The Caring Hand
Posted on | August 28, 2010
Nkhota Bay, Malawi … This report comes from northern Malawi near the big lake, Lake Malawi. This lake is the 12th largest fresh water lake in the world. Nkhota Bay is situated east of the capital of the northern part of Malawi, Mzuzu, and sits beside the lake in the Nkhota District. This district in the far northern part of the nation, while the Namikango Mission is deep in the southern part of the nation.
Nkhota Bay is the home of sixty-year-old L. Chimota, a physically challenged man whose legs became paralyzed when he was seven years of age. The illness that followed was unknown to him. The only thing he knew was that he would henceforth craw in the dust, or be carried by his relatives.
When he grew up he moved to Mzuzu City in search of some sort of opportunities.
“Unlike many physically challenged people who stand around near big shops in town waiting for a hand out, Chimota spends his days beside the buildings at the Shopping Center’s veranda sewing and patching-up people’s worn out clothes for his food and wages. Quite to the contrary, instead of waiting for help, he amazingly extends his hand to reach out to others who need help. He was just born a hard worker,” Yunusu Mataka explained about him. Mataka works at the Namikango Mission in Thondwe, and it was he who took the wheelchair on the long trip north in order to deliver it to Chimota.
Mataka continues his report, “In 2009 his wheelchair was broken beyond repair. This rendered the big man destitute. As the family’s breadwinner, Chimota experienced and was forced to spend some of the little money he could make daily to board a bus to and from work. Efforts to find assistance from organizations such as Malawi Against Polio (MAP) and MACOHA to obtain a wheelchair proved futile. They all had no wheelchair in stock to help him with. At MAP northern region headquarters, his request just piled up in a large group of requests. He was told MAP only had pieces of broken wheelchairs that could cost over MK30,000.00. That would be equal to $200.00 American dollars. He couldn’t raise that much. He gave up.”
However, that wasn’t the end of him. God opened another door through the Malawi Project Inc., in corroboration with the Free Wheelchair Mission. They jointly shipped a new wheelchair for the old man to use. When the wheelchair arrived at the Namikango Mission, one of the workers, knowing the predicament of Mr. L Chimoto ensured that he would benefit. He took the wheelchair for the long journey north just so the old man would be able to move, work and help his family.
As Chimota watched Yunusu Mataka leave that day for the return trip to Namikango, his life had witnessed God’s Hand opening another door for him and his future. He can now go to his business and make a little money for his family’s survival. He can go to the church and worship. He can once again go out and chat with his friends. As he smiles, Chimota has been assured of the caring Hand of God.
- Wilson Tembo and Richard Stephens
Another Door Has Popped Open
Nkhota Bay, Malawi … This report comes from northern Malawi near the big lake, Lake Malawi. This lake is the 12th largest fresh water lake in the world. Nkhota Bay is situated east of the capital of the northern part of Malawi, Mzuzu, and sits beside the lake in the Nkhota District. This district in the far northern part of the nation, while the Namikango Mission is deep in the southern part of the nation.
Nkhota Bay is the home of sixty-year-old L. Chimota, a physically challenged man whose legs became paralyzed when he was seven years of age. The illness that followed was unknown to him. The only thing he knew was that he would henceforth craw in the dust, or be carried by his relatives.
When he grew up he moved to Mzuzu City in search of some sort of opportunities.
“Unlike many physically challenged people who stand around near big shops in town waiting for a hand out, Chimota spends his days beside the buildings at the Shopping Center’s veranda sewing and patching-up people’s worn out clothes for his food and wages. Quite to the contrary, instead of waiting for help, he amazingly extends his hand to reach out to others who need help. He was just born a hard worker,” Yunusu Mataka explained about him. Mataka works at the Namikango Mission in Thondwe, and it was he who took the wheelchair on the long trip north in order to deliver it to Chimota.
Mataka continues his report, “In 2009 his wheelchair was broken beyond repair. This rendered the big man destitute. As the family’s breadwinner, Chimota experienced and was forced to spend some of the little money he could make daily to board a bus to and from work. Efforts to find assistance from organizations such as Malawi Against Polio (MAP) and MACOHA to obtain a wheelchair proved futile. They all had no wheelchair in stock to help him with. At MAP northern region headquarters, his request just piled up in a large group of requests. He was told MAP only had pieces of broken wheelchairs that could cost over MK30,000.00. That would be equal to $200.00 American dollars. He couldn’t raise that much. He gave up.”
However, that wasn’t the end of him. God opened another door through the Malawi Project Inc., in corroboration with the Free Wheelchair Mission. They jointly shipped a new wheelchair for the old man to use. When the wheelchair arrived at the Namikango Mission, one of the workers, knowing the predicament of Mr. L Chimoto ensured that he would benefit. He took the wheelchair for the long journey north just so the old man would be able to move, work and help his family.
