Our Projects

In progress:

Support Groups for Children with Disabilities

The children's ward at the Lilongwe city hospital sees many children with severe disabilities (most notably cerebral palsy) who receive very limited, or no, community-based services and support.

In partnership with a local organization, Child Aid, we are working to support Lilongwe children with disabilities and their caregivers.

What we're doing to support these families:

1. Creating support groups of caregivers of children with disabilities where the caregivers can develop a community of sharing experiences and solutions to challenges.

2. Facilitating physical therapy training sessions with support group members so that caregivers can provide home-based physical therapy to their children.

3. Organizing income-generating activities and microfinancing in the support groups so that they can combat the poverty that tends to be driven by caring for a child with severe disability in this setting.

We have organized four different support groups in the city, that are on a plan to transition to operate independently at the end of the year. It will require $500 to support these groups through the end of 2024.

Just completed:
Chingoma Health Post!

Chingoma Village is located in southern Lilongwe district. A few years ago, we completed our first project in this village, the construction of a borehole that continues to provide clean water for this community. Upon completion of that project, local leaders also described to us the challenges they face with lack of basic health services (eg. child immunizations, antenatal care of expecting mothers, management and referral of acute illnesses, etc.) to meet this need, they requested our assistance in constructing a health post.

Serving 10,000 people...

We moved forward with the idea for building a health post slowly, as 1) the sustainability of this project depended on buy-in and commitment from the local government health system and 2) this project was significantly bigger than our previous projects.

ULDC met with local chiefs who identified the best location for the center and tasked the members of their village with sourced the bricks, sand, and quarry stone needed for the construction. We then coordinated with the nearest government hospital, which made a commitment to keeping the center staffed and stocked with supplies.

Local health officials estimate that this health post will serve over 10,000 from the area! These people otherwise have to travel long distances, sometimes 9 miles, typically on foot, to access basic health services.

We are so thankful to our ULDC donors who made this project possible!

A borehole for Chingoma

The borehole at Chingoma Village is continues to benefit this growing community. Thanks to all that donated. The community is extremely grateful for the assistance. Hundreds will now benefit from having clean water for many years to come!

A borehole for the Nthabza school community!

In July, 2018, clean water ran over a smooth cement platform, just 30 meters from Nthabza school. Pumped from a borehole funded by the generosity of ULDC donors, this was the first time in a decade that safe water was reliably available in the Nthabza community.

Mitundu Library Renovations

Renovations were completed for a small, community-run library mostly used by children and adolescents in Mitundu, Malawi (about 40 km south of the capital city Lilongwe). This included registration fees with the National Library, new, sturdy bookshelves and chairs, and the
transportation of books and bookshelves from the city.

Cyclone Idai Relief

Thanks to all who donated to Mzimu Woyera (Holy Spirit) Secondary School for their rebuilding efforts after Cyclone Idai! They utilized the donated funds to repair the roofs of some of their buildings and the school’s electricity infrastructure, all of which were damaged during the natural disaster.

About us

Bryan Vonasek first came to Malawi as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After extending his service to a total of three years, he headed back to the United States to begin medical school. Throughout school and residency, he looked for any opportunity to return; each time taking on a variety of projects to help improve the lives of people in different communities he had connections with. These small projects were first funded out of his own pocket, and then friends and family chipped in to help. Realizing that there was no shortage of projects to take on, Bryan and his wife decided to start a nonprofit organization so that friends and family had the ability to share these projects with their own friends, and be able to make tax-deductible donations.
Umodzi officially became a recognized nonprofit organization in April, 2018. The Umodzi Local Development Corporation's board of directors is comprised of two Malawians and two Americans. Bryan Vonasek is the president of the organization.