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Open Arms Infant home
- Malawi
The school is permanently sponsoring four young
orphans at the Open Arms Infant Home in Blantyre,
Malawi, to be educated at Primary and then Secondary
school.
The website is www.openarmsmalawi.org
We have collection boxes in each
boarding house and fundraising efforts are made
by houses or other groups of pupils.
At the moment, it costs £1,500 per year
to ensure that the four children receive a private,
primary education. You may wish to send an amount
into school and if this is the case, please could
you place it in an envelope clearly marked "Open
Arms Infant Home Appeal".
We thought you might like to see the happy, smiling
faces of Wilson, Mary, Norman and Aubrey, who
we are supporting.
Over the last year there have been
some significant changes and progress made. The
most notable change is that Mary has moved to
our second Foster House, Richmond, and six-year-old
Moses has taken her place.
Update May 2009
Mary is developing into a fine young
girl and we thought it more appropriate at this
age for her to live with other girls. Mary obviously
enjoys her 5 foster sisters, and together they
celebrated her birthday last month. The boys already
know Moses from their time together at Open Arms,
so he fitted in well as a younger brother and
now attends Ladybird International School.
Aubrey continues to make progress
and benefits from weekly physiotherapy for his
Cerebral Palsey. He still takes the bus to school
to be sure he gets there on time, but is now able
to walk home with the others which gives him the
chance to become more familiar with the area,
and of course builds his strength.
Wilson is now the proud owner of
a pair of hearing aids which he wears to school.
His hearing deficit was noticed at Roses
House where he spoke very quietly, now his confidence
is noticeably improved.
Norman continues to be a bright
and energetic lad who excels at Mathematics and
loves to play football.
Open Arms employs a Teacher to run
the nursery school at Harrogate House, Ms Enipher
Nasiyaya. She tutors the boys weekly to encourage
their academic progress. A TV donated by a volunteer
has been a fun addition to the House. It is very
pleasant on a Saturday afternoon to hear the children
discuss the local soap opera and tell you about
the characters. The boys speak English quite well.
Open Arms has had two major
developments in the last year, with the opening
of a new Infant Home in Manochi and a third Foster
House for our school-age long term residents.
We now have 80 babies and children in residence,
with capacity for 106.
Update May 2008
The famous four continue to do extremely
well.
Aubrey (minor cerebral palsy) is
making particularly pleasant progress at school.
Malawian schools are not particularly sympathetic
to disablement and I think he was merely tolerated
initially because of the fees of the combined
four. However, he has shown convincingly that
cerebral palsied children can make an equally
valuable contribution to the school. His speech
and English though slurred is probably the best
of the group. Mary, is fast growing up, we had
contact with her brother recently. Norman, is
the naughty one! - He finds it difficult to concentrate
at school - However, we believe nothing sinister
about him, he just doesn't like school! Wilson,
is the strong silent one. He is making good progress,
his English is coming on rapidly, and he reads
well and is a thoroughly nice young man. They
are all receiving a tremendous benefit from what
you started three years ago.
We would like to send our thanks
on behalf of all four of them, to the staff and
students of the Royal Alexandra and Albert School.
Very best wishes from all of us
at Open Arms.
Update Sep 2005
Term started today for the 4 children
who Royal Alexandra and Albert school are sponsoring.
This is a fantastic step for us.
Because of your support we have been able to choose
what would be considered one of Blantyres
best private schools, quaintly named Ladybird
International School. It is 1.3 kms from the house
that we have bought so is just about ideal. Thought
you might want to see the image taken this morning.
They were very lively in the Land Rover on the
way but very subdued by the time we left them
at the classroom door. They will be assessed this
morning to ascertain whether they should be in
reception or Standard 1. The fee structure at
MK20,000 including transport per term will come
to £1,000. They will be joined by a fifth
and then a sixth later in the year. Uniforms and
extras will be quite affordable.
For this our grateful thanks to
all at Gatton Park. We look forward to sending
you the school reports for these four!
Best regards
Neville and Rosemarie, Norman,
Wilson, Mary and Aubrey.
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