EveryChild
4 Bath Place
Rivington Street
London
EC2A 3DR
T +44 (0)20 7749 2468
F +44 (0)20 7729 8339
The Goddards' visit to Malawi
Bob and Viv Goddard have been EveryChild sponsors since 1997. They travelled to Malawi to meet Tamala, the little girl they sponsor, and see EveryChild's work for themselves.
The beginning of our journey
"Ever since we became EveryChild sponsors we've wondered what life was like for Tamala, the young Malawian girl we knew only from a photo and occasional letters. Was EveryChild making a difference? Was our money being spent wisely? Was there hope and progress in the project area, or were poverty and famine the inescapable future for these people? With encouragement from the charity's London head office, we set off to find out.
There are no package tours from the UK to Malawi, but independent travellers have nothing to fear from a trip to 'The Warm Heart of Africa', as Malawi is accurately described. We were taken into the remote hill country of Engucwini to see for ourselves what goes on there.
We visited a mother-and-baby clinic, thronged with over a hundred smiling mums and their healthy-looking babies, called in at a song-filled pre-school and finally met Tamala with her teachers and classmates at her primary school. It was an amazing, emotional and uplifting experience. We were greeted like visiting royalty and the welcome was overwhelming.
We could see positive changes everywhere
What impressed us most were the obvious improvements in these people's lives since EveryChild started work here in 1996. Back then Malawi was one of the poorest countries in the world, with life expectancy just 38 and infant mortality around 20 percent. It's still pretty desperate, but things are improving.
Now all 32,000 people in the 500 square kilometre project area have access to safe, clean drinking water, thanks to the new wells. Pre-schools now encourage 2-5 year olds to get on the right track to education, and they get a highly-nutritious porridge breakfast every morning when they turn up for class. The kids were clearly delighted to have the opportunity to be at school, and the teachers and parents we met were really proud to be able to educate their youngsters properly.
And it's not just the children's education that is targeted. Every aspect of their welfare and therefore the community's wellbeing benefits from this approach. From midwives to village health centres, to help with winter-cropping, to overcome annual food shortages.
At every step, EveryChild have involved the local community, forming committees, planning building work and getting the locals to make the bricks and supply the building labour. The result is the people have taken ownership of all these improvements and thanks to excellent training, they're sustainable.
Looking to the future
The really clever part is that EveryChild has ensured that all these improvements will be ongoing long after they've left, as they surely must, to provide help elsewhere. The villagers are trained, encouraged and motivated to take charge of all these new activities and amenities.
A huge amount of thought, planning and effort has gone into bringing about these changes for a permanent improvement in the lives of the children and their families. So much has been achieved, it's mightily encouraging to those of us who donate to this work.
After a wonderful day with Tamala and her family, we said goodbye, assured that their lives have been transformed. Well done EveryChild - keep up the good work!"
If you are interested in learning more about going on a visit, please email our Sponsorship Team or call them on 020 7749 2480.