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Mchinji Home of Hope Project

HIV/AIDS in Africa has been the “plague” of the last twenty years,
claiming more lives than the sum total of all the wars, famines,
floods and disease.

There are an estimated 900,000 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in
Malawi. This represents 57% of the total number of orphans in a
country frequently devastated by drought and floods and crippled
by killer diseases such as malaria and TB.

"Home of Hope" or the Mchinji Mission Orphanage is one of the
largest children's homes in Malawi. It was founded in 1998 by Rev.
Thomson Chipeta, a retired Presbyterian minister, and provides
care for over 500 children who have lost one or both parents.

The Home of Hope is located in the town of Mchinji on 40 acres of
land donated by the Presbyterian Church. Donations by supporters
in Malawi and around the world have enabled the staff to
construct six large residential houses, a dining/assembly hall, a
clinic, classrooms for nursery, primary and secondary classes, and
three staff houses.

In an effort to move toward self-sufficiency, the staff and children
grow their own maize, raise chickens and goats. The Home
receives no long-term funding from the government. Sporadic
contributions of individuals and groups have kept the orphanage
going over the years, but maintaining the critical supply of milk for
the babies is an on-going concern. Many are brought to the home
only days old.

In response to this need, Carol Hardy and her musician friends
have organized three benefit concerts to help pay for the cost of
milk. While the orphanage grows much of its own food, the need
for milk continues. Lucy Chipeta recently wrote:

"Let me take this opportunity to thank DevXchange
for tirelessly fundraising for this home and in
particular for buying infants milk. This is the area
we struggle a lot, With such huge donation we have
been able to buy enough to take us for a while…So far
Home of Hope has saved over 300 babies. ..if they could
not have milk definitely they could not have made it."

The donations through DevXchange have met a critical need, but
we are challenged to keep it up until a more sustainable solution
can be found.