Abbas Rest Orphans

2011 has been a successful year again for ARO. my first trip was the main one this year. where we bought maize for an astonishly low price, which meant we could transport it to our Muona centre and it still cost less to do so than buying in Muona itself. We could not do this for Ngabu but we still got a good price for Maize there.

we have been able to achieve what we set out to do this year which is the main thing, We have  had to change a few staff members but we also added a couple of new staff members to our employees. We have had no deaths of children in our care this year. this is down to making sure the children are seen by medical staff as soon as they become ill. In the past the guardians did not inform us of illness in the children, but we instigated a policy that the women going out into the community would check the children's health on a regular basis.

we instigated new HIV tests for our children in Muona and Chiringa and only two new cases were identified and the were immediately put on to our ARV program.

Medical costs have risen, food prices have risen, also fuel prices have risen if you could get any

the shortage of fuel hampered our operation on both visits this year, the fuel situation got worse as the year went on. it meant there was a shortge of some foods which could not be transported to areas. in our areas where the poorest are, the basic foods were more costly which meant most could not buy them even bread went up by about 30% all other foods followed suit.

Our monthly costs rose as a result. but at least we had already bought our yearly supply of maize for our children. we managed to get everything we needed but it was a struggle to do so. Without ur sponsors and donors we would not have been able to acomplish our aims this year.

we started new projects, one was an experiment but has proved successful, we introduced turkeys to our Muona centre, the district around us does not have any turkeys so it was a risk. but thet laid eggs. and although the first batch did not hatch because of the higher temperatures we are very hopeful of breeding turkeys for food for the children and selling the surplus to bring in extra revenue for te centre.

we increased our chickens at both centres with will give more chicken meat and eggs into the children's diet.  we introduced later on in the year more turkeys at Muona and also and our Chiringa centre through donations from our Finnish sponsors.

Our Finnish sponsors also helped us to open two new tailor training wrkshps for our children and they are already proving an asset as the children being quick earners are already taking orders from staff and guardians inmmaking dresses, skirts, blouses, shirts and trousers which wil also bring in a bit more revenus  and also fund keeping the machines working and supplying the thread needed

With buying extra turkeys and chickens we have had to build bigger coops for the birds and also build new coops for the turkeys. this has uplifted the staff as well as the children in the centres knowing that a better diet is available now to the children.

Our computer classes has been successful with a few taking to the computer training which is giving them hope. we will be starting new classes soon.

Costs for secondary school have risen again this year and as we now have more children insecondary school it has helped to raise our costs. But it is a price we are willing to pay to give the children a better education as most parents and guardians cannot afford to send their children to secondary school.

we are having to find land and build a new centre in Muona. We have been informed that our centre is in the way of a new road and has to be demolished. We may have to move the children to rented accommodation or move them to our other centre in the short term until we have built a new centre.

there has been more of a turn round with children leaving the program and new chldrenbeing taken on to the program. more girls have been taken on this year to help balance up our boys and girls. It was frustrating to say  the least as boys were kept being put forward instead of girls, and it caused some unrest when i insisted on girls, girls and women are classed as second class citizens and most do not get educated above 12 or 13. but with taking on more girls we are giving them choices in the adulthood which otherwise they would not have.

We have a new manager at our Muona centre who is already proving his capabilities. we hope he will bring the Muona centre a new fresh approach which will benefit the children immensely.

Peter is now in Malawi and is with Charlie, the main priority is  to find enough maize to feed all the children for the year. it will not be an easy task considering the drought.

The total number of orphans fed and cared for by ARO is now 303 including those on the milk and porridge programs.

Charlie is now in Malawi and he is continuing the latrine building. The aim is one latrine for each child living in their own village.

Charlie is organising a building to be the base for training skills. Girls will be taught secretarial duties and computing to get experience for employment. The building will also be used for other skills training.

All the children in the Muona region will be tested for HIV to see if any new cases come to light.

A new manager for Muona and a new secretary for the main office in Chiringa are being  sought and will be interviewed by Charlie.

It is now  official. The drought in Malawi has greatly affected the maize crop. Charlie reports that finding maize or the children will be difficult and the price  will be much more than usual we need to find 1,112 bags of 50 kilo each. Last year the bags were selling at 1,500 and 1,600 Kwacha per bag.which i roughly £7 to £8 per bag. this year the cost is expected to be at least 2,500 Kwacha per bag which is about £11 per bag, probably higher cost in some areas. this does not include the cost of transporting the maize to the centres.