Help feed over 400 orphans in Malawi
Hi, we are Derek and Jean.
Jean and her family is from Blantyre in Malawi.
Jean's mum Margaret Limbani is part of a small group and feeding programme called "Amatikonda" meaning "They love us"
This programme helps feed over 400 kids, the sick, the elderly and others unable to survive on their own.
These are mostly from Margaret's local area Chigumula Township in Blantyre and her village of origin Kapichi in Thyolo District.
At the moment this group can only come up with enough funds and resources for 1 nutritional meal for each person per week.
For some this is the only real meal they get as they have to survive on their own for the rest of the week.
The group's resources and volunteers are also wearing thin.
These volunteers are locals who contribute a lot of time and some money to keeping this feeding programme alive.
Some of their main contributions are to teach and look after the wellbeing of all, to grow crops in their gardens or rent small plots to either use for food products or to sell to raise money, as well as animals like goats and chickens for meat and eggs, they would sometimes use the proceeds of buying and selling miscellaneous items.
In a place like this it can be very difficult or nearly impossible to raise funds from events, activity fundraisers etc as most people are already in poverty.
The volunteers have there hearts in the right place and give what they can but their valued efforts are currently falling short.
Since myself and Jean met we have been contributing every year for extra meals to be added at Christmas time. And plan to keep this as an annual tradition.
When we started doing this the feeding programme was able to provide 2 or more meals per week which at the time seemed an extreme shortfall of what would be needed,
But now to even get back to that for some of those kids it would be a blessing.
I have been out to malawi twice with Jean and will be travelling out again in the near future.
We have met all the kids and some of the sick or helpless elders and seen first hand the poverty these people are experiencing,
We've seen the sadness in their faces and then changing to joy when with a full belly.
After eating these kids offered gratitude and prayed as well as preforming a play. On one occasion they acted as Margaret and the rest of the members trying to organise a meal day.
While staying at Margarets house, every night I would hear the words 'odi... odi...(knock, knock)' from a chid's voice coming from outside her house, and Jean's mother would quietly go out the back.
I later found out before leaving, that she told the kids that if they had nothing to eat, to call to her. she was giving them food from what was left overs from us eating. But she never told us as we were staying as guests.
Anyway we set up this fundraiser up to try to raise vital funds for these orphans, so they can enjoy a better quality of life, and get the feeding programme back on track.
The money raised will be mainly used for food as it is an immediate priority, if the target is reached some will be allocated towards growing crops and buying utensils, and reaching out for more volunteers.
100% of the money raised will be given to the feeding programme as we are blessed to be a position to do this first hand without going through larger charities or organisations where the funds get diluted by a lot of costs and fees.
We would like to thank you all who took your time to read this far and would be very grateful of any contribution.
Just remember alot less that 1 euro would feed 1 person or child and bring a smile to their face.
THANK YOU
( The cover photo is me sitting amongst the kids at Margaret's house where myself, Jean, our child Cayden, Rehan and Jean's family Norah, Ivor, Evance, who helped Margaret and the rest of the volunteers feed some of the orphans and the elderly).
