RAG Cake Sale

Joshua Orphan Care Trust is a small charity based in the Blantyre region of Malawi, Africa. It was founded in 1998 by a lady called Sylvia Avgherinos who witnessed terrible poverty in remote areas of Malawi. The charity now supports over 20 communities providing emotional and health support for orphans and their relatives. There are over a million orphans in Malawi, approximately 700,000 through AIDS and the average life expectancy is 36 years, all this in a country smaller than England.

It only costs £1 per week to feed a child and less than £10 pays a teacher for one month, it would take around £40 to provide writing materials for 250 children for one term, it only takes small amounts of money to change people’s lives but most of all these people just need to know that someone cares.

I have had the privilege of working along side this charity building schools and orphan centres in Malawi and I have witnessed first hand the incredible difference that this charity is making. Below is a photograph of a school building before and after development. Before the school building was very small considering it had over 80 pupils and it is now nearly 10 time bigger. It’s not difficult to see how happy the children felt about this and it doesn’t take a lot! These children are the most caring you could ever meet; they seem astonished when you tell them how much people care. If you’re familiar with Africa then you’ll be aware that people call Malawi “The Warm Heart of Africa”, there are still so many people who live in poverty that I don’t think anyone can imagine and there is still so much that needs to be done. A couple of pounds might not be much to you but to these children it can change their lives.

For more information on the charity or ways that you can donate please email me at

morrispip@hotmail.com or Philippa.Morris@uwe.ac.uk