I have been in awe of the amount of time and passion that drives the founders and members of this incredible organization. Always the children and people of Malawi are put first. The desire to educate and provide healthcare, and most of all, to empower the most vulnerable, is a fresh, selfless approach to a not-for-profit. I have heard about the truly life changing experiences students (both young and old) have when they go on a trip. This is an amazing organization.
I met Janet Littlefield six years ago when she was a teacher in Hebron, Maine. Even then she was an inspiration to everyone that met her. At the time she was supporting a few orphans in Malawi, Africa by sending part of her pay checks to help feed and put the children through school. She has since given up her teaching job so she could dedicate her life to helping more than 70 children in dire need of assistance. The Friends of Littelfield Home is located in the Mpamila area of Malawi. The goal of Friends of Littlefield Home is to reduce the factors that lead to poverty while helping the community to become self sufficient. There are 65 local orphans that are all provided with school tuition, school uniforms, school supplies, food, and food supplements for those that need them. Currently, all of the local orphans are housed at Friends of Littlefield Home but in the future, hopefully by the end of 2012 if enough money is raised, the home plans on building houses for the impoverished elderly in the area, as well as a house for 15 orphans from another area of Malawi. These 15 orphans are also provided the basic amenities that the children from Mpamila receive although they are not yet housed in the same village. The home provides a pre-school program to prepare the younger children for primary school as well as an after school tutoring program available to all the home’s students.
The Friends of Littlefield Home provides transportation to and from hospitals to help those in the surrounding area with HIV/AIDS care and awareness. Janet has brought more than 150 friends to Malawi both to teach them about life in a third world country and also for the visitors to help teach the village. Everyone that goes to Malawi runs different workshops to help teach AIDS awareness, nutrition awareness, reading, health, hygiene, rainforest conservation, and much more. The home also employs patrolmen for the local forests to help prevent poaching, and illegal deforestation.
All of these services are provided through the money that Janet is able to raise, with the help of many that have visited Friends of Littlefield Home. All sorts of charity events are held every year from silent auctions to marathons in Death Valley with all proceeds going directly towards helping these children. Those that take a trip to Friends of Littlefield Home come back with a more open heart and a better understanding and appreciation for human life in general. What is being done at Friends of Littlefield Home is truly changing the lives of countless people. It is the hope that the children educated through the home will be better able to continue on to provide even better lives for their children and teach them to do the same for their children. It is a cycle that must go on and with the continuing help and care of people like Janet Littlefield, it is sure to. This organization needs all the help it can get! Please check out http://www.littlefieldhome.org/ if you would like to learn more or are interested in providing assistance to the children!
The experience I had volunteering at the Littlefield Home in Malawi Africa was like nothing else I have ever done. The village is so hospitable and appreciative of us being there. The kids are beautiful and loving as well. I learned so much while being there. My love for helping others was enhanced after that trip. This home for kids is making a difference, not only for the kids but it is changing the village. Helping to make this village sustainable by themselves is definatley a potential and this organization is on the way of doing that. I can't wait to return someday!
Littlefield Home is a wonderful organization. My experience volunteering with their organization was remarkable. The influence the volunteers and organization had on the children and community as a whole was life changing.
I started running a couple years ago and joined Team Littlefield. We are a group of runners that raise money for the orphanage, by putting on road races and get donors to sponser us in different races around.
Last year 14 of us raised over $1800.00 each through many ways and as a team. Then went to New Orleans and ran a half, and some of us a full marathon. I believe we almost fed 80 orphans for a year with the amount of money we raised.
Our goal this year has been to raise $40,000.00 as a team and I believe we are going to make it. Myself again and another large group will be embarking to Nashville this week to support team littlefield in yet another half and full marathon.
Janet Littlefield and her husband Bill are wonderful people and have the children in Malawi in there best interest. They very much care, teach,feed, and love these wonderful kids as if they were there own.
My support will be never ending, in many different ways, for this organization and the wonderful people involved.
Last year I knew I wanted to go to Africa to work at an orphanage. After researching online and finding so many huge nonprofits advertising travel programs that would only send me information after sending in a deposit, I was nervous about the idea and my parents even more so. I knew I wanted to go, but I wasn't ready to go with an impersonal online program. Then I met Janet and learned about Friends of Little Field Home. She was extremely helpful about the travel process and even more passionate about her goals in Malawi. She made traveling to Malawi so comfortable. I had an amazing time on the trip (June 2010). I felt like I actually go to know the real Malawi, not just the tourist side of it like so many other travel programs offer. The kids were some of the most amazing children I have ever worked with. I always felt safe in the country- Malawi really is the "kind heart of Africa". I wouldn't trade the trip for anything. I returned in January 2011 and began to see the new projects that are taking place. Volunteering with LFH is really the best experience you could ask for in a nonprofit trip. FLFH is such a passionate and inspiring organization run by some of the most caring people I have met.
