The happy kids at STEKA Home in Nyambadwe
* To Step Kids Awareness Trust (STEKA) in Nyambadwe, Blantyre and Mama Berna Foundation in Area 23, Lilongwe
* It was an afternoon of exceptional joy and laughter and the children were delighted with the engagement
By Duncan Mlanjira
CDH Investment Bank (CDHIB) lady employees showed their motherly love by visiting two orphanages yesterday to commemorate Mothers Day in a special way where they made donations of K5 million — K2.5 million each.
The investiment was made at Step Kids Awareness Trust (STEKA) in Nyambadwe, Blantyre and Mama Berna Foundation in Area 23 in Lilongwe to help the lives of the children during the Mother’s Day celebrations.
At Nyambadwe’s STEKA Home, it was an afternoon of exceptional joy and laughter and the children were delighted with the engagement, who sang a hymn of gratitude thanking the Almighty God for reaching out to the benefactors to assist on their needs.
STEKA’s founders Godknows Maseko and his wife Helen, were at loss of words in thanking CDHIB, and when he found his composure, Godknows said it was timely donation that will help the home pay fees for some of its children and develop their future.
Maseko disclosed that they are currently raising and educating 120 children, most of whom plucked away from street begging — of which 26 are in universities and the rest in secondary and primary schools.
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They raise kids as young as three months older and their current youngest are three year old twins who are in nursery together with many other hosted at the STEKA Home in Nyambadwe.
He also announced a success story that two of the STEKA Home products will soon be graduating as nurses and three more are expected to graduate next year.
“I am failing to thank you well enough for this gesture because it has taken me by complete surprise,” he said. “We were in dilemma as to where we might get the funds to pay for school fees for some of the children in primary and secondary schools.”
STEKA is at the forefront to rescue street connected kids to nurture and educate them into responsible citizens by affording them a decent home from where they can attend primary school.
The Masekos chose the plush Nyambadwe residential area as the suitable place to operate from in a rented house and later secured some land in same are to build an elaborate home for their noble purpose.
Godknows said just because they are situated in Nyambadwe, potential well wishers think they are well off, thus they are not supported as much as they wished they could be.
“We deliberately considered Nyambadwe as a location to operate from because we wanted to give the children a decent home so that they should not feel being alienated from the rest of other children.
“CDH Investment Bank ladies probably had several other vulnerable child care institutions they could have chosen to reach out to but they opted for STEKA and we profoundly thank them for their gesture.
“We ask other well wishers to support our children of whom 90% were taken away from the streets. Without the support from well wishers like CDH Investment Bank, we shall fail and that would mean our kids going back to the streets.”
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Godknows told the CDHIB ladies that he himself was a street connected child but was plucked away from it by well wishers and he decided to share the kindness by establishing the vulnerable child care institution.
On her part, CDHIB Risk & Compliance Assistant Manager, Loveness Sitima said the gesture is part of helping the community to grow which the bank strongly believes and they needed to emulate.
She added that it was satisfying that STEKA was their right choice having been appraised of the strides the institutions as made over the years which has seen many of its children being raised into responsible citizens.
She acknowledged that the role STEKA is playing is human capital development as enshrined in the MW2063 national vision and they are proud to have played a part in assisting the home meet some of the challenges it is facing in its obligations.
“Together we can build a better Malawi,” she said. “I must say we are very overwhelmed to see the happy faces of these children, who are being raised in such a beautiful home set-up.”
The activity in Lilongwe
In Lilongwe, it was reported that the funds will be used to buy cement for the construction of a home project at the Mama Berna Foundation, whose founder, Bertha Kapalanga said CDHIB’s is the largest investment that they have received.
Mama Berna Foundation is an orphanage that takes care of children with disabilities and provides elementary education.
On her part, CDHIB Capital City Branch Manager Mercy Sekani said Mother’s Day should not only be about celebrating mothers but also remembering children who do not have parents and she urged other well-wishers to reach out to people who are in need.
STEKA, the family home for very vulnerable children rescued from living alone on the streets of Blantyre or from abusive situations, has grown since it was founded in 2007.
Its goal was and is to remove children from the streets to protect them from abuse they faced and the poverty they lived with on the streets of Malawi and the STEKA children are given an education ensuring that girls receive an equal education and opportunities as the boys.
The Masekos emphasise that STEKA is not an ‘orphanage’ nor an ‘institution’ but a loving family, saying the children are brought by social services or the police and once they indicate their intention to staying for good, they make sure that all their new children who don’t know their biological parents adopt their surname of Maseko.
The children call the founders as mum and dad and for those still in contact with biological parents, the Masekos become aunt and uncle — and as a family, they all work together to support each other with everyone helping with chores and older children helping support the little ones.
Feeding, clothing and educating such a large family isn’t easy, but the resourceful STEKA family — that operates with nine trustees and full-time staff members who work as volunteers — runs a variety of enterprises to bring in funds.
Helen is Montessori trained and, assisted by volunteers, runs a nursery school in the mornings and they also raise chickens and run tailoring, upholstery and tourism initiatives to help sustain their Nyambadwe STEKA home.
All the children are brought up to value their rights and themselves; in particular girls’ rights to equality and to resist early marriages.
The Masekos have built a stately skills vocational training centre in Lirangwe, that also offers its free services to communities sorrounding it and has big plans that include a farm, a hostel, a child care institute and a stately sports stadium.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) is registered under Child Reform and Development Assistance sector.
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