We are raising funds for school feeding in Malawi

 

Urunji Child-Care Trust feeding programme in progress (c) UCCT. All rights reserved.

You are our friends.. and we love and appreciate your help to Urunji Child-Care Trust. This month we are raising funds for the school feeding programme in Malawi. You can be part of the 'Urunji Angel Network' by donating $100 or more. You can donate online on our website, though an electronic funds transfer or send us a cheque - it all depends on what is more convenient for you.

Take time to visit http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/school-feeding-in-malawi/x/4684357 and be part of the solution to the hunger problem in Malawi.

We are not only giving food: we are also giving reusable sanitary pads to girls, learning materials and hope for a better tomorrow to these needy children.

Urunji Child-Care Trust scales up dental hygiene in Malawi

In Malawi, 98 percent of the 3000 plus children benefiting from Urunji Child-Care Trust programmes have never used a toothbrush at all in their life. From June 2013, they are scaling up dental hygiene among poor communities around the country.

Children in Malawi are amongst the poorest in the world. Being one of the poorest countries in the world and mostly depending on agriculture, the country faces a myriad of challenges. Statistics vary but many children are either orphaned by AIDS or plagued by extreme poverty and malnutrition. Despite gains in good governance, lack of political will, rampant corruption and poor economic strategies hamper the growth and reduction of poverty in Malawi. Urunji is working to put a toothbrush in every child’s hand by 2015.

Upcoming projects
There is a dream called “Urunji Youth Center” that is awaiting its fulfillment. This will be a facility that will empower children and the youth with invaluable skills ranging from carpentry, motor vehicle mechanics, STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) a library and recreational amenities.  This project will be conducted in phases. This is part of Urunji projects that will target many children from birth to 21 years of age. Most information is available on their Facebook page and on their website.

Current Projects
Urunji Child-Care Trust is distributing over 3,500 long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to children in rural areas of Malawi targeting the poorest of the poor children in rural households.

About Urunji Child-Care Trust
Urunji Child-Care Trust, commonly called Urunji is a registered Non-Governmental Organization in Malawi running several programmes on malaria, climate change, poverty alleviation, child sponsorship, HIV and AIDS and community development. Their programmes are multi-faceted and usually target communities to ensure sustainable development and community participation.

Why is Urunji Child-Care Trust not an orphanage?
 Urunji values the great work done by orphanages all over the world. However, their research has shown that in Africa, the orphanage set-up does not work for them. With so many extended families, most of the children in orphanages are not actually orphans but vulnerable and poor children who can easily be supported from the community. This is why Urunji Child-Care Trust is not an orphanage. All outreaches are conducted within a community setup and children are resident within their community.

Malawi Classroom or Darkroom?

Remember those olden days when photographs would be developed in a studio and it would take hours to get them printed? Well, those were the days – golden days when no one thought about this present digital age except those who believed in sci-fi. And for skeptics like me, that was a child’s dream I bet you.

But darkness still abounds even during the day. Mwatibu Primary School is one of the schools Urunji Child-Care Trust conducts activities. A classroom falls just short of a dark room. With poor lighting children bear the strain of reading and studying in partial darkness.

This month we are conducting civic education in dental hygiene in rural primary schools in Malawi. Our goal is to put a toothbrush in every child’s hand in the communities we work in by December 2015. We also want to raise awareness about the dental problem in Malawi – one of the critical aspects of health that seems to be neglected by many. And together WE can! We are thrilled by the experiences we are going through. In the main photograph, this is one of the classroom blocks children learn from. As dark as it is, many children are happy to learn in it than outside. It is winter here and with poverty and its scars all over, children who cannot even afford a jersey have shelter to learn from. The only hope they have is that sooner the sun will shine again and it will be warmer.

You too can support the Urunji dental programme. Thank you for your support!

We can all make a difference...

Welcome to the Urunji Child-Care Trust blog on Blogger! This blog complements the official blog on the Urunji website. We want to engage with you friends on a deeper level. If you haven't already, please like us on Facebook.

Urunji Child-Care Trust is a registered Non-Profit Organization supporting children in Malawi. Our supported children are those plagued by poverty, hunger, malnutrition AIDS and (you name it). They need our love and it is people like you who stand with us to help us reach out to these needy children. Thank you for your faith and love to Urunji Child-Care Trust.