The role of the church in Malawi, in meeting the needs of children affected by the HIV/aids pandemic, towards building resilience

Abstract

This thesis is looking at the role of the church in Malawi in meeting the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in the country; with special emphasis on children that have been orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These children are at risk of not getting the kind of care that they are entitled to as children. There are over 500,000 children in this situation in Malawi. These children have to become resilient in order to handle the day to day challenges that come with the status of orphan hood. Children void of resilience may become self destructive and may not have a sense of purpose or achievable goals in life. Existing literature has been used to determine what needs the OVCs have, that are not yet extensively met. The result is that, a lot of players are doing their best to provide the OVCs with material needs. There are however, very few thank have taken the step of dealing with the emotional and spiritual parts. Psychological theories have been employed to show how important it is that the OVCs get attention in that direction as well.