Cyclone Idai causes loss of life and widespread destruction across Malawi

On March 14th, Cyclone Idai devastated areas of Malawi when it made landfall in neighbouring Mozambique. Flooding in the country has now caused loss of life and displacement. At last report, 56 people are reported dead, with 672 injured. More than 975,000 people, including three Canadian-sponsored communities, have been impacted. An estimated 100,000 people have been displaced. About 500,000 children have been affected and their well-being is at stake.

Donate now to help vulnerable children and their families affected by this crisis with life-saving essentials like food, hygiene kits and more. Your gift will also help establish safe spaces for children to meet their physical and emotional needs during this crisis.

World Vision Canada is on the ground providing immediate assistance to our sponsored communities Mpama, Mposa and Chamba-Molombo, including the distribution of more than 500 kg of chlorine for water treatment. Due to the ongoing recovery effort, there may be short-term delays affecting the processing of sponsor correspondence and Special Gifts sent to those communities.

Over the entire affected area of Malawi, World Vision has also distributed tarpaulins to 18,000 households, food to 19,000 households and clothing to 1,000 children, among other work.

Disasters of this magnitude are especially frightening and traumatic for children. World Vision is working to protect both their physical and psychosocial needs. To date, one child-friendly space has been opened in the affected region and benefits 300 children. Children will also be at-risk of hunger, injury and death from the devastating floods. We are monitoring the situation and working with local communities to provide supplies to those impacted. We are also leveraging partnerships with various UN agencies, communities, donors and faith- and community-based organizations to respond to the crisis.

For more information, please call us at 1-800-654-2650. World Vision Malawi has been implementing relief, development and advocacy interventions in the country for more than 35 years. Our goal is to directly improve the wellbeing of 1.5 million children in Malawi and indirectly support another 4 million people.

Through our maternal and child health programming, we ensure that children and mothers are well nourished, protected from preventable diseases and have access to essential health services. Our peer-to-peer mothers program helps women support each other in preparing nutritious food with technical assistance from World Vision staff. Other pillars of our work are helping children be successful in school, promoting food security and resilience to climate conditions, and bolstering household income.