues in Malawi

Months after Cyclone Freddy struck southern Malawi in March 2023, causing severe flooding that killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands, long-term recovery work began through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The Malawi United Methodist Church first helped provide food, sanitary items, medicine, utensils and materials for temporary shelters. An initial $50,000 UMCOR grant then funded agricultural training, irrigation equipment, livestock and help in rebuilding community infrastructure.

Under the UMCOR Recovery Phase 2 grant, the Malawi Provisional Annual Conference carried out housing, water and agricultural projects in severely affected communities. The recovery program’s main focus is agricultural rehabilitation, with the aim of restoring self-sufficiency for families who lost crops and livestock.

As part of the initiative, 275 vulnerable households received goats through a community pass-on scheme. Under the agreement, each family receives livestock and then gives the first female offspring to another preselected family, a practice of sharing what one has with others (Hebrews 13:16). Linda Phoya, a beneficiary, said, “These goats will act as a safety net and bank in-kind for our family during emergencies. When we lost everything in the floods, we had no backup. Now we have a way to rebuild our lives.”

In addition, 1,500 individual farmers received watering cans to support small-scale irrigation during the dry season. Isaac Jali, a local farmer in Zomba, said, “With this watering can, I am now able to cultivate vegetables in my garden, even during the dry season. It gives me the direct tool I need to feed my family after losing our entire rain-fed maize crop.”

Access to clean water was also addressed for an entire village in Balaka. In Maulukira Village, residents from four surrounding areas had previously drunk from an open river contaminated with waste. UMCOR funded the drilling of a new borehole. The Rev. Daniel Mhone, Connectional Ministries director for the Malawi Provisional Conference, said, “Church leaders personally visited the contaminated river site to witness the harsh conditions firsthand.” During the official handover, the Rev. Godfrey Gaga, conference superintendent, described the clean water supply as “a free gift of love provided through UMCOR’s Cyclone Freddy second-phase response.”

The grant also provided permanent homes for five exceptionally vulnerable families whose shelters had been destroyed. Elisa Saliva, 30, a single mother of two in Zwaki, Nsanje, said, “I previously felt completely abandoned in a dark wilderness and never imagined receiving such a sturdy, beautiful gift.” Ellena Sangea, 71, of Wilson, Chikwawa, called her new house “my living testimony and a precious gift from God.” In Lazo Village, Chikwawa, Eliza Joni, 60, and her husband, Everson Sadya, 75, who is blind, were astonished by their new house. “It feels like a wonderful dream we never want to wake up from,” they said. “It is a true act of divine intervention.” Nafunea Emmanuel, 38, a mother of four in Tulsida Village, said, “This moment has restored my family’s dignity, hope and safety.”

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