© 2007 AID AFRICA UK Registered Charity Number 1116336
We have over twenty gardens now, mostly around this area, but also four just about to come onto line further south in the Nsanje region It’s very hot down there, and even though the ground is more fertile because of past flooding, the area is very poor with the children in rags. We expect the crops in these gardens to save lives. Where there is a water supply now, we’re urgently planting a winter crop, so the harvest will be available about Christmas, when hunger is due to turn to starvation for many. It’s a lot of hard work, but I love it. We have our own Agricultural Advisor, - a retired government advisor, who monitors the gardens, advises on and calculates the most economic treatments and will train the volunteers in all the newest and most productive ways of farming. In the more southern region the Agricultural Advisor of World Vision is enthusiastic and has offered to help sort those gardens as they’re about 7 hours drive away from here.
NEWS ARCHIVE
Malawi is a beautiful country in a mess. AIDS is reaping a grim harvest.
The orphan situation is in crisis, healthcare very basic, and education minimal. The level of poverty out here in the remote areas is hard for me to grasp. I was chatting to one lady, a retired teacher, and I asked her about life in her village. She told me about her negligible maize harvest, destroyed by drought, and cotton - her cash crop - also failed. So I asked about how she buys food. She doesn’t. A ruined harvest means no income, and I mean NO income. I asked if her fellow villagers would have any money in their own homes? Probably not a single kwacha (1/2p in England) I can’t conceive this kind of poverty, what with our credit cards, bank accounts, and internet banking - it not only seems a different world, but a different galaxy!
However, most of the people we’ve met are hardworking, gentle. They smile easily, and exude a quiet nobility. It truly is a privilege to be here.
The orphan situation is in crisis, healthcare very basic, and education minimal. The level of poverty out here in the remote areas is hard for me to grasp. I was chatting to one lady, a retired teacher, and I asked her about life in her village. She told me about her negligible maize harvest, destroyed by drought, and cotton -
However, most of the people we’ve met are hardworking, gentle. They smile easily, and exude a quiet nobility. It truly is a privilege to be here.
On average, it costs about £40 to prepare, seed and supply each garden with pesticide and fertilizer. The harvest of these crops will feed hundreds.
All this is happening right at this minute thousands of miles from your
doorstep, but you could play an active part in bringing solutions
to those in need here - contact us!
All this is happening right at this minute thousands of miles from your
doorstep, but you could play an active part in bringing solutions
to those in need here -
From Malawi - July 2005 continued ...
