By and large, even when you factor in the downtime for the fuel problems the entire trip, the lost luggage at the beginning of the trip, and the demonstrations that turned violent in the middle of the trip, we still had a very productive trip.

Namikango
Going to Namikango, even for just a short time, is always a delight. It will not be the same with the Thiesen family returning to the states in just a few days, but the Malawi staff is well trained, conscious and more than able to carry forward. Mark has spent the past year moving responsibility over to the staff, and from what I have seen they are and will continue to move successfully forward without missing a beat. A real compliment to them and to Mark and Era and the work there during the past 7 years.

Wilson, Basani, Roderick, Sampson, all of them, they are just doing a great job. The warehouse looks excellent, and the distribution network for medical supplies and wheelchairs continues to enlarge. It all looks good.

Cool Runnings
With another V-Tractor about to arrive Sam is really going to have her hands full. Don’t know how she does it. Two tractors, working closely with the Paratroop Battalion to complete the library, distributing wheelchairs, the successful work at the Safe Haven, the Cinderella Program, the widespread help through Clinic at the Gate, the community policing assistance, and all of the other things she is doing to help. Just one person, making such a difference.

Dzidalire
I’m really excited about the new hospital, and then there is the international school. It’s going to be our biggest project to date, and the people in the villages are already outrunning us with the work they are doing. Thousands of bricks already made, the road over the mountain, and 17,000 trees planted all over the mountain, they are just going all out to make this a reality.

Medicine and Medical Supplies
There is just so much more that is going on. The millions of dollars in medicines and medical supplies, and everything that brings to mind all over the country. It just makes my head swim to thing of it all. Wish we could have looked in on the other programs with which we have involvement. There are just too many. God is so good, and He has sure opened the door for us to help the people of Malawi. Wonder what will be next?

For me, I think I’m going to try to get some sleep before we reach Rome. Maybe this time I can sleep on this plane. The height of the luggage racks above our heads and down the center isle sure gives you the feeling of having a lot more space. This is the first time I have been in the center seat and felt even remotely comfortable. Guess we better make sure we are on 777’s from now on.

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Today the tiny nation of Malawi struggles from the lack of support services that are critical. Phone service is frequently out, electricity is frequently off, and water is in short supply. Food shortages come far too often, and fuel shortage lead news headlines month after month. Hospital care is primitive, and medical supplies often are not available. All of this comes under the simple headline of “infrastructure,” and Malawi comes up short in nearly every category.

For the people in distant villages, who have never experienced any of the conveniences, this dreadful situation has always been their lives, but for westerners who are accustomed to a different life style some of these things can actually lead to life-threatening situation.

For those who have never visited, or experienced, the lifestyle in a third world nation, but for those who have been there the lives of those who go there to carry out important missions are people held in the highest esteem. One of those families are the Thiesens, a family of Americans who live in third world conditions in southern Malawi, and struggle with the lack of western resources, life saving possessions, and modern conveniences on a daily basis. Something as simple as an electrical generator is so critically important to them. The following unsolicited note was recently received from Mark Thiesen, the American Director for the Namikango Mission and Maternity Hospital in Thondwe, Malawi. He writes,

“ Some time back the Malawi Project provided us with a Honda generator. With Malawi’s aging electrical network struggling to keep up with increased demand, we experience more and more power outages. Several times a week the electrical supply network is forced to shut down service to our area during the peak of demand in the evening hours just when we need power the most. On other days the whole system experiences faults and crashes for 24 or more hours at a time. During these periods we have no lights, Internet, working appliances–and after a few hours– no water. Later food in our freezer starts to spoil. Enter the Honda generator.”

“Once this little marvel is fired up we have all those things again. Era and I have often talked that the little red Honda is our favorite piece of equipment on the mission. We feel more passionate about it than our car or any of the other blessings that surround us. What a thrill it is to see our house light up the smothering African night again with one yank of a cord.”

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Imagine…

…cutting wood for the fire to prepare breakfast, then having to carry it for 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile on your head back to your home.

…walking far up the mountain to cultivate your family farm plot, while carrying a baby on your back and a heavy hoe over your shoulder.

