Silas and Spiwe are dedicated Sinkhani community health volunteers in Matete, Malawi

At the Matete Sinkhani Community Center in Malawi, two committed community health volunteers—Silas and Spiwe—are transforming the lives of children and families one weighing day at a time. Every month, they host a weighing day for 70-80 children under the age of five, ensuring that each child’s growth is monitored and that early signs of malnutrition or illness are caught before they become life‑threatening.

Working hand-in-hand with Malawi’s Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs)—the government’s frontline community health workers—Silas and Swiwe help create vital opportunities for immunizations, check-ups, and health education. These gatherings have become cornerstones of child wellness in the community. Mothers and caregivers know that on weighing day, they are not just getting measurements—they are receiving trusted guidance and a healthy start for their children.

A Daily Challenge: The Search for Clean Water

Despite the dedication of the volunteers and HSAs, the community center faces a difficult and persistent challenge: there is no clean water source nearby.

Women must walk 2–3 kilometers to fetch water, balancing heavy buckets on their heads, simply so that families can drink water and wash their hands during clinic days.

Lack of clean water impacts not only the weighing days, but also other programming at the center. Fridah is a committed preschool teacher who desires to teach the 40+ preschool age children in her community who want to learn. She cannot meet with them at the center without access to water. Additionally, at the center there is a large plot of land available for a vibrant garden that could provide nourishing vegetables for the community. Without water, they are unable to water their garden during the dry season, greatly impacting their harvest.

The lack of water does more than inconvenience—it limits the center’s full potential to serve as a thriving hub of health, education, and nourishment.

A New Chapter Begins

Recently, however, hope has begun to flow.

Thanks to generous donor support, HealthEd Connect was able to fund the installation of a borehole, which they were able to begin digging in December. A borehole is a shallow well fitted with a pump that brings clean water to the surface, with a spicket for easy access. This borehole has been a dream for years, and its progress represents determination, partnership, and the belief that every community deserves safe water.

Although the rainy season arrived before the team could finish the project, plans are already in place to resume and complete the borehole in April, when the rains subside. The anticipation is palpable. Clean water will mean:

• No more long walks hauling heavy buckets

• Reliable hygiene for weighing days

• A thriving community garden

• A sustainable preschool program

• A healthier future for every child who comes through the center

Celebrating World Water Day - Sunday, March 22

On this World Water Day, we honor the life-sustaining importance of clean water and acknowledge the millions around the world who still struggle to access it.

At HealthEd Connect, we are committed to supporting community-driven solutions—one center, one village, and one borehole at a time. The progress at Matete Sinkhani Community Center is a powerful reminder that when communities come together, positive change becomes possible.

Clean water is more than a resource—it is dignity, opportunity, and life itself.

Members of the garden committee, Fridah (preschool teacher), along with Spiwe, Silas and Patrick, who is the zone coordinator for the area stand in front of the Sinkhani Community Center in Matete. Patrick has been instrumental in coordinating the borehole project.

Drilling for the borehole near the center began in December but will finish in April once the rains subside. The borehole will provide water not only for the center but for the community around it.

Justina, Agness and Theresa joyfully serve their community as members of the Kafwa community health volunteers in Luapula province of Zambia. They are pictured here in front of a large garden that provides nourishing vegetables for the community.

This Sunday marks the 115th anniversary of International Women’s Day, a global day to recognize the achievements, resilience, and impact of women everywhere. At HealthEd Connect, we are proud to celebrate the remarkable women who shape our mission, strengthen our programs, and uplift communities across the world.

From leadership to local action, women are at the heart of everything we do.

Honoring Our Leaders

We celebrate the female leadership at the helm of HealthEd Connect. We honor our visionary founder, Sherri Kirkpatrick, whose passion and dedication helped build the foundation of HealthEd Connect. We also honor our Executive Director, Emily Penrose-McLaughlin, whose compassion, commitment, and leadership continue to guide our organization forward.

Their example and leadership inspire us every day.

