In Malawi, 50% of women are illiterate and living below the poverty line of £1 per day. More than half the population (19 million) are without electricity or drinking water in their homes.

In October I will be traveling with a group of female entrepreneurs on an expedition to connect with a small group of women and teach them the basic skills they require to start their own businesses, empowering them to take their lives, and the future of their children's lives into their own hands.

Great work is being done to nurture grass root entrepreneurship by a number of charitable organisations; providing small repayable loans and offering on-the-ground financial training, and I plan to spend my time helping the women I connect with to put together a pitch for business funding from these organisations.

For me this trip is about helping women to take control of their future financial security and earn enough income for their family to be able to eat healthily and get an education.

It is times like this that the everyday worries of the western world pale in to insignificance as I discover the depth of issues facing these women. The average age of a mother when she has her first child is 18 years old, and the average family has 5 children (infant mortality is still 1 in 10).

I can’t imagine raising 5 children on an income of £1 per day, and I’m sure you can’t either, which is why I am asking for donations to fund and support this trip this means a lot to me personally. If we can help change the lives of just 20 women, who will start to contribute to their country’s economy, we will start the ball rolling to improve the lives of these women, their children, and ultimately their communities. It will be a small step, but a step in the right direction.

Please click the donate option now, to help make this happen and follow me on Twitter @Chris_zeal4b where I will be sharing updates and links to the Blog which I will start when we are there. My plan is to follow the successes of the ladies that we help.

Over the coming weeks I will be sharing more about the plans for the trip and stories of the types of work we will be doing when we get there, so look out for those and if you are interested in finding out more about the trip as a whole, please feel free to contact me at chris@zeal4b.co.uk