The newly formed "New Hope Children Foundation 2011" team in Malawi...
"They are wonderful people" - Roy
Hello and welcome to our website! I am the founder and director of "NewHope4Malawi", a mission that Shelly my wife and I have been running since we started in 2005. I decided one morning that I wanted to leave a legacy for people in Malawi who literally have nothing apart from the clothes they are wearing, and wanted to do something that would make a real difference to these desperate people's lives. I went to a meeting to listen to a man who had just been to Malawi, talking about his experiences, and how priviledged he was that someone paid for him to go. He talked about a young boy they nicknamed "flipflop" because he only had one flip flop and followed the man around everywhere he and the team went.
As the story unfolded I suddenly felt very emotional, and then floods of tears came from nowhere, and at that moment I realised that Malawi was the country I had to go to. I felt such a strong compassion for these people that I'd never met and I shared this with Shelly, when I got home. I made contact via the internet with people from Malawi, to find out the facts about life there and how they lived. I contacted one family in Chibavi Mzuzu and felt it was right to help them. After some weeks had passed, Shelly and I began to understand what life was really like there and decided that we had too much "stuff" around the place, and so we sold various possessions to raise some cash, and used it to buy a large plot of land in Chibavi district, and started sending money to help these families with food, rent, school uniforms and fees, medical bills for malaria and a lot of other things...
We called the mission "The New Hope Children Foundation" because we wanted to give hope to these families. We supported the families for 12 months before we were given the airfare to go out there, and see these people for the first time, and it was awesome. We are in our 7th year now and great progress has been made, although it has been very stressful at times as it is a big commitment, and can be isolating at times, but I have dedicated the rest of my life to these families and to the people of malawi that we serve, because nothing comes close to the experience of giving to others who literally have nothing.
Orphans at Kanyenjere
We don't have overheads or office rent, we don't do "admin fees". As a recognised, registered charity we have accounts for every gift or donation that has come in since 2007. So, back to the story, I went out to Malawi with Chris Bryan a photographer in july 2008 and we spent 3 weeks in a "resthouse".
Meeting the family at the airport for me was an exhilarating experience, it was like meeting very close family, and I can honestly say that I had no doubts that they would be there, although I know other missionaries who did not have the same experience. We have not totally escaped the greed factor but the Malawian Government registration of our Charity instantly addressed this issue, and cannot happen again due to the legalities I have now put in place. After 5 years of trying to raise funds to support these families and keep on top of their bills the fire still burns in my heart the same as it did on day one, I'm just a bit more grey and a lot more tired!
We started to build the orphanage in 2008 and at the present the building structure is now completed...
The building will have electrics and water, which we are hoping to do as soon as possible,
and there are a few other jobs that need doing but the orphans are using the building every
day and being given food and drink, which is great to see...
We also have NHCF team members and Chief's using the Centre at the moment for various meetings,
then soon it will be separated into living accommodation for the manager and his family and the orphans.
The centre will also be used for aid's prevention programmes, a feeding and teaching station,
and a place of safety for these kids.
It is very hard for me to give you the reader the "taste" of this place, but we hope that people with the same heart will come on board and maybe even come out there with us when we go again in 2012, I guarantee it will change the way you see things in the UK. Some of the shops over there were half empty, (not so bad now) and 80% of the men are unemployed with nothing to do. There's no possessions, no jobs or money, in a lot of cases no electricity or water, but they get on with it because unless people like you, and people like us do something to change their circumstances, it stays the same. We are just 2 ordinary people, with a heart to help and make a difference... that's all. People support us with car boot sale items, and clothes for our clothing bank in newton abbot, and these people are very much appreciated because their help makes our lives and work a bit easier, so thank you for your continued support.
When we returned from Malawi it made us realise that a lot of people in this country are not happy, even with all the material things, cars, houses, and the latest technology, in malawi the people are happy and smiling all the time which is not something I had experienced here in the UK, and I wondered why they are so happy, then I realised that it is because they don't have all the "stuff" that we do, apart from food and general things there's nothing they want, and so they are happy without it...if that makes sense. We have regularly come across people here in the UK who are quite vocal about the fact that they couldn't care less, and the "charity begins at home" stuff, but it could be you or I who just happened to be born in africa, into this horrendous poverty, and I would like to think that someone in the UK actually cared enough about you or I to DO something to help, even if in a small way...
In Malawi the children don't have computers or televisions and most don't have the basics of life, the things we all take for granted such as electricity, water, or a flushing toilet, or even toilet rolls in a lot of cases. We also did not see any toys for the children, so they make their own. One child was pushing a plastic coke bottle on the end of a stick, and they all wanted to have a go. When we gave them real toys they didn't know what they were, apart from a white doll which brought amazement as they had never seen a doll before and certainly not a white one! The people here are very generous, and they will put food on the table when you visit no matter what the cost, and even the little they have, they happily share. We could learn a lot from these people...
Chris and I went to a cafe for something to eat , and we spotted a sign on the wall which basically says it all.....
These are the children that come past the centre
every morning on their way to school...
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newhope4malawi is a UK based charity registered in Blantyre as "The New Hope Children Foundation".