…walking to the market, four miles away, then having to carry all of your purchases all the way home on your head.

…working in the field to cultivate, weed, and raise a bushel of tomatoes, then traveling 40 miles to the nearest market to sell your produce.

…walking deep into a ravine to obtain water, then having to carry it in a leaking bucket on your head all the way back home.

…having a bumper crop from your small family farm plot for the first time in ten years, only to find you can’t get it to market.

…being ready to deliver your first baby, only to find you have to walk 8 miles to get down from your mountain village because no car or ambulance can reach you.

These are just a few of the daily chores that must be sustained by Malawi men and women in order to survive another day. These are also some of the reasons the Malawi Project is focusing on getting basic utility vehicles into the country.

The BUV is built in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is the creation of Will Austin. It is part of his mission to help people in third world countries be able to transport people and commodities over long, hard, dangerous, and exhausting distances. The organization is the Institute for Affordable Transportation. The Malawi Project has purchased and shipped three of these vehicles. Two are in the central region of the county, and a third arrived in November at the Namikango Maternity Hospital in the southern part of the nation. More of these units are needed if life is to improve.

Pictured are the three units, one transporting people, another employed to move food, and the third is engaged in moving heavy logs. Pictures thanks to Richard Stephens, Mark Thiesen and Wilson Tembo. To learn more about the BUV go to: www.drivebuv.org

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    Thondwe, Malawi … Reaching Malawi on Thursday late afternoon board members Dick and Suzi Stephens were taken to the Namikango Mission and Maternity Clinic for the evening. Reports on the progress of the Mission were reflective of so many ministries that rely on western funds in order to carry out their work in third world nations. Funds are down, programs are slowing, and aid to so many of the worlds poorest people is taking a major toll on those who can go no lower on the economic ladder before a sickening crash at the bottom. Mark Thiesen reports, “The trip we just returned from to the states gave little results. The recession is hitting us harder than most. We are cutting back as far as we can go.”

    The same is seen in the shipments reaching Malawi from the Malawi Project. The slower pace of funds, supplies, and equipment hast taken a drastic downturn as the recession cuts deeply into the aid being sent.

    In spite of the problems one of the bright spots can be seen in the efficient way Wilson Tembo, the Warehouse Manager at the building on the Namikango Mission site is handling the warehousing and distribution. The site, located in Thondwe, Malawi, about 40 minutes east of the commercial center of Blantyre serves as a drop site for supplies to the southern region of Malawi. An early morning inspection of the facilities indicates a high degree of efficiency and professionalism in the way the supplies are being handled, inventoried, and distributed.

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Help Needed to Build Safe Kitchen

At First It Looked Like Rubbish

    Thondwe, Malawi… From a distance it almost looks like a pile of metal stacked up near a clearing waiting to be thrown away. But as one walks along the path near the Namikango Maternity Clinic, and reaches a point near the rusted metal panels, it is obvious that it is something more than a pile of rubbish. It is actually a kitchen for the guardians of hospital patients to use for cooking meals for their relatives who are patients in the hospital. Because of so many more critical needs for the funding that is always in short supply (and especially so during this economic downturn) the “kitchen” is in last place when it comes to repair. In order to assist with the funds to construct a new kitchen the Malawi Project is giving this report. It is important to realize how little it will take to help the people who spend days at the clinic caring for relatives who cannot care for themselves. Mark Thiesen, the American administrator at the Mission writes,

    “One courtesy offered by Namikango Maternity Clinic, that we often fail to mention, is the accommodation we provide for family members of patients. Like our other services, room and board is free for people who come to take care of their mothers, wives, and daughters during their stay in the clinic. They look after their loved ones’ needs during this period. One of the most important of these needs is cooking their meals for them.”

    Mark continues, “As our facilities continue to age, the kitchen used for this purpose has deteriorated to such a degree that its very stability is now threatened. The structure’s supporting beams have decayed to such a point that the kitchen presents a real danger to the family members who have come to help our patients. The kitchen must be rebuilt if we are to provide a safe decent environment for our visitors.  At a cost of $3,614.00 we can totally rebuild it to continue serving the people of our community with confidence.”

