It’s been a year of milestones in Malawi, especially for our older children.
Norman and Eric completed their first year at Kamuzu Academy, whilst Nefila, Chikondi, Mary, Agness and Wilson finished primary school and passed their entrance exams to secondary school. Aubrey also completed his first year as an apprentice to our foreman and has continued to make good progress with his IT studies.
In May, our friends from Johnson & Johnson arrived to start work on building a girls’ hostel at Pemphero School, a project which will provide a safe haven for many girls to complete their education, away from the distractions of domestic work.
SMBC Aviation Capital, who are funding the project, continued the work in June and we will also receive help from our various visiting schools to complete the work over the next few months. In return for support with this project, Pemphero’s head teacher has guaranteed 20 free places to students selected by Open Arms, which will benefit many of our returned children who we continue to support in the local villages.
The past year has brought difficult times for Malawi, following the floods and subsequent droughts of 2015, which left 2.8 million people struggling with food shortages. Thankfully, we were able to step in and support 190 families with over 30 tonnes of additional food staples to help them through the food crisis. Sadly, the coming months are expected to bring further difficulties as once again crops have failed and Malawi faces a widespread famine. We are currently awaiting news on the combined response from international donors and Government.
At Open Arms we continue to support our babies and children, with several new arrivals at our Blantyre and Mangochi Homes over the past few months, and 58 children now supported by our Cash Transfer Scheme, after returning to live with family members in the villages.
None of this would be possible without the generosity of our donors, fundraisers and supporters… so ‘thank you’.
If you would like to receive a copy of our recent newsletter, please contact Serena or click here.
Your donation will help children in Malawi grow up healthy with the love of a family
Donate