Malawi, one of the poorest countries on the planet, has experienced one of the worst cyclones in history and needs your help.

TREEZ normally concentrates on replanting, rewilding and naturally regenerating the slopes of Zomba Plateau, but in the light of the devastation that storm Freddy has caused, we have decided to reallocate some resources and kindly request for further help.

Thanks to Bugbrooke Community Cafe in Northampton, and George Watson College in Edinburgh, we already have some funds but our communities desperately need more.

Ester John, pictured above, is one of many whose house was completely destroyed and who desperately needs help.

We are looking for £8,000 to provide, emergency food supplies, and with any extra money, we would like to pay for labour to rebuild homes and dig trenches in the water catchments and plant vetiver grass, bamboo and agroforestry trees in the those same areas to help prevent flooding in the future, and those same seedlings to plant around peoples' houses to protect them from the effects of extreme rain and wind.

We have upped the amount requested, again, as the money has not gone as far as we hoped. The price of maize flour (ufa), the main staple food, sometimes eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, is in short supply and this has driven up the prices. Sadly, the mere fact that Malawi is experiencing a crisis, is also driving up the prices. We wanted to buy as much as we could so that it can be distributed to the most needed places.

So far, we have targetted Traditional Authority Mlumbe where 228 people have been displaced and living in 2 schools turned in to makeshift shelters, and Traditional Authority Kasonga, a valley between the Zomba and Malosa massifs where a further 88 people have lost their homes and are living with relatives. There are still communities not so far from here where help has not reached. There is so much to do.

As you can see in the document showing where the money has gone so far, it is mainly on food as Malawi is also in the middle of what is known as the 'hungry season', a time between the end of most families supply of food and when the next harvest is due, as if people didn't have enough problems already!

We would like to continue with the emergency food, but also add reusable sanitary towels for the 100 or so women and girls who have been displaced, solar lights for the shelters which will be donated to the school afterwards, and still intend to proceed with building resilience within the communities and help rebuild homes.

An example of expenses: £15 = 12kg of ufa (will feed a family of 5 a week), 1kg rice = £2, 4 tomatoes (tomatoes are also a staple) = £1, 1 blanket = £7, 2 reusable sanitary towels = £3, 1 portable solar light = £8.5, AND we would still like to buy seedlings for water catchments = £0.15/seedling, and pay for labour = £3/person per day (to help rebuild peoples' homes as fast as possible, while providing an income with which they can buy food supplies)