A partnership between Nostos Homes and Habitat for Humanity in Malawi is challenging traditional displacement timelines by building a community of modular homes in less than a week. The homes have brought hope and laughter back to Phalombe, Malawi, an area ravaged by Cyclone Gombe.
Ethel Chamba, 35, and her three children have moved into one of these homes after the recent destructive cyclone destroyed their home. Being a single mother of a child with a chronic illness and living in poverty meant that it was impossible for her to reconstruct her home.
The Nostos homes are modular and follow a prefabricated mode of construction. All the parts are manufactured separately and then assembled at the deployment site, with an entire community of eight homes taking less than a week to build. These homes are built using mild steel frames and insulated PUF panels to ensure durability, wind resistance, and a 20 year lifespan, while costing less than half the price of a traditional brick and mortar house of a similar lifespan.
Madhav Datt, Chairman of Nostos, said: “It is inspiring to see displaced families in Malawi use Nostos Homes as a mechanism to rebuild their lives. The Nostos model lets us build homes in traditionally inaccessible areas where brick and mortar construction is impossible, allowing us to reach some of the most vulnerable and hard to reach communities around the world.”
The project received extensive support from the Malawi Government, with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs offering their full support in providing many more Nostos homes to displaced families in Malawi.
Ethel now has a safe, private space to raise her young children in and an opportunity to rebuild her life. Devika Narayanan, Chief of Staff of Nostos, said: “These are families that are facing extremely difficult situations – for instance, many of them are single woman headed households with children living with HIV. For them, a Nostos Home is more than just a roof over their heads. It means fewer doctor visits due to better protection and sanitation, faster return to jobs and schools, and lesser harassment.”
A partnership between Nostos Homes and Habitat for Humanity in Malawi is challenging traditional displacement timelines by providing 350,000 nights of shelter to families in need. The initiative has brought hope and laughter back to Phalombe, Malawi, while providing single mother Ethel Chamba and her three children a safe and secure home of their own. Through the use of prefabricated construction, the homes are durable, wind-resistant and cost-effective, offering vulnerable families a much-needed lifeline in difficult times.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.