Malawi Children's Village

I did not plan to choose Malawi Children's Village as the Charity of the Week.  I had some other plan to go with some big, American charity.  But someone close to me lost her mother this week.  It was not particularly sudden or particularly unexpected, but that doesn't matter.  Losing a loved one hurts, and you are never really prepared.  Malawi Children's Village was one of her favorite organizations to support, so given the arbitrary nature of this endeavor, I can't think of a better place to donate this week.

Margaret Mary Elizabeth Warren Jumbe was a brilliant, caring woman with many names - most of which honor the strong women in her family.  She was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi and didn't want to leave.  So she didn't.  She fell in love and started a family there, continuing her work in literacy and development.  Once her two beautiful girls were getting further in to school, the Jumbes moved to Minnesota and ~15 years later, her youngest did Peace Corps in Belize.  Service begets service.

I must admit that I do not know as much as I should about Malawi Children's Village before recommending it as a charity to consider.  That being said, if Ms. Jumbe supported it, then I have no problem supporting it too.  Through my little bit of research, I've learned that the organization does both education and health work - two things that certainly improve the lives of Malawians in small villages.  I mean, who can't get behind targeted, grassroots education and health work?

So this week's Charity of the Week is the Malawi Children's Village.  In a couple of days, I'll send in my contribution and will post a link to the donation page, in case you are interested in doing the same.

Happy Friday, everyone!  -grant