We’ve Increased by Five Acres…

This past October we purchased an additional five acre plot of land less than a kilometer away from the care center. We purchased it solely for the purpose of growing the necessary food we need to feed the children God has put in our care. It is difficult to convey just how important this is to what we are doing. The food situation in Malawi is complicated and it always has been. Once in a while there’s a bumper crop and things seem to go okay for a while, but this is the exception. Most of the time there’s lack, hunger and desperation.

We’ve been doing this a long time and have come to understand the best way to have any real food security is to grow and harvest it ourselves. Unfortunately land and seed are only part of what is needed for success, the other is water.

We are convinced that in order to produce consistently like we need to, we’ll need to install a well and implement a solar powered drip irrigation system. It’s a bit of an investment up front but in the long run it will give us the ability to produce even through drought. We will also have the potential to harvest up to two crops per growing season verses one.

When we were working in Israel we met with various farmers and growers that were located in the middle of the desert. It was phenomenal to see what they were able to produce…all primarily due to drip irrigation.

We’re in the process of getting various quotes on materials and are currently putting the plans together now for the overall cost of the project.

For more information on specific costs involved feel free to contact us, or visit our Donation page.

PHOTOS ON RIGHT – OUR NEW LAND!

GAZETTE REVIEW – By Paoloa Mojica –

Holding a population of 16 million while also being one of the smallest African nation doesn’t set you up for accumulation or distribution of wealth. Arguable the most underdeveloped nation in the world, Malawi suffers greatly in essentially all categories available. Access to education, general standard of healthcare, infrastructure, and quality of living conditions are all limited or substandard. Because the nation is unable to develop in general, they’re for all intents and purposes stuck with trying to drive their economy using only the most primitive levels of agriculture. With common weather variations, as well as injuries and fatalities facilitated by poor health care, Malawi’s world lowest GDP per capita of $399.10 doesn’t seem like it will be rising too significantly any time soon.

Voice of America

By Lameck Masina

Blantyre — Despite a nationwide vaccination campaign that started in May, Malawi is struggling to contain a cholera outbreak that has infected more than 1,073 people and caused 44 deaths.

The figures from the Malawi Ministry of Health, updated as of Aug. 16, 2022, are triple the numbers recorded when the vaccination campaign was launched three months ago.

The report also says the outbreak has spread to 10 districts from eight in May. The hardest hit districts include Blantyre with 489 cases, Neno with 128 cases, and Nsanje with 289 cases.

George Mbotwa, spokesperson for a health office in Nsanje district, which borders Mozambique south of Malawi, said continued incidents of cholera in the district are largely because of movements of people between the two countries.

“What is worrisome is that we have now continued to record the cases when by now we would have contained the situation,” he said. “It’s because some of these cases we are sharing with Mozambique. So, the cases will be coming from Mozambique and then reporting to health facilities in Nsanje, then being recorded as Nsanje cases.”

Mbotwa said the situation is slowly improving, after officials on the Mozambican side agreed during recent discussions to set up cholera treatment sites on their side of the border.

“The Mozambican side by then didn’t have cholera treatment sites, and now they have them there, so people are able to report the cases right there, unlike coming with cases to Malawi,” he said. Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with bacteria. The disease affects both children and adults, and if untreated, it can kill within hours.

Penjani Chunda, environmental health officer in Blantyre, said although Blantyre is largely an urban area, cholera cases are on the rise because most people fetch water from unprotected sources like rivers and streams.

“In most parts of Blantyre, we don’t have portable water sources,” he said. “It might be like an urban setup, but it has no portable water sources, and we have got dry taps in some of the areas and [water] kiosks are not working at all.”

The spokesperson for the Health Ministry, Adrian Chikumbe, said health authorities are currently distributing chlorine for water treatment, and providing public education on good hygiene.

Chikumbe also hopes the second phase of the national oral cholera vaccination campaign, which is expected to start soon in the most-hit districts, will help contain the situation.

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