Welcome to the Abel Program!

We are a grassroots homeschooling and outreach rehabilitation program for children and young adults with disabilities in the mountains of Northern Malawi. We are currently focusing on:

Homeschooling - all of our therapy and lessons take place in the homes of the children

Play therapy & group activities - where possible, we gather kids in groups to sing, draw, paint, dance, exercise and play with them

After school lessons - in order to foster integration, we encourage kids who can to attend regular school. We visit them in the afternoons to help out with school work and exercises

Basic physio - visiting physio & occupational therapists have trained our community workers to stretch & exercise with the children

Counselling - some children have better home lives than others. Our community workers are there for them to open up to even about topics that are considered taboo in the Malawian culture

Partnerships - some of our students attend Embangweni School for the Hard of Hearing. We just make sure they have everything they need and someone goes to pick them up for the holidays 

Material support - we have been blessed by donations of wheelchairs, pressure relieving mattresses and other supplies. Reusable nappies and sanitary items, toys, school and craft supplies can be sourced locally and is donated by the Msankhanya Foundation. To keep the program as sustainable as possible, we try to use local and recyclable supplies

Nutritional supplements - Likuni Phala is a porridge that helps malnourished children get the nutrients they need. It is important that families also show some incentive, so we hope that this is a temporary solution and they get back to a balanced diet within a few months

Inclusion - in a culture where people with disabilities are often disregarded, we strive to integrate them back into their communities, neighbourhoods and even their families

Women’s empowerment - the Abel Program is run entirely by women. Our nine community workers do everything from making key decisions for the program to daily activities with the children. They also look after the kids’ medical needs, from accompanying them on the two-day journey to Blantyre and staying with them at the hospital for months. They are what makes the Abel Program possible and have become completely invaluable to dozens of families

To learn more about what we want for the future, check out our plans for the Abel Centre.

Thank you for your visit!