As heavy rain poured down, Sister Kayuni and her family speedily fled their crumbling grass-thatched house in Karonga, a flood-prone district at the northern tip of Malawi.
For nearly five years, this had been their home in Chambogho Village, Traditional Authority Wasambo, which experiences chronic flooding.
As Kayuni escaped with her 63-year-old husband and their four children, they saw the walls crash to rubble.
Until tragedy struck in 2023, the family had survived frequent flooding while living in their fragile home located in a valley.
Kayuni recalls “the night to forget” when the house collapsed due to heavy rains.
“When tragedy struck, our clothes, food, and belongings got soaked,” she says.
This was not an isolated incident; it had happened several times, causing her immense stress everytime the area experienced heavy rainfall or strong wind.
“The house wasn’t safe,” Kayuni explains. “When it rained, everything would get soaked, including our little food. This made us food-insecure.”
The house was too small for the family of six.
However, Kayuni’s family can now afford a smile and peaceful nights to dream big about a better future.
They got a new home in 2024, thanks to the Climate Just Communities project, implemented by the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (Cadecom) Karonga Diocese with funding from DAI Global UK and the Scottish Government
They feel happy and safe as the house is designed to withstand heavy rains and winds typical of the low-lying area along Lake Malawi.
“The new home gives us peace of mind, even in times of harsh weather,” Kayuni says. “It’s bigger and better. I never imagined I could own a house like this.”
Chikonzero Chimwaza, Cadecom field officer in the project area, says the local community participated in selecting vunerable families deserving housing support.
The participatory vulnerability assessment revealed the need to offer the locals skills to build safe homes as disaster caused by climate change become more frequent and devastating.
“Building safe houses is crucial as this area experiences frequent floods and winds, leaving many families homeless,” Chimwaza states. “The project has trained local artisans and communities on how to build houses that can withstand extreme weather events.”
Group village head Chambogho, born Casten Mwafulirwa, notes that natural disasters repeatedly forced poor families to flee their homes.
“When it rains, floods reduce houses to rubble, wash crops away and bury farmland in silt, disrupting livelihoods and community development,” says the traditional leader.
According to district disaster risk management officer Humphrey Magalasi, Karonga is a high-risk disaster zone that lies in a rift valley basin marked with chronic floods, windstorms, dry spells, earthquakes and disease outbreaks.
He commends the Climate Just Communities Project for strengthening community resilience to climate shocks.
“We have built the capacity of our disaster risk management committees and they have developed disaster risk management plans. We have a guide on how to implement disaster risk management interventions in the area,” says the officer from Karonga District Council.
He is optimistic that the life-saving benefits of the initiative will go beyond the deadline of the three-year project in 2027 as both community members and frontline government staff are fully involved in the implementation of the interventions.
The project has transformed disaster risk management; livelihood and food security; water, sanitation and hygiene; and resilient schools in Karonga District.
