Helping Your Community Forum

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rating

4.7

Brilliant


27

Reviews


5

Years in business

The project is assisting women, children and youth in most vulnerable situations.

WHO WE ARE

Volunteer in Malawi with HYCF– a local organization that works with international volunteers with programs based in karonga & Mzuzu HYCF provides safe, trusted and affordable programs, with a range of volunteer projects in Malawi , including Childcare • English Teaching & Medical ...

Review Description

WHO WE ARE

Volunteer in Malawi with HYCF– a local organization that works with international volunteers with programs based in karonga & Mzuzu HYCF provides safe, trusted and affordable programs, with a range of volunteer projects in Malawi , including Childcare • English Teaching & Medical opportunities and also Law & Legal internships.

HYCF have projects located in the northern city of Malawi the gateway to many of the country’s spectacular national parks. Our projects in Malawi run across the year and participants can join us from 2-24 weeks. Volunteers in Malawi are provided with an extensive pre-departure support service, airport pick-up, orientation, breakfast and dinner, accommodation and local support.


Helping You Community Forum is a registered Youth Led Non-Government Organization based in Karonga, Malawi, Southeastern Africa. As an organization based in Malawi, we have seen the issues that families struggle dealing with gender inequalities and exposure to HIV/AIDs to pushing themselves to extreme conditions to meet basic necessities.

We strive to work with communities to foster change and through the generosity of donors and our wonderful team of volunteers, we are doing just that!

To achieve a sustainable community development in Karonga, Malawi, Helping Your Community Forum is working in five thematic areas:

1) Women and Youth Empowerment:

Training in income generation activities and encouragement to take part in decision making processes. Sexual and reproductive health Rights 

In order to contribute to the girl’s empowerment, the organization chose to focus on education. Many girls are not informed on how to handle their monthly period properly and miss school because they feel uncomfortable. Or they drop out after getting pregnant. This leaves them with a worse education than the male students are able to receive, limiting their future prospects. To avoid that, the organization takes responsibility by implementing sex education courses in secondary schools to raise awareness and provide accurate information to the students

2) Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture: Tree planting activities, promotion and construction of improved firewood cooking stoves, briquette fabrication from rice husks, promotion of organic farming techniques and raising awareness about environmental issues.

3) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Training of villagers in hygienic issues, waste collection activities, facilitation of the construction of public toilets and awareness raising about the importance of a clean and hygienic environment.

4) HIV/AIDS and nutrition: 

Training and awareness raising on HIV/AIDS prevention and the importance of healthy nutrition.

5) Good Governance and Education:

Facilitation of access to schools for underprivileged girls and boys, managing pen-pal schemes to improve communication, cultural awareness and language skills. Also improving the transparency of governmental activities for the local communities.

VISION

Our Organization's vision is to achieve a society that is at least 75% free of social and climate problems through a sustainable environment, social, and education by 2030.
                                 
MISSION
Our Organization's main mission is to bridge the gap in inequalities and address the vulnerability in the underserved communities of Malawi.

We try to empower women and girls, and men and boys through capacity building, tackling gender discrimination and violence, and supporting more equitable economic and social opportunities for the marginalized people.

OUR TEAM
HYCF consists of a team of eight HYCF secretaries, many having a background of community development and project management studies, as well as 20 women organized in a women’s group and 17 youngsters organized in a youth group which was set up in mid 2020. All of them are working on volunteer basis. Since early 2019 HYCF has hosted 22 international volunteers that were supporting in the field and brought new ideas in from which nine volunteers are still assisting HYCF through advices, providing of networks and processing of ongoing projects.
                 
OUR CORE VALUES
HYCF has in place a strong system of internal organizational governance and a clear focus on its programs while following its core values: 
 
We employ humanistic, do no harm, and ubuntu principles in our work. 

