Madzi = Moyo!
Water equals life! A popular slogan in Malawi and it’s so very true. Water is an essential commodity, required for drinking, washing, cleaning, for animals and crops. Often when there’s a shortage, people become ill and may die.
At Kombola, a village where the Malawi Project is operating, a reliable source of water was a major problem. Villagers collected water from the river which was around an hour’s walk away. The river water was often dirty and certainly not safe to drink, but with no alternative, villagers made do with it.
In the dry season things were even worse....the river dried up completely, holes would be dug in the river in the hope of finding an underground source. Quite often they had to dig down more than a metre to find water. The larger families were forced to collect water many times each day.
However, things have now changed! Bennet writes -
"I am very delighted to let you know at long last our dear brothers and sisters in Milepa have access to good water to drink now that the borehole has been drilled. Glory be to God."
Thanks to your generosity, Malawi Project has been able to drill a new borehole in Kombola Village.
The borehole has been drilled to a depth of 40 metres ensuring a reliable source of clean water all year round. The new pump is located in the village centre and helps everyone in the village by reducing the distance that water has to be carried.
In addition the Project repaired boreholes in two of the neighbouring villages. Those boreholes had been drilled many years ago but when the pumps stopped working the locals didn’t know how to repair them and reverted back to collecting water from the rivers again......water equals life!
Once the engineers completed drilling the new borehole at Kombola, the Project arranged for them to repair the two faulty boreholes providing these areas with clean water as well.
At all three sites volunteers living near the boreholes are being trained in how to look after and maintain them including carrying repairs if anything goes wrong. We are hopeful that this proactive preventative approach will provide the villagers with reliable clean water for many years to come.
Friday, 13 March 2009
Chicken Project - Matawere Village, Mulange District
Matawere is a village near the town of Mulanje where one of the churches meets. It lies under the shadow of beautiful Mount Mulanje, but in spite of the beauty of its location, life there is hard. Almost everybody who lives there is a subsistence farmer, but most do not have a great deal of land to grow the crops they need. Hunger is a danger never far from people’s minds. People are looking for, but rarely find, additional means to generate income so that they can make ends meet.
One way of helping the farmers deal with these tough conditions came in the form of the humble chicken. It doesn’t take much ground to put up a hen house, the eggs add protein to the diet if eaten and they can also be sold locally to bring in some money.
Not only chickens, but a provider of education on how to keep them had to be found. The government’s veterinary department had the answer. What the UK3 knew about this subject didn’t amount to much, but long-standing friend Neville Coomer of Buckhaven was able to supply useful questions to ask. His many years of farming birds allowed us to work out what we needed to know very quickly. A special mention here must also go to a man called Mr Mwape, one of the most helpful and kindly of all the government officials we dealt with during the year.
A genuine extra mile Christian, he was at his office sourcing materials for us when visibly ill with malaria. His condition was so bad that he was transported home in the newly purchased mobile clinic vehicle, thus unofficially becoming its first patient passenger!
Families from the church and other needy families in the community went on a training course in poultry-keeping, run by the government. Our intrepid birdmen (and women) were taught not only how to build the hen houses and look after the birds, but crucially how to market the eggs and keep records of what was produced. The group was then split into two batches so that the second lot could observe the experiences of the first and learn from them. Thanks to your donations, materials for building these brick and thatch henhouses (or ‘kholas’ as they are called)
were delivered. The farmers built them readily and now at last the birds have been supplied.
Please join us in praying that the birds may be kept from disease and predators and will lay sufficient eggs to meet the needs of these families.
One way of helping the farmers deal with these tough conditions came in the form of the humble chicken. It doesn’t take much ground to put up a hen house, the eggs add protein to the diet if eaten and they can also be sold locally to bring in some money.
Not only chickens, but a provider of education on how to keep them had to be found. The government’s veterinary department had the answer. What the UK3 knew about this subject didn’t amount to much, but long-standing friend Neville Coomer of Buckhaven was able to supply useful questions to ask. His many years of farming birds allowed us to work out what we needed to know very quickly. A special mention here must also go to a man called Mr Mwape, one of the most helpful and kindly of all the government officials we dealt with during the year.
A genuine extra mile Christian, he was at his office sourcing materials for us when visibly ill with malaria. His condition was so bad that he was transported home in the newly purchased mobile clinic vehicle, thus unofficially becoming its first patient passenger!
Families from the church and other needy families in the community went on a training course in poultry-keeping, run by the government. Our intrepid birdmen (and women) were taught not only how to build the hen houses and look after the birds, but crucially how to market the eggs and keep records of what was produced. The group was then split into two batches so that the second lot could observe the experiences of the first and learn from them. Thanks to your donations, materials for building these brick and thatch henhouses (or ‘kholas’ as they are called)
were delivered. The farmers built them readily and now at last the birds have been supplied.
Please join us in praying that the birds may be kept from disease and predators and will lay sufficient eggs to meet the needs of these families.
Orphan Day Care Centre - Ndirande, Blantyre
Ndirande is a huge shanty town on the outskirts of Blantyre. It is an unplanned settlement, meaning there is no rubbish collection or sewage system and the houses are built very close together. It is a particularly poor part of Blantyre, but has the largest Church of God in Malawi!
As with most African countries, HIV and other health issues are common in Malawi, many adults die young, as a result children are orphaned.
The Church of God in Ndirande were extremely concerned with the number of orphans and other vulnerable children living near the church.