Appreciating Our Community Health Volunteers

We give heartfelt recognition to the incredible women who serve as community health volunteers—the backbone of HealthEd Connect. They provide essential health education, support families, and act as trusted advocates for those they serve. Their strength and service make a profound impact every single day.

Kafwa members in Kasompe, Zambia regularly visit homes to provide basic care and nurturing support for those struggling with their health.

Celebrating the Women Who Teach in Our Schools

We also honor the extraordinary women who teach in our community schools. These dedicated educators play a vital role in shaping the future of the communities we serve. Every day, they open doors to learning, create safe spaces for students to grow, and nurture the curiosity and confidence of their learners.

Mavis Mubanga Songwe with her preschool class in Mapalo, Zambia.

Empowering Women and Girls in Our Communities

Perhaps most of all, we celebrate the women and girls in the communities where we serve. Their courage to learn, grow, lead, and advocate for themselves and others is the fuel that keeps our mission alive. Their empowerment creates ripple effects that strengthen entire families and communities.

Three generations of women who have been impacted by HealthEd Connect are inspiring their community in Biratnagar, Nepal.

Here’s to All the Powerful Women of HealthEd Connect

To every woman connected with our organization:
You are our heroes—today and every day.
Your voices, your work, and your unwavering commitment inspire us and move us forward.

Here’s to your strength, your leadership, and your unstoppable impact.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Community residents in Biratnagar sit in a clean area, with accessible trash bins located nearby.

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Sanitation.
It’s not a pretty word. It’s not flashy, and it doesn’t often make headlines. In many developed countries—including the United States—we rarely think twice about it. Our garbage is collected weekly without fail. Our homes and workplaces have flushing toilets and sinks with clean running water. These basics feel automatic.

But for many of our partner communities around the world, sanitation is far from guaranteed. And the consequences are not merely inconvenient—they’re dangerous.

Identifying a Critical Need

During a recent site visit to Nepal, we met with Sangeeta Poudel, a dedicated professional nurse who lives in Biratnagar, an urban city with many suburbs. In addition to her full-time work, she serves as community health volunteer for HealthEd Connect, along with serving as the site coordinator for that area.

Using HealthEd Connect’s evidence-based, community-driven approach, Sangeeta and the residents in her community identified sanitation as a major health concern. Trash was everywhere—lining walkways, piling along paths, and accumulating in open spaces.

This wasn’t just unsightly. It was dangerous.

Why Sanitation Matters

Improper waste disposal poses serious health risks, especially for the most vulnerable—pregnant women, children, and the elderly. Garbage can harbor parasites, viruses, flies, and rodents, and it can contaminate nearby water sources, exposing communities to diseases such as:

• Diarrheal illnesses

• Parasitic infections

• Waterborne diseases like cholera and typhoid

• Skin and respiratory problems

During the rainy season, contaminated water often floods homes and walkways, spreading illness even further.

It became clear: sanitation wasn’t a cosmetic issue—it was a critical health priority.

Community-Led Action and Lasting Solutions

Sangeeta and the HealthEd Connect community health volunteers—known locally as Soyamsebika—sprang into action. They organized health camps (workshops) to educate families about the dangers of improper trash disposal and to brainstorm feasible, culturally appropriate solutions.

Together, the communities decided to install trash bins throughout the area, giving residents a simple and accessible way to dispose of waste properly. From there, the trash collected in these bins is gathered and transported to designated disposal sites, ensuring waste is no longer accumulating where families live, walk, and play.

And the impact?

Transformational.

When we visited, the pathways and gathering areas were remarkably clean. Residents now take pride in maintaining their environment—regularly using the bins and even organizing community cleanup days. What began as a simple intervention has grown into an ongoing movement for community health.

A Cleaner Environment. A Healthier Future.

This initiative is a powerful reminder that meaningful change doesn’t always require complex solutions. Sometimes it begins with something as simple as a trash bin—and a community willing to work together.

When you support HealthEd Connect, you make these solutions possible. You help empower community health leaders like Sangeeta. You help create safer environments for children. And you help build a cleaner, healthier world for families across the globe.

