Other community work in Lilongwe
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Since SOS Children's Village Lilongwe opened in 1994, the work has continued to expand. Today, SOS Children's Villages is not only caring for children in need, but is also providing invaluable support and offering hope to local families and communities through a number of facilities and programmes. |
 Doing handicrafts at the SOS Kindergarten in Lilongwe - Photo: C. Gigleitner |
The SOS Kindergarten and the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School have been operational since 1994. Up to 180 children can be looked after in the six group rooms of the SOS Kindergarten. The SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School consists of twenty classrooms, a library and a sports field, and has a capacity for up to 670 children. The volleyball, netball, basketball and football pitches can also be used by the children of the SOS Children's Village.
In 1997, an SOS Medical Centre was added and has since been extended twice. Today, the clinic comprises five rooms for medical treatment, a laboratory, a tuberculosis treatment centre and facilities for antiretroviral therapy. The therapy centre focuses on children with disabilities and offers physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and orthopaedics.
The SOS Hermann Gmeiner Secondary School opened its doors in March 1998; it consists of thirteen classrooms, a laboratory, a workshop and a room for home economics and offers education to up to 420 students.
In order to meet the needs of the growing number of youths who had outgrown the SOS Children's Village, an SOS Youth Facility was established in 2000, where up to 48 youths can stay during their higher education or further training and prepare themselves for an independent life.
In January 2002, an SOS Social Centre became operational, coordinating an AIDS outreach programme in the vicinity. This programme assists up to 2,000 people per year and provides them with seeds, school fees and school materials, youth clubs, home-based care, counselling, psychosocial support, improvement of housing and access to basic medical treatment.
An SOS Vocational Training Centre, with a capacity for up to 140 youths, was added in July 2004, comprising a kitchen for food processing classes, three classrooms for secretarial, computer and entrepreneurial classes, six classrooms for carpentry, tailoring, basic metal work, appliance repair, plumbing and agriculture as well as an agricultural area with cultivable land and a sales booth.