Supporting Every Child. In Every Village.

Orphaned children face compounded disadvantages. They're more likely to miss meals, skip school, go undiagnosed when they're sick, and fall through the cracks of already-strained households. MCV's supportive services exist to close those gaps, one child, one family, one village at a time.

Meeting Basic Needs

MCV's supportive services do more than help individual children; they create incentives for families across the Mangochi District to open their homes to orphaned relatives. When a family knows that taking in a child means access to clinic care, nutritional support, school fees, and a village advocate, they are more willing to say yes. It works: the average number of orphans per household in MCV-supported homes has dropped from over five in 1997 to fewer than two today.

Health Clinic Coverage

Health Clinic Coverage

Koche Hill Clinic, located three kilometers (1.83 miles) from MCV's main campus, serves more than 2,000 patients every month. For families in the surrounding villages, it is a lifeline; the nearest alternative, Mangochi District Hospital, is 25 kilometers (15.53 miles) away, a significant distance in a country where few own vehicles. MCV covers clinic fees for all enrolled orphans and their caregivers, eliminating financial barriers to care and giving families one more powerful reason to welcome a child into their home.

Koche Hill Clinic, located three kilometers (1.83 miles) from MCV's main campus, serves more than 2,000 patients every month. For families in the surrounding villages, it is a lifeline; the nearest alternative, Mangochi District Hospital, is 25 kilometers (15.53 miles) away, a significant distance in a country where few own vehicles. MCV covers clinic fees for all enrolled orphans and their caregivers, eliminating financial barriers to care and giving families one more powerful reason to welcome a child into their home.

Village Volunteer Program

Village Volunteer Program

When MCV launched in 1997, experts told our founders that a village volunteer program wouldn't work in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost three decades later, some of MCV's very first volunteers are still serving their communities. That's not a coincidence; it's a successful mission.

Two volunteers serve each of MCV's 39 villages. They are members of their communities, trusted by their neighbors, and receive scheduled training by MCV in topics such as child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS education, and development. Their work includes:


  • Identifying and registering all orphaned and vulnerable children in their village
  • Encouraging families to make sure kids go to school or if not, why.
  • Make sure basic needs like food and clothes are provided (one of the identified reason for non-school attendance is the lack of adequate clothing).
  • Connecting families with MCV resources, including housing repair, uniforms, and medical referrals, so they can better care for these children


Each volunteer receives a bicycle, replacement tire tubes, an MCV uniform shirt, and a small monthly stipend for soap powder to keep their shirt clean. 

Simple support. Extraordinary results.

When MCV launched in 1997, experts told our founders that a village volunteer program wouldn't work in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost three decades later, some of MCV's very first volunteers are still serving their communities. That's not a coincidence; it's a successful mission.

Two volunteers serve each of MCV's 39 villages. They are members of their communities, trusted by their neighbors, and receive scheduled training by MCV in topics such as child health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS education, and development. Their work includes:


  • Identifying and registering all orphaned and vulnerable children in their village
  • Encouraging families to make sure kids go to school or if not, why.
  • Make sure basic needs like food and clothes are provided (one of the identified reason for non-school attendance is the lack of adequate clothing).
  • Connecting families with MCV resources, including housing repair, uniforms, and medical referrals, so they can better care for these children


Each volunteer receives a bicycle, replacement tire tubes, an MCV uniform shirt, and a small monthly stipend for soap powder to keep their shirt clean. 

Simple support. Extraordinary results.

Village Fieldwork

Village Fieldwork

MCV's fieldwork team makes regular visits to all 39 villages to communicate with the village volunteers and support households caring for orphans. Fieldworkers, Florence and Catherine, assist families to make sure that orphans' basic needs are being met. Their work is as varied as the needs they encounter, from simple to complex, but it is always essential: replacing a child's worn-out school uniform, encouraging a caregiver to get tested for HIV, coordinating a new roof for a family that would otherwise face the rainy season without shelter, or recognizing a sick child who needs hospital care immediately. The Fieldwork team also does essential work in educating the community about HIV/AIDS prevention and available opportunities for testing and treatment.


