The school year had just started. Children running, laughing, playing, sharing, learning. But along with the beginning of school had come the rains, the deluge that sweeps over Malawi every year.
Heavy rains, constant rain, rain coming down in torrents for hours. It is an unbearable time of year for those who must crawl on the ground everywhere they wish to go. So many of these children have no mobility units, crutches, or other devises that will help them get around. Besides, school can be many kilometers away. These children, at their ages, are just too old and too large to be carried. Yet it seems their only option for a future is to somehow be at school every day. If it passes, they have lost their only option. In too many cases it is just too much. They fail to report to class.
Yobu Tchaiford is a standard 6 learner at Mphunzi School. He was born on 5th June 2009 and diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone. It affected both legs. Crawling or being carried has been his only way to move about. Sometimes Yobu goes to school through bicycles taxi, but the cost forces his guardian to pay taxi expenses that needed to go to the family for food. Now it is not only Yobu who is suffering but the entire family is going hungry. His school reported him to be a good candidate for a mobility unit and the relevant authorities came knocking at the door of Action for Progress.
Later Yobu went to school as he had been doing in the past. Nothing seemed out of order until his headteacher called him to the office. There he saw his mother, the head teacher, and a community leader standing nearby. He was called over, and to his surprise, presented with a brand-new mobility unit.
There are so many children like Yobu out there. Who will step up and supply more mobility units to Malawi? Send your contribution to:
Malawi Project, 2024 Golfside Drive, Lebanon, Indiana 46052