CHILDREN IN THE WILDERNESS - MALAWI

Children in the Wilderness Malawi's innovative programme hosts orphaned and underprivileged children at two of Wilderness Safari’s camps - Mvuu Camp and Chinthetche Inn. The children are selected from local orphan care centers and schools around these concessions. The first Children in the Wilderness Malawi program launched in 2003, and since then we have hosted over 250 children.In addition to the carefully structured educational programming, Children in the Wilderness Malawi introduces three personal goals for the campers to strive towards: Respect, Teamwork, and Challenging Yourself.  Our programming is specifically geared towards reflection of how to use these goals in village life. A key feature of the Malawian program is the inclusion of staff from Wilderness Safari lodges. These staff have the same background as the children and their success becomes a real motivational force for the campers. It is incredibly important to provide strong, constant, positive Malawian role models for the children, some of whom live within their communities.

The follow-up program is of equal importance to the camps. The patrons of the orphan care centers are employed by Children in the Wilderness Malawi to provide the children with regular programming that expands on the knowledge they learned at camp. In this position, the patrons can then follow-up on specific campers with special needs such as HIV+ campers, or campers with a history of abuse. As a part of this follow-up, all campers are encouraged to become leaders within their community through clubs and community groups. The second part of the follow-up program is a school scholarship program, enabling children who cannot afford to go on to higher education to fulfill their dreams of graduation. As of 2006, 11 children will be able to attend four years of high school and graduate. Children in the Wilderness Malawi is currently developing the third and final part of its follow-up program - a job mentorship program.If you would like to sponsor a child through the scholarship program, please contact the  Amanda Joynt at citw@malawi.net. Children in the Wilderness Malawi will send you a biography and updates of the actual child you are sending through school. Fundraising
The Curlies and Trinity, two bands from the UK, came to Malawi to raise funds for Children in the Wilderness by playing throughout the country. The tour culminated in a great performance at the Lake of Stars Festival at Chinthetche Inn on Lake Malawi. The bands generously donated their ticket sales from the tour, donating over 175,000 MK to the program. Thank you to The Curlies and Trinity!

The Malawi Team
Amanda Joynt directs the Children in the Wilderness Malawi operation. Key members of the Malawi team are:

Simon Chibaka is the Camp Director for Children in the Wilderness Malawi. Simon is a safari guide at Mvuu Camp in Liwonde National Park. He originally comes from the north of Malawi, and has worked for Save the Children as a youth coordinator and with the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi in Monkey Bay. Simon enjoys teaching the children about their environment. He also enjoys making up songs and encouraging the children to be creative. He loves to learn new things from the children at camp. Simon’s camp name is “Moni”, the Chichewa word for “Hello!”.

Joseph Nyirenda lives in Chinthetche and works as a desk manager at Chinthetche Inn. Joseph began with Children in the Wilderness as a counselor in 2004, and due to his strong counseling and leadership skills was promoted to Assistant Camp Director in 2005. Joseph has a great singing voice and enjoys teaching and learning songs at camp.

The above picture is a great example of INTENTIONAL PROGRAMMING. Every activity we do at camp has a purpose. Even though dressing Joseph in silly clothes seems like just plain old fun, this small activity is done at the beginning of camp to help define the adult/child relationship that the campers will have with their counselors. This shows the children that with this adult they can be silly and have fun; this is someone they can trust who will not ridicule or discourage them, but will encourage them.

Nation Nyirenda is a waiter at Chinthetche Inn and began as a counselor for Children in the Wilderness in 2004. Nation has become a leading counselor for Malawi and in 2005 attended the Barretstown Hole in the Wall Camp on a counselor exchange. Nation is known for his comical, outgoing nature and great counseling skills. Even those who don’t understand Chitonga laugh when Nation tells a joke! . Nation has written the below essay about his experiences with Children in the Wilderness Malawi.

It is a right of every child to be raised by loving parents, but some children, by virtue of HIV/AIDS and poverty, are denied this birthright. They are deprived of confidence, proper growth, and equality. The birth of Children in the Wilderness Malawi has been able to restore confidence in the disadvantaged children within my community, and I hope it continues. So much of camp was about providing a safe, loving atmosphere for the children to learn how to be respected by adults. The children became hopeful throughout the week, and this confidence culminated in “talent night,” a time for the children to show the talent harbouring within them. They were so proud of themselves afterwards, and they got the exposure and appreciation they have deserved all of their lives. This is a world full of challenges, and I hope that the skills the children learned at camp will help them to work together as a team within their communities. I think that as a program, Children in the Wilderness Malawi has succeeded to instill confidence and hope in these children. Whatever they do, wherever they go, they will realize that they are as useful to the community as any other human being - regardless of their status. -Nation Nyirenda