Orphaned children are a very big problem in Malawi, and one that the Lifeline Fund is focusing on in its many beneficial projects. Children often become orphaned because their parents have died of AIDS or other diseases, and the friends or relatives who take them in really struggle trying to afford to look after them. Subsequently, the children and their caregivers suffer due to insufficient medical care, a lack of even a basic education, and extreme malnourishment.
As you can probably imagine, this situation is even worse for orphaned babies. They are completely vulnerable and have no one to look after them, and many die before help can be found.
Baby Nicholas and his grandmother
An example of this kind of tragic story, but one with a happy ending, lies in the story of baby Nicholas and his grandmother, both of whom the Lifeline Co-ordinator John Searle encountered directly. Nicholas was dangerously malnourished and underdeveloped, but received help from the Lifeline Fund after his impoverished grandmother walked 7 kilometres on rugged terrain to take him to the Namisu Orphan Village. He now benefits from constant attention and care from the staff at the village, and is believed to now be doing well.
However, Nicholas was very lucky, as many babies die because they are not found and helped in time. The Lifeline Co-ordinator encountered too many cases of this kind; situations so moving and distressing that he felt compelled to set up the Lifeline Infant Rescue Scheme. The scheme employs outreach workers to cycle around the 15 surrounding villages to alert the Lifeline staff of any desperate situations so that orphan babies and children can be saved in time.
