Malawi is probably best known as the country of origin of Madonna’s adoptive son David. This is unfortunate, because apart from that little flash of attention, Malawi has to face the huge twin challenges of poverty and disease without the benefit of the developed world’s involvement.

Malawi is a small republic in southern Africa (half the size of the UK, 14 million inhabitants). It is among the least developed nations of the world: 164th out of 177 on the UN’s Human Development Index (read article). Over half the population live below the poverty line. Malawi’s precarious situation has been compounded in recent decades by the HIV/AIDS crisis.

The most recent figures indicate that over 14% of the country’s adult population lives with HIV. The country’s average life expectancy further indicates the damage done by the disease. Malawi has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world, averaging a mere 43.5 years (read article). AIDS claims mainly young adults, often new parents, causing a huge rise in the number of orphans.

It is necessary, to prevent a total breakdown of society in AIDS-ridden countries, to provide targeted care for the families that have been shattered by the disease. The House of Hope does exactly that – caring for hundreds of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS, feeding them, taking care of their educational needs, and raising their awareness to the disease that killed their parents, but might just as easily carry them off.