Ungweru
Ungweru House was the first project that was set up using funds from Small
Change together with other funds raised by friends and family of Fr John Ryan.
Originally to be used as a Youth Centre and a place where people in the area
around Luwinga can come to meet, study or read the daily newspapers, it has
expanded rapidly as a Centre of Learning and a ‘clearing house’ for the
allocation of funds raised by Small Change and other well-wishers.
Temwanani Orphanage
Temwanani, meaning'love one another', is not an orphanage in the western traditional sense, this shell of a building is where the
pre-school children of Area 1B, who have been orphaned by AIDS, gather each morning.
Most live with grandparents or extended family and the parish runs this orphanage so
that these little ones will be given some advantages. Through funding from Small Change
through Ungweru, there is now a bowl of porridge for each of them every morning. The
children learn English through songs and rhymes. Since 2005 numbers have doubled and
there are now four volunteer teachers working in the school each day with a cook and some
other helpers, still without any pay. Thanks to the funds raised by the sale of the calendar
in 2007, a beautiful new day care centre opened for the children of this area in
early 2008.
Msiki Home Based Care Committee
The committee is a wonderful group of men and women in one of the
out-stations beyond Mzuzu town, who have very little themselves,
but who organise help through visiting those who have even less.
Dunduzu
This remarkable group of people, all of whom have been diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS, have come together to support one another and to try to educate
people in their area about AIDS. There is huge stigma attached to the
illness and this in itself prevents people from talking about it or being
tested, and so transmission is rampant. This group is doing pioneering
work to change attitudes and prejudice in the community and to support
those suffering from AIDS.
Wells for Zoe is another charity set up by an Irish couple also based in Mzuzu.