Before we can change something, we have to understand it. We're conducting a community-wide survey across 100+ families in central Malawi, building our own multidimensional picture of poverty, one household at a time.
Standard poverty measures count income. But income alone doesn't tell you whether a child is attending school, whether a mother went a full day without eating, or whether a family cooks over an open fire inside their home.
We built our own Community Poverty Index (CPI) inspired by the global Multidimensional Poverty Index, adapted for the specific context of central Malawi. Every family we survey receives a score across three equal dimensions: Health, Education, and Standard of Living.
This baseline data doesn't just tell us where things stand today. It tells us exactly where to focus, lets us measure whether our programs are actually working, and gives donors a transparent, honest look at the communities we serve.
"You can't fix what you haven't measured. We're building the most honest picture we can."
Across the households surveyed so far in Nyankhwa and surrounding villages, clear patterns are emerging that directly shape our program priorities.
Nearly all households surveyed cook over open wood fires, driving deforestation and contributing to respiratory health problems, especially for women and children.
School attendance is relatively strong. The gap is in years completed and quality of learning, not just whether children show up. Our after-school programs address both.
Several households reported a child death in the past five years. Preventable conditions caught through regular screening are a core part of this picture.
Most families own only one or two assets, typically a phone. This limits economic resilience and the ability to weather shocks like illness or crop failure.
Some households report no skipped meals; others report going a full day without eating. Agricultural intervention is directly tied to closing this gap.
Mud walls, dirt floors, and grass roofs are common. These conditions compound health risks and make households especially vulnerable during Malawi's rainy season.
Every survey respondent is a real family. These profiles show the kind of granular, household-level data we're collecting, with context anonymized to protect privacy.
Most non-profits operate on instinct and anecdote. We believe the families we serve deserve better than that. Our survey gives us a rigorous, repeatable baseline so we can track whether what we're doing is actually making life better.
When a family's MPI score improves, it means something real changed: a child stayed in school longer, someone gained access to clean water, a household climbed out of housing deprivation. That's the difference between impact and activity.
We'll resurvey these same households over time and publish the results here, so you can see exactly how your support is shifting the numbers.
Give to This WorkAs we complete the 100+ household survey, we'll publish a live dashboard with aggregate findings, trend lines, and village-level breakdowns. Here's what's coming:
Across all surveyed households in central Malawi
% of households deprived in each of the 10 indicators
How scores differ between female-headed and male-headed households
Baseline vs. follow-up scores for families in our programs
Side-by-side scores across Nyankhwa and surrounding villages
Score changes for households directly participating in our programs vs. control
The survey costs time and resources. Your gift helps us complete the baseline, do it right, and build the accountability infrastructure that makes our programs stronger.