Chikondi’s Story

In the villages of Malawi, sometimes it’s hard to know a person’s age. Even parents don’t always remember the date their son or daughter was born. There are no filing cabinets with birth certificates or even a calendar on the wall, but they do usually remember if it was during the rains or not and how many seasons have passed since a child was born. In this way, we have worked with parents to “assign” a birthday to many of our students. I tell you this so you understand why when Chikondi, one of our newest students, came to join our program, we had no way of knowing how old she was. We simply took her mother’s word for it.

Chikondi’s mother brought her to us in October to enroll her in our feeding program and school. She said her daughter was fourteen and a little behind her peers and was convinced that God wanted her in our program. She knew her child would get better treatment and a better education than she would in the public school system, where there are hundreds of students per teacher and no special education resources. Also, there was not enough food at home and no food served at school, and Chikondi was hungry.

While we were happy to immediately enroll her in our feeding program, the highest level we offer at our school at this point is fourth grade, so we told Chikondi’s mother that she would be too old for our school. Also, we don’t have any special education resources and would have no way of giving her the individualized attention she needs to catch up. Her mother pleaded for us to give her a chance to see if she would fit in with the other fourth graders without any extra help. She felt that if given the chance, she would do just fine. We let her come to class and quickly realized two things about Chikondi: (1) that she is very sweet but timid, and (2) that she can barely read or write and would indeed need extra help. Abraham walked her home one day last month to break the news to her family that we could not help Chikondi and that she would not be able to stay in our school. What he learned during that visit has deeply moved us all and caused us to reconsider.

She lives with both of her parents and five sisters. They admit to fudging the truth about Chikondi to convince us to take her into our program. She is actually sixteen and only started school when she was nine years old because they didn’t have enough money for the tuition. Her two oldest sisters dropped out of school at sixteen to get married because the family couldn’t afford to feed them any longer. Chikondi is the third of six daughters and would soon be married if it were not for the HUGS for Tomorrow program. Her parents pleaded for us to keep her enrolled, saying we are their only hope for ending the cycle of child marriage in their family.

Though we didn’t think we were ready to take on a student with special needs, we find ourselves in a situation where we have. She is a sweet girl and not a behavioral problem at all. She just needs extra academic help and lots of encouragement. Thankully, some very generous donors have made it possible for us to feed Chikondi two nutritious meals each day and hire a tutor to help her catch up in school. She’s excited to be in class and wants to be a nurse when she grows up so she can help people. In a country where there is only one doctor to every forty thousand people, we sincerely hope her dream comes true and want to help her achieve it. We also realize it’s a long shot to think that a girl who is so far behind will not only catch up but excel. But God seems to specialize in long shots, so we look forward to what He’ll do in Chikondi’s life.

Her expenses are covered for now, but we’ll be raising support for her food, clothing, and medical needs every six months on DonorSee.com. Please join us in praying for Chikondi and all the other children in the village with special needs whom we might also one day be able to help. Together, we have already saved hundreds of children from starvation, disease, and even sex trafficking. Thanks to you, we have now also saved at least one girl from child marriage. Thank you for your part in this life saving ministry. God bless you for your support!