Supporting the community
Although our primary focus is education we’re sometimes able to respond to the need for emergency help.
In 2016 Malawi suffered severe flooding. Throughout southern Malawi homes and crops were destroyed. Our children live in simple mud brick houses, often with grass roofs, and a number of children lost their homes. Thanks to generous donors we were able to give the families small cash donations to help them rent temporary accommodation, buy maize and to start re-building their houses.
In March 2019, southern Africa was hit by a severe cyclone. In Malawi, 173 camps were set up for families who had lost homes, crops and possessions. One of the affected areas was Mulanje. A local school, Namindola Primary School, lost the roofs of two of its eight classrooms and was also being used as an emergency camp for 280 displaced families. Thanks to generous donations and the support of an Orkney church we were able to provide funds for the replacement of the roofs so that lessons no longer had to be held outside in the hot sun. For the families we provided blankets, maize flour, cooking pots, plates, mugs, salt, sugar and soap plus plastic sheeting so that the families could return to their villages and construct temporary tents to live in while they set about re-building their homes.
May I please extend my thanks to you and to the church for your good support to this school.
It has been going through many hardships because of the floods that occurred this year but you showed your kindly heart. Thanks very much.Lawrence Mussa, head teacher, Namindola School
The families of all our children lost their maize crops in the cyclone; so each guardian was given a 50kg bag of maize flour plus a small cash gift to help in buying vegetables. At Christmas we give each child a gift of provisions for the family – items such as soap, candles, matches, cooking oil, rice and, as a luxury, orange squash.
