Tiny Lives, Big Need: Preterm Babies & Orphan Care in Malawi

Hello, we’re Lauren and Buzz — two friends from Melbourne who recently travelled to Malawi as part of a health and innovation initiative.

During our visit, we spent time in preterm neonatal wards, maternity units, and local orphanages. What we saw was both humbling and heartbreaking: vulnerable newborns fighting for survival without access to basic resources, and children sleeping on the floor in overcrowded orphanages with no bedding or protection from mosquitos.

While we know the needs are great, we’re starting with two simple, immediate projects that will make a tangible impact:

1. A Neonatal Milk Bank

In Malawi, formula is extremely expensive and often inaccessible. By equipping local midwives with a freezer, breast pumps, and sterile milk storage bags, we can help establish a small milk bank—allowing mothers to express and safely store breast milk for critically ill or premature babies in need of urgent nourishment.

2. Beds and a Kitchen for Orphans

One orphanage we visited is home to 94 incredible children who were rescued from the streets. Many of them sleep on bare floors without mattresses, bedding, or mosquito nets. Worse still, their makeshift kitchen was destroyed in the recent cyclone. We’re raising funds to build 94 wooden beds, provide proper bedding and nets, and repair the kitchen so these children can sleep and eat in safety and dignity.

We know we can’t fix everything overnight—but we can act now to support these children with practical solutions that offer immediate comfort, safety, and care.

Please help us give these children the better life they deserve. Every contribution, big or small, makes a lasting difference.

With gratitude,

Lauren & Buzz