MALAWI ORPHANS NIGHT

Around sixty people, including some twenty Rotarians and partners, attended a musical evening at the home of Rotarian Graeme and Margaret Ross last Saturday evening, to raise funds for Malawian orphans.

A great performance was given by long-time friend of Rotary, bass baritone Christian Bischoff and several local artists.

Malawi is a small African country of just 15 million people, with eight hundred thousand aids-related orphaned children, many of whom are cared for by grandparents, known as Gogogetters. After the death of their parents, orphans face poverty, malnutrition, stigma, exploitation and psychological trauma. This occurs when parents who are supposed to raise their children die pre-maturely due to AIDS and leave them without support or parental. These responsibilities often land on the laps of close family relatives who in most cases are grandparents and who are not financially, physically and emotionally ready for this new responsibility.

A number of grandmother groups in western countries like Canada, USA and Australia work to raise funds to support their counterparts in Africa, hence Saturday night’s fund-raiser.

Rotarian Graeme and Margaret thank all those who so kindly supported this fund-raiser, and we thank them and Christian for a great night.