A fantastic response to our £10,000 appeal from our supporters has resulted in us smashing through that target just within the planned 12 months. The appeal was launched in May 2023 following a 25% devaluation of the Malawi currency (the kwacha), which together with two natural disasters (Cyclone Freddie and localised floods) undercut our funding efforts within Malawi itself.
By May 2024 we had raised £10,358.50 some of which was sponsorship for our Walking The Lake event on 13 April. (Walking The Lake eventually raised almost £4,500 against the objective of generating £2,500 – a staggering response).
In November last year, six months after launching the appeal, the kwacha was again devalued but this time by a staggering 44%. The effect of devaluations is to increase the cost of imports, which in Malawi’s case means a whole range of goods from fuel to some essential foodstuffs. Fuel represents a far higher overhead for businesses, and cost for individuals, in Malawi compared to its importance in Britain. Among the 40 villages of Malenga Mzoma area, where Capacity operates, the impact is felt in various ways from people’s spending power in our shop to the ability of our loan-takers to build their customer base.
The devaluation effectively meant that we needed to add 44% to our appeal target, lifting it to £14,400. But guess what? The fundraising momentum continued and we have raised an additional £4,725 by the end of July – so we surpassed the revised appeal target as well.
FINANCIAL SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN SIGHT
Where does this leave our funding of the operation in Malawi?
Ever since Capacity was founded in November 2017, the long-term aim has been to transition the charity from dependence on funds from the UK to funding self-sufficiency within Malawi. The graphic at the top of the page shows the 10-year objective: it has been slowed by the COVID pandemic, by natural disasters, and by devaluations, so the diagonal line is in reality somewhat jagged – but, despite all, financial self-sufficiency within Malawi remains our aspiration.