The Joseph Project, Malawi, Africa

One of the greatest challenges facing the rural communities amongst whom they work is the large number of children who live either in fractured families or are orphaned. Help is being given to assist orphan children to get back into school through for example the provision of uniforms etc. In one school of 1024 children, 118 are orphans. In one village in which they are working, 1 in 10 children are orphans. Many elderly people are struggling to exist because they are now caring for orphaned grandchildren. There is much prayerful discussion taking place  about how such children may be cared for in the villages and especially how the churches might offer homes, care and love for orphans.

 

For the future, they say “We have vision to help people to be responsible not just as guardians but as caring parents for the children in need. The children should be able to receive the same care as if they were the natural children of the care parents, including having access to food, schooling, family life, play and work in the home and in the fields belonging to the family.

 

Within the villages where we have a church we aim to provide homes for children who become orphaned. We believe that the village will not have to lose its children, even in themost traumatic circumstances that have given rise to the need for the child to receive care. Our churches will offer themselves to help whenever the village headmen request such help ….. In the future we want to provide the mean whereby the children are taught traditional and new trades / businesses as well as farming skills and normal domestic skills in order that the children may in time leave home, fit into normal village life and become self-supporting”.