Mchenga Orphan Care
Likuni Parish, Lilongwe
Working out of the urban center of Lilongwe, Mchenga offers assistance to 130 children spread throughout 22 villages in the Likuni Parish. Organized to confront the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the area, Mchenga’s ten women and ten men are dedicated to improving the quality of life of those infected with or affected by the virus. Running a feeding program for orphaned and vulnerable children as well as a nursery school for the youngest, Mchenga is doing its best to heal the wounds inflicted upon their community by AIDS. Children are not their only focus as Mchenga’s staff cares for and supports the elderly, chronically sick, and disabled members of Likuni Parish. In an effort to become a self-sustainable endeavor, staff members have successfully implemented a maize-farming project. The hope is to use their harvests both to feed those in their care as well as generate income from the sale of any surplus that might exist.

Paradiso House Home-Based Care
Ngwenya
Located in the poor district of Ngwenya -  a place 35,000 people call home – Paradiso House Home-Based Care was created in 1998 by a group of women concerned about the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS in their community. Paradiso staff members and volunteers have an intimate knowledge of AIDS and its effects, as many are HIV+ themselves. They have translated these experiences into ways to educate and empower the community. Trained in HIV and tuberculosis prevention and treatment, Paradiso personnel supply home-based care to sick and vulnerable people in the surrounding villages. In their daily visits, workers provide patients with many basic needs, such as food, medicine, and emotional support. They accompany individuals to testing centers and health care clinics, run educational workshops in the community and at their center to inform people about the realities of HIV/AIDS and to initiate behavior change so as to reduce the incidence of infection and combat gender-based violence and stigma. Families and children are also encouraged to visit the Paradiso building to attend weekly counseling sessions and support groups for youth and adults living with HIV/AIDS. From their office, Paradiso also runs a daily feeding program and nursery school for 43 orphaned children ranging from two to six years of age, thereby providing them with a safe environment and much-needed nutrition.

MAGFA
Lilongwe
This community-based organization, based in the capital of Lilongwe, exists to provide orphans with the money to pay for school fees. Both public and private schools in Malawi require students to pay for their own books and uniforms in addition to exam fees, thereby presenting an often-insurmountable obstacle to school attendance. This impediment is especially large for orphans and vulnerable children who, lacking one or both parents, are forced to drop out of school because of their inability to pay these fees as well as because of their need to find jobs to pay for basic necessities such as food and shelter.
MAGFA and its volunteers seek to remove this hurdle and allow children that otherwise might not have the opportunity to fulfill their potential to do so. Volunteers not only pay the school fees of a student but they act as that child’s advocate – making sure that the orphan is not discriminated against or exploited, something that is a particularly large issue for young girls. MAGFA continually monitors each student’s progress in school by collecting report cards and providing the children with a place to stay during breaks in the school year. MAGFA is a source of stability and hope in the lives of many deserving Malawian children.

Chilangamo Orphan Care

Maula Helpers/Kaagwa Home Based Care
Lilongwe
Maula Helpers/Kaagwa Home Based care was created in 1997 by a group of parishioners from Maula Cathedral to provide school fees for needy and disadvantaged children as well as spiritual support for the chronically ill and people living with HIV/AIDS in the community. Over the last 8 years the group has provided school fees for 250 children to enable them to obtain a high school diploma. The organization has 30 home-based care volunteers who visit the sick in their homes and at the two central hospitals located in the city of Lilongwe. These volunteers conduct educational trainings throughout the community about HIV/AIDS and the impact on children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. They have also held workshops for community residents on safe care giving practices to prevent infection.

Tilerane Orphan Care Centre
Area 23 and Kang'oma
Chitekwere Phiri and Lameck Mandevu started Tilerane in 1995 as a community response to the social and economic challenges facing orphaned and vulnerable children and their caregivers. The organization has a strong base of volunteers and support from local leaders in the surrounding 28 villages as it delivers assistance and innovative programs for 1250 orphans and 350 widows. Tilerane has a center located in Lilongwe and another location about 10 kilometers away in the rural area of Kang'oma. The organization has over 40 volunteers who help run a large community garden, pre-school and daily feeding program for 160 children.

The program has created a community garden and retail store to provide income for its program activities. A group of widows who come to the center each day to feed and nurture the children meet in the afternoons as a group to create beaded jewelry and linens to make a little money for themselves and the children they are fostering in their homes.

A big focus of Tilerane is on a vocational skills training program, which include tin smithing, bead making crafts, farming, furniture making and sewing for children between the ages of 12-19. The children and the volunteers sell their products and produce at local markets and to other sister organizations. The organizationŐs activities include bereavement counseling, educational classes and clothing support for the children. Tilerane also provides annual school fees for 42 youth. The program has a group of 16 home-based care volunteers who visit the chronically ill in the abutting villages. Several of the volunteers at Tilerane have received training in bereavement therapy from REPSSI and The Pendulum Project. The volunteers at Tilerane are actively involved in community education and outreach about HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment and child development and share their learning with other community-based organizations supporting vulnerable children and adults.

