The idea behind Temwa began in the year 2000 when Jo Hook and Sophie Elson were running a backpacker's lodge in Malawi.

Whilst there, they came face to face with the many hardships that the people of Malawi deal with on a daily basis. Particularly close to them was the plight of Lotti, a member of staff at the lodge. The girls watched Lotti lose his fight against AIDS. Sadly this had already claimed the lives of his wife and many of his close family. After Lotti's death, his sister became responsible for all six of his children, plus her other siblings' offspring, who had all been orphaned by either AIDS, cholera, malaria or typhoid.

Sophie and Jo were so moved by the desperate situation that, on their return to England, they decided to send out the equivalent of Lotti's monthly income to support his family. It was apparent that this story was not unusual in this part of the world and the girls felt empowered to do more. They spent time researching the specific problems that Malawians were facing and how to best tackle them. They then began a three year fundraising programme that would not only raise awareness, but also the targeted amount in order to start their planned projects.