Local Group Extends Aid to 6,000
Sitima Village, Zomba, Malawi… Msamba Community Based Organization provides physical and moral support to the local community with a major focus on the orphans, elderly and HIV/AIDS support group members. Their outreach extends to at least sixteen villages with a population of over six thousand people.
Situated eight kilometers northwest of the Namikango Mission, this community-based organization has a sound work structure of voluntary workers who combine resources to reduce the suffering of their community. With the government’s decentralization policy in place, village organizations are encouraged to provide solutions to the problems they face.
Registered with the local government’s social welfare office, Msamba is authorized to receive donations to serve the community.
A major focus of the organization is to provide preschool services to children below five. These services prepare them to begin their primary education by introducing them to academic basics.
Secondly, Msamba has created a group for HIV positive people. They meet weekly to share their challenges and encourage each other. Discrimination is a major problem, as well as the serious lack of nutritious food. The Msamba group carries out small income generating activities to support group members. Supplies like soap, salt and used clothes are provided to the needy. .
The elderly are another target group that Msamba Community Group assists. Culturally many elderly people are regarded as witches. In many instances, they are deserted and helpless. In this community, however, there are not such issues. Martin Bernard, the organization’s coordinator, reports, “Such issues are widespread of course, but in this area we have never experienced this to an extreme, where the elderly are chased out of the village after being accused of practicing witchcraft. However, many of their supposed victims and children are indeed victims of HIV/ AIDS. These elderly are escorted to the clinic when they are sick and their home surroundings are swept, to ensure cleanliness all the time, to check the spread of disease
As a preventive measure to the widespread effects of the deadly HIV/AIDS and its rocket speed spread amongst the youths, Msamba has a youth arm that disseminates the HIV awareness message to the community. Discussions through different means including debates and drama are conducted to develop skills and share knowledge on the dangers of the HIV/AIDS.
After we learned of this village based organization that is working so hard to meet it’s community’s challenges, supplies from the Malawi Project were taken to support them in this wonderful work.
By Wilson Isaac Tembo
Next week: Meet Mary Saikolo and 4-year-old Chisomo Rodrick