MhEST awards street-connected children

Mlambe Health and Social Trust (MhEST) on Saturday, 8 June 2019 held Behaviour Modification Awards aimed at rewarding model and exemplary street-connected children affiliated with the organisation.

The awards, whose ceremony took place at the MhEST Resource Center, were designed to encourage positive behavioural change among the children, with the criteria taking into account their conduct throughout the first half of the year.

MhEST Executive Director Dr. Zahra Ismail (Right) carries one of the award winners Christopher Steven

MhEST Social Worker Louis Malajira said: “Since January, we’ve been observing and encouraging these children in so many aspects of their lives, so we organised these awards as one way of appreciating the things these children have been doing.

“They’ve been showing good behaviour, they’ve been doing well in school, they’ve been showing good manners to MhEST staff and their fellow kids, so as social workers we’re very happy because it means we’ve achieved what we wanted to achieve.

“It’s really a plus for us and I just want to commend these children and encourage them to work hard and continue behaving well so that in the near future we may organise a similar event in order to continue appreciating and encouraging them to show positive behaviour.”

MhEST Psychiatric Nurse Doreen Bukani speaks during the awards ceremony

MhEST Psychiatrist Nurse Doreen Bukani said: “These rewards were given as a form of behaviour modification. You may be aware that our children have been living in the streets for a long time with no one to correct their behaviour. As a result, they could just behave anyhow, maybe being aggressive or talking badly to other children or even adults, so we’re trying to change that kind of behaviour.

“We only gave awards to those children that have changed after several sessions of counselling, maybe group therapy and just advice from the social workers here at the Center. Some people that were very aggressive at least have not been as aggressive maybe for the last three months.

“That is something. It may look small to us, but that is a very big step taken by the children, so we just wanted to encourage them so that maybe they can sustain their good behaviour maybe for another three months.”

Multiple award winner Yamikani Banda (Centre) shows off one of his many prizes

The awards were split into different categories namely; regular school goers, good performers at school, those who attend most Center activities, those who clean their surrounding without effort from staff, those who are clean and presentable while at the Center, those showing positive behaviour from unbecoming behaviour and the golden child award for the best overall child in the first part of 2019.

Mlambe Health and Social Trust, whose mandate is to alleviate vulnerability and poverty, has 57 registered children at the MhEST Resource Center, 32 of which are enrolled in various primary schools in Zomba.

One of the Most Improved Behaviour winners Hussein Cassim (Centre) shows off his new coat

Below is the full list of winners and their rewards in various categories of the Behaviour Modification Awards