See More Photos: Click HERE

Or Mail Contributions can also be mailed to:

Malawi Project – Namikango Kitchen Fund
12526 Clearview Lane
Indianapolis, IN  46236

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    Reporting is Mark Thiesen, an American missionary at the Namikango Maternity Hospital and Mission in Thondwe, Malawi. Mark watched his staff put together the new basic utility vehicle sent to them from the Malawi Project. The vehicle will serve as an ambulance that can move into the remote mountainous areas and bring pregnant mothers to the hospital for deliveries.

    The basic utility vehicles are manufactured in Indianapolis, Indiana USA by the Institute for Affordable Transportation,  5868 E. 71st St, #199 Indianapolis, IN  46220

    The Malawi Project has now sent three of these units to Malawi in the past year. Two were sent to the central region, one to serve as transportation of commodities to market, and the second as a people mover. The third unit has gone to the southern region to serve as an ambulance.

    The pictures show the Namikango staff putting the parts together to complete the BUV after its arrival in the country.
 

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In these economically troubling times in the western nations it seems no job is certain.  As we watch the unemployment rate sneak up to 5%, 6%, and higher and we rightfully fret over our friends and family whose jobs may be threatened.

Imagine 80% Unemployment
Imagine a country where the unemployment rate reaches above 80%, where almost no jobs were available and where there was no welfare system or any other safety net.  How would people survive?  The African nation of Malawi where I live is one such place.  How do people survive there, you might ask.  My first answer would be, “I’m not quite sure, but somehow they do.”  My second thought would add, “Not too well.”  The little country is terribly overpopulated with around 13 million people trying to live on a small piece of land that could comfortably accommodate about only about one-third that number.  With so few jobs, most people have to live off the shrinking amount of available land, which is being divided into smaller and smaller parcels as Malawians continue to have more kids, who are forced to divide their parents’ plots in order to survive.  On those little plots Malawians continue to use the age-old backbreaking method of cultivation with simple hoes.  Stooping over for months of the year, they first clear their gardens, then cultivate, then plant, and continue weeding until the harvest finally comes.  Using this method, if the rains have been good–not too little and not too much–and if they somehow found the funds to buy fertilizer for the overused soil, they might harvest enough to eat for another year; and if they’re fortunate enough, they possibly will have a little left over to sell so that they can have money for soap, salt, clothing, and even send their kids to school.

No wonder Malawi is listed as one of the poorest nations of the world with one of the highest mortality rates, lowest literacy levels, and so on year after year, decade after decade.

Tractor Offers Hope in Agriculture Development
Enter the V-Tractor.  Tom Rich, owner of the L. T. Rich Manufacturing Company of Lebanon, Indiana has provided us, through the Malawi Project, a tool that offers hope for people to escape the grim realities described above.  The V-Tractor (“V” is for Village, hence “Village Tractor’) is the most versatile instrument I have ever seen.  Equipped to work with a plow, water tank, and a growing list of other applications, the tractor makes it easy to switch from one job to another in a matter of five minutes or so.  The operator simply loosens some simple fasteners like bolts and cotter pins, pushes the current application aside, and just as quickly attaches the new one.  Operation is even easier, a critical feature in a country where most people have never operated any kind of driven machinery.  The hydraulic pedal covers every movement, including forward and backward motion, and braking.  There is no need to change gears.  At the demonstration that I attended, a group of Malawians who had never driven a tractor or a car or anything else for that matter, got behind the wheel and flawlessly maneuvered the tractor on the flat and with a little practice were cultivating acres of land.

An Eyewitness Marveled
The tractor moved at a good speed, it’s plow cutting through the rock-hard soil that had had several months of dry weather to harden.  It made its way back and forth, softening the soil for the next planting.  As it crisscrossed the field, it became obvious that this tractor could outdo the work of dozens of men working together using the old hoeing technique.  A Malawian eyewitness marveled that just one man could cultivate a larger area in a single day then a company of men could do in a whole week.  The possibilities for improving the quality of people’s lives here using a tool like the V-Tractor are myriad.  Because of its adaptability the machine offers tremendous improvements in the whole farming process including in the current available applications like cultivation and irrigation, but possibly for future applications like planting, applying fertilizer, and weeding.  It also offers opportunities to assist in other parts of rural Malawian life such as transporting water with its tank and other commodities by attaching it to a trailer.

