At Christmas I went to Malawi to give a little love and lots of cuddles to the orphans who have been rescued by a care home, Open Arms: www.openarmsmalawi.org.
Each day started early with helping to feed the babies and younger children their breakfast. Then I played with the children, helping the staff give much needed individual attention. The highlight of my trip was taking the older children swimming. What a treat! You should have seen their faces!
The AIDS/HIV virus has contributed to Malawi having one of Africa's highest percentages of orphans (14%) and the extended families are unable to cope. Orphan care homes and support services are therefore vital. Open Arms is a transition home, which nurtures and cares for orphaned babies for the first 2 years of their life; and then returns them to their community. They then regularly visit those communities to follow the progress of the children, as well as provide help and support in the form of clothing, mosquito nets, primary schooling and with the supply and production of food. When it is not possible to return a child to their community, they are fostered by the home.
Their work is entirely funded by charitable donations and a little goes a long way... for example:
£5 buys a mosquito net to protect a child from malaria; or pays for a child's nursery school fees
£7.50 buys a chicken at point of lay
£20 pays for the starter pack given to grandparents/carers of returned orphans
£25 covers the annual medication bills of a sick child
£150 pays for a water pump to enable village communities to irrigate their land - a highly valued item!
Please help me raise awareness and funds, to enable them to continue and develop their amazing and successful work. Thank you.
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