The Hungry Season 2020
In Malawi, the Hungry Season of 2020 has been compounded by the current Coronovirus Pandemic.
Most of the vulnerable children who are fed at the project are orphans. Being orphans, they live with families other than their parents and are usually a drain on already scarce resources. Most of the families in the Kanyenyeva area are subsistence farmers, growing only enough food for themselves and their family. It is a means of survival but does not produce income. Subsistence farmers are impacted greatly by variations in weather.
In January, 2020, UN’s World Food Program warned about food insecurity in Malawi and other southern African countries.
“An unprecedented number of people in 16 countries across southern Africa are gravely food insecure as climate change wreaks havoc on the region.”
“This hunger crisis is on a scale we’ve not seen before and the evidence shows it’s going to get worse,” the WFP’s Regional Director for Southern Africa, Lola Castro, said in a statement.
The crisis is impacting 45 million people — many of whom are women and children. The region has been hit hard by repeated droughts, widespread flooding and economic hardship.
Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are among the hardest-hit.
Many families across the region are already skipping meals, taking children out of school and falling into debt to stave off agricultural losses, the WFP said.” (Source: https://www.dw.com/en/un-warns-hunger-crisis-in-southern-africa-on-scale-weve-not-seen-before/a-52029274)
According to USAID “Recurring droughts afflict Malawi’s agriculture sector, threatening the livelihoods of Malawi’s smallholder farmers, who constitute 80 percent of Malawi’s population. Thirty-eight percent of Malawians live below the poverty line, and 47 percent of children are stunted.”
Malawians are currently experiencing the hungriest time of the year. It is the time while they are growing and harvesting their crops for the year ahead. They have eaten their harvest from 2019 and have nothing until they can eat from their harvest of 2020.
During this time of the year, the orphan project experiences a higher than normal number of children seeking a meal. Due to the Coronavirus in North America, several fundraisers which support the feeding program have been cancelled or postponed. With less income than expected, the leadership at the orphan project have been forced to reduce the number of meals they offer to the children in their community from 6 days a week to 3 days a week. For some children the meal they receive at the orphan project is the only meal they receive that day. Decreasing the number of days the children can have a meal can be devastating.
We know that many people around the world are experiencing a decrease if their own incomes, too, however; a meal for a child costs $.50. A donation of $10 will feed 20 children! No amount is too small. Please prayerfully consider donating to help the children in Malawi be fed. Click here to learn more about how to donate.
Thank you Trinity Lutheran Church!!!!
A Huge Thank You to Trinity Lutheran Church in Ashland, Ohio!!!!!!
Kanyenyeva Ministries, with the help of Malawi Orphan Care Project, Inc, has received a $10,000 grant from the Trinity Lutheran Church Outreach Fund in Ashland, Ohio. This grant is seed money for a Girl’s Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Malawi. These dollars will build the first hostel building to house young women that are at risk or have been rescued from early marriages.
Kanyenyeva Ministries has been in operation for over 14 years. Over the years, the ministry has interacted with over 5,000 young people, mainly from the Kanyenyeva area. Through these interactions and ministry, the leadership of Kanyenyeva has witnessed how girls are marginalized in their society. There have been several incidents where girls have been forced, mainly by circumstances and poverty, to marry while they are as young as 15.
This observation agrees with the fact that girls in Malawi face more difficulties, as compared to their male counterparts, that either make it difficult for them to do well in school or cause them to drop out of school altogether. One of the major factors responsible for a large number of school dropout in girls is early marriages. About 46 per cent of girls are married before the age of 18, and 9 per cent before the age of 15. Poverty and societal illiteracy contributes to the belief that a girl child is not worthy of education and is lesser in value as compared to a male child.
In this regard, Kanyenyeva Ministries plans to build a centre that will be dedicated to minister to girls and women in their society who have been rescued from underage marriages and also those who are at risk. The centre will provide spiritual, physical, psychological and emotional support to girls and women from all society in Malawi.
The complex is planned to be located in the Mchinji district of Malawi, purposely distant from the Kanyenyeva village to protect those at risk. The long range goal is to have hostels that will house 100 girls at a time, contain duplex apartments for volunteer works, a chapel, meeting hall, skills center, a medical clinic, classrooms and homes for the head teacher/administrator and clinic workers. Kanyenyeva Ministries is currently hoping to raise funds and buy land so that the first hostel building can be constructed.
Skills Center Completion Fundraiser
Skills Center Completion Fundraiser
Target Goal: $10,000
A Skills Center is being built at Kanyenyeva Orphan Care Ministries in Malawi, Africa. The Center will be used to house self-sustaining enterprises for both women and men. Students will also be able to utilize the covered open area for evening study and socialization.
A $10,000 grant from Westwood Lutheran Church in Excelsior, MN provided the initial funds to erect the foundation and walls for the Center. An additional $15,000 has been raised to plaster the walls and complete the roof, floor, doors, and windows. Once the roof and floor are complete, the Days for Girls Enterprise will be able to move into their new secure storage and workspace to sew washable reusable sanitary products for sale and distribution. Ultimately, the building will be available for other local enterprises, such as a sandal making business.
A final $10,000 is required to provide solar powered electricity and plumbing for a restroom, solar powered well pump and elevated water tank.
Please consider making a life changing gift to help the women and men of Malawi develop sustainable enterprises. Malawi Orphan Care Project, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) registered company and all donations are 100% tax deductible.
You can donate using the “Donate Here” button on our website, or by mailing your donation to Malawi Orphan Care Project, 53 Park Avenue West, Mansfield, OH 44902. Please write “Skills Center” on your check or in the message section for online donations.
Thank you for your support!
International Day of the Girl Child, October 11, 2019
The International Day of the Girl Child focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights. The United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.
In recognition of International Day of the Girl Child, Malawi Orphan Care Project, Inc. is raising money to help complete a film about underage and forced marriage in Malawi. A film crew from leapyear, inc. traveled to Malawi earlier this year and interviewed girls, women, and men who have been affected by forced marriage and those who are working to end the culture of forced marriage in Malawi. This film, The Bride Price, is in a position to help the people in Malawi who are fighting to change their culture but that wont happen unless we can complete the film.
The girls in the picture above are just a few of more that 2,500 girls released from underage and forced marriages by Chief Theresa Kachindamoto in Malawi. In The Bride Price, these girls; Chief Kachindamoto; Yamiko Kawale, founder of GEM; McKnight Kalanda, Director of Child Development Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare and others tell about the problem of underage and forced marriages in Malawi and what they are doing to change the culture of their nation.
There is some more shooting to complete and post-production expenses; such as, artwork, film scoring, editing, and crew fees to pay. We appreciate any level of giving, from $5 to $500. Every little bit help. Click here for more information and we thank you for your support.
