Last March, five members of St. Andrew's, Streetsville, Ont., realized a dream when they travelled to Blantyre, Malawi, to see first hand the operations of the Community Based Orphan Care Centres, which is a project of the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian. This was a big undertaking as the five paid their own travel and accommodation expenses. Each of them struggled with the decision to go: could the money be put to better use for the centres? The congregation has supported the project through Presbyterian World Service and Development for the past four years, raising in excess of $28,000; and was supportive of the five people to visit and report on what they'd seen.
The local Blantyre synod runs seven CBOCs serving over 800 children, from three to six years of age. Located in five townships they provide care from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A breakfast of porridge (which takes about three hours to cook over a wood fire) is served, followed by group activities and snacks later in the morning. After morning lessons they have lunch. While the CBOCs have some paid teachers, they rely mostly on community volunteers.
The first week, the team painted two of the centres, in Ndirande and Chilobwe. In the second week they visited the Chigodi Conference Centre which provides leadership training to empower women and upgrade their skills so that they can train other women in their local areas. They met two women who have embarked on income generating projects, one with a poultry operation and the second with goats.
They also visited five Community Based Care Centres, which get help with training teachers and some food from the synod. Home Based Care visits were also on the itinerary. Each community has a committee of volunteers identifying those in need, and counselling the sick and encouraging them to seek appropriate treatment as well as engage in productive ventures. The sick are referred to hospitals, and family members are taught how to care for them by providing proper nutrition.
Mulanje Mission Hospital had a great impact on the mission team because it had a feeding program for orphans under two years old (the only one of its kind). The hospital also provides primary health care and programs dealing with environmental health, mother and child welfare and HIV/AIDS . The catchment area covers more then 66,000 people.
The team deeply appreciated the support received from their hosts, Joel and Rebecca Sherbino and left Malawi somewhat overwhelmed by what they had seen, but determined to continue to make a difference in the lives of the people of Malawi.