Fieldwork is the nerve center of MCV. It is what ensures no child is invisible.

MCV's fieldwork team makes regular visits to all 39 villages to communicate with the village volunteers and support households caring for orphans. Fieldworkers, Florence and Catherine, assist families to make sure that orphans' basic needs are being met. Their work is as varied as the needs they encounter, from simple to complex, but it is always essential: replacing a child's worn-out school uniform, encouraging a caregiver to get tested for HIV, coordinating a new roof for a family that would otherwise face the rainy season without shelter, or recognizing a sick child who needs hospital care immediately. The Fieldwork team also does essential work in educating the community about HIV/AIDS prevention and available opportunities for testing and treatment.


Fieldwork is the nerve center of MCV. It is what ensures no child is invisible.

Food Security

Food Security

Most Malawians live in a rain-dependent subsistence culture. You must grow food or catch it, or you don’t eat. The majority of areas lack irrigation. If the rains fall at the appropriate time, in the proper quantity, and for a long enough period of time, maize can be grown once a year. Unfortunately, this is not a common occurrence.


Malawi's agricultural calendar also has a brutal gap. Between December and mid-March, a period locals call the Njala (hunger) season, food grown during the prior rainy season runs out before the next harvest arrives, if it arrives. In a country where most families survive on what they grow, this gap can be devastating. Hunger robs villagers of their dignity and their sense of worth, and an orphan in a household is another mouth to feed.

Food security has been an issue since the Malawi Children’s Village was first formed. It has been a tough issue to tackle. MCV attacks food insecurity from two directions. The first is to increase food security in the area through irrigation programs sponsored by the Seneca Falls and Clifton Springs Rotary Club partners. Using foot-powered treadle pumps and other appropriate technology, there are now 19 productive irrigation sites in the MCV area.


Secondly, MCV also responds to food shortages in the short term when necessary. When disaster strikes, MCV responds directly: in 2015, after devastating floods destroyed most of the area's maize crop, MCV stockpiled and distributed 30,000 pounds of maize to the region's most vulnerable families caring for the area's orphans.

Most Malawians live in a rain-dependent subsistence culture. You must grow food or catch it, or you don’t eat. The majority of areas lack irrigation. If the rains fall at the appropriate time, in the proper quantity, and for a long enough period of time, maize can be grown once a year. Unfortunately, this is not a common occurrence.


Malawi's agricultural calendar also has a brutal gap. Between December and mid-March, a period locals call the Njala (hunger) season, food grown during the prior rainy season runs out before the next harvest arrives, if it arrives. In a country where most families survive on what they grow, this gap can be devastating. Hunger robs villagers of their dignity and their sense of worth, and an orphan in a household is another mouth to feed.

Food security has been an issue since the Malawi Children’s Village was first formed. It has been a tough issue to tackle. MCV attacks food insecurity from two directions. The first is to increase food security in the area through irrigation programs sponsored by the Seneca Falls and Clifton Springs Rotary Club partners. Using foot-powered treadle pumps and other appropriate technology, there are now 19 productive irrigation sites in the MCV area.


Secondly, MCV also responds to food shortages in the short term when necessary. When disaster strikes, MCV responds directly: in 2015, after devastating floods destroyed most of the area's maize crop, MCV stockpiled and distributed 30,000 pounds of maize to the region's most vulnerable families caring for the area's orphans.

Malaria Prevention

Malaria Prevention

The under-five childhood mortality rate has been as high as 20% for Malawi children. Malaria is the leading killer of these young children, accounting for almost half of the deaths. Young children suffer an average of five malaria episodes per year, episodes that not only risk death but also rob children of weeks of learning, growth, and development.


