Dedza, Malawi … Dosidedi Filiberito is the younger brother of Donesiya Filiberito of Nkutu Village, Traditional Authority Kamenya Gwaza in Dedza District. Dosidedi is about 30 years old while the sister, Donesiya is about 35 years old. Both were victims of polio within two years of birth, and have never walked during their entire lives.

Upon receiving the wheel chair, Donesiya, the girl said, “thank God I can now go to church.” She said that although the church is only about 200 meters from her house no one was willing to carry her to church week after week after week. Now that she has a wheel chair she will be able to go to church.

Dosidedi, on the other hand said that he has been craving to go and see the new trading centre two kilometers away, but no one was willing to carry him there. He is therefore looking forward to wheeling himself to the trading centre for the first time in his life.

Both Dosidedi and Donesiya thanked the Malawi Project, and their contributors, for the donation of the wheel chairs.

Augustine Bobo,
Dzidalire Community Development Agency
Dedza, Malawi

Note: While the dreaded scourge of polio has been nearly wiped out in the west, it is still a major problem in sub-Sahara Africa. There are countless stories like this one where children and adults are helpless to get around as a result of polio.

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Dedza District, Malawi … The question poses all kinds of thought and response:

    “I might for a few feet.”

    “I might if the ground were level.”

    The problem comes when one realizes these conditions cannot be met.

    Sandida needs to be able to go far greater distances than just a few feet. She is now too heavy for her aged mother to carry, and the ground is seldom level enough for anyone to carry a heavy load very far without falling. Yet, it has been the plight of Sandida’s mother and family for weeks, months and in fact, for years.

    Sandida Boko is 18 years old, and comes from Nkutu village, Traditional Authority Kamenyagwaza in Dedza District, Malawi. She was a normal child until 1999 when she was attacked by epilepsy. It resulted in periodic impairment of consciousness, and this was accompanied by convulsions. Overtime, she lost her ability to walk. She was relying on her mother (the lady in a blue and gold shawl with one side of her face swollen in the picture) and her young sisters and brother to move around.

    In a nation where the average person walks 10-miles a day it is nearly impossible to get around if you cannot walk. There are no sidewalks anywhere in the Dedza district. There are almost no paved roads, outside of M-1 and one road that goes over toward the lake well south of the Trading Center. And there is no way to get around in the village, seldom even a bicycle that can supply transportation to a crippled 18-year-old.

    No wonder the gift from the Free Wheelchair Mission to the Malawi Project and on to the Dzidalire Community Development Agency for delivery to Sandida and her family was such a fantastic gift to the entire family.

    When Sandida’s mother received the wheelchair from the Dzidalire Community Development Agency she was very excited and full of praise of the Malawi Project which donated the wheelchairs. She said, “Sandida was getting too heavy for her and her other children to carry around. Sandida will from now on be able to move around on her own. She will be able to go out and mix or play with her friends on her own.  May God bless the donors of the wheelchair.”
 

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Media Covers the Arrival
A reporter and photographer from the Malawi News Service, the assistant district health officer, all of the top officials from the Kachere Orthopedic Hospital, the Chief Medical Director from Queen Elizabeth Hospital and two of the board members from the Malawi Project gathered early behind the orthopedic hospital where the 40-foot shipping container had been parked. When the container doors were opened a cheer went up from a crowd that had swelled to 40 people.

Estimated at $400,000.00
Estimated at somewhere around $400,000 by Project officials, the shipment included medical supplies for the Kachere Orthopedic and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals in Blantyre, Dzidalire Community Development Agency in Dedza, the Namikango Maternity Clinic in Thondwe, and the Sacred Promise Clinic in Lilongwe.

Arrival of the Village Tractors
Topping off of the shipment were two V-tractors to be used for agricultural programs in the southern and central districts. The reporter, photographer and many in the crowd were amazed to see the two prototype farm tractors that had never been seen before.

The shipment was made possible through a joint program including the L. T. Rich Manufacturing Company in Lebanon, Indiana, Universal Aide Society of British Columbia, Canada, and the Malawi Project.

Pictured is the District Health Officer as she observes thousands of dollars in medical supplies being offloaded.

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The custom designed units, V-Tractors for short, are part of a bold new incentive in research and development by Tom Rich of the L. T. Rich Manufacturing Company with the cooperation of Richard Stephens, Executive Director of the Malawi Project. As the doors of the overseas container were opened outside the Kachere Orthopedic Hospital in Blantyre representatives from the Malawi News Service started taking notes and snapping photographs. A crowd gathered, including Kachere and Queen Elizabeth Hospital administrators, church leaders and representatives from the two agencies chosen to receive the first units. The Dzidalire Community Development Agency in Dedza, and the Namikango Maternity Clinic in Thondwe are the recipients of the first two tractors. The Universal Aide Society of Vancouver, Canada, and its contributors supplied the cost for the transportation of the two units from central Indiana to Malawi.

Thought “V” was for the Shape
Mark Thiesen, the Director for the Namikango Mission and Maternity Clinic in Thondwe made this comment about their new tractor. “At first I thought the “V” stood for the shape of the tractor. But when I learned it actually stood for “village tractor”, and how the tractor had been invented exactly for a developing county, it all made sense. I was impressed with its easy and simplicity of operation, along with its versatility to do so many different jobs. Anyone, even if you have never operated a motorized vehicle before, as is the case of most village farmers, can now cultivate their fields. A farmer who previously cultivated only 1 or 2 acres will now be able to gain production from ten or twelve, while having more time to do other tasks. This can easily make the difference between mere survival and enjoying a complete escape from poverty.”
It’s an All-In-One Unit

Samantha Ludick the proprietor Cool Runnings Lake Resort, scheduled to receive the next unit that is currently being prepared for shipment to Malawi, “This is exactly the right tractor for us at this time in our development. Having an all-in-one unit is just the thing we need. Now the kids can go to school. They have always had to work in the fields along with their parents, but now the V-Tractor can do it all. It does everything. It can run a generator, turn a concrete mixer, plow the field, disk, harrow the ground, pump water, haul water, just everything, just everything. Now that is really cool.”

It Will Revolutionize Farming
As the first tractor started its field trials Stephens noted, “Today is a memorable day in Malawi. A single person sitting on this tractor is doing what it would take two or more men a month to do, and this one man will do it in just a couple of hours. This will revolutionize farming the same way the small John Deere or Farmal tractor changed America from a horse drawn system to a mechanized world. That led America to world success in farming. It will change Malawi as well.”

Just then the first tractor reached the far end of the field, turned and started to carve out two more rows of crusted soil.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=trBYhvb3SKo

Fire Sweeps Through Dedza Hospital

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