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Wash Day in Malawi |
| You just KNOW what this story is going to be all about. You look at the title and the pictures and you know what is next - it's APPRECIATION! While at the Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa, I had a first hand look at just how hard it is to live in rural, sub-Saharan Africa. |
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| Let's take for example washing clothes. First, you have to go to the water tap and if it is running that day, fill a bucket with water....and these are LARGE buckets ladies! You fill the container, hoist it to your head, and you walk, gracefully I might add, back to your house which may not be that close to the tap. You put some of the water in a couple other buckets, add soap powder, slosh it around, and begin work on a shirt. The shirt has been well worn by a little boy who plays hard in the dirt so you have to scrub it. What do you use? You use a board. Not a wash board like we see in antique stores with those grooved lines, but a plank carved from a stump. The work is back breaking and even more so if you are carrying one of the babies in your care on your back in a sling. Once clean, the clothes are rinsed and hung on a line to dry. Clothes lines are strung behind houses and across porches and in hallways and about anywhere where the clothes may dry, especially in the rainy season when your "almost dry" clothes can get soaked several times a day. Sometimes they are wet for a week. |
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The Mothers at the Home of Hope Orphanage are primarily
widows from the surrounding villages who have no way to support
themselves or their children. They are hired as "Mothers"
for room, board and a small stipend. The Mothers care not only for
their own children, but for five or six more infant and toddler
orphans. In this arrangement, the Mothers can support themselves
and their children and the very young orphans can be raised in a
more traditional family setting. |
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Where do these women find the time and the energy
to raise so many children? APPRECIATION. The Mothers at the orphanage
appreciate their jobs, appreciate knowing they and their children
will eat each day. The Mothers care for their own children and their
orphaned children day in and day out and as all mothers know, laundry
is only a very small part of raising a family! The Mothers were
kind to me and patient with me during my visit and I saw the care
they give to their children and to the orphans in their charge. |
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I did my wash today and for the first time in a
long time, didn't complain about having to walk down a hall and
(gasp) having to insert quarters into a washer and dryer to get
my clothes clean! The Mothers have taught me APPRECIATION. If you
would like to support the Mothers and their efforts, please donate
to Raising Malawi at www.raisingmalawi.org
and designate the Home of Hope Orphanage as the recipient. |
Kathy
LaVista |
| Thank you Kathy for sharing your story with us |
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| WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT |
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In
Malawi, a child doesn't ask, "What's for dinner?" The question is, Will I eat? A child doesn't ask, "When will I feel better?" The question is, Will I die? A child doesn't ask, "When will my parents come home?" A child knows they will never return. |
| Your
contribution to Raising Malawi will support all the work we do to
help orphan children in need, such as providing direct physical
assistance, education scholarships, tools for empowerment, and training
for teachers so that even more children have a chance for a better
future. Click here to launch the secure form |
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| WHAT IS RAISING MALAWI |
| Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, suffering from famine, drought, poverty, and and diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and hepatitis. |
| Out of population of 12 million, at least 1 million are orphans. |
| Raising Malawi is a grassroots initiative offering lasting solutions to the orphans of Malawi. Our approach is comprehensivee, compassionate, and effective. Unhindered by obstacles such as bureaucracy and red-tape. Raising Malawi is run and staffed by volunteers, allowing us to raise these children uo from powerlessness into self-empowerment - quickly and directly. |
| Throught an improved inner dialogue and strengthened sense of empowerment, malawi's orphans will grow up in control of their destiny and able to reverse the destructive patterns that have permeated their society for generations. |
 Photo: Barry Peele |
| OUR SOLUTIONS |
| Provide immediate and direct physical support such as food, medical care, clothing, clean drinking water, psychosocial counseling, and schooling. |
| Provide sustainability. We are partnering with agricultural, medical, and educational experts to teach Malawians how best to improve these areas in the long run in order to create continuity and prosperity. |
| Create a sence of self empowerment. This is where real societal change begins. To this and we are co-creating a curriculum with local Malawian teachers (based on the principles of the Spirituality for Kids Program) that empowers children with universal life skills. |
| For more Info about Raising malawi, please contact philippe@raisingmalawi.org |
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