Thank you for being part of the change.

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The following images were from a recent community cleanup day where people of all ages worked alongside one another to clean up their community to make it a safe living space for all.

Carol Chisenga and Evelyn Kase are recent nursing graduates from Ndola, Zambia.

Sirah Nambeye, current nursing scholar in Ndola, Zambia.

Today, on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we celebrate the vital contributions women and girls make across every area of scientific discovery and innovation. At HealthEd Connect, our mission has always centered on empowering women and children through health, education, and advocacy—and this day offers the perfect opportunity to highlight some of the remarkable individuals who embody that mission: our nursing scholars.

Each year, in partnership with the Professional Nursing Association, we offer scholarships to aspiring nurses around the world. These scholarships help open doors to professional training, leadership development, and greater opportunity within their communities.

This year, we were thrilled to award scholarships to 14 incredible nursing students from 4 different countries, each of whom is dedicated to bringing health, care, and compassion to the people they serve. Supporting these scholars on their educational journeys is more than an investment in their futures—it’s an investment in the health and wellbeing of entire communities.

Sangeeta Poudel, former nursing scholar and current HealthEd Connect coordinator for Biratnagar, Nepal, alongside Nikita Malla, also a former nursing scholar and community health volunteer in Biratnagar, and Thad Wilson, HealthEd Connect board member and nurse who provided recent training in Nepal.

Many of these students don’t just study healthcare—they live it. Several former nursing scholars remain deeply connected to HealthEd Connect programs in their home regions by:

• Providing training for our community health volunteers

• Offering their time and talents as volunteers themselves

• Bringing reliable, compassionate health education back to their neighborhoods

Their commitment to giving back speaks volumes about their passion, resilience, and sense of calling. We are deeply grateful for their leadership and their dedication to strengthening community health from the inside out.

To all the nurses and nursing scholars who inspire us every day: we see you, we appreciate you, and we celebrate you. Thank you for the healing, hope, and education you bring into the world.

We love our nurses and our nursing scholars—today and every day!

Sinkhani Board chair and volunteer, Linley Mzira and Charity Banda weigh a child at a monthly weighing day in Mphamba, Nkhata Bay district in Malawi.

On January 24, the world comes together to celebrate the International Day of Education, a day established by the United Nations General Assembly to recognize the vital role education plays in fostering peace and development.

Education is more than just learning—it is the foundation for equality, opportunity, and progress. As the UN reminds us:
“Without inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong opportunities for all, countries will not succeed in achieving gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty that is leaving millions of children, youth and adults behind.”

Education and Early Childhood Development in Malawi

In Malawi, one of the greatest challenges to education begins long before a child enters school. Severe malnutrition and stunting in early life prevent many children from reaching their physical and cognitive potential. To address this, Sinkhani community health volunteers (CHVs) have stepped in with a holistic approach, teaching tens of thousands of caregivers each year:

• Proper nutrition as the foundation for healthy growth.

• Sanitation practices to prevent illness.

• Instructions to make life-saving Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) for diarrhea and vomiting.

  In addition, they monitor child growth from birth to age five to ensure healthy development.

This work has had a profound impact in their communities. In recent years, community leaders have asked these volunteers to take on an additional role: teaching nursery school. These community-based preschools—often held in churches, community centers, and homes—give children ages 3 to 5 the opportunity to learn basic numbers, letters, and life skills. These skills are essential for entering government schools at age six.

Today, thanks to the dedication of CHVs, over 500 children across Malawi receive early education every day. This simple yet powerful initiative is transforming lives, breaking cycles of poverty, and giving children the chance to dream bigger.

Why It Matters

Education is not just a right—it is a lifeline. When children learn, communities grow stronger. When adults are empowered with knowledge, societies thrive. On this International Day of Education, let’s recommit to ensuring that every child, everywhere, has access to quality education.

Together, we can build a future where no one is left behind.

