The Malawi Project, Inc.

    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.

A Single Exception Caught the Attention of George Banda

The road from Lilongwe north to Kasunga is a good tarmac road. In fact it is the main road north through the tiny nation of Malawi, and the only one that is paved the entire length of the nation. Thus it carries most of the heavy truck traffic and most of the bus and walking traffic that can be seen in the northern half of the nation. This means it is not unusual to see perhaps hundreds of people walking along the roadside as one travels this major highway. It was not unusual to see many people walking along the edges of the roadway on that Tuesday in February as I traveled north from the capital. I was on the way to Kasungu District to deliver a number of wheelchairs from our offices at the Kuthadiza Disability Outreach Program offices in Salima. As always I saw old and young, people in oxcarts, others on bicycles, and always I saw many children going to school or playing along the way.

    On this day I was attracted to a small group of children near Madisi as my eyes stopped on a small boy pushing a dirty wheelchair. I pulled to the side of the road to talk to the children. I learned that the boy’s name is Fatsani Zawanje, and he is 8 years old. I learned that he was pushing the wheelchairs because one of the wheels was flat. He lived nearby so I went to talk with his mother since he was not in school, yet the school was only 2 km away. We then took the wheelchair for repairs.

    I am pleased to report the boy is now back in school at the Maranatha PVT Primary School nearby. The parents of the boy are very poor farmers. I encouraged them to follow the example my mother followed by taking me to school every day. It will now be easier for them to take young Fatsoni to school as he again has a wheelchair to help to get him to school and back.

    As I drove away from seeing Fatsoni’s smile I was reminded of Zachaus in the Bible. Along the roadside he gained great benefits from meeting the Messiah. Today along the roadside young Fatsoni has gained from a traveler who could stop and help him.
                                                                                                                                                                                                               By George Banda

*    Editors Note: The wheelchair that George Banda stopped to repair had actually been one of 1,100 wheelchairs that had been delivered and distributed to Malawi in 2006 in a cooperative program between the Free Wheelchair Mission and the Malawi Project.

        After the two doctors left the children came to Ludwick to demonstrate what took place when the two doctors examined them.

        "Open wide and let me see if you have any cavities."

        "Look directly at me and open your eyes."

    Christmas is over; the last of the gifts opened and the wrapping paper has been hauled away (or tucked away by mom for use another year). But for the Peterson family of Colorado, Indiana and Texas the giving continues.

    Instead of giving gifts to each other the family, spread out from Indiana to Texas to Colorado pooled their gifts to each other and presented instead a group of checks to the Malawi Project for aid to Africa. These donations were made in honor of Dean and Marita McKay who live in Colorado.

    "Concerning their gift Bonnie Peterson writes, "Our family decided a few years ago, instead of buying each other gifts, we would rather donate the money to a charity, in our mother’s honor.  Each year, someone different chooses a charity, finds information to share, and collects money from the siblings.  There are five children, all married to wonderful people.  Three children live in Colorado, one in Texas, and one in Indiana.  Plus, there are 15 grandchildren, some married with children." 
Sincerely,
Bonny Peterson

    The Malawi Project deeply respects and appreciates the concern this family has for the poor, the examples they are setting, and the contributions that have been made.

    At the age of 2 James fell ill from some sort of illness. His parents were and continue to be peasant farmers and they were unable to afford to take him to the hospital. His condition continued to worsen. Today he can no longer walk.
    Because of his disability James has few dreams for his future, but his farther still dreams of him being able to attend a school for those who cannot afford the regular schools, and of him learning how to look after himself. His father looks toward the end of his own life and fears what will happen to his son after he is gone.
    With the help of the wheelchair there is a much greater chance that young James can get around, learn, and become more independent. His father can now rest much easier at night knowing there is some kind of hope down the road for his son.
    The Wheelchair was given to James and his family by George Banda and his staff at the Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach in Salima, Malawi. The wheelchair was possible by contributions from the Free Wheelchair Mission in Irvine, California and the Malawi Project.

* Balaka is an African trading center in the southern district of Malawi. It sits along the paved road from Blantyre to Lilongwe and is the commercial center for the district. The population for the Balaka district in 2001 was 270,441 and is it is estimated that in 2008 it will reach 335,449. The tiny villages that mark the countryside around the trading center are still the ancient mud-hut thatched roof villages of long ago. These villages contain no electricity, running water, telephone service and no paved roads by which they can be reached.
* The nation of Malawi is one of the poorest in the world and its heath care and educational systems are struggling to keep up with the increase in population. The HIV/AIDS scourge appears to have leveled of with about 15% of the population of the nation inflected with the disease.
* For a small boy like James there is little hope for any type of future unless he has some way to get around and fend for himself when his parents are gone. With a life expectancy that is now down to 37 years of age the life span of his parents can very well leave James an orphan in the very near future.