Changing Lives Across 39 Villages - One Child at a Time
Behind every number is a child with a story, and a future that looks different because someone chose to help.
Since 1997, MCV has worked alongside communities in Malawi to care for orphans and vulnerable children, not through short-term aid, but through long-term, village-based support. The result is measurable: dramatically reduced the burdens of households caring for orphans; raised educational outcomes in the community; healthier children; increased food stability; raised awareness about HIV/AIDS, provided better access to education; and created opportunities that extend far beyond childhood.
What began as a small effort has grown into a network that has impacted more than 12,000 children across 39 villages and continues to grow. Highlighted below are a few of our proudest accomplishments.
12,000+
Children supported since 1997
91%
Of orphans attend school
80%
Reduction in malaria cases
Fewer Orphans Per Household
In the early 1990s, the AIDS epidemic's toll on young adults of childbearing age created a crisis of orphan care in the Mangochi District. Grandparents became the primary caretakers of massive extended families. Informal surveys of the 37 villages in 1996 and 1997 found that the average orphan household was caring for between five and six orphaned children. Under those conditions, individual attention, nutritional support, and educational investment were nearly impossible.
From its inception, one of the objectives of MCV has been the creation of incentives and supports to encourage more families to accept and care for orphans. For MCV, this has been a remarkable success. By 1999, the average number of orphans in households supported by MCV had dropped to fewer than two orphans per household, and it has held there ever since.
More families saying yes. Each child receives more financial and emotional support within each home. This is the compounding benefit of community-based care done right.
Excellence in Education
Primary education is free in Malawi, but is drastically underfunded. According to the Southern Africa Consortium on Monitoring Education Quality, fewer than 25% of eligible children remain in school by the age of eight. Simple factors such as the inability to purchase a uniform cause many children to drop out of school. Those who remain enrolled attend schools that lack sufficient teachers and classrooms. Most secondary schools (9th grade and above) charge tuition and remain beyond the reach of a majority of families.
MCV’s work encouraging caregivers to send orphans to school and ensuring families have uniforms and school supplies has drastically increased attendance. Primary school attendance among MCV-supported orphans stands at 76%, compared to 67% for all primary school-age children in the Mangochi District. At the secondary school level, the gap is even more striking: scholarships at MCV allow 85% of orphans of secondary school age to attend school, compared to just 31% across the district.
Attendance is one measure. Achievement is another. Our secondary students consistently outperform national averages on the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) exam. In 2015, 86% of our students passed, against a 55% national pass rate. Even more impressive, several of our graduates go on to succeed at the university level as well. MCV's orphans don't just show up. They succeed.
76%
Primary School attendance
85%
Secondary school attendance
87%
Pass Rate
Healthier Children
Given the level of poverty in Malawi, it is no surprise that a significant percentage of young children suffer from compromised growth and development. Malawi's government estimates that about 22% of children under age five in the Mangochi District are underweight, a marker of chronic nutritional deprivation. A 2008 MCV study found that just 14.75% of orphans were underweight, slightly lower than the 15.25% rate among non-orphans in the same villages. By this measure, both groups are doing better than the district average. One hypothesis is that MCV nutrition and support services, including food distribution, seed allotments, nutrition supplements, and irrigation/agriculture projects, have positive effects on all children in the 39 villages.
Malaria is the number one killer of children under the age of five in Malawi. These children suffer an average of five episodes of malaria each year. Even when death is avoided, their overall health is seriously compromised. MCV's bednet distribution program (which has provided bednets to 1000+ recipients), with rigorous in-home training and follow-up inspections, has achieved a greater than 80% reduction in monthly malaria episodes among recipients. Childhood deaths due to malaria have also dramatically dropped due to the program.
Meet Our Graduates
Behind every data point is a person. MCV has supported more than 12,000 children since 1997. Each of these children has an individual story. Below are profiles of a few of these individuals who are now happy, healthy, and successful adults contributing to a bright future for all Malawians.
Eunice Dzikiti
Now a secondary school English teacher. When her father died, school felt impossible. MCV made it possible — she earned a university degree from Adventist University.
Learn More
Were it not for MCV, Eunice would have had few options when her father died. According to Eunice, “After my dad died, I did not know what to do. I do not know what I would have done without MCV. I wanted to go on to school, but there was no chance without money.” Through hard work and with MCV’s financial support, Eunice excelled at secondary school and continued through university, earning a degree in education from Adventist University. Eunice is now a secondary school English teacher.
Dyson Magombo
Now a water technology specialist with a South African firm in Malawi. MCV paid his secondary school fees and sponsored his irrigation studies. He later ran Rotary's Village-to-Village Irrigation program.
Learn More
Dyson’s father, a subsistence farmer, died when he was eight years old. His mother had to care for his three brothers and one sister. It was a struggle to send them to primary school, and impossible to send them to secondary school because in Malawi, one must pay school fees. Dyson excelled in primary school and qualified for Melosa Secondary School in Zomba. MCV paid Dyson’s fees for secondary school (this was before MCV’s Gracious School was established) and later sponsored Dyson at the Natural Resource College in Lilongwe, where he specialized in irrigation technology. Dyson spent several years managing Rotary’s Village-to-Village Irrigation program. Dyson now works for Xylem – a South African water technology company operating in Malawi. Learn more about Dyson here.
Gerald Mulingo
Now a teacher in Salima. After his father's death, Gerald describes four years as a "dark age" — until MCV found him. He earned a diploma in education and has been teaching ever since.
Learn More
Gerald lost his father in 1994 while he was in primary school. To quote Gerald, “My single mom couldn’t make it. The next four years were a dark age in my life, wasting and rotting at home … up until the "guardian angel” MCV picked me.” MCV sponsored Gerald through secondary school, where he excelled, and later at Domasi College, where he earned his diploma in education. Gerald is now a teacher at a secondary school in Salima. Read Gerald’s story in his own words here.
Ellaton Siyabu
Now a teacher at Gracious Secondary School — the same school where he was once a scholarship student. A total orphan who lost both parents and then his grandmother, Ellaton was found by an MCV village volunteer. He graduated from Mzuzu University and returned to give back.
Learn More
Ellaton is a total orphan, having lost both his parents. Raised by his grandmother from age ten, he then lost his grandmother while still in primary school. Living with his unemployed stepsister and beginning to lose hope, Ellaton was identified by an MCV Village volunteer and registered with MCV as an orphan. He went on to thrive at MCV’s Gracious Secondary School, where he was a standout student and athlete. He recently graduated with his bachelor's from Mzuzu University, where he was sponsored by MCV. As is the case with all of MCV’s sponsored students, Ellaton gave back to MCV by volunteering to help serve younger orphans while he pursued his degree. He is now employed as a teacher at Gracious. Read some of Siyabu’s story in his own words here.