Abbas Rest
Orphans,
now a registered Scottish charity, number SC 033166, started as a result
of Peter and Kirsi Poole’s trip to Malawi in 2000. They saw poverty on a
scale which is hard to imagine: children eating thrown-away banana skins
from the dust, mice being eaten as food and clothing for many children
merely rags.
On their return to Carsphairn, Scotland, many friends and acquaintances
wanted to know more, and if possible to do something for the orphaned
children. The plight of these children got people fired all over South
West of Scotland. Knitted jumpers and teddies started coming in. Peter
returned to Malawi in March 2001 suitcases full of clothes and toys for
the children.
A feeding programme for 23 orphans in Chiringa was the first step,
funded solely by donations from individuals in the Dumfries and Galloway
area. This meant guaranteeing one simple meal a day for each of these
‘Abbas Rest Orphans’. And now they had perhaps for the first time in
their life some toys to play with and to help take their thoughts off
the sorrow of losing their mother and father.
But, further south Peter saw children even worse off than the original
23 orphans.These ones in Muona, Southernmost part of Malawi needed badly
some feeding aid. The 22 new orphans were added to the programme.
An Orphan Centre was bought in Chiringa, South East of Malawi, in
October 2001, by money raised with coffee mornings, private donations
and car boot sales. Some people wanted to support a particular orphan
they’d seen in the photos, and that’s how the sponsorship scheme was
started. By a sponsor giving a regular donation, how ever small sum a
month, it is possible to add to the quality of life of an orphan. An ARO-
Afternoon School started operating in the premises to help the orphans
in their school work.
At this time the awareness for the failed crops and the lack of food in
Malawi was raised by the media. Peter and Kirsi started also talking
about the orphans of Malawi in public meetings such as Guilds.
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The ladies in
Balmaclellan and Kells Guild raised money by their pancake lunch in March
2002 for a second Orphan Centre. The Scottish people who are known for
their generosity towards their suffering fellowmen rose again to the
challenge. The second Orphan Centre, this in Muona, was completed in Sept.
2004 and has an ARO-Afternoon School in the premises.
In May 2002 Abbas Rest Orphans, though still a very small organisation,
became a Registered Scottish Charity. Peter and Kirsi feel that keeping
their project small gives them an advantage over bigger charities; they
can guarantee that every penny given to the children gets there, as they
have local managers distributing the food and clothes, and as they travel
to Malawi regularly to check the situation.
A third orphan centre was set up in the town of Ngabu in South West of
Malawi in 2004. This house, serving also the Beka village with it's 25
orphans, is a home to five orphaned boys going to school in Ngabu with
manager Christopher and his wife Elizabeth as 'parents' to the boys.
In January
2006 ARO has three Orphan Centres and seven sub-stations. The total of
children and babies looked after by ARO was 230 at the beginning of the
year and the number increases steadily.
The programme provides the children with a daily meal, and with the help
from supporters in Scotland, England and Finland ARO has also been able to
provide the orphans with clothes, blankets, sleeping mats and school
uniforms.
Being Christians Peter and Kirsi believe there is a bigger hand running
this programme than their’s. The supporter network is growing, people are
keen to help and take part in this project. During Peter and Kirsi’s
recent trips to Malawi they have seen the changed children: the happy
faces, colourful clothes and hope instead of hopelessness.
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