At the end of January, I returned to Haiti! I was there for 2 weeks. The first was spent in Bayonnais with a group from Montreat and Charlotte, NC. The second was back in Port-au-Prince with Haiti Outreach Ministries.
Not much had changed at the airport. There is a new $10 fee to enter the country but that isn't much compared to many places. All of our bags came through though it did take some time. Another mission group had used the same bright green duct tape on their bags which was a little confusing. Got out to the school bus that would take us the 3+hours north to Bayonnais to find the reverse beep was broken and now ON all the time that the bus is on. Not a bad rode though the last hour is off the highway and very bumpy (I'm used to off roading). We were even more relieved than normal to get off the beeping bus!
The US organization that helps in Bayonnais is Friends of OFCB. The Haitian organization is OFCB. Operation Force Christ of Bayonnais. It is now headed by Pastor Actionnel Fleurisma. In 1993 he helped to start a school in his home village of Bayonnais with 105 students and 3 teachers. Now there are more than 1,700 students in kindergarten thru 13th grade. And they have started 2 satellite schools for the children who have been walking for 2 hours to get to school! Want to sponsor a student?
There is also a church there that has grown from a small cinder block church to a larger space used for education classes and community meetings. Along with a clinic for healthcare, and agriculture program, a local bank with a micro-credit loan facility many great things are going on in Bayonnais. Graduates are returning from university to work in Bayonnais at the school and in the clinic.
It is a very friendly area and there is always someone aaround who would live to practice their English, share ideas and ask and answer questions. I visited briefly in 2013 when mom was down with FOFCB and am glad I had the opportunity to return.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Food distribution-Malawi
200 bags of maize ready for distribution
waiting for the distribution
signing for the bag of maize
thumbprints or signatures
leaving with a month's worth of food
visit Marion Medical Mission to learn more!
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Famine
Malawi is going through a terrible famine right now. The harvest was bad last year in that there really wasn't one due to the flood in November 2014 and the the rain stopping completely. People are starving. The harvest for this year is looking pretty good right now, but it is still growing and not ready to eat yet. Marion Medical Mission is helping to provide maize (the basic staple food) for families to get through this hunger time. I'll let this letter from Tom Logan tell more (and will follow up with pictures I took at one distribution) :
February 16, 2016
The famine in Malawi is real.
Marion Medical Mission’s (MMM) impossible goal in September of 2015 was to buy and distribute 10,000 110 pound bags of maize.
As a result of many wonderful giving people and Churches MMM has purchased 29,200 110 pound bags of maize and by February 20, 2016, will have distributed this maize to an estimated 80,000 people. And for only $16 per 110 pound bag.
Rev. Kachipapa, General Secretary of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Nkhoma, took on the task of identifying vulnerable families and getting the maize distributed to them. He asked each rural Congregation* working together with the Traditional Authorities, to identify 400 of the most vulnerable families in their areas regardless of religious affiliation. These Congregations (Women’s Guild, Men’s Guild, Deacons, Elders) along with Synod officials, monitor the maize distribution.
Lorries carrying 200 110 pound bags of maize are hired to deliver the maize to the distribution centers** where the selected vulnerable families receive the maize. The roads to the distribution centers are dirt and because this is the rainy season the transport becomes increasingly difficult resulting in increased delivery costs. The government of Malawi, seeing the effectiveness of the distribution system, is providing 7 trucks decreasing the transportation cost by an estimated 75%! God is good all the time!
Marion Medical Mission’s Synod of Livingtonia, and Synod of Nkhoma Well Program Field Officers distributed 2,800 bags of maize to rural communities within their catchment areas. Rev. Mwasakifwa and the Tanzanian Well Program Field Officers donated $600 to buy maize for their Malawian brothers and sisters suffering from famine.
There remain many in Malawi at risk of starvation. Famine means people are weak making it difficult for them to work in their fields, leading to another poor growing season. Famine means well maintenance people too weak to repair wells, and villages unable to offer a gift of food when their well is repaired…leading to a return to unsafe drinking water.
We have a most effective and efficient way of reaching those impacted by the famine.
We again ask your help in feeding the least of these as Marion Medical Mission struggles to buy and deliver additional maize to the most vulnerable. The cost is still just $16 per bag distributed.
100% of your designated donations will go directly to Malawi to purchase and distribute maize. No overhead expenses on the US side. In Africa 3% goes for monitoring and distribution.
Mail your tax deductible donations to Marion Medical Mission, 1412 Shawnee Drive, Marion Illinois 62959. To donate online go to: www.mmmwater.org, or on Facebook go to Marion Medical Mission.
Thanks so much for all you do…only together as God’s people.
Tom Logan, President
* Rev. Kachipapa explains these Congregations average 1,000 members and 11 prayer houses.
** The rural Congregations that selected the vulnerable families.
February 16, 2016
The famine in Malawi is real.
Marion Medical Mission’s (MMM) impossible goal in September of 2015 was to buy and distribute 10,000 110 pound bags of maize.
As a result of many wonderful giving people and Churches MMM has purchased 29,200 110 pound bags of maize and by February 20, 2016, will have distributed this maize to an estimated 80,000 people. And for only $16 per 110 pound bag.
Rev. Kachipapa, General Secretary of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Nkhoma, took on the task of identifying vulnerable families and getting the maize distributed to them. He asked each rural Congregation* working together with the Traditional Authorities, to identify 400 of the most vulnerable families in their areas regardless of religious affiliation. These Congregations (Women’s Guild, Men’s Guild, Deacons, Elders) along with Synod officials, monitor the maize distribution.
Lorries carrying 200 110 pound bags of maize are hired to deliver the maize to the distribution centers** where the selected vulnerable families receive the maize. The roads to the distribution centers are dirt and because this is the rainy season the transport becomes increasingly difficult resulting in increased delivery costs. The government of Malawi, seeing the effectiveness of the distribution system, is providing 7 trucks decreasing the transportation cost by an estimated 75%! God is good all the time!
Marion Medical Mission’s Synod of Livingtonia, and Synod of Nkhoma Well Program Field Officers distributed 2,800 bags of maize to rural communities within their catchment areas. Rev. Mwasakifwa and the Tanzanian Well Program Field Officers donated $600 to buy maize for their Malawian brothers and sisters suffering from famine.
There remain many in Malawi at risk of starvation. Famine means people are weak making it difficult for them to work in their fields, leading to another poor growing season. Famine means well maintenance people too weak to repair wells, and villages unable to offer a gift of food when their well is repaired…leading to a return to unsafe drinking water.
We have a most effective and efficient way of reaching those impacted by the famine.
We again ask your help in feeding the least of these as Marion Medical Mission struggles to buy and deliver additional maize to the most vulnerable. The cost is still just $16 per bag distributed.
100% of your designated donations will go directly to Malawi to purchase and distribute maize. No overhead expenses on the US side. In Africa 3% goes for monitoring and distribution.
Mail your tax deductible donations to Marion Medical Mission, 1412 Shawnee Drive, Marion Illinois 62959. To donate online go to: www.mmmwater.org, or on Facebook go to Marion Medical Mission.
Thanks so much for all you do…only together as God’s people.
Tom Logan, President
* Rev. Kachipapa explains these Congregations average 1,000 members and 11 prayer houses.
** The rural Congregations that selected the vulnerable families.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
