The Malawi Project, Inc.

    Early on Sunday morning we learned some of the staff had made a rushed trip to the lakeside side, historic community of Nkhotokoto north and east of us. The trading center is located over a hundred miles away from Lumbadzi. It seemed there was a family of twelve children who were in a severe situation after the death of both of their parents. Someone had called Mtendere to come quickly. All day we waited for the return to learn the status of the children.

    That night the car arrived at Blessing, and inside were three children, three of the twelve. Three who were in the worst condition. It was believed the others would be able to survive for the time being on their own. But it was the youngest that was nearest death. Little Jannet. Only a little over a year old Jannet was down to a weight of only 7 kilograms (Could that actually mean she weighted less than 2 lbs?). The medical people decided it was too late for Jannet. She would not survive the night. The other two children were taken to one of the houses at Mtendere and Jannet over was given to the care of the medical staff. We went to bed that night convinced that with the morning sun we would be making preparations for a funeral. It seems so unfair. A tiny baby. There was nothing she had done to cause this. Her mother had died when we she just a few months old and her father had died just one week later. No matter how hard they tried the older children could not find enough food for the family.

    The sun arose around 5:40 AM and we were up and on the way down to the hospital to find out the status of the baby’s condition. To our complete surprise Jannet was still alive. She had survived the night. What a fighter. During that day and the days to come the staff from Mtendere and the hospital gave Jannet special attention. She not only survived but started to improve. In a single week she reached a weight of 8.5 kilograms. In three weeks she was up to 10.5. Although it was some time before Jannet would respond to anyone within a few months she would smile and seek the attention of some of the staff members at the compound. Soon Jannet became the center of attention and the other children often competed with who was going to care for Jannet.

    Today Jannet continues to make progress at her home at Mtendere. Two of her siblings are still residents of the village and all three are proving to be a great asset to the community. The little girl who was expected to be dead by morning is alive and well and is now nearing 5 years of age.

 Pictures

The first picture is of Jannet in tne early weeks after her arrival at Mtendere. The second picture is of her nearly two years after her arrival.

    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.

    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. 

Without Our Help They Will Die
By Smith Chibaka, Sacred Promise Healthcare
        One of the astonishing events in Moses’ life was that he had been sentenced to death long before he was even born. After his birth, his survival depended on his parents’ faith in God. Unbelievably, after 3 months of being secretly hidden in the house, his mother put him in a basket and hid him by the banks of river Nile until that basket came to the attention of  Pharaoh’s daughter.

        When the basket was brought to Pharaoh’s daughter, she opened the basket and saw a baby in it; the baby wept and she had compassion on him. The death sentence was lifted and Moses’ life was then destined for the king’s palace.

        This was the Moses who led the children of Israel out of Egypt; The Moses who received the Decalogue on Mt Sinai.

        Today thousands and thousands of the children of Malawi are born into a hopeless society. Their fate decided long before they are even born. Providentially, some people have extended their arms reaching out to commute the death sentences of these helpless children.

        The world has shown compassion on these children and is determined to give these children a future. Aid is being extended in the form of shelter, food, clothing and school. Some are less fortunate and are only enrolled at day-care centers where they at least get some meals. Shelter is taken care of by some well wishers or next of kin.

        One area that is a burden to handle is that of healthcare. It is quite difficult to walk long distances to some Health Centers where medical help is rendered. The problem becomes unbearably when the guardians are quite elderly and are themselves in need of some assistance as regards activities of daily living. The sick children under their care are left at the mercy of nature. It is worse when those children are parentless.

        Our appreciation for the great work done by thousands world-wide, who have come to our rescue, can only be shown by the role we can play in uplifting the lives and welfare of these innocent children. Our part is to look into the health of these orphans, vulnerable children and elderly guardians.

        This is an enormous undertaking, but we feel the little we can do will make a difference.  Our program at the Sacred Promise Healthcare Center shall target on a few centers that are within the townships of Lilongwe. This is because of the difficulties in transport from place to place.