FEEDING CHILDREN

Earlier in the year there was severe hunger in much of Malawi due to failure of the rains, with numbers of people dying. Thanks to a very generous response to our request for funding, MACS was able to send over £24,000 to help with a variety of feeding programmes.

People were well organised in buying and transporting food to the most needy areas, arranging distribution and setting up school feeding programmes. Meticulous accounts have been received showing how funds were spent. Archdeacon Auster Kalilombe wrote “The beneficiaries are very thankful for the food that MACS has given them at the critical stage of hunger.”
 

Stirring for the School Feeding Programme

Some of the beneficiaries

Children receiving a meal at one of the many schools in the badly hit Southern Region.

Chilema Lay Training centre

This is an ecumenical centre providing a wide range of courses for lay people. Courses are either residential at the centre, or non-residential when staff go out and run courses in local centres. MACS recently helped to fund a six-month training course for 28 women. Subjects covered in the course included agriculture, food and nutrition, communication, business management, home management, child protection and development and tailoring.

Cabbages and


certificates

Chizunga community library

Chizunga is in the Lower Shire area approximately 80Kms from the nearest library in Blantyre. MACS has supported the local community’s initiative by providing funds for a building to house a community library.

The building comprises an office for the librarian, an adult section accommodating reference and reading books and a children’s section to include shelving, browsing box and reading space. Work was badly affected by the hunger situation but the communities around Chizunga are now proudly smiling because the building is up and roofed.

Oxygen Concentrators

HIV/AIDS Orphans

There are estimated to be 700,000 orphans in Malawi whose parents have died from AIDS. The photograph below was taken at Mtonda but it could have been taken in almost any village. It is inspiring to see how local communities are struggling to care for the orphans in their midst against overwhelming odds. The Mothers’ Union often plays a leading role in this.

A number of Orphan Care groups are ecumenical and include representatives from all sections of the community. Many requests for support are received, often to help with a basic building for a nursery which is also used for counselling and workshops.

Always there is considerable self-help from the community in providing bricks, sand and labour. MACS has recently helped five such projects but has been unable to assist others due to lack of funds.

Orphans in one village

Learning tailoring at Lisuli

Older orphans are helped to learn income generating skills such as tailoring, carpentry, tinsmithing, knitting and cobbling. Approximately 15% of adults are in paid employment, so these skills are important.

The needs of the thousands of orphans are endless, especially as grandparents, who often find themselves looking after large numbers of orphans, are dying from old age.

Now working as a cobbler

Every term, funds permitting, MACS provides bursaries for students in secondary school – primary schools are free – and most of those helped are orphans.

Matope Health Centre

Matope is the name of a village and parish centre on the edge of the Shire River. The name means ‘mud’ and the wet conditions produce some of the most numerous and active mosquitoes in the country. There is also much human activity in the school, health centre and congregation.

New water tank

A solar-powered pump brings water from the river to high-level tanks. The first generation of tanks developed leaks and much of the piping supplying the water from the river was also suffering from ageing. MACS funded the rehabilitation of the water supply and provided a new tank.

Also through MACS a new labour / maternity ward has recently been completed.

New Labour / Maternity ward



Mr Mzokomera Mrs Chowa Dr de Graaf

Mr Mzokomera is the experienced contractor who has supervised the installation of the new water tank and the building of the new ward.

Mrs Chowa is the Matron of St Luke’s Hospital and Dr De Graaf, a VSO doctor from the Netherlands, is the Medical Officer looking after St Luke’s Hospital, its eight scattered health centres and St Martin’s Hospital at Malindi.
 

Various

Some of the support recently provided by MACS includes:
• Nkope Hostel for the Blind The Revd Kodwani writes: I thank you for the money sent for the students. As the students face many difficulties finding money for support, we bought food, groceries and kitchen utensils for a start. With the next funding we plan to buy maize for future use. Currently the number of students is ten but hopefully the number can be increased;
• Lubagha Primary School, Rumphi - a classroom block and toilets; people have made thousands of bricks and collected sand and broken stones;
• Churches at Katimbira in Bua and Mankhaha in Chipata - like all churches, these buildings are used throughout the week for various community activities
• a computer for the Accountant in the Diocese of Upper Shire

Keeping the accounts
 

Visit A group of nine people from St Alban’s Parish in North Harrow recently spent two weeks in Malawi visiting church medical and education work and congregations. They returned impressed by the people they met and the support provided by MACS. SUPPORTING PEOPLE IN MALAWI THROUGH MACS