Our Mission
The purpose of Chikondi Malawi is to alleviate suffering and improve the lives of disadvantaged children in Africa. The terrible toll of HIV/AIDS is not limited to the sick and dying. It has created a generation of orphans. Extended family (particularly the grandmothers, “agogos”) do their best to care for the children left behind, but most are already overburdened with their own hunger and health issues. In addition, although Malawi has faced drought before, multiple years of persistent drought have driven the needs of this already-vulnerable population to an unprecedented high. Life is difficult for these precious children. Without adequate nutrition, they will weaken. They will lose their stamina, mental capacity to complete their required school work, and ability to combat the disease threats in this environment – which include diarrhea, pneumonia, tuberculosis and malaria. Nutrition provided in their daily meals at the orphan feeding center provides their bodies with the capacity to overcome the obstacles challenging them daily, and give them hope for a brighter future.
Chikondi Malawi is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that supports feeding and farming programs for orphans in seven villages in the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi.
Vital Programs
Villages
Pounds of Food
Healthy Children
Our Programs
Feeding Assistance
The current focus of Chikondi Malawi is providing supplemental nourishment to several hundred orphans in a safe, warm and loving environment. Chikondi Malawi feeds about 600 children breakfast and lunch every day during the school week. There is also a bicycle cart that delivers lunch to about 150 grandmothers, “agogos”, who take care of . . . more
Farming Assistance
Over 90 percent of the population in Malawi makes a living by subsistence farming. Bountiful harvests require vast amounts of rainfall which Malawi has not received recently. Moisture in the soil is the key to a successful harvest and currently the local farmers are being introduced to a farming program that does not involve tilling the soil. This program also promotes . . . more
Our Needs
Contributions to Chikondi Malawi will support several hundred orphaned and vulnerable children by providing food, basic necessities, essential medical supplies and educational assistance.
$35 feeds one orphan for a month
$40 provides a goat for an orphan to raise for milk or food
$90 provides school uniforms for 22 orphans
$100 provides one cookie for each of the 600 children expected at the feeding center on Christmas Day
$120 provides a bale of used clothings from Europe consisting of at least 400 items for children
$130 provides a bar of soap as a Christmas gift to each of the orphans
$750 provides tuition and books for one college-age orphan for a year of education
$2,500 provides solar equipment for students to study in the evening hours
For more information, please contact [email protected]
Chikondi Malawi is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Your contribution is tax deductible.
Why Malawi
The Need in Malawi
The orphan population in Malawi is about one million. To be an orphan in one of the poorest countries of the world is a frightening experience. For many of the adolescents in the seven-village area, they have taken care of one or both parents with HIV/AIDS, and upon their parents’ death, the children were then left with the responsibility of fending for themselves and providing care for their younger siblings.
Malawi is among the world’s least-developed and most-densely populated countries. Around 85% of the population lives in rural areas. According to the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Report, about 74 percent of the population still lives below the income poverty line of US $1.25 a day and 90 per cent below the US $2 a day threshold.
The Human Development Report of 2016 ranks Malawi 170th out of 188 countries in its Human Development Index, a composite measure of life expectancy, education and income.
Malawi Facts
- Capital and largest city: Lilongwe
- Area comparison: slightly smaller than Pennsylvania
- Official languages: English and Chichewa
- Population: 16 million
- Orphan population: 1 million
- GDP in 2017: $6.4 billion and per capita $332
- Main agricultural products: sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, sorghum, cattle and goats
- Main industries: tobacco, tea and sugar processing, sawmill products, cement and consumer goods
- Climate: sub-tropical with a rainy season from November to May and a dry season from June to October
- Geography note: landlocked, Lake Malawi is the country’s most prominent physical feature; it contains more fish species than any other lake on Earth
Help us make a better world for the children of Malawi
Leadership
Dr. John Podgore
Dr. Podgore chooses to come to Malawi annually to treat malaria during the height of malaria season, where in some hospitals 4 children will occupy one bed because of the overwhelming number patients and lack of facilities.
During his time in Malawi, Dr. Podgore’s main focus is his mentoring program for fourth-year medical students . . . more
Dr. John Podgore and his wife, Ione Podgore, founder of Chikondi Malwai
Ione Podgore
Ione Podgore, founder of Chikondi Malawi, and her husband John, a pediatric infectious disease specialist, had their first encounter with “the warm heart of Africa” in 2005 during a year-long engagement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Malawi. They became caught up in the spirit and warmth of the people of this small, gentle nation. They have lived one-quarter of their married life in Africa. Says Ione, . . . more
Get Involved
Will you help the children of Malawi? Donations and volunteers are always welcomed.
What are you called to do?