Vision Fund has pledged to support Mtandire residents through mental health services and financial literacy initiatives aimed at improving livelihoods and reducing poverty in the community.

The organisation says it plans to equip young people with financial literacy and entrepreneurship skills to help them become self-reliant and break the cycle of poverty.

Vision Fund Chief Executive Officer, Theodora Ng'oma Ntaba, said Mtandire continues to face challenges such as high school dropout rates, child marriages and teenage pregnancies, which contribute to persistent poverty. She said empowering young people with the right mindset and practical skills is key to transforming the community.

Ng'oma Ntaba made the remarks when Vision Fund donated medical supplies to Raine's Clinic in Mtandire, a facility that provides free primary healthcare services to the area. During the visit, she also pledged to provide the clinic with a mental health specialist to help address the growing number of mental health cases.

"Providing these medical supplies demonstrates our commitment to improving lives in this community. The greatest resource any community has is not money, but the mindset of its people," she said.

Raine's Clinic Managing Director, Tusekile Mwalwanda, welcomed the donation, saying the facility is struggling to cope with the increasing number of patients seeking medical care.

She said the clinic, which was designed to serve about 40 patients a day, now attends to between 70 and 150 patients daily, placing immense pressure on its limited resources.

"We are a small clinic with only 16 staff members, including four medical officers. In addition to free primary healthcare services, we offer mental health and safe-space services, but we currently do not have dedicated mental health specialists or adequately trained counsellors," said Mwalwanda.

Speaking on behalf of Village Headman Chikuse, Pauline Thondoya described Vision Fund's support as timely, noting that the clinic serves not only Mtandire but also surrounding communities.

She expressed optimism that the planned mental health support and youth financial literacy training would improve the well-being and economic prospects of local residents.

Raine's Clinic provides free primary healthcare services to people from Mtandire, Mtsiriza, Pheleni, Buli and surrounding areas.