We are thankful to the Malawi Project for directing this marvelous tool our way.

Mark Thiesen
Director
Naminkango Maternity Hospital and Mission
Thondwe, Malawi

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Ox Cart Going Out as an Ambulance

    Pregnant women on the way to the hospital often reach their destination on the back of a bicycle, or in the back of an ox cart. It is not unusual in third world nations, and Malawi is no exception. In mountainous parts of the nation the problem is compounded because of limited access to the remote village areas.

    This situation is true in the southern part of Malawi where some of the highest mountains in the region are located. For the Namikango Maternity Hospital in Thondwe this problem is ever present, and the calls for help in an emergency often cannot be quickly met because of the terrain.

    To help with this problem the Malawi Project has purchased another Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) that will serve as an ambulance. These units are manufactured in Indianapolis, Indiana, and two have already been delivered to the central region of Malawi. The basic utility vehicle is custom made to accommodate a seriously ill or pregnant patient and a caretaker. It can reach a remote area and bring the patient to a medical facility in a timely fashion.

    Mark Thiesen, Director for the Namikango Mission, when presented with the idea and specifications for the until, observed, "This vehicle is ideal for moving quickly over village trails to remote locations to quickly bring expectant mothers to the maternity clinic. We are delivering 75 – 80 babies a month, and almost without exception they are coming from isolated rural areas where no other type of vehicle can reach. Women do not begin the journey, a trip that can be a number of kilometers away, until they are already in labor."

Suzi Stephens, the Medical Director for the Malawi Project states, "Statistics have indicated a mother-baby mortality rate that is sometimes recorded as high as 1 in 7, which qualifies this region as having one of the highest in the world. This unit can help reduce the number of infant deaths at birth."

Shipment of the BUV will take place in the first quarter 2009.

    The unit obtained by the Malawi Project is similar to the one pictured at the right.

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  “He brings a level of specialty that we absolutely need as we begin a new ministry,” according to Mark Thiesen of the Namikango Mission in Thondwe, Malawi. Mark continues, “The Malawi Project, a church-related ministry based in Indiana, has begun sending shipping containers of medical supplies that will bless not only our maternity clinic, but also other area clinics and hospitals.  The problem confronting us was that we had no experience with this type of ministry, and no one on staff had the expertise to organize the huge volumes of equipment we will be receiving soon.”
 
Tembo brings four years of experience managing a similar warehouse at Blessings Hospital in Lumbadzi, near the capital, which has received a large number of containers from the Malawi Project in previous years. Thiesen adds,  “The special training Wilson received both on the job while he was at Blessings, and through the management courses he took in Purchasing and Supply should have prepared him well to help us serve the people of this area.”    

                
     Thiesen notes that having Wilson Tembe with them also has yet another value to the mission. “He has come with his wife Alice, who has joined our team at the maternity clinic.  She has special medical training and experience that we believe will enable us to do a better job of improving the health of women and small children.”

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Board members of the Malawi Project conducted a site evaluation of the Namikango Maternity Hospital, and the adjoining land and buildings in Thondwe in August 2008. Subsequent discussions centered on the location near Zomba, the former colonial capital of Malawi, becoming a second site in the southern region for the receipt of medical supplies and equipment, agricultural supplies and training, and other commodities to serve the people of Malawi through this second location. Hospital personnel and administration along with Mark Thiesen, the American missionary stationed at the mission was immediately positive to the plan. This site would join another one in the south, three in the central region, and one in the north in an effort to make supplies available to every district of the nation. A vacant church building, abandoned after a larger building was constructed, was a logical location to become the storage facility that would be needed. The only problem was the fact the building had deteriorated when it was abandoned and a large amount of expense and work would be required to get it up and ready for use as a major storage and distribution site.

Funds Made Available For Construction
    In September the Project board unanimously agreed to fund the needed repairs on the building and Thiesen headed up a work crew that set out to get the building into top flight condition before the first two 40-foot trailers of supplies arrived at the site.

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