Our Strategies focuses on sustainable and life-improving means that communities can embrace, keep their pride and manage their futures

HOW WE WORK 

At Helping You Community Forum(HYCF), we take a collaborative approach to our work and believe that those who live in the area are best able to assess needs and create solutions for the community.

We do not impose what we think should be solutions from the top-down, but rather work with community members from the ground up.

Our commitment to collaboration allows us to maximize impact and assist in the development of Karonga in a responsible and positive way.

All our projects have community ownership, which is demonstrated in two ways:

First, communities are enlisted to identify their needs and solutions, which becomes the basis of our work. We participate in the regular village needs assessment meetings attended by Village Headmen (chiefs), local village development committees, women’s groups, civil society leaders, and other community members. It is from these meetings that the concept, planning, and implementation stages of any of our projects begin. Furthermore, all work is vetted by community stakeholders. 

Second, communities contribute to the running of each project. Our approach emphasizes the personal responsibility and accountability of all partners involved.

This grassroots model for development utilizes local knowledge and ensures that we work in collaboration with traditional leaders and other like-minded players respecting cultural values and traditions. This process is assisted by the community liaison officer, who ensures that we stay fully engaged with everything taking place in the villages and vice versa.

We have expanded our programming, but maintain our focus on a relatively small geographic area of Mwenilondo in Karonga, Malawi. Remaining a local organization has a number of benefits. We have developed a strong rapport with stakeholders in the area, which helps us to run our many projects effectively. Working on the ground also allows us to have close and ongoing monitoring of all projects, and we pride ourselves on being able to adapt projects where necessary and learn through evaluation. This approach also ensures that all money donated is used in the most cost-effective way, as we have minimal overhead costs.

As a development organization, it is important to us that our initiatives are in-line with those of broader development strategies, both in the national and international context. These strategies include the Karonga District Development Plan, Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III, and the United Nation’s Standard Development Goals. Each of these strategies includes specific actions for women and girls empowerment. By aligning our programs with the initiatives in these development strategies, we ensure that our programs are following the best fit for the development of Malawi.
 

Contact Person

David Ghambi

Spoken languages: English
  Good response rate

Helping Your Community Forum reviews

Mees Molenaar rating5.0

2024 at Medical Health Intern

I stayed with David and his family for one month to work in the hospital. I had a very good time there. David’s family is very welcoming and friendly and I always felt very well taken care of. The house is very nice, the food is great and in the weekends we had time to explore the rest of Malawi ...
John Frank rating5.0

2023 at Community Development Intern

In December me and my friend Huib stayed with David and his family for 2,5 weeks to do voluntary work for his organisation. David is open minded and very Smart!! He has done a lot of great work for his community together with his team. This organisation is truly inspiring and has great ambition ...
Katharina Lange rating5.0

2023 at Community Development Intern

I recently spent the whole September in Malawi with the aim to support them to bring their vision for their projects in Karonga further into reality to not just making a difference in the lives of the people there, but to enhance their capacity building as well. I had the priviledge of working on ...
Oktavi Mood rating5.0

2023 at Medical Health Intern

This has been by far the best summer of my life, David and his family were extremly accomodating and nice. They provided me with 3 abundant meals a day, a king size bed to sleep on and an incredible oportunity to work in the district hospital and gain both personal and professional experience. ..
Amedea Napolitano rating4.6

2023 at Construction of a Resource Center

I was a guest of David's family for two weeks, in the Karonga district, 8 hours from Lilongwe. It goes without saying that these are very poor areas of Africa, but having a good sense of adaptation I immediately managed to settle in without too many problems. It is an experience that I would do ...
Maria Zapico rating5.0

2022 at Construction of a Resource Center

Mr. David Ghambi is the most caring person I have ever met. He is absolutely devoted to social justice and makes a great leader to this organization. He also makes sure volunteers feel listened to and he is up to consider any points of view. ..

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Good Health And Well-Being
  • Quality Education
  • Decent Work And Economic Growth
  • Sustainable Cities And Communities