The Malawi Project, Inc.

    It is probably impossible to explain what it is like to walk into a hospital, go to the pharmacy storeroom, and see a single box of gauze on the shelf. That is all. One box. Oh, wait a minute. There is a Band-Aid near the box. Now that is all. One box of gauze and one Band-Aid. And they do surgery in this hospital? It is a rural hospital in Malawi and it is the only hospital for thousands of people. And they have one Band-Aid and one box of gauze . Sorry for repeating myself so much but I can’t get over it. I have never seen anything like it anywhere in America. What would it be like to walk into a large metropolitan hospital and learn that they only have one Band-Aid and one box of gauze ? That day I was afraid to walk over and look more closely at the box. Perhaps the gauze was gone and the box was empty. Or perhaps it all was all outdated and not able to be used. I just can’t get over it. A hospital with only one box of gauze and a single Band-Aid!

KODO Distribution Goes Both North and South

    Because of the recent influx of supplies from the supporters of the Malawi Project the work of the Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach  (KODO) has been able to expand into parts of Malawi that were only dreamed of just a few months ago. The following gives a partial report of distribution from two recent shipments of supplies to KODO in Salima.

 Aid Programs Touch Zomba
     The Songani Orphan Care facility in Zomba District made repeated calls to KODO asking for help. Nothing could be done. Then after shipments of needed supplies started coming in from the Malawi Project in America it was possible to extend assistance. Mr. George Chimpiko, from KODO, made a trip to Zomba to look in on the assistance being given to the orphans. Seeing orphans being taught life skills he was impressed with the programs being given to the 500 orphans who live at the facility. In the pictures below are shown Chifundo Musa, an orphan who has lost both parents, yet is still involved in trying to help her two siblings to survive. Also shown are a number of the residents of the orphanage going through to find shirts and pants that will fit them.
 

 

   

 

 

Expand Out Over Salima District
    They came from all over the Salima District, even the blind, deaf, albinos and any other kind of disability known to man. Even the elderly and the orphans were present as KODO organized the ceremony that included the District Commissioner who came to oversee the distribution of the much-needed supplies to those in need. By the end of the day over 400 families had benefited from the assistance that had come from America.

    

 

Blantyre Resource Center Receives Supplies
    Continuing with the distribution program KODO workers arrive in Blantyre, in the southern district of Malawi. Here local news reporters, school officials, school children and parents of children with disabilities greeted them. In this school is a resource center for children from all walks of life who have disabilities, and the need for supplies was acute. By the end of the day the land around the school had taken on a new look at supplies were offloaded for the school.

    

 Working to Solve Their Own Problems
    Field visits to sites being helped with supplies from KODO are found to be working to solve their own problems. Training in life skills is critical and is proving to be a success in a large number of cases with the programs at KODO. Whether it is digging the KODO truck out of the mud or spending time in a classroom the students are learning how to cope with life and its challenges.
 

    

Kasungu and Nkhotakota Districts Receive Aid
    Reaching Kasungu two districts north of the capital, and then expanding east to the Nkhotakota District, families received sewing machines along with other supplies to assist them. With the sewing machines handicapped families are able to provide themselves with a living and not be a burden to other family members or to the village in which they live.

    "It was well worth it." This was the conclusion after a group of 21 volunteers from Ambassadors for Children, including 13 students and 1 faculty member from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, endured the 20+hour air flight journey to Malawi. Everyone instantly fell in love with the people and the culture.
   
    During their two-week stay, this group of volunteers worked and spent time with the children at Mtendere Village. The group not only raised $6,500 for the Village, but also dedicated their time to turning one of the empty buildings into a beautiful and inspirational library. The children of Mtendere and the volunteers from Miami painted side-by-side, while other staff from Mtendere were hard at work building the bookshelves. 

    Over four hundred books, donated by the Miami University Chapter of Ambassadors for Children, are on the way to the library as part of a truck shipment of supplies.

    Marissa Hirsh, one of the Miami University Directors of the trip summed it up in this way, "This was an incredibly significant project for the volunteers to be a part of - a library represents the potential that exists when people are dedicated to education. And these volunteers are confident that this library will make a difference in the lives of all of the children of Mtendere Village for years to come."

    During the rest of their trip, the Miami University group engaged in educational activities with the children, visited rural schools and local communities, and were inspired by the kind hearts of the Malawian people. Ambassadors for Children volunteers and Miami University students plan on returning to Malawi for years to come!

    The problems appear to be too big for the average person to do anything to change or affect them. The reality is far from being true. One person can make a difference for one other person. Two can double the difference. Three can triple it. For one person receiving small amounts of aid from one other person it makes all the difference in the world.

    Eleanor Roosevelt is credit with having first said, "It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness." It was such a powerful statement Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, and who knows how many more people through the intervening years have repeated it in public speeches.

    Perhaps it is time to repeat it again in reference to the situation in Africa and around the world. "It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness."

    How can words ever describe the plight being faced by children like little Madalitso (Blessings) Batison in Malawi, Africa? No amount of words can begin to describe the uphill battle for survival in an all too unforgiving land where poverty and the lack of medical care, or social services makes it nearly impossible for a child with this kind of disability to survive.

    Thanks to those who are supporting the massive health care initiative of the Malawi Project supplies and assistance are being given to Blessings and others like her. Through supplies being channeled to the Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach there is hope for Blessings and others like her.

    Blessings comes from Sikata village in the Salima District of Malawi. The tribal authority is Kalonga. She is the forth born child in the family of two boys and two girls. Both parents are still alive. She was born without arms and legs.

     A thousand words can never describe the plight and struggle that lays ahead for little Madalitso, and equally a thousand words can never express the heartfelt appreciation for those who make her healthcare possible.