On a mission for Malawi children

Jillian Wolstein, whose family is known for building lifestyles in the U.S., is becoming known for helping build the lives of poverty-stricken children in Africa.

Since May 2006, Wolstein has traveled six times to Malawi, a region in Southeastern Africa. During each visit, she checks the progress of the Nanthomba School. Through her H.E.L.P. Malawi Foundation, she has helped build the school for homeless orphans and village children.

On her last visit there, villagers in a rural Malawian settlement presented Wolstein with a bag of rice and a plate of hot potatoes. These offerings, precious to them, demonstrated their gratitude for the Clevelander’s generosity.

Wolstein’s philanthropic journey began in April 2006, when her family completed its second African safari.

“After seeing the poverty in Kenya and Botswana, I realized it would be hard to go back to the life I was leading,” says the Pepper Pike resident. “I have been so blessed; I wanted to balance the karma. I was determined that our family would use our resources to help where we could.”
Shortly after returning from Africa, Wolstein received an e-mail from the Kabbalah foundation in Los Angeles, describing its mission to Malawi to build a school for orphans.

“I thought this was the sign I was waiting for,” she recalls.

Wolstein immediately e-mailed back with an offer for a major contribution. “I waited several weeks to hear back and then only got a form e-mail,” she explains. “I knew I had to take it from there.”

Wolstein did her homework and sensed this was an area where she could devote her time, money and heart. “The country’s poverty stemmed from natural disasters like drought, not from internal warfare,” she says. “I learned that over one million children in Malawi are homeless, uneducated orphans whose parents died of HIV/AIDS.”

Next, Wolstein got in touch with Wilderness Safaris, known for its conservation efforts and generosity to native communities. “They have five lodges in Malawi,” she explains. “At one lodge, the bartender and manager, relying on donations from guests, had started a very small school for village orphans.”

The school was a primitive, open-air building with a thatched roof and mud floor. Wolstein toured it on her first trip to Malawi in May 2006. “I knew this is where I needed to begin,” she says. “I fell in love with the amazing, bright children I met at the school and in the villages. Malawi means ‘warm heart of Africa,’ and I sensed the gentleness and the kindness of everyone I met.”

Wolstein returned to Cleveland and created the H.E.L.P. Malawi Foundation. In partnership with Wilderness Safaris, she quickly raised funds to build the Nanthomba School, located near Liwonde National Park.

Today 600 children are enrolled in the newly constructed brick school. There is also housing for eight teachers and newly built, sturdy latrines.

“Villagers are now moving to the area so their children can attend this school,” says Wolstein. With the blessings of the Malawi Ministry of Education, H.E.L.P. Foundation also pays for books, meals, furniture and clothing for the students.

“To date, we have raised $200,000, which goes very far in Africa,” says Wolstein.

Major contributors are The Wolstein Family Foundation, which donated $70,000. Wolstein’s friend, Pepper Pike jeweler Lori Leavitt, designed the Panthera Collection, jewelry inspired by a vintage lion cufflink. All the profits from the collection, totaling $50,000 to date, are donated to H.E.L.P. Malawi Foundation. The collection was introduced at a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles in April.

Leavitt will join 22 other people traveling to Malawi with Wolstein the end of September. “I’m very excited about going to Africa,” says the mother of five. “My husband made me promise I would not bring any orphaned children home.”

Wolstein also partnered with designers Max Azria (bcbgmaxazria) and Vlekkie Louw, photographer Richard Coke, and Discover Africa travel agency to raise money for the cause. Even Wolstein’s daughter Shelby got into the act. At her bat mitzvah last year, in lieu of gifts, she asked guests to make donations to the H.E.L.P. Malawi Foundation and raised $30,000.

The foundation is now taking over construction of a half-finished medical clinic located near the school. MedWish International agreed to stock the clinic with much-needed medical supplies.

“A medical brigade of MedWish volunteers will come to the area to provide health care for the children,” explains Wolstein. The average life expectancy is 35 years in Malawi. “Malaria takes the young ones, and AIDS takes the rest.”
Having found her “life’s mission,” Wolstein has encouraged her four children to follow her lead. So far, three of them have accompanied her on the 19-hour flight to Malawi this past year.

Harrison Wolstein, 17, a jazz guitarist, brought his guitar to the village, where he befriended Joseph, a gifted musician. During the visit, Harrison traded his American guitar for Joseph’s guitar, made from an oil can and strings. “They began jamming together immediately,” says Wolstein.

Last May, Merrick Wolstein, 12, conducted a clothing drive at University School and sent 10 boxes of clothes and books to Malawi. Ilana Wolstein, 16, will accompany her mother to Malawi in November. Last year, she co-chaired a children’s benefit for Darfur.

Currently H.E.L.P. Malawi is raising funds to buy a generator for the Nanthomba School. “Children will have a nutritious breakfast each morning because we will have a refrigerator to store eggs, butter and milk,” says Wolstein.

The foundation is also looking for land for a secondary school. “It would be so sad to give the children a taste of a good education and end it in the primary grades,” she says. “They deserve more. Then the brightest will be able to go on to university. When they do, we will scholarship them all.”

After numerous trips to the area, Wolstein is gratified by the reception she now receives from Malawian natives. “When I first came, they thought I was just one more white woman visiting the country, looking for a photo op,” she says. “Now when I arrive, I am greeted as a true friend. The villagers have even given me a name in their native tongue. It translates to ‘Mercy.’ I like that.”