I volunteered with Friends of Littlefield at their orphanage in Malawi where they do amazing job in providing underprivileged orphans with housing, clothes, and emotional support. The home provides the children with necessary school supplies. Also, the home sponsors high school level orphans by providing them with tuition fees which is a major contributing factor to high school dropouts among the underprivileged. Also, the home helps in improving the health conditions of the Malawian rural communities through Sexually transmitted Diseases (STDs) awareness campaigns. Currently, the home is also working on providing the community they are serving with micro-loans to boost the community's economy.
Little Field Home is a light to the community in this part of Malawi. It provides medical care as well as food and shelter and education to orphaned children. Volunteers come not only to teach but to attend to the emotional needs of the children. It is easy to fall in love!
The summer of my Junior year in high school was when I traveled to Malawi, Africa. I was blown away, shocked, and thrilled. Arriving at the orphanage was a feeling that can only be expressed by actually being there. The orphans had no cell phones, lap tops, or even more than a few shirts to call their own. What they did have was clean water, a roof over their head, and hot meals. For them, this was enough, and that is what truly surprised me- having so little yet being so happy. Always thinking of Malawi, I often wonder why more people can't realize that material objects aren't important, and that it is friendship and love that really add to happiness. Please help maintain this happiness within these orphans by contributing to The Little Field Home so that the meals, clothes, and water do not come to an end. You'll be surprised by how much even a little of your time can help.
I founded this organization 7 years ago and this cause has become my passion, my drive, my life! We work incredibly hard collaboratively with the Malawians to come up with African solutions for the root causes of poverty. We want our work to be sustainable, and Malawian run and we are adapting constantly to the changes and needs to help solve problems in rural Malawi. We are working on prevention and reducing the factors that lead to extreme poverty. This focus has led us to develop programs in education (from early childhood to secondary school and college), health care (from transportation to the hospital to outreach and awareness about common illnesses), micro-finance (loans for cooperatives and women to allow families to have economic independence and earn an income), forest conservation (protection of one of the last remaining rainforests in sub-sahara Africa, and HIV/AIDS awareness. We all very much want to make a difference!
I met Janet and Bill this past year at Hebron Academy and slowly found out about the organization Janet had started over 5 years ago to help vulnerable children and their families in Malawi, Africa. I listened to fellow colleagues and current students tell their stories of what they experienced in Malawi and how much of an impact they had on the local community. I was convinced almost immediately that I wanted to travel there in the summer to help in the Ntchisi village with the FLFH new projects. I was considering entering the Peace Coprs after college but it was difficult to leave my position as a boarding school teacher and coach. Currently, I have been raising money with Team Little Field over the past few months while training for a marathon. I was shocked to see how many friends and family wanted to help donate or be a part of fundraisers once I told them what the FLFH has been doing over the past few years. It is a great organization with great people helping many, many people live better lives.
I am a board member and a donor who first learned about this nonprofit through an article in the newspaper. I invited the founders to talk to my college class, which led to student projects designed to help the organization and student interest in joining the group in Malawi. One student earned a prestigious fellowship from the college to go to Malawi and since that first student, others have followed. They find the experience transformative. The organization has been nimble and smart, making changes as needed to help Malawians to help themselves.
You will never find more heart out of the people that are involved in this organization. FLFH has found ways to adapt to make a lasting impact on both the people they help in Malawi and volunteers that join them on their travels.
I went to Malawi, Africa with the goal to teach children English, haul water, educate the community about HIV/AIDS and go on two unforgettable adventures to a Safari in Zambia and Lake Malawi. However, from the day that I arrived at The Little Field Home, the eighty some odd orphans taught me more than I ever thought I could learn. When I went to Malawi during three weeks of the summer of 2009, I went for the experience. I went to see what life was like under the poverty line, and to give back to a community. I also went to be selfless, to help those who needed it, and to improve the lives of others. Stepping foot in Chigamba Village was so much more than I had hoped for. The children have smiles from ear to ear despite their conditions, they are always willing to take a walk, to assist with doing laundry, help with hauling water and always interested in reading, writing and learning. When the tears were streaming down my face when I had to say good bye, I knew it would be a see-you-later. And that turned out to be accurate when I returned during the summer of 2010. These children became a part of my every day life to this day as their photographs take up the majority of my wall space, and their memories take over all those I had previously made from prior experiences.
I volunteered for a month in July in 2009 and it was an incredible experience. The home was well-managed, and all volunteers and workers involved seemed to have a really genuine commitment to the cause.
I traveled to the Little Field Home Orphanage for the month of July in 2009 which was the summer prior to my senior year in high school. To this day, I still connect my everyday life to my experiences in Malawi. The children at the Home are some of the most remarkable young people I have ever met. Their enthusiasm and positivity towards learning is unmatched. I have gained a perspective and appreciation for my own life. I also realized the incredible impact people can have on each other through kindness, patience and understanding. Malawians are in an tragic position when it comes to education and health care and the FLFH works hard and effectively to help improve the quality of life and opportunity for the orphans and community members. The FLFH changed my life and changes lives every day in Malawi.
