Charity Appeal 2009 - 2010: Malaika Kids
AIDS. One of the world’s most devastating diseases, one that passes us by everyday, on the posters and billboards of our city, screaming for attention. But that is all it does, pass us by. To us here at City, AIDS really is a world away, but to the street children of Tanzania, it rules their lives. This year we have a chance to change that. Malaika Kids is a charity, devoted to helping repair the lives of orphans, which have been ripped apart by the AIDS pandemic. They give street children back their childhood and most importantly for any child, they give them back a family.
Malaika kids achieves this in two ways, the first is a “Relatives Support Programme” which works to reunite street children with their distant family or relatives. As soon as an orphan is placed in the care of the charity, they try to locate family members during a period of up to two years. If this is successful, the family situation is assessed, and wherever possible, the child goes to live with their relatives. If necessary, the children receive ongoing financial, medical and material support to ensure that they have the best opportunity to make the most of their lives.
The second area of work for the charity is the Malaika children’s village project. This is designed to provide protected communities for children to live together in, in which older teenagers act as parents, teaching these orphans how to live in a family. Essentially, this project helps to heal some of the wounds suffered as a result of losing parents, and guaranteeing the family support, love and care that normally these orphans would never receive. Each of the villages houses 320 children, divided into family units that live together in a building. One of the main emphases of the project is not only to give children back a family, but to help them experience the family values that we take for granted. Unlike some of the international charities that the school has chosen in the past, Malaika Kids is a small charity, and the money that we will raise will make an incredible difference to all the work that they do. I look forward to seeing the enthusiasm and energy of the Charity Committee and this great school put to great use this coming year.
I wish to thank all of those who voted for Malaika Kids, because now we have a chance to do something truly wonderful. To give a child back their childhood.
Joseph Ataman J6JEJ Charity Committee