Recently, I visited my old home (which is only on the other side of town - but it still takes me an hour an a half to get there by minibus). I went to see how Millyana and Madalitso were fairing in school. The reports were all very good. Madalitso is catching up with the other kids in her class (she started a half a year behind everyone else in Grade One, and she didn't get the chance to do Kindergarten). Mada's mum told me that the teacher gave Mada 20 Kwacha (about 20 cents - enough for a few pieces of candy, or perhaps enough for an egg) as a reward for good work. Madalitso drew out the entire alphabet and read them aloud for me. It's exciting to see her progress.I didn't see Millyana while I was visiting (she was in the neighbourhood braiding someone's hair to earn a little extra money). I hear that she's doing well too.
While I was in the neighbourhood, I gave the girls some presents that friends in Canada had bought for them. They were delighted. The picture shows Takondwa with her snowman tied on her back in the same way that women carry their children. She didn't want to let him go!
Its good to see how philanthropic people like Anna are doing for the desperate children especially girls. Malawi has one of the lowest literacy levels in the World, Government alone can not redress this. Therefore if we have many peope assisting we will have our poeple eductaed and other development work wil be easy to impliment. Bravo! Anna.
ReplyDeleteI love her little snowman! This is wonderful Anna Marie, I am so happy to hear that they are doing well!
ReplyDeleteAllison
Thanks for posting this update. I am so glad that the girls are doing good at school :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen we picked up the gifts I was wondering if the girls had ever heard of snow or snowmen – therefore I was wondering how much of an explanation did the snowman need???
Keep up the good work and the blogging :-)
Hey: Barry here ... the Christie Dad
ReplyDeleteThis was in the Citizen paper last week and I thought you would like to read it.
Cheers,
Barry
Plant sale sowing seeds for Malawi
Elaine Scott, Special to the Citizen
Published: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Seeds for Malawi, a project of the Salt Spring Island Garden Club (including the Mill Bay chapter), enables AIDS-affected families in rural Malawi to become self-sufficient in crop production.
Created in 2003, this year the $15,000 sent to Malawi is supporting 95 households to grow enough food to feed themselves for a year, assisting 45 orphaned children with secondary school fees, and providing nutritional support for a small number of HIV-positive woman to increase the effectiveness of their drug therapy. A total of approximately 600 people are directly impacted by these funds.
This project is run entirely by volunteers, both in Malawi and in Canada. Project costs consist of fertilizers, seeds and tools for the household gardens, school fees, and the transportation costs to distribute these goods and services to the rural beneficiaries.
Proceeds from events like the upcoming plant sale are used to help children like these continue their educations.
Funds are primarily raised through plant sales (on Salt Spring Island and Mill Bay), craft sales and private donations.
The Mill Bay Chapter of the Salt Spring Island Garden Club Seeds for Malawi project will hold its spring sale in Mill Bay on Saturday, April 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The sale will be held at 2836 Oceanside Lane (east off Trans Canada Highway at Kilmalu, south on Church Way, east on Welch Road and south on Oceanside Lane).
The sale will be in a private garden but will be under cover at the same address if it is raining.
A large number and wide range of plants will be available for sale and master gardeners will be on hand to answer general gardening questions. The plants have been provided by four active gardeners in the area (Barb Kohlman, Sharon Martin, Ali Morris and Elaine Scott) as well as the Salt Spring Island Seeds for Malawi Group and the array of plants includes several very interesting varieties.
The Salt Spring Island Seeds for Malawi plant sale will also take place on April 24 (1 p.m.) at the Farmers' Institute, 351 Rainbow Rd., Salt Spring Island. These sales provide you with the opportunity to support a very good cause and obtain healthy and interesting plants at a reasonable cost.
Should you wish to obtain more information on the plant sales, please phone Elaine at 250-743-0965 (Mill Bay) or Susan at 250-654-3311 (Salt Spring Island).
Hi All!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I'll do my best to keep you up to date on how the girls are doing (it's fun for me to visit and catch up with them).
Barry... thanks for the interesting article. I used to think that large projects were a better use of funding, but more and more I'm thinking that small projects run by well-informed, caring individuals or groups are the way to go. Hope you're well!
cheers