Oct 30

Like a Snake in the Bush No More

Wheelchairs, Be The Change

Samuel gets a wheelchair

He was once a beloved soccer player in his village area of Dzoole Village. Even today he is a musician and artist. It was not always like this. Samuel Benzi has not always had to crawl on the ground like "a snake in the bush." He is a fourth born of the seven children from the family of Mr. and Mrs. Benzi of Dzoole Village. He lives in the area governed by Traditional Tribal Authority Chief Masula.

    Samuel named after the great man in the Bible, was born in 1983, though he does know for sure of the month and the date. Samuel was not crawling from birth, but was able to walk until he was a teenager. He recalls the exciting time when he was a very good soccer player and loved by the people in his area. He remembers too, his excitement with traveling to be a musician and artist. But now Samuel must stay with his parents at home, and they must support him in almost everything.

    This changed since Moses Banda, the Communication Director for the Blessings Complex, made the 80 miles trip to Samuels’ village to give him the wheelchair and dignity that you sent for him through the Malawi Project and Free Wheelchairs Mission.  He had the following words to say to you:

 "Thank you very much for the wheelchair. I wish to show you that for the past 12 years I have been crawling like this, and today you have helped me to stop crawling. I will now be using my wheelchair. Thank you very much for your gift, for it has come at a right time. I am sure I will now be independent. I will start doing my own things, as I can now travel some distances. May God bless you always so that you can continue helping people that are not able to walk."

Oct 21

Build A Library and Send a Book

Be The Change

     “I have been trying to figure a way to help in the educational system in Malawi for some time,” says Samatha Ludick, the owner of the Cool Runnings Resort on Lake Malawi. “Without education the people will always stand in the same spot where they are standing now. They can never move forward until they learn what forward is all about.”

    “But how can one have books without the help of a donor?”
    “And how can one have a place for the books without a library?”
    “And how can one have a library without first having a building?”
   

    These were the questions Samatha faced when she started talking with the Paratroop Battalion Headquarters based in Senga Bay. The service minded military barracks moved into action and started construction on a building that would house a community library for the Senga Bay area. Facing a shortage of funds to complete the library building Ludwick contacted members of the Malawi Project and outlined the need. The funding to complete the building was quickly made available and the way opened up for the work on the building to move forward.

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Oct 16

Dzidaure Community Development Agency

About the Malawi Project

Phot of AmbulanceThe Dzidaure Project is another in a series of new programs being instituted throughout Malawi by the Malawi Project.

    Near the sties that are currently under evaluation the Lintipe River rambles aimlessly through the area near the Trading Center that carries its name, but it offers only minimal assistance to the habitants of the region. Most of the year it ambles as near as 18 - 20 kilometers to the prosperous Dedza Trading Center, then it rambles away like a prodigal child, never giving but only taking. During the rainy season the river rushes off toward the big lake without even an embarrassed look back, carrying with it the life saving ingredients needed for life.

    In recent months a small group of visionaries from Malawi have come together to focus on helping the people in the tiny villages near the river. Most of these villages have little or no resources, no transportation, no nearby medical facilities, and no way for the people to make a living outside of the small family gardens that provide a meager food supply.

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Oct 13

Wheelchairs To Kamuzu Airport

Wheelchairs, Medical, Be The Change

Disabled Travelers Can Now Expect Assistance

    Kamuzu International Airport, Malawi … One can hardly imagine a handicapped person arriving at an International Airport only to find no wheelchair available to assist them.  Until recently this was true in Malawi, Central Africa until the donation of seven wheelchairs to the Airport Authority from the Malawi Project, and the Free Wheelchair Mission of Costa Mesa, California.

Mr. Francis Kid Mkoloma, the Operations Manager, looks on as Mrs. D. Chikakulu, Senior Human Resources Manager, shakes hands with Richard Stephens, the Director of the Malawi Project, after the presentation of the seven wheelchairs.

The wheelchairs will be distributed to the three major airports where the most flights into and out of the nation arrive; Lilongwe in the central region, Blantyre in the south, and Mzuzu in the north.

Oct 08

Kuthandiza Outreach Receives A Boost

About the Malawi Project, Wheelchairs, Medical, Be The Change

       The Malawi Project continues to enlarge its programs of assistance in other districts of Malawi. One of the program additions is the Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach in Salima, Malawi.

          The Kuthandiza program was started because of the disability of its director, Mr. George Chimpiko Banda who was born with disabled feet and legs. His lifelong struggle with his disability has spawned a focus on helping others who suffer from similar disabilities. George reports, "This conviction caused me to start sacrificing some of my resources to reach out to these people in the form of village to village visits, provision for some second hand cloth, wheelchairs, and tricycles to enhance mobility." George also comments about his assistance to his clients in their spiritual life, as well as a limited amount of aid in cash, and his help in HIV/Aids counseling.

         Richard Stephens, Executive Director of the Malawi Project notes, "We started working with George in 2006 and we were immediately impressed with him and with his focus on his mission to help the handicapped of his nation. In this case where a major disability slowed his life since childhood George is a real life example of someone who has turned lemons into lemonade. George has taken his own disability and turned it into a life long commitment to helping his countrymen."

        As word of his activities spread George reports that the resources he had available could not keep up with the demand, so he started soliciting funds from some well wishers. As the work continued to grow it called for bigger facilities and more funding. The Outreach organization (KODO) was started and facilities were rented on the east side of the main road near the Salima Trading Center in Eastern Malawi.

        The organization has seven trustees and ten committee members, and its outreach is beginning to spread into all three regions of the country.

         In 2006 the Malawi Project, through a partnership with the Free Wheelchairs Mission in southern California sent 100 wheelchairs to George for distribution to people he was working with. Today the Malawi Project is supplying the resources to paint and re-letter the front of his building, and plans are under way to give him additional resources and wheelchairs for his work.

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