Since the form 2s are now testing, my teaching schedule has been really light. As a result, I finally had a chance to go out into the field with our outreach team. Currently the team is conducting the 2007 survey to register all the orphans in the 37 villages that MCV serves and entering them into a new database. On Thursday, when I went with the team, we visited Matuwi, one of the larger villages that we serve. We spent the day under the shade of a tree, and orphans and their care givers came to answer questions. (The villagers had been told that the MCV outreach team would be coming today by the village volunteers.) The caregivers answered questions about the number of orphans living in their house, their relationship to the orphan(s), their income/assets, needs, etc. Incomes were typically K1000-K2000 ($7-$14) a month, but one grandmother did answer, “by the grace of god.” Their needs were typically reported as clothes, blankets, house repair, and food. Easily the most amazing statistic was the sheer number of orphans we registered. In Matuwi alone (there are 36 other villages) the outreach team registered 106 orphans*. (I was also told that there should be many more than this in Matuwi, and someone would have to come back to register more later.) I of course should have been expecting such a high number (MCV serves about 3000 orphans a year) but seeing 106 orphans all from one village was still somewhat shocking.
On a more positive note, I was able to easily see the impact MCV has made on Matuwi. In 1997 when MCV did its initial survey, the average household caring for orphans consisted of a grandmother with 7 orphans. As MCV became established, and caregivers began to see the support that those caring for orphans recieved, many more began to share the burden. Thursday, the caregivers (grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts) that came to answer questions were typically caring for only 1 or 2 orphans.
On a more positive note, I was able to easily see the impact MCV has made on Matuwi. In 1997 when MCV did its initial survey, the average household caring for orphans consisted of a grandmother with 7 orphans. As MCV became established, and caregivers began to see the support that those caring for orphans recieved, many more began to share the burden. Thursday, the caregivers (grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts) that came to answer questions were typically caring for only 1 or 2 orphans.
*in case you forgot, in Africa orphan refers to a child who has lost one or more parent.
Wow, a blog with a footnote, that's a first.
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