The focus of Kindle's programs is to provide orphans and their caregivers with health, education and development in the community, all supported by a strong spiritual and social foundation. The various programs interlock and compliment one another, resulting in a holistic sense of well-being.
- Health and Nutrition
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The Health Department's aim is to assist the community to have healthier children and adults. We accomplish this goal in several different ways.
Katawa Medical Clinic
Katawa Clinic is a registered community Health Center and provides medical care not only to Kindle's immediate community but also to communities much farther away. The first stage of the clinic was opened in August of 2008. Since then, each day between 150 and 250 patients, and often more, come to receive help for a wide variety of illnesses. We have facilities for short-term emergency care,
Doctor (Patience) with wife and daughterbut serious cases or long-term patients are referred to Salima District Hospital which is about 25 kilometers away. Katawa Clinic partners with the SDH to provide monthly Under-5 Clinics, as well as HIV/AIDS testing and ARV treatment.
Plans for further Clinic development include: building a Maternity Wing- a much needed facility to help lower the high incidence of deaths of mothers and babies during childbirth;
Doctor examining and treating a young patienthaving a separate pediatric block where children can be examined and treated apart from the adults; a laboratory is also needed, along with facilities for HIV/AIDS testing and counseling.
Some children need some special care, so they are enrolled in the weekly Nutrition Clinic that is held at the Kindle base site. For example, a baby whose mother died in the first days of it's life and who is now being cared for by a grandmother or aunt will receive milk and formula and will be carefully monitored.
German missionary pediatric nurse, Dorthea, with adopted son and friendOthers who receive special care are twins whose mother does not have enough milk to satisfy them, or babies whose mom is HIV positive and perhaps on ARV treatment. Some children have become very malnourished because of disease, and they receive food supplements such as soya, milk and maize. The Nutrition Clinic is a joyful place as mothers watch their little ones grow healthier week by week.
Weighing baby at health and nutrition clinicAnother part of the Site Clinic is a Short-Term Care Facility, called the Moses House in memory of a 12 year old boy who required extensive hospice care in the weeks before his death from AIDS. At Kindle he received a great deal of love and encouragement. Now this little house provides a place for orphans and vulnerable children and their caregiver to live while getting the help they need for as long as they need it.
Kindle also provides Community Health Training and Home-Based Care. In the village communities, the Health Department staff are involved in teaching about basic personal and home hygiene, sanitation and water, prevention of common illnesses, AIDS prevention, and many other topics. They also bring hope, encouragement, good cheer and medicines to patients in their homes.
Through all of these health-related ministries, the dedicated staff seeks to share the love of Christ both in teaching and by living example. - Education Program
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In a land where over half the population is under 15 years of age, education is a very important aspect of life. And yet, it is one of the greatest needs. Kindle Orphan Outreach wants to make a difference for the children in our community by improving their educational opportunities. One Primary School in Kindle's vicinity has 850 students, 7 teachers, and very few resources. 
Namanda Primary School
Many children, especially orphans, do not go to school, or drop out in the very early grades. Through encouragement and involvement in their lives, we have seen a change in this trend so that many more orphans now attend the local school.
Kindle's education program is three-fold:
Support and assist the Namanda Primary School- renovate and up-grade the buildings; send visiting teachers to interact with the students; provide sports equipment and books; help the children with uniforms and shoes; and give general encouragement to the staff as they work with the children.
Student Sponsorship Program- primary education in Malawi is free, but on completing Standard 8, Secondary education is costly. Students are either selected to attend a fee-paying government Secondary School or they must find a place in a private Secondary School, which is even more expensive. Many orphans have no hope of furthering their education because guardians are not able to pay the fees. Through partnership with Global Fund for Children as well as individual donors, Kindle has been able to sponsor several young people through Secondary School, and two young men through a College Degree Program.
school childrenWe now trust these young people will make a difference not only in this community, but in the nation of Malawi!
Vocational Training- There are many orphans who do not finish Primary School, yet the time comes when they need to support themselves, and also younger siblings. Kindle plans to provide vocational training for older boys and girls, as well as young widows caring for children. Currently, we have a small hand sewing program for a few girls and women. Dreams and imagination can grow this project to include many more opportunities that will have a far reaching impact.
Dreams for the future- the Education Department has plans to develop community preschools throughout the area so that young children can start their education without having to walk many, many kilometers. Besides the distance for some, there is a river that runs through Kindle's area and during the rainy season when it's flooded, the smaller children cannot get to school at all. Kindle wants to make a difference in their lives! - Community Development
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When walking only a few steps across the room for a glass of water, it is easy to forget that there are others who are spending the entire day in search of a cup of safe, clear water! Some will never find it. Kindle's Community Development Program is making clean, safe water accessable to hundreds of people in rural communities.
Kindle empowers people to make a better life for themselves by
Children assisting with the building of the water irrigation tankteaching them how to take ownership of projects that will be beneficial to their entire community. For example, when the people of a community express that they want to further develop their community, perhaps through an irrigation project, the leaders present their plan to the Kindle staff, and start to coordinate efforts for success. The community saves financially what they can to show commitment towards the project, and for future repairs. The Kindle management staff helps to put the project into motion, through the generosity of our many partners. The funds supply the drilling of the bore hole, solar pump, cement, irrigation piping and other needed materials. During this process the men, women and children of the community
Solar panels being prepared to be installedparticipate in making bricks, digging the foundation and preparing for the work ahead. The women and children walk for miles daily to bring water needed for the mixing of cement and bricks. Many members of the community provide one hundred percent of the labor needed to complete a project. During the building process, the community leaders facilitate daily devotions, prayer and praise. Everyone works together in order to complete each development project! When the community development project is complete, the community members can enjoy what seems like a dream to them.
Completed water irrigation tankFresh and clean water. Water they can clean with, water they can drink, cook and bath with. Water that can be used to irrigate crops nine dry months out of the year, water that will supply irrigation to several acres of land, to several acres of food. The community is changed forever! This story is happening everyday in the Kindle community, and as a result orphans, other vulnerable children, women, men and youth alike are reaping the benefits.
Praise God for fresh, clean water!Besides irrigation and water projects, the Kindle staff work with families on small, income-generating activities such as agriculture and stock-raising. One of these families is what is known as an "orphan-headed household" - in other words, a family of children whose parents have both died and the older siblings are looking after the younger. This program is called "Kolezani", which in the local language means "kindle a fire". It is based on the vision of fanning into flame the little bit we have to make it burn brightly! The Kolezani Program has great potential for making an impact on the community, one family at a time.
Kindle also works with community leaders to improve the local infrastructure, including roads and bridges. There is no limit to how Kindle's Community Development Department can make a difference in the Kingdom of God here in the Salima District! - Spiritual and Social
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He's known as Abusa to the people of Nanjoka and the surrounding Kindle areas. And it's well deserved since the Chichewa title translates as Pastor. He travels hundreds of miles in a week on a motorbike leading the Family Life Ministries. Family structures in this community are not very strong, and although there are a few men involved, it is the women who have become the driving force of this ministry. In several villages, Abusa meets with the women each week for Bible teaching and discussion on a wide variety of social issues that are part of their daily lives- nurturing children, agriculture, witchcraft, dealing with or living with HIV/AIDS, and much more. Choirs and dramas are a great avenue for getting the message across. When requests for Bibles came, Abusa developed a
Abusa (Pastor) teaching God's Word to familiesBible Memory Program whereby the women can earn a Bible by memorizing scripture verses.
Abusa empowers his staff and volunteers to lead Youth Groups that target the children directly. They provide Biblical training, teaching in the area of HIV/AIDS and how to live pure, healthy Christian lives. They incorporate sports and games in their lessons; giving the children a chance to be a kid again. Not to have to worry about food, shelter or water. But a chance to run around with friends, trying to score the next goal. They provide a moment of hope for the children, even if it is for just a moment.
Abusa also holds workshops and seminars for church and community leaders. He is the spiritual father within Kindle Orphan Outreach, caring for the staff and encouraging everyone in the ministry God has given them. In a land full of spiritual warfare and traditions that are far from healthy, we need leadership and stability through God's Word.
This is a letter we received this week at Kindle Orphan Outreach, from a secondary school student who we have been supporting.
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