Chikondi Orphan Care and Centre for Youth Ladders to Literacy
Kawale II
Chikondi was started in 2004 after a group of community residents became concerned about seeing increasing numbers of orphans in their district lacking food and dropping out of school. The founders consulted the chief to gain his permission to form a daily feeding program for 320 orphans. Currently the program is being operated at a home owned by the MŐbwana family who serve as volunteers. The group is raising chickens and growing vegetable to raise funds to construct a small building to house its activities that include a youth led support and drama group that has been created to heal the children deal with emotional issues. This group uses drama, music and dance to empower and educate children who come to Chikondi. The youth hold performances at schools and village events to raise awareness about orphans and children's rights and HIV/AIDS.

Ministry of Hope Organization
Matapila and Mponela
Ministry of Hope was founded in 1999 by a young Malawian named Fletcher Matandika to make a difference in the lives of children who are vulnerable. The organization provides assistance for widows, the disabled and chronically ill in the surrounding five villages of Mponela and Matapila. Land for gardens and the four feeding centers was donated by the community chiefs and now serve as facilities where volunteers conduct daily feeding, education support and bible study classes for 1990 orphaned and vulnerable children. The volunteers provide classes to the childrenŐs caregivers on life skills and nutrition. In 2003, Ministry of Hope opened a crisis nursery that has the capacity to provide temporary medical care for up to 20 infants who are orphaned or in life threatening situations. As of the 2006 grant-giving season, Ministry of Hope is able to function without Pendulum’s financial support. We congratulate them on graduating from our funding and will continue to work with them as a support wherever needed.

Partners in Malawi/Partners in Hope
Lilongwe
Partners in Malawi is a non-profit organization created by Dr. Perry Jansen to provide treatment for children and adults living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi. Dr. Jansen and those who work with him improve the lives of Malawians by expanding their access to medical, spiritual and emotional care. Partners in Malawi seeks to extend the lifespan of those already infected with HIV/AIDS, and encourage efforts to allow their lives to be productive and meaningful. Dr. Jansen and his family have lived in Malawi since 1999 and have recently opened a newly renovated AIDS clinic in Lilongwe.

Mwana Wa Mzako (Your Child is My Child) Project
Likuni Parish District
Six pastoral workers from the Likuni Catholic Parish of Lilongwe started Mwana Wa Mzako Project in December of 2003 after conducting a needs assessment that showed that the youth in the district area were facing many psychosocial difficulties due to HIV/AIDS, poverty and illiteracy. According to the founders "Mwana Wa Mzako was built on the Malawians' cultural value of collective responsibility for the welfare of vulnerable members of society" The project operates out of 5 centers and has 7 certified HIV/AIDS voluntary testing counselors who work throughout the community to provide education and training for caregivers and traditional healers. Each center offers an adult literacy program which teaches these individuals Chichewa, English and Math and holds trainings on income generating projects that include pig farming and basket making.

Chiyembezeko Orphan Care Centre
Njewa
Chiyembezeko was created as an indigenous community initiative after a community garden was started to provide food for 140 orphaned children and their guardians. The program operates out of a church. Each day the garden committee comprised of 6 women and 4 men work in the garden that is located behind the chief's home that is across the street from where the children meet. A group of widows and widowers provide after school day care for the children and tutor the children in English and Chichewa. The children are given vegetables and nsima to take home for dinner and each month the center host a community meeting on Saturday in which they educate the community residents about HIV/AIDS and best practices in child care and support for the sick.

Mother Teleza Project for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Widows and Widowers
Kawale I
Mother Teleza Project was formed in 2004 by a group of people residing in the poor district of Kawale 1 in Lilongwe. The volunteers grow vegetables; raise chickens and pigs to generate income to buy maize to feed 137 orphaned and vulnerable children and 58 people who are widowed that come to the projectfor spiritual support and food assistance. The program is currently operating at a local chiefŐs home that is located in Kawale 1. The volunteers are working with the village leaders to raise funds to purchase a small house to better operate a daily feeding program and youth support groups run by the volunteers and youth leaders.

Luzi Orphan Care Organization
Mitundu and Mzimba
Luzi operates 10 community based childcare centers in the villages within the Lilongwe districts of Mitunda and Mzimba. Over 100 volunteers assist 3995 registered orphaned and vulnerable children. The organization operates several community gardens, one bakery and two tearooms to generate income to support its programs and to engage communities in sustainable development. Luzi has 43 home-based care workers that visit the sick in their homes and provide assistance to other people in the community who need transport to the hospital. The organization uses bicycles to operate and monitor activities at each center and is in the process of developing a small-scale mineral mining operation as an additional source of income for the older children and caregivers. The staff and volunteers at Luzi share their knowledge about organizational management, monitoring and evaluation with other community-based organizations.