The COHEM Foundation (Community Healthy Minds Foundation) was established on 16 February 2026 in Łódź, Poland. Its Founder and CEO is Anna Wyszogrodzka-Kucharska, a child psychiatrist, who has been working in Malawi for many years, supporting children and young people and gaining first-hand insight into the challenges faced by local communities.

COHEM was created as an extension of her long-standing commitment and the programme she developed to provide comprehensive support for children and young people in Malawi. Its purpose is not only to help in the most difficult situations, but above all to create the conditions that enable young people to continue their education, develop their potential and, in the future, break the cycle of poverty.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with particularly difficult conditions in small rural communities, where access to education, healthcare and other essential services remains very limited.

One of the important elements of the COHEM programme is mental health. Access to specialised psychiatric care in Malawi is extremely limited, while mental health problems among children and young people often go without appropriate support. The scale of the problem is serious. A study conducted among school students in Malawi found that 12.9% of adolescents reported a suicide attempt during the previous 12 months, while 12.8% reported having had suicidal thoughts.

For COHEM, mental health support is not an addition to our work, but an essential part of it. A person needs more than a place to learn, books, clothing or food. They also need a sense of safety, acceptance and someone who can help them see that their life can be different.

The programme created by Anna Kucharska therefore brings together several areas of support: education, material assistance, personal development, mental health and building independence. The aim is to give young people a chance not only to break the cycle of poverty, but also to participate fully in society without feeling that their background, place of birth or family circumstances determine the limits of what they can achieve.

We do not decide who they should become. We create the conditions in which they can decide for themselves.

Because every person should have the right to more than simply surviving. They should have the right to education, dreams, growth and a future of their own.