Update from Dave on Malawi March trip

The trip to Malawi was a very good one and very successful with many challenges too.  I will start by giving you an update on the Shire valley.  Pastor Luciano and another teacher from Mozambique joined us for a few days (Friday - Tuesday) to assist with training of church leaders in a small town called Nchalo.  These leaders came from 4 different districts and represented 30 churches.  We had a good time teaching > 100 leaders and the small building was packed with folk standing outside the building around the doors and windows to catch what was being taught.  We taught mostly on the Christian Family and home and also on leadership in the church.  The teachings were well received and there was much interest in adjusting cultural norms to reflect their Christian beliefs (e.g. lifting the status of women).  We also distributed 1 box of Bibles to happy recipients who had not yet received Bibles in their area. The area has been devastated by flooding this year and the spirits of those present were lifted by some lovely singing from small groups - i did make a video or 2.

Up at Hilltop Farm the situation after the rains is more normal.  We had very heavy rains too which have affected the crops and we will have small to moderate harvests this year.  But, at least we will harvest :)  We had some damage to our sheds and some wash aways but repairs are going well.  Overall life is close to normal again and the farm is very green, it feels a little overgrown as folk have battled to cope with the water, the weeds and grasses all growing so quickly.  Our improved gutter system on the house coped extremely well with the water deluge and we are satisfied that we have triumphed in that area !  We thank God for sparing Hilltop and all our people during the crisis.

Our self sustainability objectives are going well.  The piggery is going along nicely, despite having to fire our piggery manager for theft of the pig growers mash, which he was selling to neighbouring villagers.  We sold 22 pigs recently and this will inject cash into our operations and allow salaries and wages to be paid.  We currently have 50 pigs in the piggery.  We also have a good stock of maize on hand to sell as needed to cover our costs and development.  So far, so good :)

A doctor from the UK visited us for a week.  He came to train our people on how to limit the spread of HIV and AIDs and how to maximise the health benefits of medicinal plants freely available in Malawi.  We had 50-60 folk present and they were inspired by Dr. Chad.  We had classes and practical demonstrations on the farm where we looked at how to use what was growing to treat diseases and boost the immune system.  e.g. we looked at Moringa leaves which have protein, calcium and high levels of vitamins A,B, and C.  We also learnt how to make tea from the Artemesia leaves to treat malaria.  The trainees left Hilltop motivated and with cuttings and seeds to begin their own medicinal gardens.  We will be expanding our own medicinal gardens at Hilltop to improve our demo capabilities and to provide the seeds and cuttings for more people.  We learnt afterwards that about 2 thirds of the folk on training were HIV positive.

We also met with other missionaries who have experience cultivating plantations of Moringa on a larger scale and we visited a farm where Moringa is cultivated on a large scale, harvested, dried in a solar drier, stored, milled and packed for use in the future.  We are planning to help our friends in the valley to cultivate Moringa at each centre where there is orphan care (about 10 centres now).  This “miracle tree” can make a huge difference to the health, nutrition and wellbeing of the orphans and other kids.  If this cultivation is successful we will expand the project and add Aloe Vera, Neem, Artemesia, Lemon grass and other plants.



At Hilltop we have also installed a new hot water system to make sure we get hot water when needed, especially for our guests.  We have moved from high tech German water heaters to low tech African systems that use fire to make hot water :)  The high tech systems did not cope with our erratic power supply and our guests and so we have gone simple to ensure hot water supply !  We have also added a new cupboard and 2 suitcase stands with 2 more stands on order to improve our capacity to house guests at Hilltop.

Foster heads down to the valley soon to do a thorough assessment of the orphan situation and this will be followed in May by the first delivery of adult literacy materials for 2015 to the 7 existing  schools and 6 new schools that have formed.

Thanks for your role in this team - we do appreciate you greatly !!!

Love and best wishes