Word Alive Ministries
Blantyre, Malawi
Intervention Counselling and Care (ICOCA) is an HIV and AIDS programme, aiming to reduce the spread and alleviate the impact of this devastating disease on local people. It provides care and support to those infected and affected in the Blantyre area. The programme was established in 1992 and is part of Word Alive Ministries International (WAMI), a local church in Malawi.
The programme’s main activities include home-based care, the care of orphans and vulnerable children, HIV testing and counselling and behaviour change initiatives with young people.
Over the last few years, WAMI has been caring for those infected with the HIV virus and supporting over 1,400 orphans and vulnerable children in a rural area outside Blantyre. This support has been mainly practical, providing basic nursing care and vital supplies. Animal husbandry and farming have also been part of this initiative, with the aim of providing sustainable livelihoods for local people.
EngageHIV's focus for support
The home-based care programme is funded by another charity. EngageHIV is supporting WAMI to run a preventative and spiritual care programme alongside this initiative to ensure holistic care for people affected by HIV. Working closely with local churches, WAMI runs HIV awareness meetings in 20 villages and also in local schools. Marriage seminars and training for church leaders and Sunday school teachers, combined with community meetings helps to ensure that the work is holistic and lasts for the long term.
What EngageHIV likes about the work
- Word Alive Church is a contextually-relevant church that cares about the impact HIV is having on local communities and wants to respond.
- The work involves encouraging and equipping other local churches to respond holistically to the needs faced by their communities. Churches are well-placed to understand these needs and establish long-term initiatives to provide practical, emotional and spiritual care.
- As far as possible, people are encouraged to reach out to and assist others using their own resources – dependency is avoided and dignity reinforced.
> Malawi country profile
> More about home-based care
> More about orphans and vulnerable children
> More about prevention