As Chimota watched Yunusu Mataka leave that day for the return trip to Namikango, his life had witnessed God’s Hand opening another door for him and his future. He can now go to his business and make a little money for his family’s survival. He can go to the church and worship. He can once again go out and chat with his friends. As he smiles, Chimota has been assured of the caring Hand of God.
- Wilson Tembo and Richard Stephens
Scaffolding Question
Posted on | August 16, 2010
Lilongwe … Construction in Malawi seems strange, mysterious – even dangerous to the westerner.
On the way to Blantyre we saw the most unbelievable site off to the right. A new office building is under construction, and a combination of flimsy “sticks and poles” seems to be clinging to the outer walls of the structure. A closer examination indicates the “sticks and poles” are actually the scaffolding used by the construction workers while building the structure. Brent Gourley, a recent visitor from Indiana asked, “How in the world does this flimsy structure hold itself up, let alone allow the workmen to move easily along its framework?”
This same type of construction scene is also seen with a much smaller two-story home on the north side of the city. In fact this method of construction is so common that Malawians do not even take notice. How in the world does this remain standing? Here are a few views of the construction method followed by a closeup view that answers the question – “how does this building remain standing?”:
Scaffolding Around Large Malawi Residence
Side view of Scaffolding
The answer! One of the poles goes right through the wall and sticks into the inside room. This is what is holding the scaffolding in place. It is actually cemented through the wall. It is that way all the way around the building. When the construction is complete, and it is time to “take down” the scaffolding, the pieces cemented through the wall are simply cut off, and the part through the wall is covered over. No one will ever know there are pieces of wood buried in the outer wall of the house that were once part of the scaffolding used to construct the building.
Charles Nkuzeni Broadens Horizon
Posted on | July 26, 2010
Imagine …
…spending each hour of every day of your 4o year life confined to a remote African village.
…crawling through its dust wherever you
… lying at the same doorstep
Sitela Village, Malawi … it was a busy day with a tight schedule at the Namikango Mission in southern Malawi. A major increase in requests for wheelchairs has continued to pour in. Though responses to the requests are simple and straightforward the biggest problem is having enough funding to transport the chairs from the Mission to the needy. The physically challenged people in the remote areas cannot make it to the mission to get a wheelchair. It is hard to image, if you can walk easily, what it means for a physically challenged person to cover a ten-kilometer distance without help.
We followed a winding, steep, and narrow road that cuts through the two hills, Mitumbu to the east and Mingozi to the west. Before crossing a small bridge over Milombozi stream, we enter the village of Sandeni. It is under the jurisdiction of Traditional Authority Chitera-Chiladzulu district, and is located south west of Namikango. The village is situated in a fertile valley, where the villagers spend much of their time faming. The green cover of a sugar cane plantation, and vegetable gardens growing all along the small stream are evident. The village is approximately 10 kilometers south west of the Mission, but who can crawl 10 kilometers to get a much-needed wheelchair?
As we moved along the path and approached the village, a crowd was patiently waiting down the steep side of the hill. Little did we know that all of them were all physically challenged? They all have varied challenges, none can walk, and some have hearing-impairments and others cannot speak. My eyes sought out Mr. Charles Nkuzeni, 40. He was the man we had come to see. He was sitting directly opposite the place from where we were descending, Charles showed some confidence, and was probably sure he would get a much-needed wheelchair. He comes from Sitela Village of Traditional Authority Chitera in Chiladzulu District. If he wants to move, Charles has to crawl in the dust. His horizon, or the extent of his travels has only been a distance of 200 meters since he was born. The furthest he can go is the nearest hospital, and even then he must be picked on a neighbor’s bike to get medical attention. Otherwise he is locked up in this tiny village day in and day out all year round. On this day Charles would not be disappointed. He was at the top of the list.
As he sat on the wheelchair for the first time ever, he could say nothing except to show a simple smile that spoke louder than any word.
Supplies Touch Malawi Inmates
Posted on | July 20, 2010
Wheelchairs and Medical Supplies into Malawi Prisons
Malawi Prison Services, Zomba, Malawi… The program started at 10 am, with the turning over of medical supplies, equipment, and wheelchairs to the Prison Service in Zomba. The Chief Commissioner for Malawi’s Prison System was in attendance at the function. It was the fifth donation of medical supplies from Namikango Mission with support from the Malawi Project to the prison, and it was carried on nationwide television.
One day earlier two board members from the Malawi Project, and two other church members from Indiana, visited the Zomba Central Maximum Prison. During the visit they came face to face with the need, and the problems faced by the Prison officials in trying to care for the prison population. The Medical Director for the Project made note, “Our eyes have been opened to the great need for assistance to the Prison System through our visit to this location.” Her comments came after seeing the conditions inside the prison, and the uncultivated field where there was no farm equipment with which to till the crops.
