Cyclone Freddy hit 14 districts in Malawi but Blantyre and Mulanje were two of the worst hit districts and these are the two districts we are implementing our project. In Blantyre, our work is in the area of T/A Kapeni. T/A Kapeni area according to DoDMA reports registered 212 deaths of which 22 were children, 75 people still missing and over 4163 people displaced because of the Cyclone. In Mulanje, our work is in T/A Njema, which was one of the worst hit areas by the cyclone and we still have settlement camps the cyclone survivors. According to DoDMA reports, T/A Njema registered 151 deaths, 217 injuries and 147 still missing and 2095 households were displaced. When you visit these areas, the impact of the cyclone is quite vivid still to this day

As you can see there was a lot of trauma and pain that, many people experienced from the loss of life, loss of property and a lot more negative things that the cyclone had brought. Our project aims to improve psychological and mental wellness and psychosocial through training lay counsellors. This is to ensure that we empower the survivors and create sustainable support systems for the survivors. We also offered specialized training such as psychosocial first aid, basic counselling skills and Interpersonal therapy for groups.

We are also conducting mental health awareness sessions and advocacy sessions so that the survivors can know when they or people close to them need support, where they can get support but also deal with the stigma and discrimination on mental health.