Report for the Grace Orphan Project, Malawi

January 11th, 2008 by mas | Filed under Africa & Overseas, Society & Issues.

Having been up all night mostly cursing our DVD copying facilities I decided to take the day off today which gave me chance to finish off the report we promised to provide the Grace Orphan & Disabled Care Group in Malawi following our recent visit out to them.

While out there we did a series of film interviews with some of the children which we’ll try & get online soon. These along with some of the group development training and general activity days helped us to get a much deeper understanding of both the children and the group than we gained last year.

The group itself is now meeting on its own land which has been fenced off. This is a huge step forward from last year when the group were meeting under a tree next to somebodys house! They still have a long way to go though and much like the name of their Manager they need to travel step by step’ (Ernest Pondeponde is the Manager - ponde ponde means step by step!), (the neighbouring town is called Pondebwino - step carefully!).

Just like any community group in the UK the group has a committee, and much like many committees over here, while the committee members are extremely valuable they simply don’t have the time to involve themselves in the daily running affairs of the group. This is of course Ernests’ role and he’s ably supported by Giles (who we also held an interview with).

Some of the committee members felt that it might be useful for us to give them an insight into our opinions about the group - hence the report. The report isn’t a series of recommendations or an advisory document - its mostly a series of questions based on our experiences. The questions are meant for the committee to ask itself (not to answer to us) and hopefully they will help provoke discussions that in turn will help them to form some clear priorities for their future development.

Its critical at this stage of their development that they are clear about their priorities. Already the group has received offers of financial support including a very significant amount towards their building costs. The danger is that if the group isn’t clear about their own priorities they risk accepting funding without clear terms and that ends up being provided on the basis of priorities that aren’t theirs. In my opinion this is one of the biggest problems with aid agencies and NGO work in African countries - too many people from outside dictating what they think is best. If we want to help as outsiders we should offer our help on the basis of what local people have identified to be potential solutions - not assume that because we are more wealthy and educated this means we know more - we don’t! Of course this isn’t to say the sharing of ideas, experiences and opinions is wrong, and its this that I hope we have achieved through our own role.

A copy of the report is attached below. At the end of the report you may note that we have offered to sponsor the education costs for a couple of children. We do have two particular children in mind who were both exceptional in their support to us and to other children within the group. Both are natural leaders and very bright and both are very ambitious with career aspirations to become a lawyer and a teacher. Heartbreaking then that in their current situation they almost certainly won’t be able to go to secondary school & they have absolutely no prospect of going to University. I’m not naming the children at this stage because we’re going to leave the actual decision of who will receive the sponsorship to the committee as clearly they will have the best knowledge of who will most benefit.

We don’t have any funding for this as yet so we’ll be seeking to raise funds throughout the year (and each year afterwards!). The costs are likely to be comparatively low though so if you would like to make a donation even of just £5 it will be very significant (an average wage in Malawi is around £30 per month). These sorts of appeals don’t usually get much in the way of support which is a shame because this is a real opportunity to truly make a life changing contribution. Very importantly for the Grace project it will also enable some very capable young people to stay involved with helping to run the group - because the alternative is that soon they will have to find work or beg for a living because only primary education is free in Malawi and they have no parents to support them.

If any person or organisation wants to help towards one of the childrens education fees please email us at enquiries@yomofoundation.co.uk It will take a little while to break down all the costs required and the dates from which funding will be needed but we will of course provide all these details as soon as we have them - and should anyone make a contribution we’ll happily display your logo/name in future updates about how the children get on.