CBCC

Sixty five children, ages 3 to 6, sat in their little blue plastic chairs under trees, quietly eating their likuni phala, a fortified porridge, and watching all the fuss of grownups setting up chairs, and audio speakers, of strangers (mostly white people) gathering and taking pictures of everything and everyone, of older youth singing and dancing as they, too, waited. The children just ate and watched. This was not the normal routine of their day at the Timvani CBCC in a village just outside Limbe town center, but they were being fed and were satisfied to enjoy the entertainment of the day.

All the fuss was around the opening of the new building for the Center, part of a gift from a congregation in Canada. All but one of the white folks (one American snuck in) was from Canada, for the purpose of celebrating this partnership with the community and this CBCC. The CBCC (Community Based Children’s Center - we love acronyms in Malawi) is a powerful tool of Blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission (BSHDC) for ministering to the vulnerable children in villages, both around Blantyre and in the rural areas. They are not called orphan care centers, to avoid the stigma of children being singled out as HIV/Aids orphans, and to allow the program to care for all vulnerable children in the community. These programs include a pre-school for the youngest children in the morning, an after school program for the older children in the afternoon and a youth program for those young people in the community who are not working. CBCCs are community based, so the community has ownership of the operation of the centers. The community selects a committee to oversee the operation. The committee selects the volunteers to staff the center. The volunteers are trained by BSHDC, but the selection of the students, the running of the programs, and the supervision of the facility is all from the committee, as representatives of the community. Friends and partners come in as the community sees the need. Two years ago a group from Canada visited the Timvani Center. At that time, the children were meeting in a thatched roofed shelter in a small field. The visitors and committee talked about the need for a better place to meet. The visitors went back to Canada and began to raise funds to build a modest building to house the programs of the committee.

So on Thursday, they celebrated the opening of that building. It was a joy-filled celebration. The District Headman came with the traditional authority and the village chief to celebrate with the visitors from Canada and the staff of BSHDC. The building is one of the nicest in the village and will be a blessing to the entire community, not just for these programs, but for meetings and other training opportunities.. But it is designed for the children. The inside walls are painted with the alphabet and cartoon characters to illustrate the letters. The chairs are suited for the smallest children. The play equipment is tailored for the children. This is their special space. The day’s program included a ribbon cutting and speeches and thanks, accompanied by songs and dancing and drama from the children. It was a time of encouragement and hope for the most vulnerable in one of the poorer communities around Blantyre. It was a day to rejoice.