Recently Malawi’s president declared a state of national disaster due to the mass food shortages, and VOH Malawi was able to respond. On Friday of that week, we sent all the children who attend our feeding program home with what accumulated to a total of 1000kg of food. We are so grateful to be able to shield our VOH kids from this type of crisis and were happy to partner with ERDO/CPP in responding to this need.

Our clinic at VOH Chongwe is important for all of the Village of Hope children and staff as well as for our neighbors living in the surrounding communities.

Before our clinic opened, everyone had to travel long distances to access health services. To make matters worse, any specialized services were not available in Chongwe and people had to travel to Lusaka (the capital). Due to transportation challenges and poverty levels that prevented many from being able to afford fees charged by other clinics, many from the community were left with no option but to stay home and hope to get better.

We are so happy we are able to provide this critical service not only for our children but also for our neighbors as well!

At VOH Kenya, our preschool students get fed twice during their school day. In the morning, they receive a nutritional porridge made by the onsite cook. This is important as many children from the community come to school on an empty stomach. This healthy start to the day allows the children to focus on their learning, and not their hunger. All of our students receive a nutritional lunch consisting of local, traditional meals such as maize, beans, rice, ugali, vegetables, dagaa (small sardine-like fish) and a variety of meats. The menus are planned in accordance to the children’s nutritional needs. All the food is grown locally and therefore supports local farmers.

The onsite kitchen has newly updated stoves with a cook and kitchen helpers to cook and serve meals to over 250 children in the feeding program. That’s over 6600 meals a month served in our school feeding program alone!

One of the ways VOH Africa ensures we are looking out for the welfare of each child in our care is to provide all staff and children with training and review of our child protection policy on a regular basis. This past week at VOH Kitwe representatives from all departments worked on a Self-Audit. Representatives from the different age groups of our children were also included and George Zyambo, VOH Kitwe’s Child Protection Officer, facilitated the sessions.

The workshop went well with all in attendance participating and contributing freely. The children who came were excited and appreciated being invited to attend the workshop!

Mwanza: Harvesting