Helping Africa

 Chiquita baby was approached to help a small town in Africa, and we jumped on it.  Within 1 week we have had numerous drop-offs of toys, books, clothing, used cloth diapers, blankets, bottles, sunhats and more

Here is some more information on the charity we are collecting for.  We will be accepting all donations until end of July.

Villages of Hope - Africa is a Canadian charitable organization registered with the CRA (Registration #84950 3073 RR0001).


VOH-A provides food, education and health care to children in need. We also provide housing for children who have no place to live. Our mission is to bring lasting hope to children at risk so they can embrace adulthood as independent and contributing members of society.


Villages of Hope – Africa (VOH-A) began in 1999 in Kitwe, Zambia and we now have locations in (Bujumbura) Burundi, (Kisumu) Kenya, (Lilongwe) Malawi, (Kitwe, Mongu and Chongwe) Zambia and (Harare) Zimbabwe.



You can sponsor a Village of Hope child through ChildCare Plus and help us provide them with education, health care, and other basic needs - $34/month.

Malawi:

The population of Malawi as recorded in 2008 is approximately 14.8 million, with 7.9 million being under the age of 18. The average life expectancy is 53 years and the adult literacy rate is 72%. As of 2001 an estimated 1.1 million children (age 0-17) have become orphaned.

Village of Hope - Malawi opened in the city of Lilongwe in 2007 and provides the children of Malawi with food, shelter, health services, and education.

There are 12 completed children homes with over 65 children living on site in 8 of these homes. A school complex is under construction and our goal is to have all 12 children's homes operating with 8 children in each home. Each house has a “house mother” who lives in each of the houses with her children and cares for them as her own. The children are placed in each of the houses in such a way to create a family unit, so boys and girls of various ages. Each house has a boys room and a girls room, kitchen, living room, bathrooms, and mother's bedroom.

Misson statement:To give orphans a place to call home and a family that loves them.To bring hope for today and tomorrow to children at risk so that they may become independent contributing members of society.

Meet some of the children:

Joseph & Gome -  They were the 3rd and 4th children to come to live at Village of Hope – Malawi. Their mother was 43 years old when they were removed from her care and suffers from mental illness. She was not physically or mentally able to care for her children. Most of the children prior to Joseph and Gome died young due to starvation. They mother would beg for money or food on the streets but did not understand that she would need to feed her children as well as herself.  When the children were removed from her care they were found eatting off the ground like dogs because they had never been taught how to eat properly.  The children were taken to a Crisis Nursery Centre where the two boys lived until Joseph became 3 and the centre needed the boys to be placed in a permanent situation. Normally they don't keep children past 2 years old. So, Joseph and Gome were brought into the Village of Hope where they lived together in a house with a wonderful woman who cares for them as her own. She was never able to have children and these kids mean the world to her.

Leslie age 8 - On March 17, 2008 she was removed from her house by authorities and brought to live at Village of Hope – Malawi. 90% of the girls in her grade 4/5 class confessed to being psychologically affected by either an attempted rape or an actual rape. In Leslie's case she was being raped on a regular basis and it had been going on for years. As she lived in safety at the Village of Hope she started to heal and feel safe with her new family and mother. In the summer of 2008 the government decided her fate...and sent her back to live with her abuser...her uncle.

Estere age 2 week - One day we received a call from a pastor in a village who knew us and about Village of Hope.  The phone service kept cutting out and we kept getting disconnected from him, but he did not give up!  He kept calling back and finally we were able to find out why he was calling.  He told us that a lady in the village had given birth to a baby and that she had died during delivery.  The baby had not eaten anything in 2 days and the father and grandparents don't have any jobs or sources of income to be able to purchase milk for the infant.  So, after much discussion the decision had been made by the family and the chief that the baby would be buried alive with the body of her mother.  We could not believe the situation, but took action just in case.  We sent the orphanages Malawian social worker out to sort out the situation and find out if what we had been told was indeed the case.  Sure enough to our astonishment it was the truth.  The pastor was begging us to take the baby right then and there for her safety, but we had to follow certain procedures that the government had in place.  So we got together everything a new baby needs - formula, bottles, diapers, blankets, clothing, ect.... and sent it with the social worker back to the family.  They had never seen formula before and didn't know how to use it, so I was explaining the necessary steps over the phone to our social worker who was sitting in the village with the family showing them what to do, with the entire village looking over his shoulder to see what he was doing.  He told them that he would be back in two weeks to collect the baby and take her to the orphanage.  When that day came and he went out to get Estere he found that the family had not bonded with her and they were very eager to give her up.  We are extremely happy to say that she is an amazing little 3 year old girl now and loves her family at the Village of Hope.

More information: