Send Care Packages to Vulnerable Kids in Malawi

We are raising funds to create and distribute care packages (containing food and school supplies) for needy kids and their families served by Hands of Hope Feeding Center in the village of Mtsiliza in Lilongwe, Malawi. Each care package costs 6,000MK or about $8 USD. This project is being spearheaded by 10 year-old Nico who is a member of the international community in Lilongwe (American and German).




Two girls served by the Feeding Centre

 

Nico has a big heart and would like to make the holidays a little bit brighter for some of our neighbors who are struggling with the rising costs of basic necessities like water, cooking oil, maize flour, and other daily staples needed by families just to get by.

 

Nico also has an older brother Lukas (age 12) who is helping him with this project. See Lukas's recent successful mosquito net project he spearheaded last Fall for the feeding center.


Lukas (left) and Nico (right)

 

Wilson Mvinya (our friend and neighbor here in Malawi) runs the feeding center and does a number of community projects and initiatives around the country.

 

 

Wilson writes:

 

"We are local organization running a feeding center called Hands of Hope in the village of Mtsiliza in Lilongwe. These children are affected by HIV and AIDS and many are also orphans.

 

We have been feeding vulnerable children and elderly from the community.  Day in day out we see vulnerable children and elderly desiring to see change in their lives and the communities. As Christmas approaches, would you bring a smile to their faces remembering that children are living messages we send to a time we will not see and each day of our lives as we feed them make deposits in the memory banks of our children."

Wilson in action at the centre

 

A Quick Word From Nico's Mom:

I'm Kristen Palana, a UN consultant and university professor living in Malawi since 2019. I founded Aura's House, a grassroots website that existed long before Kickstarter, Gofundme, etc. Since 2004, we have raised over $135,000 (in our so-called spare time) for health, education, housing, and income generation projects for needy families in developing countries. Lukas and Nico have been helping me fund-raise since they were babies and now are old enough to want to do their own projects. Since having moved to Malawi in July of 2019, we've raised funds for a Malawian classroom to be built, Wilson's feeding center, as well as for a family and village.

 

As always with any project I am helping with, 100% of Donations go directly to the intended recipients. (I donate all the GoFundMe and credit card fees we incur so those will not affect the project.)


A boy receiving a meal at the centre together with friends.

 

 

How You Can Help:

We aim to raise a total of $750 to buy, assemble, and distribute at least 93 care packages.

 

The cost of one care package is roughly 6,000MK (about $8 USD).

Each care package will contain:

a large plastic bucket as the container
maize flour
cooking oil
soya pieces
a small toy
school supplies/ a notebook
crayons/pencils
sugar
biscuits

 

 

In return for your contribution, you will:

 

Have the most amazing feeling of having helped not just these kids, but also their families and entire community (Ahhh, feel that lovely karma!)

 

All funds raised will be used towards the care packages We'll post the receipts here once we get them and keep you posted with text and photo updates.

 

Your contribution will have a tremendous impact!

 

 

Other Ways You Can Help:

 

There's more than one way you can help us with this. Yes, donating even just $8 ( one whole care package!) is amazing, but there are also ways that won't cost a cent:

 

Spread the word! Share this story with your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter - anything will do! Tell your classmates, your family, your soccer team, your ski club - tell everyone!

 

And thank you. Because of you, we can make a difference in our communities and in our world!

 

Sincerely,

Nico, Wilson, Lukas, and Kristen