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	Registered Charity Number: 1025616

MACS in Action

	Orphans The provision of orphanages is an unrealistic answer to a problem on such a massive scale. With at least half a million orphans, the provision of orphanages would be too expensive a solution. Orphanages also remove children from their own environment, institutionalising them. Instead MACS supports community-based orphan-care programmes taking place in the country. Find out the facts on orphans in Malawi	Up to 11% of all children in Malawi are orphans


Many parishes and orphan care initiatives aim to follow the example of St. Luke's Community-Based Orphans - one of the first models of such care. The rules are simple but demanding: Work with all community leaders, traditional chiefs, Muslim leaders, other churches, political activists, women's groups etc Accept all orphans, regardless of faith Set aside those whose extended families are coping Sit down with each family and look together at the hard questions: * Is there food to eat? Have the orphans got clothes, ballpoint pens and exercise books for school? Can the older ones find money by growing and selling crops or by making mats and baskets to sell at the market? Are illnesses being treated? Do they have mosquito nets (malaria is the biggest killer after Aids)? The community or parish can only address these problems if they have money to buy food, including the expensive proteins children need - beans, peanuts, fish, eggs, and provide seed, fertiliser, tools, clothes etc. MACS provides the funds to help parishes and orphan programmes address the needs of community-based care. MACS has also donated funds towards the highly effective Malindi Orphan Care Group*, a project involving permaculture farming and skills training for orphans (see first hand accounts below for more details).

First hand accounts Return to Malindi In January 2003 Roger and Karla Flambert revisited Malindi to see how the Malindi Orphan Care Group and permaculture gardens, both of which they helped establish, were progressing. In this extract from a newsletter they wrote about their trip to Malindi and surrounding villages they find out how communities are coping with famine and discover how permaculture gardens are empowering local communities. Click here for the full story in PDF format.

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