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!
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
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.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Friday, February 19, 2016
Friday, February 12, 2016
getting there and installation
Crew 2 (October group) I'm in the green.
our truck
a few bridges to cross (ok, this one was on foot)
but this one wasn't
and installing
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
When were you thirsty?
Matthew 25:34-40
Lord, when did we see you thirsty and give you a drink?
Have you ever been thirsty? I mean, really thirsty? Though we say “I'm dying of thirst”, few of us have really been that desperate - Was there a time when there was no water anywhere – wandering through a desert with the sun beating down and no water in sight or perhaps you were on a hike and didn't bring enough water with you... Or picture yourself where there is lots of water around - an ocean, a lake, a river – but it's salty, or tainted and dirty. Can you imagine being so thirsty that you get to the point where you decide to drink it anyway and just pray that you don’t get sick?
In October I went on my second trip with Marion Medical Mission to Malawi to help install and dedicate shallow wells, to finish the hard work that the villagers had already done of digging a deep hole until they reached water and lining it with hand-made bricks. We, the volunteers, showed up with the pipes and pumps that would bring the clean, clear water to the surface to fill their buckets. We went to villages that had water holes nearby, but they were open, muddy holes where animals would also come to drink and bathe. We went to villages that had to walk several miles to get to a water source—not clean water, water that you and I would never think of drinking, but the only water they had. In 2015, Marion Medical Mission installed 2678 wells (that is an estimated 403,050 people that now have access to clean water)! My partner, Jan, and I helped install and dedicate 102 of the wells. And I could probably tell you 102 different stories about the experience, but here are just a couple of my well stories:
Usually the whole village turns out to welcome us with singing and dancing when we arrive. One morning we arrived at a village and there were only 6 people. We were told that there was a funeral in the next village over and funerals are a big deal in Malawi. Everyone who is able goes to a nearby funeral. So in this village there were 6 people to greet us: Two were men (one of them being the water committee chairperson), two were teenage girls and two were agogos, grandmothers. These agogos looked to be about 85 though they were probably only 60, if that. One had a baby tied to her back. The well site was on the side of a mountain and we had to hike to get there. The 2 agogos started dancing and talking when we arrived and Jan and I were sandwiched between them on our walk to the well, and they didn’t stop talking until the well was installed. We couldn’t understand a word they said, but they kept up a constant, loud chatter. Near the well site I found their original water source, and it wasn’t pretty: algae, leaves, and green scum on the water. One of the agogos followed me and we had a small conversation using charades. She pointed at the water and shook her head with a disgusted look on her face. I did the same with a nod. Then I pointed to the new well and smiled. She did the same. Then I started dancing to which she screamed with laughter and called everyone else over to witness the antics as we danced together. When we started the dedication service, they were finally quiet. But not for long! It was like a prayer meeting with lots of interjections through the dedication, instructions and prayers that were said, and, of course, many ululations of joy. The Joy just couldn’t be contained.
At another village we drove in and heard shouting and cheering that then turned into a chant. When we asked what they were saying, our Field Officer translated, “It’s real! It’s true!” They couldn’t believe that we had actually arrived. They had been given so many promises, from the government, from outsiders, from everyone, and very rarely were any of those promises kept. They had been told (promised) that we would come after they finished the well. So they dug the well, put the bricks in, covered it with concrete - all with the help of a Marion Medical Mission employee who told them that he would return with the volunteers to finish the well. This well had been ready for the pipe and pump installation for about a month, and they were close to giving up on us. They figured that this was another of those broken promises. But then we arrived and they were overjoyed that we were there. That the promise of clean water was becoming real in their village.
I thought the smiles on their faces when we arrived couldn’t get any bigger - but they did – as soon as the water came out of the pump for the first time. It was clean, clear and so close to the village. Whenever a chief would say that they had started to give up hope of the pipes and pump arriving (a month is a long time to wait for clean water when the site is ready), my partner would always tell the villagers that Marion Medical always follows through, always comes back. And I love that idea, but I don’t know that it means much to the villagers. That is probably what everyone says. But on that day, we came. We were there. We were sharing God’s love. We got to be God’s hands and feet, God’s driver. We were doing God’s work of caring for these people and giving them what we, as Americans, consider a basic right: clean water when they were thirsty. A promise kept. Hope fulfilled.
In Africa, you hear people say, “Madzi ndi moyo. Water is life.” But one of the village chiefs clarified by saying, “I’ve always heard that water is life, but I’ve seen bad water and what it does to us. So I say, “Madzi ya bwino ndi moyo. Ulemu kwa Mulungu”! Clean water is life. Glory to God.