Morris Nyirenda shows us how she uses the walls to represent different learning stations in the small building that serves as her classroom at the Sinkhani Center in Kazomba, Mzimba district, in Malawi.

Milliam Ngoma with the nursery school children in Mphamba, a rural village in the Nkhata Bay district in Malawi.

Josephine Kipampe administers a yellow fever vaccination during a nationwide yellow fever vaccination campaign in October 2025.

Our community health volunteers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recently played an important role in a nationwide immunization campaign to combat yellow fever. The ambitious goal? Immunize 400 people a day for 10 days—a challenge our volunteers embraced with dedication and determination.

The campaign targeted individuals aged 9 months to 60 years, ensuring broad protection across communities. Yellow fever, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, remains a serious health threat in Africa, South America, and Central America. According to the World Health Organization, Africa bears the greatest burden, with an estimated 67,000–173,000 severe infections and 31,000–82,000 deaths annually. While the disease is prone to epidemics, it is preventable through vaccination—making campaigns like this one critical to saving lives.

Leadership and Training: Building Local Capacity

Our DRC programs coordinator and a long-time dedicated volunteer Josephine Kipampe trains volunteers in the Lubumbashi area to administer immunizations, amplifying the impact they can have in local clinics. Her dedication extends to the Kasenga district, where she mentors volunteers like Kamina Mwenwa, empowering them to protect their communities through vaccination.

Why Vaccination Matters

Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent yellow fever outbreaks. Each dose administered during this campaign represents a step toward stopping the spread of the disease and safeguarding thousands of lives. Our volunteers’ commitment to this mission is nothing short of inspiring—they are true champions of community health.

A Collective Effort for a Safer Future

This campaign is a powerful reminder that when communities come together, incredible things happen. Through education, training, and action, our volunteers are not only preventing disease but also building resilience for the future.

Ado Kasongo, a Wasaidizi community health volunteer in Lubumbashi, administers yellow fever vaccines.

On December 5, our Zambian schools marked the last day of their school year with a tradition that brings smiles to every face—a celebration feast for students and staff. This annual event is more than just a meal; it’s a time of joy, gratitude, and community.

Mr. Bwalya Siame, head teacher at Zamtan Community School of Peace (Kitwe, Zambia), shared his excitement: “Our end-of-year party at Zamtan Community School went very well as both teachers and learners really enjoyed.”

Preparing a feast for hundreds of students and staff is no small task. This year, the dedicated Kafwa volunteers from Kasompe Community School of Peace cooked an incredible spread:

• 75 kilograms of rice

• 30 kilograms of sausages

• 20 whole chickens

• 15 cabbages

• 10 bags of potatoes

The team began their work early in the morning, ensuring everything was ready for the big celebration. According to Ireen Chishimba, a Kafwa member from Kasompe (Chingola, Zambia), this year’s party was the best yet: “We had fun cooking for the children. All the Kafwa members came. We worked together and everyone was happy.”

As we continue to celebrate this holiday season and look forward to the new year, we are reminded of the joy that comes from giving and sharing. Across the globe, we are united with our program partners in joyfully sharing love and hope, creating a better today and tomorrow.

Kasompe Kafwa volunteers joyfully dance while preparing the celebration feast.

Have you seen this beautiful smile in your mail recently? The HealthEd Connect 2024–2025 Annual Report has arrived! If you haven’t received your copy yet, don’t worry—you can view it online here.

Our programs are the heart of what we do, and this year there is so much to celebrate. Inside the annual report, you’ll discover inspiring stories and impact statistics that relate to lives transformed through HealthEd Connect’s work:

• Community health programs that provide care and support

• Education initiatives for vulnerable children

• Maternal and child health programs giving babies a healthier start

But the impact doesn’t stop there. You’ll also read about:

• Community health volunteers who generously give their time to strengthen communities

• Board members who provide invaluable support and guidance (and enthusiasm!)

• Donors like YOU, whose generosity makes a global difference for women and children

The report is filled with stories and images that showcase these incredible impacts.

👉 Check out the 2024–2025 Annual Report now and celebrate with us!