Lake Malawi accommodation

This is one of only a few Malawian-owned lodges and provides guests with access to cultural tours and entertainment and a chance to integrate with and learn about the local community. We are currently seeking funding for the development of a local community museum which will support the recording of oral histories and a base for demonstrating local dances, crafts and ways of life to visitors.

We have an employment policy that ensures all employees come from the local community. We provide our staff with training and development in gardening, agriculture, environmental management and tourist management. The lodge provides the foundation for the Shanti Trust which was set-up and is run by the owners. Recent projects have included classes for local ladies on nutrition, health and first aid run by volunteers based at our purpose-built volunteer cottage in the village. We continue to provide a free hospital-transport service and support orphan feeding and malaria prevention programmes.

We have sourced funding for the re-building of the local primary school and have attracted sponsors that have ensured its continued growth and development. Recently secured funding will provide free school uniforms which are compulsory for attendance.

The lodge is committed to the principles of environmental sustainability and is constantly seeking to minimise our ecological footprint. We utilise green electricity helping to reduce the need for wood fuels and the timber we do use we seek to match against the planting of new trees through our forestry projects. This has recently seen the establishment of a new community forest area in the local village that combines a mixture of fast-growing exotics with locally-sourced native hardwoods to both reduce pressure on remaining forests and help re-establish woodland cover.

We have our own fruit and vegetable garden which is run along organic/permaculture principles and compost our kitchen waste. We are seeking to extend such practices to the local community through a garden and agriculture project at the local school. Other areas of our grounds have been set-aside to allow the development of native vegetation and woodland providing habitat for local wildlife.

Recent volunteer projects have examined local problems associated with flooding, soil erosion and deforestation and have initiated a community based fire-management programme. This has aimed to balance essential prescribed burning with fire control and fire-break creation to allow forest regeneration. We have established a tree nursery and have trained and employed nursery managers from the village. Fruit, timber and native trees are provided free of charge to the local community. Further work in this area is currently being planned.

Wherever possible we source our building materials from local sources. We utilise local water sources and do not use any chemical treatment. We facilitate the use of public transport for our guests by organising free transfers to the lodge from nearby towns. The lodge directly employees 28 people from the local area and contributes significantly to its economy by bringing in much needed external finance. The philosophy of the lodge and the Shanti Trust has always been the training and support to facilitate the development of the local community. Much of our work in other areas such as forestry, agriculture, and health has direct and indirect effects on the financial well-being of our community. For example clay cook-stove and oven-building demonstrations enable locals to bake and sell bread and cakes while making wood-fuel use more efficient helping to combat deforestation.