Programs

Educational Supplies Program

Unlike students in the urban centers, many of children in the rural areas are less privileged and can’t afford basic school supplies. Socioeconomic background of students or income level of local communities are comparable. These related factors have considerable effect in cognitive output which are attributed to school level values (Colclough, 2005). The project will supply books, pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, erasers, colored pencil, stapler and staples, calculators, English dictionaries, chalk and chalk erasers, whistles, writing boards, backpacks, soccer balls, volley balls, volley ball nets and sports uniforms. The primary project will benefit elementary schools in the rural areas with justification that parents and guardians in the rural areas have very low income as compared to those in urban areas with a steady and reasonable income. With time, the project will also target other students in the urban areas.

Chotsa Njala (Remove Hunger) School Feeding Program

Poverty has caused underprivileged children to go to school hungry. Lack of good nutrition drastically affects wellbeing and cognitive ability; hence the school feeding program embarks to provide one meal in the morning before classes commence. According to WFP (World Food Program) approximately 23 million children attending primary school in Africa are undernourished. The project will buy food from local farmers within the communities and will provide agricultural inputs to establish school gardens to sustain the program.

It is expected that the feeding program will reduce the rate of absenteeism and truancy among pupils, increase access to education, improve grades, and equip the selected community members with knowledge and skills in good nutrition and thereby increasing the nutritional capacity of the rural poor.

Hannah Children’s Home

Touched by the despair of poverty and children abandoned and orphaned because of HIV/AIDS, Kingdom Glory International Church in Blantyre, Malawi established Hannah Children’s Home in 2012. The church currently rents 2 houses in Mpemba to take care of orphans and abandoned kids who roam the city day and night in search of food and financial help.

It is pathetic to note that some kids have become parents as they are compelled to go and beg so that they can take care of their younger siblings. Some are sent by their parents to be bread winners for their family. There are more than 1,000,000 orphans in Malawi and of which 50% are a result of their parents dying of HIV/AIDS. (UNICEF, Campaign Briefing Note, September 2005). Rising numbers of orphans and abandoned kids is an indictment of our society. The Social Welfare Department in Blantyre lacks satisfactory facilities to take care of orphans and the few orphan centers operated by other charities have limited intake.

Hannah Children’s Home is run by Enid Mauluka with guidance from Bishop Gift Chaula. For time without number, Enid and Bishop Chaula have dug deeper into their pockets when finances become unmanageable just so they can keep the orphans going. The monthly cost for running Hannah Children’s Home is US$800.00 which comprises of rental, electricity, water, groceries etc.

Considering the above-mentioned problems, we appeal for donations to remove the orphaned and abandoned kids from the squalor of the streets and give them a place they can call home and support them with their needs.

HIV/AIDS Awareness Program

As students are not spared from the scourge of the deadly disease HIV/AIDS, the purpose of the program is to empower girls and boys to make informed decisions regarding their sexual lives. There is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS pandemic, and of which in Malawi, Ministry of Education points out that research has proved that in the rural community girls are partly coerced by the high number of tobacco farmers who have cash to influence them into sexual exploits. Because of the long distance to school, some girls have accepted free bicycle rides in exchange for sex. Although the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has stepped down from 6% in 2010 to 4.7% in 2012 (UNAIDS Global Report 2013). The scourge continues to pose as a significant challenge to education, contributing to both teacher and pupil absenteeism and attrition, and increasing trauma, dropout and low performance of orphaned and vulnerable children (Sub-Saharan Africa 2013 EFA Report – UNESCO).

To achieve HIV/AIDS awareness, methodologies will include holding sensitization campaign meetings in schools using both print and electronic media as an advocacy tools. Also, another strategy would be to hold rallies at the village level to sensitize the community of the deadly effects of the disease.