Fomo celebrates 10th anniversary

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Thousands and thousands of needy and orphaned children from Mulanje braved the chilly weather that engulfed the district on Friday to celebrate that their benefactor, Friends of Mulanje Orphans (Fomo), had clocked 10 years.

Fomo is a charity organization and was established in 1990 with an aim of providing social and basic needs to the needy children in Mulanje district. And since its establishment, the organization has been providing support to over 5,000 children some of which have managed to go as far as university.

Founder and director Mary Woodworth said in an interview that this year’s anniversary was a special offer to all as they were also celebrating that God had won them a court battle against Mulli Brothers over land ownership.

“We’d no idea that we could reach this far. We started with 20 orphans, but today we’re supporting over 5,000 children through 13 centres that we’ve established in different villages,” said Woodworth.

Asked why she founded Fomo, the founder, who is British by nationality, explained that she was shocked then to learn that children as young as five years old would go to attend funeral just to benefit from the free food being served at the funeral.

“I was shocked to see children attending funerals for food. It’s then that I decided to set up a feeding programme. I went to Britain from where I brought a few materials for a start; and that’s how Fomo started,” explained Woodworth, popularly known as “Aunt Mary” among benefactors.

One of her beneficiaries, Juliana Chimtengo, said she was praising God “for the gift of Aunt Mary and Fomo because I don’t know where I would have been by now if she did not come to my rescue”.

Chimtengo, 18, joined Fomo when she was in Standard Five, but is currently waiting for University Entrance Examination results.

“May God bless Aunt Mary and give her long life so that more needy children can benefit,” she said.

“My appeal to fellow Malawians is that they should learn a lesson from her and, possibly, come to the rescue of the many needy children that we have across the country,” added Chimtengo.

Among others, traditional dances, drama, football, quiz, songs and marathon were some of the activities that characterized the celebration.

Fomo is currently providing school fees to 392 secondary schools pupils and two university students, according to Woodworth.

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