How did you start?
Mission Malawi was started in 2003 by Les Pratt a radio Producer from Manchester, and is an active particpant in the Manchester Pride festival that happens August Bank Holiday weekend every year. He felt that in many ways HIV is problem that’s been tackled well in the western world, but in Africa it’s a devastating force and for many its still the death sentence it was in the 80s for everyone. After watching a BBC report about HIV in Malawi and seeing how badly hit it was he decided to get in touch with Action Aid and see if he could organise a charity challenge to benefit HIV/Aids projects in Malawi.
How often do you travel to Africa?
The treks are biannual and started in 2004, so every two years since then, 06,08 and again next year in 2010. There have also been recces in the intervening years attended by Les and other members of the team.
Are you a charity?
Mission Malawi itself is not a registered charity, but all of our fundraising goes directly to ActionAid (Registered Charity 274467). The monies raised are distributed by ActionAid in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to projects and partner organisations. Have a look at the projects that have benfitted here:
www.missionmalawi.com/theprojects
Where does all the money go?
As with any big undertaking there are always costs involved, Mission Malawi has managed to keep the costs of running the trips down as much as possible which means more of the money goes to help the projects. ActionAid does not take any kind of administration percentage from any of the funds rasied.
Can't you just send all the money and stay at home?
There are a number of benefits that come from travelling as a group to Malawi to take part in the physical challenge. Fundraising through charitable sponsorship is a rich tradition in the UK, so it was important for us to offer something different, to capture people's imaginations - both potential sponsors and participants, by taking groups to Malawi, the teams learn for themselves about what the HIV/AIDS pandemic is like there. This has inspired people to stay a part of Mission Malawi for two or even three trips, continuing to raise funds, many of our team members raise way above their minimum sponsorship of £3,200.
Malawi also has a developing tourist trade and by spending our money this way helps to create and maintain jobs in this important emerging industry.
So is it all about HIV/AIDS?
Although it was the AIDS pandemic that inspired Les to set up Mission Malawi, and the majority of projects supported have been about helping those affected, they are all part of ActionAid's wider work which is a partnership between people in rich and poor countries dedicated to ending poverty and injustice. Learn more about that work here:
http://www.actionaid.org.uk/100004/what_we_do.html
Does Mission Malawi really make any difference?
We have been lucky enough to raise over a quarter of a million pounds in the last five years, and that money has helped thousands of people in Malawi, those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. In a country of millions of people though so it seems like an insurmountable problem, but as the old saying goes "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a few steps." which is why we at Mission Malawi are committed to continue raising money and travelling to Africa to help the fight against HIV and Aids.
If you want to contribute why not sponsor one of the trekkers going in 2010:
www.missionmalawi.com/theteams/mm4
Where do I sign up?
Get in touch and we will send you details of how to get involved:
www.missionmalawi.com/contactus.php
