Malawi - July 2005

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I thought you might like to know how things are going out here in the African Bush.   As you may know, my husband David, and I came out here for four months, to work with orphans and help in any way we could.   We’re half-way through our trip now, and despite the challenges of rural life, we’re loving it.
AID AFRICA - our local appeal, has been startlingly effective in the UK.   Unexpectedly an avenue of opportunity to help the very poorest and most vulnerable in the remote villages here in Malawi, has opened up before us.   The finance raised by AID AFRICA has the potential to change hundreds of lives here.
“OPEN HAND PROJECTS” is the working title for our programme locally. Malawi has had another disastrous harvest, and just in the past couple of months, the price of maize - the staple diet - has gone up 35%.   It’s already out of the reach of the poorest, and they’ve only their own “gardens” (in drought conditions) to sustain themselves and their extended families - often including orphans.   Our first project has been establishing “Community Agri-Gardens”. These are not the English rose-garden type with manicured lawns, but small fields of previously rough land, worked by volunteers, to feed the poorest in their cluster of villages.   “Open Hand” supplies seed, pesticides, fertilizer, some tools, agricultural advice and training. The volunteers do the work, and the poor reap the benefit. We’ve met the local “dignitaries”, the Group, and Village Headmen, who’ve embraced our scheme with enthusiasm which is not surprising as hunger is always their biggest problem, especially among our target group - the orphans, disabled, chronically sick and elderly. No welfare state here!

So our gardens are in varying stages of preparedness and growth. Mustard is a common and valuable crop. It looks like a long, full lettuce, but you strip off the outer leaves, leaving the crown growing, to make “relish”, the necessary accompaniment to the nsima - a maize porridge. I was presented with an armful of mustard leaves this week - the first fruits of the project - an exciting experience!

From Malawi - July 2005

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Mustard