Tuesday, November 29, 2016

LETTER FROM FR TAYLOR IN MALAWI.


DEAR LINDSAY
GREETINGS FROM MALAWI, SORRY FOR THE LONG DELAY IN RESPONDING .THE POWER SHO0RTAGES ARE VERY WEARING!!!!!! BUT WE MANAGE. I WAS INVOLVED IN 4 PROJECTS IN THE PARISH AND ESPECIALLY BUILDING A CLINIC AND TRYING TO GET GOV. APPROVAL. WE OPENED LAST WEEK. GREAT PROGRESS AND WILL SERVE NTHANDIRE, 0NLY 1 MILE AWAY. ALSO WE HAVE GOV APPROVAL FOR THE SCHOOL AT OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS UP TO STD 4 AND HAVE COMPLETED A CLASSROOM BLOCK AND NEW TOILETS .WE WILL PROCEED TO STD 8. I STILL HAVE TO FINISH 2 PROJECTS BUT BY JANUARY THERE WILL BE ONLY ONE –HA! SOLAR IS A GREAT IDEA AND IS MOVING FORWARD IN MALAWI. WORTHWHILE TO THINK ABOUT FOR 2017 /2018
YES IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO GET THE SCHOOL FEES FOR BEGINNING IN EARLY JANUARY. WE HAVE 25 STUDENTS ON OUR BOOKS.
NEED SOME PHOTOS OF THE CLINIC SCHOOL BLOCK OR THE STUDENTS?
THESE ARE VERY HARD TIMES IN MALAWI .THE POVERTY IS EVEN WORSE AND OUR ARCHBISHOP WISHES TO BULD A NEW CATHEDRAL   NESESSARY YES BUT TO HOLD 5000 HA  TO COST 2 TO 3 MILLION DOLLARS .
WE WISH HIM SUCCESS
I AM KEEPING WELL.
HOPE THE BACK IS BEHAVING
GREETINGS TO THE MALAWI GROUP.IT IS WONDERFUL THAT YOU CONTINUE YOUR GREAT WORK WITH SMALLER NUMBERS
KINDEST REGARDS

FRANK

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Woolworths BBQ

The BBQ was a great success with over $800 banked which included $181 in public donations above the $2.50 per sausage cost. Many people from the general public were genuinely interested in the group- especially when we informed them 100% of their donation ends up directly in assistance to Malawians.
Woolworths went out of their way to be very accommodative and kept the sausages and bread in storage to be taken just as we needed it. At the end of the day they credited us with the unused portion which avoided us incurring any wastage. Woolworths staff at all times were extremely helpful, very friendly and an absolute pleasure in their communications. Nothing was a problem to them including setting up and closing down. The young people involved at the store could not have been more helpful and bent over backwards for us and it was a pleasure to receive such a high quality service.   




Friday, May 27, 2016

Letter from Fr Taylor


27th May 2016
Dear Lindsay,
Have only got your letter yesterday.
I have been heavily involved in three Projects in the Parish. Building two classrooms for the Government run secondary school beside ‘Maria Mthandizi’ where many of our students live. There are 100 in a class so we decided to rescue them by building a class block and hope to finish another one. Also we are building a clinic in the compound to assist medical care. Finally we are completing two classrooms and an office to bring the school at Holy Family to standard 8.

Our future plan is to bring the school at Maria Mtandizi to standard 8 from standard 4.
Our student bursary is going on well:

             Supporting 5 girls at the catholic boarding school            K355,000.00
                        Handicapped boy at a boarding school                               K60,000.00
                        Technical school  scholarships                                           K40,000.00
                        Agricultural college                                                            K65,000.00
                        University                                                                           K150,000.00
                        Technical school                                                                 K55,000.00
                        Minor seminary                                                                  K125,000.00
                        Carpentry school                                                                K35,000.00
                        8 students at day secondary school                                    K64,000.00
                        MUST University                                                               K200,000.00
                        DMI University                                                                  K150,000.00




We will continue with paying some of the fees for next term others are only 2 semesters per year.
I hope the Photos will help, of the secondary school, the primary school, the clinic and some of our students.

Thanks to you all for your kind support.

Fr F Taylor.        

Monday, May 09, 2016

Mothers Day raffle


The Mother’s Day raffle drawn on Sunday 1st May was a huge success with $524 raised through the ticket sales and some very generous donations.

 

Monday, March 14, 2016

CRAZY WHIST NIGHT

Thanks to all concerned that contributed to the total amount of $357.85 being raised for this great social event.
We sold 28 tickets to card players and also had a further $77.85 contributed in very kind donations through the Jelly Bean Box from parishioners unable to attend on the night.
Last week we remitted our annual fundraising on behalf of our sister parish to continue to support Fr Taylor with the scholarship programs  and assistance to the needy in the outlying areas.

Tuesday, January 05, 2016


Annual Report for the Malawi Support Group
Hi Everyone,
This year we will be able to replicate last year’s fundraising results to continue the support for orphan and parishioner children administered under the outstanding leadership of Fr Taylor.
Once again the fundraising and activities for the group have been very successful, supplemented as always by some very generous donations with the mainstays represented by the annual parish collection and raffles which continue to be very well supported. Parishioners at times express their delight to me when notified as the winners, some to say this is the first time they have ever won a prize in a raffle. This year your chances of securing a winning ticket were further enhanced with the Christmas raffle offering 5 lovely prizes.    
In August I gave a talk to the school children, at the request of the school, about the Malawi Support Group and pointed out that Malawi, with a population of 16 million occupies an area less than the size of Tasmania, explaining the country has limited resources.  
One of the biggest differences I explained is how much better off we are in Australia compared to Malawians – as nearly half the people in Malawi earn only $1 a day. After talking about life in Malawi and the limited facilities in their sister parish’s catholic school, they all watched the video of the inaugural mass in the new church which we largely funded, then ended the talk with a short story I had composed.   
The children were wonderfully attentive and asked many thoughtful questions to subsequently raise a creditable donation from their own efforts by doing odd jobs over the holidays. A further amount was donated by the tuckshop. It is a reminder how many of the regular amounts raised like this have all added up to make a bid difference to the outcomes for your sister parish.
But possibly more importantly is the narrative that has emerged to unite us in a common thread of unity to embrace fellowship in fundraising activities and in co- sharing the gifts and stories to learn more about each other’s respective customs and cultures.  
But our numbers are getting thin so we welcome any new members to the group as we were saddened to lose one of our younger members this year who has left the parish. He will be sorely missed as he made a substantive contribution during his brief membership.  

Thanks to the committee and to everyone for your continued very generous support.