Government closes Nsanje orphanage
Government last week shut down an illegal orphanage in Nsanje called Tiyamike Mulungu Children’s Home following reports of children dying in 2009 from poor care, four years after a recommendation was made to close it.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Welfare Dr Mary Shawa confirmed the development yesterday, saying it was a result of lack of stipulated standards in running such institutions.
Shawa said some of the conditions that led to the closure of the orphanage were poor toilets, bathrooms and the number of caregivers.
She also said some of the children at the orphanage had parents and families who could support them.
“We have since returned those children with parents to them. Bona fide orphans have been transferred to other orphanages. Closing down the institution is a penalty we have executed,” said Shawa.
The Nsanje district social welfare office estimated in a report dated December 4 2009 that five children died within a month in 2009 when the centre was hit by cholera.
An inspection team comprising the ministry, the district social welfare office, Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and Eye of the Child visited the institution.
Run by a Canadian couple Will and Pamela Phillips as director and co-director, Tiyamike Mulungu Children’s Home was discovered to be operating illegally as it was unregistered and lacked the required memorandum of understanding with government.
The team reported to have discovered that the quality of care at the institution was poor and morbidity and mortality rates were high.
The team recommended temporary closure of the orphanage and for the children to be reintegrated into their families and communities.
This is 2013, 4 years later. Wondering what was happening in between since the 2009 reecommendation to close the orphanage. have more children been dying for lack of adequate care? Was the cholera that hit them in 2009 isolated to that institution only, no other homes were affected?
Another approach is for gvernment to help build capacity of these institutions instead if closing them down. It is great that some of the orphans were united with their extended families but alsi disheraterning that some of the children may have been abandoned by biologcal parents. Was it wise to send back such children to the parents that abandoned them in the first place? were the circumsstances that led to the abandonement ofthe children been addressed and been reversed? it is a very serious matter for a parent to abandon a child. it should be scary to just send such a child back to the deserting parent.