The Malawi Project, Inc.

    Mavuto Chifumbi lives in Makwani Village in the area of Traditional Tribal Authority Chief Mponela in the Dowa District of central Malawi, Africa. He is not sure about his age, but is probably in his early fifties.

    Mavuto was born with both legs, and was able to walk until 1972. On the dreadful morning of 18th April 1972, Mavuto was crossing the road at the Mponela Trading Centre. A speeding car was approaching from the north. Unfortunately for Mavuto as he was trying to cross the road he stumbled and fell to the ground on the highway. The driver could not stop and he ran over Mavuto’s legs. From this accident he lost the use of both of his legs. From that moment onward Mavuto was destined to crawl on the ground like some sort of pitiful animal.

    At home Mavuto has a wife and five children. Two girls and three boys must help their father everywhere he goes. But today Mavuto it is different for him after his trip to Blessings Hospital. He smiles as he says,

"Today is a relief day in my life. For the past world I have been crawling like this." Mavuto demonstrates by crawling towards the wheelchair. "I wish to inform the world that today I will stop crawling and will use this wheelchair. God is the only one who can understand my happiness that is inside me. I know it is very difficult for people to know, for they cannot see my happiness that is inside me. This wheelchair will support my family and me, I will now be able to move freely without someone taking me on his or her back when either going to Church or to the market. May God bless all the people that put their money together to get this wheelchair for me. I have a small business. I am a cobbler. I do fix people’s shoes, and I will use this wheelchair when going to the market to assist the people in my community."

The United Nations Children’s Fund warns that over 1 million Malawians will be threatened by food shortages during the next three months as weather forecasts predict the increased possibility of flooding for this the southern African nation. This report comes in spite of reports of bumper crops in some parts of the nation in 2007.

Nyasa Times Reports Realignment of Diplomatic Relations
According to a report in the Nyasa Times the southern African nation of Malawi plans to open an embassy in Beijing for its new diplomatic ally, China after replaced a long time relationship with Taiwan. Malawi is also expected to open diplomatic missions in Iran and Cuba later this year.

Malawi Makes Deal for Fuel Storage Facility
According to recent reports from Malawi the nation has concluded a plan with the mid-east country of Qatar to build a fuel storage facility and put in place pipelines in the country. Malawi’s Finance Minister Mr. Goodall Gondwe reports that the agreement is valued at $140 to $ 150 million in American dollars. $140m to $150m. Building the fuel storage will take 36 months to complete.

Fuel Prices Expected To Rise
Fuel prices are expected to rise in Malawi and will compound recent shortages of paraffin that is needed for many of the cooking fires and home lamps in the trading centers and village areas.

Nursing Shortage Continues to Hamper Healthcare
As with many other Third World countries the nation of Malawi continues to experience what are called, "calamitous nursing deficiencies".  The problems are reported to be deeply entrenched in poor working conditions and remuneration packages that are not acceptable to the nursing profession. A pipeline of new nurses that grows shorter and shorter because training facilities are inadequate for the growing need also compounds the problems.

500 Households Destitute After Floods Destroy Crops
It was reported last week that over 500 households in the area around Ntcheu have been left destitute after heavy rains swept away their crops. The downpour has destroyed 85 hectares of maize fields and some houses. No human casualties were reported. Ntcheu is a district in the Central Region of Malawi that borders with the country of Mozambique. The district has a population of 370,757. Flash flooding has been reported to have displaced about 2,000 people in the Lower Shire Valley district of Chikwawa in southern Malawi.

Flash Foods Strike Northern District
During the same time that floods were ravishing the Ntcheu District in central Malawi flash floods were also sweeping through whole villages in the northern border district of Karonga. According to reports the floods left thousands of people homeless. One report indicated over 20 villages had been completely destroyed by the floods. The rains had been almost non-stop for over a week. Karonga is a district in the far northern part of Malawi, and borders with the nation of Tanzania. It has a population of approximately 194,000 people.

    A recent visit by a dentist and an eye doctor to the Clinic at the Gate seems to have inspired at least one of the children toward a future profession in the medical field.
   Both doctors gave basic examinations in their respective fields but one little boy decided the eye care field was the direction he wanted to go. So, he went back to his village area and gathered up small strands of cast off wire. From them he expertly crafted his first pair of glasses.

    One has to wonder if there is an eye doctor somewhere close by interested in hiring this young man to assist him. Bt then perhaps not! It seems he forgot the glass in the frames!

    On a more serious note it is a simple reality that most children in Malawi will never see or wear a pair of eye glasses or have an eye exam no matter how bad their eye sight becomes. Malawi is one of the poorest nations in the world.

    For more pictures on the Clinic at the Gate click here.

     It is considered to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Africa. It is the 12th largest fresh water lake in the world and it contains more varieties of fresh water fish than all of Europe and America combined. It can be a tranquil place of beauty and it can be a place of unforgiving danger. It is Lake Malawi and it is called the "jewel of Malawi."

The Contrast of the Rich and Poor
   

        The shores of Lake Malawi reflect the same kind of contrast, this time between the rich and the poor. The sandy shoreline contains small resort areas that attract both the rich from Malawi and other parts of the world, it also is home to some of the poorest people in the world, the residents of the tiny fishing villages that line the Malawi shoreline.

 

         The Malawi Project has focused on the shoreline of Lake Malawi for a new group of programs that are designed to assist the people of Malawi. In the area of Senga Bay, just to the east of Salima the Project is helping the military to build a library for residents who have never had access to a library. In Senga Bay, at the Cool Runnings resort, medical supplies and equipment are in transit to assist in setting up a clinic where over 12,000 people have had no previous access to local healthcare. In the trading center of Salima assistance is being given to the Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach in the form of funds and supplies. Additionally a shipment of 500 wheelchairs is currently in the planning stage. South of the trading center funding has been given to assist a group of orphan children who were trying to fend for themselves in a destitute village.

 

        Meanwhile on Lake Malawi the village fishermen prepare their nets and at the crack of dawn each morning they fight their way through the surf in order to reach the fishing grounds beyond the distant horizon. Wives and families watch them leave not knowing for sure whether they will come home at the end of the day.