Most orphaned children are taken in by grandparents or extended family, but often there is not enough food to go round, with adults constantly looking for work, the children are at home alone.
The church quickly came up with a solution, they wanted to somehow help these vulnerable children.
In February 2008, the Orphan Day Care Centre opened its doors in the church hall in Ndirande.
Three ladies in the church were sent on a childcare course and now work full time running the centre which at present cares for 22 children. The children arrive at 7.30 each morning and remain there until 2pm. What’s important is that they get two nutritious meals and have a full programme of games, crafts, songs and Bible stories. Most of all they are loved and cared for in a safe environment.
New Plans
The church hall in Ndirande is too small. On a Sunday morning about 100 people try and fit into the hall and it is a tight squeeze! The hall is used during the week for the Orphan Day Care Centre.
Land nearby has been purchased to build a new hall, it’s a 5 minute walk from the existing hall.
Work is underway and once completed the Orphan Day Care Centre will move there too providing children with the much needed extra space to play.
The larger hall would enable us to consider taking up to 60 children, with so many orphans in the area, this would be a welcome development.
As with most African countries, HIV and other health issues are common in Malawi, many adults die young, as a result children are orphaned.
The Church of God in Ndirande were extremely concerned with the number of orphans and other vulnerable children living near the church.
Most orphaned children are taken in by grandparents or extended family, but often there is not enough food to go round, with adults constantly looking for work, the children are at home alone.
The church quickly came up with a solution, they wanted to somehow help these vulnerable children.
In February 2008, the Orphan Day Care Centre opened its doors in the church hall in Ndirande.
Three ladies in the church were sent on a childcare course and now work full time running the centre which at present cares for 22 children. The children arrive at 7.30 each morning and remain there until 2pm. What’s important is that they get two nutritious meals and have a full programme of games, crafts, songs and Bible stories. Most of all they are loved and cared for in a safe environment.
New Plans
The church hall in Ndirande is too small. On a Sunday morning about 100 people try and fit into the hall and it is a tight squeeze! The hall is used during the week for the Orphan Day Care Centre.
Land nearby has been purchased to build a new hall, it’s a 5 minute walk from the existing hall.
Work is underway and once completed the Orphan Day Care Centre will move there too providing children with the much needed extra space to play.
The larger hall would enable us to consider taking up to 60 children, with so many orphans in the area, this would be a welcome development.
Farming Project - Solomoni Village, Ntcheu District
Malawi Project Team met with the Church of God in Solomoni Village. It had been reported that it was very common for villagers to run out of food, when this happened all they could do was just drink water!
Almost everyone in the church is a subsistence farmer, although they have their own land, sadly do not have the resources or experience to productively farm it.
The birth of the ‘farming project’, involving 50 farmers, including the local Church of God and vulnerable families living locally.
The Project arranged for local Agricultural Dept staff to visit and train farmers to grow crops more productively. Farmers were supplied with maize, cassava, soya, groundnut seed and fertiliser, which had to be transported to Solomoni, 16km along dirt roads from the main tarmac road. Crossing rivers without bridges was no mean task and involved a few complicated detours!
The farmers were of course very grateful, in particular Bennet Ntambalika (Ndirande) worked for 27 hours without sleep on one journey ensuring that the supplies reached the farmers.
The rains this year have been particularly heavy resulting in a poor maize harvest. Although yield has not increased as dramatically as hoped, new techniques, good fertiliser and high quality seed meant the yield was significantly higher from all involved in the farming project than the crops of others.
The harvest was on par with that of previous good seasons, the improved quality of supplies had certainly helped. In addition, farmers are now growing new crops such as soya, cassava and groundnut, all of which help to improve nutrition generally.
An important aspect was teaching farmers how to select seed to plant next year and producing compost, another benefit for the future.
The initial project farmers have saved seed which, with their new found knowledge will be passed on to other families in the village ensuring the benefits spread.
Here’s what some of them have said:
"This project helped many families here"
"We want to send our thanks and tell people elsewhere that we are happy"
"Every family has enough to eat, so we are happy"
Almost everyone in the church is a subsistence farmer, although they have their own land, sadly do not have the resources or experience to productively farm it.
The birth of the ‘farming project’, involving 50 farmers, including the local Church of God and vulnerable families living locally.
The Project arranged for local Agricultural Dept staff to visit and train farmers to grow crops more productively. Farmers were supplied with maize, cassava, soya, groundnut seed and fertiliser, which had to be transported to Solomoni, 16km along dirt roads from the main tarmac road. Crossing rivers without bridges was no mean task and involved a few complicated detours!
The farmers were of course very grateful, in particular Bennet Ntambalika (Ndirande) worked for 27 hours without sleep on one journey ensuring that the supplies reached the farmers.
The rains this year have been particularly heavy resulting in a poor maize harvest. Although yield has not increased as dramatically as hoped, new techniques, good fertiliser and high quality seed meant the yield was significantly higher from all involved in the farming project than the crops of others.
The harvest was on par with that of previous good seasons, the improved quality of supplies had certainly helped. In addition, farmers are now growing new crops such as soya, cassava and groundnut, all of which help to improve nutrition generally.
An important aspect was teaching farmers how to select seed to plant next year and producing compost, another benefit for the future.
The initial project farmers have saved seed which, with their new found knowledge will be passed on to other families in the village ensuring the benefits spread.
Here’s what some of them have said:
"This project helped many families here"
"We want to send our thanks and tell people elsewhere that we are happy"
"Every family has enough to eat, so we are happy"
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