Chakunga Sibale, 2005
Mangochi District, Malawi, Africa
Cardinal Health Children's Care Award Honoree
"In this world, life is short. Hence,
it is my motto to help few others get a share of life and happiness. While
equity is impossible, it is wise to teach children that sharing is possible!"
After surviving a tragic airplane accident, Chakunga Sibale decided to
dedicate his life to the orphaned children of Malawi, where the AIDS virus
caused great devastation. There are nearly 1 million orphaned children in the
country of Malawi alone. In 1996, Sibale founded the
Malawi Children's
Village (MCV) to provide food, shelter, medical care and education
to these children. Sibale and the MCV aim to improve the conditions in which
these children live and raise the standard of orphan care throughout the world.
In 2004, the MCV provided aid to more than 3,200 orphans across 37 villages in
Malawi, and provided food for 1,900 households caring for orphans. As director
of the MCV, Sibale runs the medical clinic central to the program. He has also
been instrumental in the establishment of a new initiative,
Orphan Support
Africa, which aims to implement 10 new community-based orphan
programs in the next three years, helping more than 35,000 children. The MCV
has made an immense impact throughout the world, and has served as a model for
other African orphanages. Through a program called the
Mango Tree Project
in southern Tanzania, the MCV served as a training site for Tanzanian staff
members, and MCV staff traveled to Tanzania to implement on-site training. The
continued dedication of Sibale and the MCV is a sign of hope to Africa and the
world.
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