Lord, when did we see you thirsty and give you a drink?
Have you ever been thirsty? I mean, really thirsty? Though we say “I'm dying of thirst”, few of us have really been that desperate - Was there a time when there was no water anywhere – wandering through a desert with the sun beating down and no water in sight or perhaps you were on a hike and didn't bring enough water with you... Or picture yourself where there is lots of water around - an ocean, a lake, a river – but it's salty, or tainted and dirty. Can you imagine being so thirsty that you get to the point where you decide to drink it anyway and just pray that you don’t get sick?
In October I went on my second trip with Marion Medical Mission to Malawi to help install and dedicate shallow wells, to finish the hard work that the villagers had already done of digging a deep hole until they reached water and lining it with hand-made bricks. We, the volunteers, showed up with the pipes and pumps that would bring the clean, clear water to the surface to fill their buckets. We went to villages that had water holes nearby, but they were open, muddy holes where animals would also come to drink and bathe. We went to villages that had to walk several miles to get to a water source—not clean water, water that you and I would never think of drinking, but the only water they had. In 2015, Marion Medical Mission installed 2678 wells (that is an estimated 403,050 people that now have access to clean water)! My partner, Jan, and I helped install and dedicate 102 of the wells. And I could probably tell you 102 different stories about the experience, but here are just a couple of my well stories:
Usually the whole village turns out to welcome us with singing and dancing when we arrive. One morning we arrived at a village and there were only 6 people. We were told that there was a funeral in the next village over and funerals are a big deal in Malawi. Everyone who is able goes to a nearby funeral. So in this village there were 6 people to greet us: Two were men (one of them being the water committee chairperson), two were teenage girls and two were agogos, grandmothers. These agogos looked to be about 85 though they were probably only 60, if that. One had a baby tied to her back. The well site was on the side of a mountain and we had to hike to get there. The 2 agogos started dancing and talking when we arrived and Jan and I were sandwiched between them on our walk to the well, and they didn’t stop talking until the well was installed. We couldn’t understand a word they said, but they kept up a constant, loud chatter. Near the well site I found their original water source, and it wasn’t pretty: algae, leaves, and green scum on the water. One of the agogos followed me and we had a small conversation using charades. She pointed at the water and shook her head with a disgusted look on her face. I did the same with a nod. Then I pointed to the new well and smiled. She did the same. Then I started dancing to which she screamed with laughter and called everyone else over to witness the antics as we danced together. When we started the dedication service, they were finally quiet. But not for long! It was like a prayer meeting with lots of interjections through the dedication, instructions and prayers that were said, and, of course, many ululations of joy. The Joy just couldn’t be contained.
At another village we drove in and heard shouting and cheering that then turned into a chant. When we asked what they were saying, our Field Officer translated, “It’s real! It’s true!” They couldn’t believe that we had actually arrived. They had been given so many promises, from the government, from outsiders, from everyone, and very rarely were any of those promises kept. They had been told (promised) that we would come after they finished the well. So they dug the well, put the bricks in, covered it with concrete - all with the help of a Marion Medical Mission employee who told them that he would return with the volunteers to finish the well. This well had been ready for the pipe and pump installation for about a month, and they were close to giving up on us. They figured that this was another of those broken promises. But then we arrived and they were overjoyed that we were there. That the promise of clean water was becoming real in their village.
I thought the smiles on their faces when we arrived couldn’t get any bigger - but they did – as soon as the water came out of the pump for the first time. It was clean, clear and so close to the village. Whenever a chief would say that they had started to give up hope of the pipes and pump arriving (a month is a long time to wait for clean water when the site is ready), my partner would always tell the villagers that Marion Medical always follows through, always comes back. And I love that idea, but I don’t know that it means much to the villagers. That is probably what everyone says. But on that day, we came. We were there. We were sharing God’s love. We got to be God’s hands and feet, God’s driver. We were doing God’s work of caring for these people and giving them what we, as Americans, consider a basic right: clean water when they were thirsty. A promise kept. Hope fulfilled.
In Africa, you hear people say, “Madzi ndi moyo. Water is life.” But one of the village chiefs clarified by saying, “I’ve always heard that water is life, but I’ve seen bad water and what it does to us. So I say, “Madzi ya bwino ndi moyo. Ulemu kwa Mulungu”! Clean water is life. Glory to God.
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