About EpiCenter Solutions

Epicenter Solutions is a non-governmental, non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of the people in Malawi and Mozambique by providing access to food, clean water, education on advanced farming methods in addition to HIV/AIDS prevention, and ultimately, hope for a new way of life.

Our goal is to provide food, training, education and resources to help the people there achieve sustained relief from abject poverty through our four African relief initiatives:

1. Food
2. Water
3. Medical
4. Leadership

"For I hungered, and you gave Me food to eat; I thirsted, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me...” (Matthew 25:35)

It all began in 2004 when John Eastwood and Rick Cohen went on a trip to train pastors/ leaders in Malawi. They were shocked to discover how many people there live on under a dollar per day. The overwhelming poverty compounded with the death toll of the HIV/AIDS pandemic had left society in the villages a shambles: orphans with no one to care for them except older siblings (some as young as seven years old), people with opportunistic diseases lying on mats outside in over 110 degree heat, and elderly people with up to fourteen grandchildren in their care that they could not provide food for because they were too old to farm any longer. Because of all of this, malnourishment had increased on an epic scale.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned that countries across southern Africa faced a significant rise in food aid needs. This included critical food aid shortfalls in Malawi and Mozambique in particular, which were already suffering from food shortages. While a record maize harvest across Malawi should have made it more available and affordable throughout these countries, many of the poorest and most vulnerable people still did not have access to sufficient food for their families and were in desperate need of financial assistance.
HIV/AIDS rates across southern Africa were (and remain) extraordinarily high. An absence of food puts an even greater strain on HIV/AIDS victims and the family members struggling to care for them. Without help, many families in Malawi and Mozambique will either die from illness and starvation or be forced to adopt risky survival measures.

The conditions were beyond devastating; HIV/AIDS had left more than one million children orphaned in Malawi in a population of thirteen million. It was a seemingly impossible situation. We asked the chiefs and leaders of the communities what we could do to help. Their response was that a place was needed where the orphans could come to receive meals. With much prayer, a vision was given, a plan was created, and a step of faith was taken - One Village at a Time. Over the next year and a half, the 'One Village at a Time' strategy was carefully and prayerfully implemented, resulting in the first feeding center in Bangula, Malawi in October 2006, which cares for ten villages. By August 2008, a second feeding center was opened in Malawi and two more in Mozambique that provide two meals a day to over 371 people.

Although the program has helped provide food, clean water and education for many, the need is still great. Epicenter Solutions was established to take this successful program to the next level by providing additional feeding centers; clean water solutions with innovative technologies in agriculture and farming education; medical clinics with adequate supplies, and staff and leadership training to ensure measurable results to touch the lives of more people in this area.

Now, Epicenter Solutions is looking for compassionate partners to join us in our mission to break the cycle of poverty and provide hope for the future through effective solutions to meet the needs of many in Malawi and Mozambique.