In recent years the Malawi Project has concentrated in supplying medical supplies to government hospitals, but little if any of these supplies reached the prison system. Members of the American team were surprised to see so many children behind the fenced in prison. They are the children of the inmates, and their home address is Zomba Prison. Unlike the inmates who have committed crimes that put them in this place, these children have done nothing to merit being locked inside these walls. They need basic education. The prison service provides some service to the children whose mothers are inmates, but these are not nearly enough. They need toys, books, pencils, clothes, food and love if they are to become fruitful citizens of the country. It was a timely donation that included toys, as well as medical supplies and wheelchairs.
In his remarks during the handing over ceremony, the Prisons Chief Commissioner, Mr. MacDonald Chaona, could not hide his excitement, as he could for see inmates’ lives being touched. “We experience a lot of problems in the prison, and our vision is to ensure that conditions are improved. Our experience tells us that some of our prisoners must be carried on the backs of others in order to even reach the prison hospital. The government is not able to provide each of the prisons with enough wheelchairs. With the donation of wheelchairs it means our prisoners will no longer be carried on someone’s back to and from the hospital when they are sick. Those who are physically challenged will using wheelchairs.”
According to prisons officials, Malawi has a total of thirty-two prisons, and each one has a health center where inmates have access to some degree of health care. Zomba Central Prison is the oldest, and largest, with a population of 2,000 inmates. Like any one else these prisoners need good health service, food, mobility, and love. Recognizing this need the Malawi Project, through the Namikango Mission, has donated thirty-two wheelchairs, assorted medical supplies, equipment and toys.
Namikango Missions’ Bisani Mphongolo said, “Our belief is that as a Church we have people in prison who are brothers and sisters. These people are inmates, but they are not outcasts. God loves them as He loves us. These supplies will help improve their living standards.”
Wilson Isaac Tembo and Richard Stephens
Mosquito Bite to Disability – Agnes Leman
Posted on | July 12, 2010
It is winter in a small African country of Malawi, and almost noon as we drive south to pick a guide. Our plans are to visit Agnes Leman, an 18-year-old girl who cannot walk. The trip must not be cancelled, as the impact that a wheelchair can make needs to be seen by the American team that arrived at Namikango Mission earlier in the day. We wait patiently for the guide, time ticking slowly away. Finally Mr. Thawani arrives with an apology for a break down with his motorcycle. Four kilometers from the Mission, we leave the tarmac and turn east along a dusty, but passable road that leads to Gagaso village, a tiny group of houses in the Ulumba hills, under Traditional Authority Chikowi-Zomba district. The house is well away from the tarmac road that connects the commercial city of Blantyre with Zomba, Malawi’s former capital.
Upon our arrival we watch as Agnes’ mother picks Agnes up on her back and labourly sits her in the wheelchair, in order to greet the guests. Agnes must weight at least 200 lbs. and her mother not over 100. Her mother explains to us that Agnes was born in 1992, and in time she was able to use her legs to walk, her mouth to a talk, and her hands just as anyone else. This was true for the first four years of her life. Then, unnoticeable, a hungry mosquito landed on the young girl’s innocent body. Little did Agnes, or her family know that she had been injected with malaria giving parasites, but it was even worse than that. It was soon determined that she had cerebral Malaria, the worst from of malaria. “From that time on she could not walk, or talk or handle anything with her hands,” her mother explained to Malawi Project’s Richard Stephens and his guests. Despite several attempts by the parents to help Agnes recover, all the efforts have lead to a fruitless destination. Because of a simple mosquito bite, Agnes’ life has gone though unspeakable pain and anguish. She spends her everyday at home – alone and lonely, from all of her friends.
Witnessing the suffering that Agnes’ mother experiences from early morning to late at night, as she tries to move Agnes from one place to another Brent Gourley, a visitor with the Malawi Project, could not hide his emotions when he saw the scene in front of him. His eyes were swimming in tears as he saw Agnes’s mother struggle to pick up Agnes, and how helpless Agnes was without the wheelchair.
“The time will come when Agnes will join all of us in heaven with able legs. She will be able to walk, and all of the pain will be gone. In the meantime God has given us an opportunity to help this girl,” Richard Stephens encouraged Agnes’s family members.
It is evident that by making mosquito nets and repellent available to children less than five years old could eliminate malaria in this third world country. In the meantime reports indicate that 40% of all people in Malawian healthcare facilities are suffering from malaria, the largest percentage being children under five years of age.
Short of ending the plagues of malaria, polio, and other diseases and accidents that bring us so many people with disabilities, the need for the wheelchairs will continue on a massive scale.
Wilson Isaac Tembo & Richard Stephens
