Home of Hope Mchinji Mission Orphanage
Medic Malawi has been working with this Orphanage, known as “Home of Hope”, since it first opened in 1998.
The vision of Rev. Thompson Chipeta, a retired Presbyterian minister who himself grew up as an orphan, the Orphanage was established with the idea of the children living in “home groups”, each group of up to 25 children being cared for by a “mother”. The mothers are usually widows who are given accommodation, food and a very small allowance (if finances permit). Each home group has its own house catering for 25 children. All children of primary school age are educated at the local school; older children are sent to boarding schools (which is the usual system of secondary education in Malawi); and a skills centre teaches such crafts as sewing, knitting, carpentry, bricklaying so that the children will have training which should enable them to find work in due course.
As a means of moving towards self-sufficiency the Orphanage is developing its own farm, with poultry, goats, pigs and rabbits, and has utilised a source of spring water to establish a small fish farm to provide food for the children. In addition, the orphanage grows maize and vegetables.
It is estimated that there are 750,000 orphans in Malawi, a figure which is increasing by 65,000 a year. When the Orphanage opened its doors in 1998 there were 25 children; now it has over 350 children, including nearly 70 babies. Originally the Orphanage was supported by an international Aid Agency, but now it has no major sponsors. As the number of orphans increases so the Orphanage expands. This means more accommodation, more staff, and of course more food.
Medic Malawi is committed to supporting Mchinji Mission Orphanage with financial help, and by providing items for the skills centre.
From a letter dated 1 February 2003:
“Words cannot express the thankfulness which we felt for your kind contribution. We have been struggling to feed the children, now that we are without any major sponsors. Your gift certainly helped to buy milk and groceries for the whole Orphanage. It arrived at a time when we had nothing in our bank account.”
