Children with disabilities in the poor areas of rural Malawi have little access to healthcare, diagnosis or therapy to support their needs. Whilst some free healthcare is available in Malawi, families can often not afford to take their children to the hospitals to receive this.

Having a child with a disability means families can be stigmatised and may find it difficult to find work or support within their community. In addition to this, caring for a child with disabilities often means that one parent is unable to work or farm their land, resulting in increased financial difficulties for the family.

The Heart of Mercy team visit families in their homes, spreading love and acceptance and reducing stigma for these children. They help support families with some basic therapy programmes for their children. They are also helping to develop income generating projects to help financially support the families, to better be able to cope with their disabled child

Whilst the Heart of Mercy team have made a huge difference to the social acceptance of children with disabilities, their impact is limited by the time required to travel to each house. They have always dreamt of having a centre that children with disabilities can come along to, in order to receive food, care and basic education and therapy. In this way, more children can be assisted each day and they can also come together to make friends and meet peers with similar difficulties.