CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
by Patrick Mawaya, Malawi, November 1998
THEME = CHILDREN
Orphan care seems to be the greatest challenge in Malawi
because of the scourge of HIV/AIDS
Malawi, with a population of about 12 million people, has currently over 0.6 million orphans. In 1995 there were 0.3 million. But not all the orphans obtain the support and help they need. Caring for orphans must remain the community's responsibility, but there are others who have taken up the challenge to help those who need special care - "Children of the Rainbow" is one such programme.
Background: Sister Teresa Andrade is in charge of St.Mary's Rehabilitation Centre, which provides residential care and is part of the "Children of the Rainbow" programme. Its out-reach project is an Orphan Care Programme based in the homes. St. Mary's is situated in Mvera, Dowa district, Central Malawi. It started in 1993 with the aim of eradicating malnutrition among children but soon embarked on an out-reach programme which includes adult education and the advancement of women.
"When we started the whole programme, we found there were a lot of children not going to school", says Sr.Teresa, "but once we got the programme off the ground, more children are now attending schools". In addition to St. Mary's, there are five out-reach clinics with about 700 orphans in home-based care, spread over eleven villages. There are two orphan supervisors who visit the orphan children in schools as well as in their villages. The supervisors ensure that the children receive education and health care and the out-reach programme ensures they all go to school. "Children of the Rainbow" pays what fees are necessary.
In St. Mary's Rehabilitation Centre which houses 105 orphans, the boys stay in one house and the girls in another. Widows care for the orphans and there are plans to have three more families to stay with the orphans.
Funding: The orphans at St. Mary's Rehabilitation Centre are cared for by the Sisters of Mary Mediatrix. But where do the Sisters get financial help from? "To run the Centre, we depend on people of goodwill", says Sr.Teresa, "and we do try to get sponsors for each child". The Sisters now have at least 25 children with sponsors. Sr.Teresa says that the original construction work was funded by Spanish organisations.
Where do the orphans come from?: Most of the orphans in the programme are from families whose parents died from HIV/AIDS. The programme admits children from the age of 1 to 18 years. It is believed that at 18, the children should be able to accept responsibility for their own well-being. At the moment, the eldest orphan in the programme is 17 years old.
But according to Sr.Teresa, it is doubtful whether all the children in the programme will live to full maturity. She suspects that some will die from HIV/AIDS contracted through their parents. She says that since the programme started, about 18 orphans aged from 9 months to 7 years, have died from HIV/AIDS.
Motivation: But where do the Sisters get the motivation to run such a very big programme with limited resources? Sr.Teresa, a nurse with 13 years experience in Malawi, says the inspiration comes from the love that they have for the children. Sr.Teresa further says that they see God in these poor orphans. God, they cannot see or touch, yet when they care for these children, they see the presence of God in them.
Difficulties: Running the "Children of the Rainbow" programme and especially St. Mary's is not easy. Ev- ery child has his/her own problems; it's hard to get Malawian staff to work with the orphans'; finding enough food for everyone is a constant headache especially feeding those resident at the Centre - "sometimes, we feed about 150 people a day and this also include desperate mothers", says Sr.Teresa; then there's the question of getting necessary goods into the country - "We get milk powder sent from Spain which should be free of import duty, but try and explain that to Customs officials!" says Sister. Sometimes it takes six weeks before the items can be cleared.
Still hope: But how much hope is there for Malawi's orphans? Will the problem decrease in the near future? A drastic change in behaviour and attitude towards the HIV/AIDS scourge is needed. Sister says that "everyday, there are more children coming to the Centre and we keep on saying we cannot take any more. We cannot register more because they are too many".
To ensure the local communities accept responsibility for the orphans in their midst, those children living at the Centre are sent home to stay with relatives for a week, so as to keep in touch with their own environment. "Our aim is not to separate the children from the community. We try to send the children home for a week and if not, the family members try to visit the children at the Centre", says Sr.Teresa.
The responsibility of looking after orphans in Malawi must be the community's responsibility with the help of such projects as the "Children of the Rainbow" programme. However, places such as St. Mary's are there to provide a safety net for those orphans who need more than the local village community can possibly offer.
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CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE | WEEKLY NEWS
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement