Lizulu Orphan Care Operations

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is home to an estimated 1.2 million orphans, primarily due to HIV/AIDS. Lizulu is a rural community in Malawi, where the average family lives on less than 75 cents per day. There are approximately 3,000 orphans in this community who have limited or no support. Even when there are surviving parents, they are often sick or overwhelmed by the needs of those around them.

This project is a dramatic, five-year expansion of a program in Lizulu which has been helping care for orphans for about ten years. The project was founded by Everton Kamangire, a Bible college graduate who was moved by passages such as James 1:27 (“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”) to address the needs of orphans in the Lizulu area.

Proposal

This program is addressing the challenge of orphan care through community-based care. The orphans continue to live in homes in the community, helping both the children and the surviving adults to retain dignity, as well as a sense of belonging to a family. The program currently supports 360 orphans by providing food, clothing, blankets, education, medical care, and spiritual guidance. It has set up a center to provide for the needs of the current group of children, including production of food and interaction with donors for additional food, clothing, and medical expenses.

Plans are to steadily increase the number of orphans assisted to 2,000 by the year 2013. These expansion plans will be funded partially by implementing self-supporting ventures for the community, such as (1) selling water to villagers by drilling a well, (2) maize farming and milling through the purchase of tools, seed, and fertilizers; the hiring of a farm manager; and the purchase of a maize mill, and (3) housing rental through the construction of homes. We also hope to build orphan centers in strategic villages around the area. These growth plans will require additional staff, including a full-time project manager.

Total Need

$1,060,000 over five years for operating expenses ($160K in the first year and $325K in the fifth year)

$138,000 over five years for one-time expenses ($88K in the first year and $12.5K per year thereafter)