Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As you may be aware I have recently spent 6 weeks at Open Arms, Mangochi.  A Childrens Home in Malawi that has without doubt, totally changed my outlook on life.

I can honestly say, I have never witnessed as much genuine love, care and passion for children in my life and, without this sounding too gushy, I feel so privileged to have been able to be a part of it. In 6 weeks I have seen everything from the arrival of a baby a matter of hours old, through to the horrific death of a 2 week old baby.  Two extreme emotions that the Care Givers and staff at Open Arms, Mangochi have deal with on a day-to-day basis, and do with the greatest respect and dignity.

Open Arms, Mangochi takes any child, under the age of 2 years old whose family can no longer care for them.  Following the death of the Mother a family may not being able - physically, emotionally or financially to be able to care for the child.  They get bought to Open Arms, taken in and remain in the care of the Home until the age of 2 years old when they are reintroduced to thier family (if possible) or they go into the care of the Home in Blantyre.

From what I saw during my time in Mangochi, there are two main reasons for the death of a mother in Malawi.  Firstly, HIV.  HIV is a huge issue in Malawi, and one that I am no expert on, however I think I am safe in saying it is an area that could and should not be the reason for orphaning hundreds of thousands of children every year.  If a Mother is HIV positive, complications during childbirth can and too often do, result in an orphaned baby.  Not only that, in a lot of cases the baby of an positive Mother will have contracted HIV and will need the required medical care and attention in those early days and weeks to ensure they are given the best possible start.  

Poverty is the other issue.  If you can imagine, some people here actually do not have the ability or the finances to actually GET to hospital to deliver and as a result are having their children in their villages with absolutely no medical assistance.  On top of that, those that can get to a hospital, who go on to experience difficullties may be met with a lack of facilities to be able to treat a Mother. 

Whatever the reason, Open Arms is there to take on any child that needs them.  They have the capability to have 40 children at any one time and the whole thing is run on donations from kind people like you!  That is potentially 40 children in their care that will get 3 hot meals and two snacks a day, running water, safe drinking water, electricity and more importantly love, care and attention 24 hours a day.  Not many children in Malawi have any of those things, so I look at the children in the care of Open Arms as some of the lucky ones.

To give you a brief insight into the poverty in Malawi - the average working Malawian earns £122 A YEAR.  That makes the treatment of a case of Malaria (for those lucky enough to be able to get it and afford it) around £3 a big deal.  A mosquito net costs around £5 so as a preventative measure for a family of 6 this again is a cost a lot of people do not have the ability to pay.  The point I'm trying to make, is no donation is too small......it all makes a huge difference.

One of the first things on theOpen Arms shopping list is new mosquito nets for the children's beds.....the current ones are the original ones bought in 2008 and while some are ok, the majority are in need of replacing.  At the moment they are averaging 3-4 cases of Malaria in children every WEEK, which with new nets can be stopped. 

I can assure you, every single penny received by Open Arms, Mangochi will be spent on things needed to ensure the health and well being of each child there.  

The staff and children at Open Arms Mangochi have restored my faith in human nature, they are by far the most amazing people I have ever met and this is a thank you to them for all their hard work, love and commitment to making the lives of children who have no family the happiest they ever could be.

Open Arms has two homes - the 'HQ' in Blantyre and my 'home' for 6 weeks in Mangochi.  If you decide to donate, please state in your message that the donation is specifically for MANGOCHI.  

I'm sorry for going on, but I hope that helps for you to believe in this cause as much as I do.

Should the above not be enough information for you, I have a blog which are emails I sent home during my time at Open Arms Mangochi....there are some more photos and videos in there so if you fancy even more info....

http://zoemorrison17.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/open-arms-newsletter-one.html

Thank you!

Z xXx

Just so you know......

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