VIP has formed partnerships with 25 villages in the Sakata region of southeast Malawi, near the city of Zomba. Over 19,000 people live in our partner villages, nearly all of whom are subsistence farmers who eat what they’re able to grow, generating little if any income. Sakata is a microcosm of what is going on throughout Malawi—with a staggering number of orphans and child-led households; a lack of access to clean water, adequate medical care, or a meaningful education; and many people suffering from hunger and poor nutrition, living on the edge and subject to the whims of nature and the risk of having too little or too much rain. Although other aid groups are working in many parts of Malawi, the villages of Sakata had been largely left to struggle on their own, without outside assistance.
Yet, the people of Sakata are a resourceful and determined group. Even before we came on the scene, a core group of villagers had already begun to do what they could to help the most vulnerable people in their community. They had organized a preschool for orphans, which they were running out of small, dilapidated building. They had also started making bricks to construct a new building to house the preschool and a medical clinic, with the hope and faith that someone would come along with the resources needed to help turn their dreams into reality. We believe that God had made a divine appointment to bring us into contact with them and we will continue our partnership with them until they can continue to develop without outside assistance.
