God Cares works to educate and promote the health and livelihoods of vulnerable youth and their families

“I faced challenges with school fees and school materials which affected my performance in school. I missed many classes during the school term until the intervention from God Cares. I have been able to fully concentrate of my Education without worries of school fees and I am confident that I will pass with good grades during the Malawi School Certificate Exams this year.” Says Enock Saka, a form 4 student at Chimbongondo CDSS.

Young people in Chimbongondo just like Enock are met with many challenges in their education. Often coming from vulnerable and poor households, many fail to complete their secondary school education and remain trapped in cycles of poverty. God Cares with support from The Egmont Trust supports 30 secondary school students from Chimbongondo Community Day Secondary School through fees scholarships and school materials required for their education. This ensures that the students are in full attendance of their classes, and without the burden of sourcing for fees which has often left them falling behind and failing in school.

In addition to the 30 secondary school students, God Cares supports 150 Primary School learners from Chimbongondo, Kafulufulu and Mlimo Primary Schools with reading and writing materials, school uniforms and other school necessities to ease their education journeys.

This project is particularly aimed at improving the wellbeing of children living with HIV and other vulnerable children as well as their households through sustainable livelihood interventions. Increasing the uptake of HIV testing, care and treatments is therefore a key component of the project. The nearest health center to our project areas is fifteen  Kilometers away making access to HIV testing and treatment extremely difficult for the communities. This has resulted in an increase of HIV transmissions. In response, God Cares conducts mobile clinics where services related to HIV/AIIDS are offered including testing, guidance and counselling as well as STI screening and treatment.

We work in collaboration with local and traditional leaders within the community to mobilize community members to access the mobile clinic services. Overall, the mobile clinics have serviced more than 1500 people. Through the project, Village Health Committees were equipped with technical expertise through training to improve care and treatment services especially for children living with HIV.

“The training has been especially important as we have been equipped with the skills to care for children living with HIV. We also have orphans who did not have anyone to care for their health needs, but through the committees we will be able to offer them the necessary support” said Galdson Chirwa, a Village Health Committee Member. 

The committees are established with the sole purpose of managing health promotion activites including the monitioring and supervision of those living with HIV.

A critical challenge faced by the communities we serve is the lack of sustainable livelihoods which would ensure food security for the children and their families, as well as sustainable sources of income once the project comes to an end. As part of our strategy to ensure sustainability, we provide goats and farm inputs to beneficiary families. We also encourage sustainable Agricultural practices such as the production of Mbeya Fertilizer which utilizes low cost materials but incredibly enriches the soil and improves harvest. The farming families undergo training on the production of the fertilizer and other farming practices.

“I am expecting at least 10 bags of maize from my small maize garden. The Mbeya Fertilizer has greatly improved my crop yield and I can see my family being more food secure with a sustainable income” Winless Soko, project beneciary.

Beneficiary families are also provided with different trees such as Acacia, Grecedia and Molinga to plant to ensure the reforestation of the forest in the communities. These contribute to the recovery of the soil and forest which has been degraded.

Goodson Chipeta, one of the primary school learners shows off his tree.

This project ensures that children living with HIV/AIDS, and other vulnerable children have the support to thrive. God Cares does this through supporting their education, health and livelihoods by working with their communities and families to create a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for them to thrive.