Where we work | Wandikweza Teams

Where we work

Our roots are deep in Malawi’s rural communities,

Wandikweza works primarily with pregnant women, newborns, children under five and adolescents living in rural Malawi,

Wandikweza works in rural districts of Malawi where families live in farming villages spread across large geographic areas. Most households depend on small-scale agriculture, growing maize, groundnuts, or vegetables on small plots of land. Income is seasonal and unpredictable. Many families live on less than two dollars a day, with little savings to fall back on during emergencies.

Life in these communities is shaped by distance.

A pregnant woman may walk several kilometers to the nearest health facility. During the rainy season, rivers overflow and dirt roads become impassable. Public transport is limited or unaffordable. When labor begins at night or a newborn develops a fever, families must decide whether to wait, borrow money or attempt a long journey on foot.

Health challenges are closely tied to daily realities:

Food insecurity during lean seasons affects maternal nutrition.
Limited cash income delays transport to care.
Lack of timely information means danger signs may not be recognized early.
Weak referral coordination increases the risk of complications becoming fatal.

Most caregivers, mothers, fathers and grandmothers, want the same thing: safe pregnancies, healthy babies and children who grow strong. The barriers they face are not about willingness. They are about access.

In many villages, electricity is limited or absent. Health facilities are understaffed and often overwhelmed. Essential services exist, but they are too far away or reached too late.

This is why Wandikweza’s Proactive Doorstep Care model begins at home.

We meet women where they live. We identify pregnancies early. We monitor newborns in the first critical days of life. We provide accurate health information to adolescents. We support families in preparing for birth and emergencies before danger strikes.

We define our communities by resilience: by farmers who wake before sunrise, by mothers who carry water long distances, by fathers who work seasonal jobs to feed their families and by village leaders who mobilize neighbors to support one another.

Our role is to close the distance between households and lifesaving care.

Because geography should not determine survival.

Current Implementation Districts

1. Dowa (2016)

Traditional Authority Chakhaza

Dowa is Wandikweza’s flagship district and the home of the Wandikweza Health Centre, where our Proactive Doorstep Care model was first developed and piloted. In TA Chakhaza, long distances to facilities, household poverty, and delayed care-seeking placed women and children at high risk. Working closely with the District Health Office, we deliver integrated door-to-door care, outreach clinics, and facility-based services—demonstrating how community-led delivery anchored by a local health centre can strengthen the public health system and reach families most often left behind.

2. Mangochi (2023)

Traditional Authority Nankumba

Mangochi is a high-burden district where extreme poverty, geographic isolation and mobile livelihoods linked to fishing communities limit access to maternal and child health services. In TA Nankumba, seasonal flooding, long travel distances and high adolescent pregnancy rates contribute to delayed care and preventable illness among mothers and children. Wandikweza works here to close this gap by delivering Proactive Doorstep Care directly to households, strengthening referrals and supporting district priorities to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.

3. Salima (2025)

Traditional Authority Pemba and Ndindi

Salima is characterized by widely dispersed rural settlements, poor transport infrastructure, and persistent poverty, which constrain timely access to care. In TA Pemba and TA Ndindi, pregnant women and caregivers often delay seeking services due to distance, cost, and seasonal disruptions linked to farming and flooding. Through Proactive Doorstep Care, Wandikweza brings essential maternal and child health services closer to families, combining door-to-door follow-up, community outreach, and coordinated referrals to support improved health outcomes.

4. Mchinji (2026)

Traditional Authority Mkanda and Mduwa

Mchinji is a predominantly rural Zambia border district where extreme poverty, high population mobility and long distances to health facilities limit access to maternal and child health services. Many communities are dispersed, with families relying on subsistence farming and cross-border livelihoods, making consistent access to care during pregnancy and early childhood especially challenging. We support district efforts to improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes.

Planned Expansion Districts

5. Nkhotakota (Upcoming - 2027)

Nkhotakota’s geographic and ecological diversity includes forested areas and lakeshore communities, many of which are remote and difficult to reach. Wandikweza’s planned expansion will focus on extending access to maternal and child health services through mobile outreach clinics, trained Community Health Workers and stronger linkages with public health facilities, ensuring care reaches families in isolated communities.

6. Kasungu (Upcoming - 2028)

Kasungu is one of Malawi’s most populous districts, with large numbers of families living in widely scattered rural settlements. These conditions create significant barriers to timely maternal and child health care. Building on our proven Proactive Doorstep Care model, Wandikweza will expand door-to-door services and community outreach to reach underserved households and strengthen primary health care delivery at scale.

7. Dedza (Upcoming - 2029)

Dedza is the final district in Wandikweza’s current strategic expansion plan and will serve as a platform for deep system integration. Here, we will focus on embedding Proactive Doorstep Care within broader district health efforts, strengthening referral pathways and building durable, community-based health infrastructure to support long-term improvements in maternal and child health outcomes.

Across All Districts

We prioritize households dependent on subsistence agriculture and seasonal income, where limited liquidity and geographic isolation constrain timely access to essential maternal and child health services.
We operate in rural catchment areas characterized by extended travel distances to facilities, limited transport infrastructure, seasonal flooding and service delivery gaps within the last mile of the health system.
We work in formal partnership with District Health Offices and public health facilities, aligning with national MNH priorities and strengthening service delivery within the government health architecture.
We deliver an integrated continuum of care spanning pregnancy, childbirth, the postnatal period and early childhood, ensuring coordinated service provision across community and facility levels.
We contribute to universal health coverage by decentralizing preventive and early detection services, improving referral coordination and reducing structural barriers that delay care-seeking and treatment.