I have now been to Malawi with FLFH twice. I went back in Summer 2008 for 3 weeks and then went back Summer 2010 and spent 2 months. I left the first summer knowing that I would always want to go back and do my part teaching English and continue to inform surrounding areas of HIV/AIDS. The people of Malawi are the nicest people in the world, after all it is the warm heart of Africa! These kids take everything they could possibly get from you. Every time they sit on your lap, get a hug or kiss, they embrace. They remember every moment spent with you and I learned that when I returned. Everyone remembered me.
The best thing about these kids is that they want to learn. They ask questions, and spend extra time for help. I hope to return to Malawi in the near future for a 3rd time and I know it will even be better than the last two.
I spent three weeks volunteering at the FLFH orphanage, and the experience has changed my life. The children are all incredibly beautiful souls and deserve much better lives than they can currently lead. Continued support for the organization is extremely necessary and I urge you to show kindness to these children, you can make a difference!
We have been investing through contributions to this venture for over seven years.
We have seen and met the volunteers, students and a couple of the orphans. the Littlefield home has raised the level of the quality of life of these orphans to levels I don't think they thoguht they could achieve.
We have also seen unbelievable growth of the voluteer who have journeyed to Malawi and comd back with quotes such as life changing experience.
This shows people can reach to higher peaks than they ever dreamed of attaining.
The organization has to brag more about what they have achieved and where they want to go at the next level.
Friends of Little Field Home has become a huge part of my life ever since I started volunteering for them and I am so happy. I originally started off as a 6-month volunteer through an internship program at my school. Now, I am about to prepare for my second 6-month trip with this organization. Friends of Little Field Home has an incredible mission to help the small country of Malawi, Africa. They not only want to help by donating and funding projects, but the organization continues to become a part of the community by interacting with the locals in such a unique way. They allow their volunteers to fully submerge themselves in the rich culture of Malawi which, personally, gave me a first-hand experience into the Malawian way of life. During my time there, I lived like a Malawian; I hauled water on my head, cooked with firewood, and lived with the very basic necessities. It was the most rewarding experience I have ever had the privilege to be a part of. I was given a lot of creative responsibility allowing me to make my own lesson plans for the children and to use my own ideas for specific projects. This is something that was very exciting to me. I can wholeheartedly say that this organization is definitely something to rave about and will always be a part of my life.
My name is ibrahim, one of the orphaned children from Malawi who have been taking care of by this organization, Little Field Home from 2005 to present. I got a scholarship to come to America to study at Hebron Academy in Maine through this organization. Am very happy for this organisation and i dont know how to thank this organization because they are doing a lot of things to me. Donate to this organization to help us have good future. GOD BE WITH YOU ALL FOR CHANGING LIVES OF ORPHAN CHILDREN through this organization.
Friends of Little Field Home is an outstanding organization. The organization's goals have expanded from helping individual orphans in the local Malawian community to designing and implementing programs that will benefit the entire community by providing employment to the most poverty stricken areas. In addition, Friends of Little Field Home helps to reduce the number of orphans through family planning and HIV awareness, as well as providing a solid education so that young girls build their self-confidence and will choose not to have children at a very young age.
I went in summer of 2008 with a friend to help start a medical clinic at the orphanage. What I found was incredible; after an ordeal to get there, we stepped out of our vehicle to find 60 beautiful children circling around us. With the sun setting over the horizon these children smiled, danced and sang these simple words; "we are happy, we are happy, we are happy today". I looked around and saw the faces of fellow volunteers and the founder, who I had never met. The common thread were tears. Raw emotion, love bleeding out, hope in the air. The weeks that followed transformed me from a volunteer to an advocate. With education and some support we give these children a chance at a productive life and the opportunity to step up and help themselves and their community. My wife and I personally sponsor a family of seven; we invite you to join us in supporting Janet, Bill and the entire Little Field Home mission. Check out the website for more info; www.littlefieldhome.org
I think our organization is unique in how we operate. We have developed a collaborative program with not only our partner committee in M'Pamila, but also with other community committees to ensure our programs are being run properly and that they are effective. This system has allowed a greater amount of people from the community to be involved in program development, and program assessment. While we do have direct oversight from our Organization for all of our programs, it is very important to us to have our programs being run and evaluated by the community members who are most impacted by the programs. The only way in which this system works is if there is a strong communication line between all the committees, and with our organization. We feel lucky that this type of communication exists.
Friends of Little Field Home is an amazing experience. Not only do you get the opportunity to see the animals you love on a Safari in Zambia and visit the beautiful Lake Malawi you get to immerse yourself in a culture completely out of your comfort zone. You are able to challenge yourself and grow as a person. My experience with Little Field Home is one that will change my life and the way I view things forever. For 3 days you live with a family in the village living the way they live. The rest of the time is spent living with other volunteers and everyday waking up to love orphaned children, teaching and educating in order to help them see opportunities in their future. Don't miss such an amazing opportunity for yourself.