Friday, April 28, 2006
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Saturday, April 01, 2006
LETTER FROM SR. MARY DOONAN
Dear Lindsay & Friends in Australia
Greetings from Lilongwe, and best wishes for a very happy Easter.
You and all our friends are remembered very specially in our prayers during the Easter Season and Tridium. The Easter Tridium Ceremonies here are always very beautiful and very prayerful with elements from the local culture incorporated into them.
There is also a large attendance and great participation by all. Each year we pray that the rains will stay away and allow the people to walk too and fro without getting soaked.
Over the past ten days we have had torrential rains all over the country. Due to the heavy rains some people in Mangochi, (South of Malawi), and along the Lakeshore lost their maize which was just about ready for harvesting and many homes were also washed away. For the North the rains came too late as many have already lost their maize crop. Here in the Central Region, thank God, we are more fortunate as we have a good maize crop so far that has survived all weather.
We continue our ministry with the different Women’s Groups and some teenage girls. All of the women received some garden seeds at the end of last year and have not harvested lovely tomatoes, onions and rape. They are delighted as food is very scarce just now and very expensive as the MK continues to devalue. I honestly do not know how families are surviving.
Since early January we have been conducting basic health education classes with the women as they sit and sew and these are proving very popular and hopefully helpful. Many new young women have joined the class since January – bringing with them as many babies and small children. The women have just embarked on their annual sweater knitting for our orphans for the Cold Season. I provide the wool and pay the women for knitting the sweaters. Whilst we provide the orphans with sweaters we also help poor women have a little money for Easter, and the women get to learn new knitting and crochet patterns.
The Girls Group have just finished knitting hats and are now knitting their own sweaters for school and are already very proud of their achievement. With this Group we also teach English and some Human Development. It is our attempt to try to prevent teenage pregnancy and HIV\AIDS.
We are still operating our Mosquito Net Project which is proving very successful. The women have noticed that all of them with mosquito nets have experienced much less malaria in their families. Now they are busy telling and encouraging others join the scheme.
During the past weeks I have needed to help many with medical expenses to attend a nearby Mission Clinic as there seems to be little or no medicines in the Government Hospitals. The Government Hospitals & clinics try to provide a free medical service but are now totally overwhelmed with all the HIV\AIDS patients and so many, especially children, with resistant malaria, chest infections, and pneumonia. It is hard to see how any poor country like Malawi could cope with so many ill in the community.
After Easter, when folk have finished harvesting their maize we are hoping to conduct Memory Book Workshops with our women. During these workshops we will help them make their own family Album- we are encouraging all families do so now as there are so many deaths from HIV\AIDS we see so many die in accidents and other illnesses. It also gives and opportunity to provide support as we help them share about their own experience of bereavement. I know we have no one in the Group now who have not lost loved ones in the past year. Since Christmas three young women from the group have died leaving young families. We then hope to have some of these women work with us with orphaned children as we do the same. Our hope is that in the long term we can overcome a cultural taboo where few adults talk or listen to children following a bereavement.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we will you. Wishing you and your loved ones peace and joy in the Risen Christ.
Sr. Mary Doonan MMM
Greetings from Lilongwe, and best wishes for a very happy Easter.
You and all our friends are remembered very specially in our prayers during the Easter Season and Tridium. The Easter Tridium Ceremonies here are always very beautiful and very prayerful with elements from the local culture incorporated into them.
There is also a large attendance and great participation by all. Each year we pray that the rains will stay away and allow the people to walk too and fro without getting soaked.
Over the past ten days we have had torrential rains all over the country. Due to the heavy rains some people in Mangochi, (South of Malawi), and along the Lakeshore lost their maize which was just about ready for harvesting and many homes were also washed away. For the North the rains came too late as many have already lost their maize crop. Here in the Central Region, thank God, we are more fortunate as we have a good maize crop so far that has survived all weather.
We continue our ministry with the different Women’s Groups and some teenage girls. All of the women received some garden seeds at the end of last year and have not harvested lovely tomatoes, onions and rape. They are delighted as food is very scarce just now and very expensive as the MK continues to devalue. I honestly do not know how families are surviving.
Since early January we have been conducting basic health education classes with the women as they sit and sew and these are proving very popular and hopefully helpful. Many new young women have joined the class since January – bringing with them as many babies and small children. The women have just embarked on their annual sweater knitting for our orphans for the Cold Season. I provide the wool and pay the women for knitting the sweaters. Whilst we provide the orphans with sweaters we also help poor women have a little money for Easter, and the women get to learn new knitting and crochet patterns.
The Girls Group have just finished knitting hats and are now knitting their own sweaters for school and are already very proud of their achievement. With this Group we also teach English and some Human Development. It is our attempt to try to prevent teenage pregnancy and HIV\AIDS.
We are still operating our Mosquito Net Project which is proving very successful. The women have noticed that all of them with mosquito nets have experienced much less malaria in their families. Now they are busy telling and encouraging others join the scheme.
During the past weeks I have needed to help many with medical expenses to attend a nearby Mission Clinic as there seems to be little or no medicines in the Government Hospitals. The Government Hospitals & clinics try to provide a free medical service but are now totally overwhelmed with all the HIV\AIDS patients and so many, especially children, with resistant malaria, chest infections, and pneumonia. It is hard to see how any poor country like Malawi could cope with so many ill in the community.
After Easter, when folk have finished harvesting their maize we are hoping to conduct Memory Book Workshops with our women. During these workshops we will help them make their own family Album- we are encouraging all families do so now as there are so many deaths from HIV\AIDS we see so many die in accidents and other illnesses. It also gives and opportunity to provide support as we help them share about their own experience of bereavement. I know we have no one in the Group now who have not lost loved ones in the past year. Since Christmas three young women from the group have died leaving young families. We then hope to have some of these women work with us with orphaned children as we do the same. Our hope is that in the long term we can overcome a cultural taboo where few adults talk or listen to children following a bereavement.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we will you. Wishing you and your loved ones peace and joy in the Risen Christ.
Sr. Mary Doonan MMM
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