Skye Sieber fundraising for Team Mulanje

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About Me

I am thrilled to be co-leading my first Global Village trip to Malawi. We have an amazing team of compassionate, hard-working, and dynamic individuals joining us.

More Info

Malawi is facing an increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children as a result of the HIV/AIDS crisis that is compounded by poverty and food insecurity. Two years ago, Habitat for Humanity Malawi decided to intervene by starting an Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program.

Different from the typical Habitat model in which partner families receive a 0% interest mortgage and pay it back, under the OVC program Habitat has identified orphaned children families and build a house free of charge for them and their caretaker (often a grandparent).

In addition to their orphaned status, "vulnerable" means that these children have few resources to make them resilient to shocks such as illness, hunger, death of their caretaker, etc. The program delivers health education and legal work along with the house.  For example with the legal work that is part of this initiative, if the caretaker passes away, the house would remain property of the children. This is a serious improvement over some projects done in the 1990s which experienced a land grab. With legal tenure in the house, the children's wellbeing is more secure.

We don't yet know who our partner family will be...this is usually not known until 1-3 months before the team arrives. We do know that we'll be working in the Mulanje district located in southern Malawi. This area has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the country and quite a large population of OVC. Most residents in this district are subsistence farmers who earn their income from casual labor. The team will have the opportunity to place their work building a home within a broader social context to achieve a deeper understanding of the issues that many residents of Malawi face.

Global Village is Habitat for Humanity’s international volunteer program. Teams travel to over 40 countries to work alongside communities, build housing solutions, and experience local culture. Our goal is to change the lives of the people we serve, as well as the lives of the volunteers.

To join a team or learn more, visit www.habitat.org/gv.

About Habitat for Humanity International 

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 1,300 communities throughout the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

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