MCV's Malaria Prevention Bednet Distribution Program targets the specific biology of the disease: the Anopheles mosquito. This is the only mosquito in sub-Saharan Africa that carries the malaria parasite. A unique feature of the Anopheles mosquito is that it is a night biter that does not travel far from home. It typically appears just before dark and disappears before sunrise the next morning. Putting the under-five orphans and their host siblings to sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets at night breaks the transmission cycle and can reduce the cases of malaria.

But distribution alone isn't enough. MCV's Catherine Shaban personally delivers each net, trains caregivers on proper use, and conducts periodic in-village inspections. These instructions and follow-up inspections are crucial. Bed nets have been used as fishing nets, bridal veils, and other novel ways when distributed without adequate follow-up. 


The result: a greater than 60% reduction in monthly malaria episodes among recipients.

The under-five childhood mortality rate has been as high as 20% for Malawi children. Malaria is the leading killer of these young children, accounting for almost half of the deaths. Young children suffer an average of five malaria episodes per year, episodes that not only risk death but also rob children of weeks of learning, growth, and development.


MCV's Malaria Prevention Bednet Distribution Program targets the specific biology of the disease: the Anopheles mosquito. This is the only mosquito in sub-Saharan Africa that carries the malaria parasite. A unique feature of the Anopheles mosquito is that it is a night biter that does not travel far from home. It typically appears just before dark and disappears before sunrise the next morning. Putting the under-five orphans and their host siblings to sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets at night breaks the transmission cycle and can reduce the cases of malaria.

But distribution alone isn't enough. MCV's Catherine Shaban personally delivers each net, trains caregivers on proper use, and conducts periodic in-village inspections. These instructions and follow-up inspections are crucial. Bed nets have been used as fishing nets, bridal veils, and other novel ways when distributed without adequate follow-up. 


The result: a greater than 60% reduction in monthly malaria episodes among recipients.

Special Needs Program

Special Needs Program

Started in 2008 by Mary Pomeroy, a pediatric physical therapist from Alaska, MCV's Special Needs Program has grown steadily over the years and now provides care through three interconnected components:

  • Village-Based Care - MCV staff currently visit approximately 100 families regularly across 39 villages, providing any care that is needed and identifying any new children who may benefit from the special needs program. 
  • Weekly CP (Cerebral Palsy) Clinic - MCV now has a weekly CP Clinic. Previously, families had to afford the time and expenses to travel to Mangochi District Hospital to have their children benefit from this valuable clinic. The clinic logged more than 1,000 patient visits last year alone
  • Equipment/Wheelchair Workshop - Custom mobility equipment is built on-site through MCV's Vocational Program with help from the carpentry, welding, and sewing programs. More than 55 wheelchairs, 100 walkers, and 200 chairs or standers have been built!

 

The Special Needs Program is one of the most tangible examples of what makes MCV different: not just identifying a need, but building a sustainable, community-embedded solution to meet it.


To learn more, please see the 2018 Special Needs newsletter HERE.

Started in 2008 by Mary Pomeroy, a pediatric physical therapist from Alaska, MCV's Special Needs Program has grown steadily over the years and now provides care through three interconnected components:

  • Village-Based Care - MCV staff currently visit approximately 100 families regularly across 39 villages, providing any care that is needed and identifying any new children who may benefit from the special needs program. 
  • Weekly CP (Cerebral Palsy) Clinic - MCV now has a weekly CP Clinic. Previously, families had to afford the time and expenses to travel to Mangochi District Hospital to have their children benefit from this valuable clinic. The clinic logged more than 1,000 patient visits last year alone
  • Equipment/Wheelchair Workshop - Custom mobility equipment is built on-site through MCV's Vocational Program with help from the carpentry, welding, and sewing programs. More than 55 wheelchairs, 100 walkers, and 200 chairs or standers have been built!

 

The Special Needs Program is one of the most tangible examples of what makes MCV different: not just identifying a need, but building a sustainable, community-embedded solution to meet it.


To learn more, please see the 2018 Special Needs newsletter HERE.