Miracle CBO that provides needs for over 700 vulnerable children
BY CHIKU JERE - Lilongwe Malawi (25/07/23) - Thirty (30) year old Steven Derrick Chinsendenji is building a foundation that has created a safe haven for over 700 underprivileged children, providing for their daily needs, including catering for their education as well as helping them discover and refine their skills and inborn talent, effectively molding them into responsible citizens that can look after themselves.
![](admin/blog-images/Miracle Foundation ED.jpg)
Youthful Chinsendenji built his passion working for two years at The Community of Sant’Egidio as a caretaker and teacher for vulnerable and needy children.
After leaving the institution, he said the feeling to continue with humanitarian works kept nagging him to the effect that in 2019, he decided to establish a community-based organization named Miracle Community Based Organization (CBO) which was registered a year later in 2020 with him becoming the Executive Director.
“Working at Sant’Egidio, opened my eyes to the other worId that needs help. I observed that there was a lot of needy children elsewhere who lack basic needs such as food, shelter and education. So, my inner self compelled me to do something about it given the experience I had gained,” he said.
First to come in Chinsendenji mind was the urge to establish a sanctuary where street and other vulnerable kids would seek help from in terms of food, shelter and protection.
He said he approached well-wishers who assisted him to rent up a place at Njewa in Lilongwe which, eventually became the national head office and centre of his organization’s operations.
The centre currently provides a variety of humanitarian assistance to 713 kids and major on-going programmes include Early Childhood Development (ECD), also known as M’mera M’poyamba in vernacular, which they carry out in partnership with Lilongwe District Social Welfare office.
“We also have ‘Children’s Corner’ (Bwalo la Ana), a programme that helps us identify skills and talents in children; nurturing such God-given gifts into something that these children can use to better their future and provide for their livelihoods,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chinsendenji said, turning the CBO into Miracle Foundation is his next plan, as he intends to establish a permanent centre where all vulnerable children’s needs will be provided for.
“We plan to procure land and construct a safe haven that will be the home for needy children where education as well as skill and talent developing activities will be provided,” he said.
The organization that has seven volunteers and running at an estimated budgeted of US$15 thousand per year (16million Malawi Kwacha), has since managed to produce two University graduates, one from Chancellor College and the other from Malawi Assemblies of God University, all of whom the CBO took in when they were form 2 and 3 students respectively.
The CBO also boasts of having managed to send back to school 62 of 80 children they plucked from the street, four of whom currently in Form 3, studying at Tsabango Community Day Secondary School in Lilongwe.
“We are also involved in the ‘Ending Period Poverty’ (Asajombe ku sukulu) campaign, which provides sanitary pads to school-going girls and we have also adopted four schools, three primary and one secondary schools where are providing learning material that we source from our UK-based donors – Pens for Kids and All Foundation for Girls Leadership,” Chinsendenji explained.
Besides, the organization also responds to other national humanitarian needs such as aiding natural disaster victims and also partnering and networking with other like-minded organisations to address issues of health living among youth, environment protection, HIV and Aids pandemic, among others.
The organization which has no established donors says it can achieve a lot but the only drawback is lack of financial and kind support which they beseech from any would be well-wisher.
(0) Comments