Dear Lindsay & Friends
Once again we start to prepare for Christmas – although hard to believe as an Irish person in the midst of such heat. Christmas is always a time of hope and also a time to reflect back on the past year and thank God for His many blessings.
I just got back from Home leave in Ireland at end of October, - already it feels like I have never been away. You are possibly hearing on the news that Malawi is one of the countries hit with food shortage yet again. The South and along the lakeshore are worst affected. Although thankfully we are not among the parts worst hit we still have many vulnerable families needing assistance with food, seed and fertilizer. We have just completed helping the women to purchase fertilizer and seed – there is a voucher system for cheaper fertilizer arranged by the Government but still the really poor cannot find adequate cash to buy the seed and fertilizer, they needed further help. The women are busy working in their gardens these days and we are all busy praying for good rains and a good harvest. We have also bought maize, beans, cooking oil and salt which we have stored at the Parish to help poor families over Christmas.
At the end of October our Women’s Groups participated in The International Women’s Fair here in Lilongwe where they did manage to sell some of their handcrafts. Whilst they were happy with what they sold and their experience of the sale they realised just how difficult it is to sell crafts. Whilst the women enjoy and are excellent at their craft work and love to learn more they also need to make some money. So now I am encouraging all my expatriate friends to buy their Christmas gifts from the women!
The various Women’s Groups again produced some beautiful warm sweaters for the orphans in the villages and Township – this seems to have become an annual event alongside distribution of blankets for the Cold Season.
We have recommenced our mosquito net scheme – we can get subsidised mosquito nets, Mk80 each, from the District Health Office- some women sell them at MK100, which is affordable and make a little profit and it means most families have nets and we see a lot less malaria. The women are very happy these days as we now commence our TB Programme with Government in the Township. This means people who are coughing no longer have to walk miles to the hospital for testing or treatment – instead samples for testing will be taken and if positive for TB medication will be provided free of charge to them in the Township. TB is rampant in the Township so we hope this programme will encourage more to come forward for testing and treatment and so cut back on the amount of TB in the community .The numbers of orphans in the community continues to increase as more parents become ill and die with AIDS. It is our hope that The TB Programme which will work hand in hand with our HIV\AIDS Programme will encourage more adults to go for HIV testing and counselling and avail of the ARV medication which is available. This should facilitate people with HIV to live longer and with a better quality of life – and what a difference that should make to their children too.
We also continue to provide a support group and basic counselling services for the women – our hope in time is that they in turn will gain enough confidence and skills to start talking with the orphans and indeed their own children re HIV\AIDS and death- but this will take time as it is counter cultural.
They are but some of the happenings in the villages and township – the daily joys and struggles the women and their families face. I hope they will give you a little picture of how you in partnership with us have helped the women and their families. Thank you again for being our partners in Christ’s healing mission here in Malawi.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and we will remember you and your intentions too. Again, we wish you a happy Christmas and peace and joy in the New Year.
Sr. Mary
From our MMM Women’s Group’s and Sister Mary Doonan MMM
Once again we start to prepare for Christmas – although hard to believe as an Irish person in the midst of such heat. Christmas is always a time of hope and also a time to reflect back on the past year and thank God for His many blessings.
I just got back from Home leave in Ireland at end of October, - already it feels like I have never been away. You are possibly hearing on the news that Malawi is one of the countries hit with food shortage yet again. The South and along the lakeshore are worst affected. Although thankfully we are not among the parts worst hit we still have many vulnerable families needing assistance with food, seed and fertilizer. We have just completed helping the women to purchase fertilizer and seed – there is a voucher system for cheaper fertilizer arranged by the Government but still the really poor cannot find adequate cash to buy the seed and fertilizer, they needed further help. The women are busy working in their gardens these days and we are all busy praying for good rains and a good harvest. We have also bought maize, beans, cooking oil and salt which we have stored at the Parish to help poor families over Christmas.
At the end of October our Women’s Groups participated in The International Women’s Fair here in Lilongwe where they did manage to sell some of their handcrafts. Whilst they were happy with what they sold and their experience of the sale they realised just how difficult it is to sell crafts. Whilst the women enjoy and are excellent at their craft work and love to learn more they also need to make some money. So now I am encouraging all my expatriate friends to buy their Christmas gifts from the women!
The various Women’s Groups again produced some beautiful warm sweaters for the orphans in the villages and Township – this seems to have become an annual event alongside distribution of blankets for the Cold Season.
We have recommenced our mosquito net scheme – we can get subsidised mosquito nets, Mk80 each, from the District Health Office- some women sell them at MK100, which is affordable and make a little profit and it means most families have nets and we see a lot less malaria. The women are very happy these days as we now commence our TB Programme with Government in the Township. This means people who are coughing no longer have to walk miles to the hospital for testing or treatment – instead samples for testing will be taken and if positive for TB medication will be provided free of charge to them in the Township. TB is rampant in the Township so we hope this programme will encourage more to come forward for testing and treatment and so cut back on the amount of TB in the community .The numbers of orphans in the community continues to increase as more parents become ill and die with AIDS. It is our hope that The TB Programme which will work hand in hand with our HIV\AIDS Programme will encourage more adults to go for HIV testing and counselling and avail of the ARV medication which is available. This should facilitate people with HIV to live longer and with a better quality of life – and what a difference that should make to their children too.
We also continue to provide a support group and basic counselling services for the women – our hope in time is that they in turn will gain enough confidence and skills to start talking with the orphans and indeed their own children re HIV\AIDS and death- but this will take time as it is counter cultural.
They are but some of the happenings in the villages and township – the daily joys and struggles the women and their families face. I hope they will give you a little picture of how you in partnership with us have helped the women and their families. Thank you again for being our partners in Christ’s healing mission here in Malawi.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and we will remember you and your intentions too. Again, we wish you a happy Christmas and peace and joy in the New Year.
Sr. Mary
From our MMM Women’s Group’s and Sister Mary Doonan MMM
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