15 years at Kanyenyeva Ministries
The future of the children of Kanyenyeva is bright because of you. The children in this picture were not born when Kanyenyeva Ministries began 15 years ago but they are benefiting from what you have helped build. They are able to receive food and an education because of your donations and prayers.
Kanyenyeva Ministries and Malawi Orphan Care Project pray that in the next 15 years Malawi will be able to rise out of its extreme poverty and be able to care for all of its citizens.
Five years ago we wrote about the first 10 years of Kanyenyeva Ministries. You can read about that here.
Since then, Kanyenyeva Ministries continues to help improve the lives of the children and adults in their community. The leadership at the orphan project makes sure each child attends school. Because of this focus, more students are graduating from high school. One student, Precious, scored so high on his high school exit exams that he was eligible to attend college. Thanks to a generous donor who is paying his school fees, Precious is studying computer science at UNICAF in Lilongwe. You can read more about Precious here.
With the help of your donations, they have begun 2 new businesses: a 137 acre farm and Kanyenyeva Wala which is a Days for Girls Enterprise where women make and sell reusable sanitary products.
A Skills Center has been built where Kanyenyeva Wala is housed and high schoolers can meet in the evening to study together. Kanyenyeva Ministries is exploring other businesses to start which will also be housed in the skills center. They are looking into starting a sandal business, a furniture business, or a mat making business.
Kanyenyeva Ministries continues to feed the children, share Jesus’ love with them, and provide school supplies. Your donations to Malawi Orphan Care Project truly are changing lives. Thank you!!
The Hungry Season 2020
In Malawi, the Hungry Season of 2020 has been compounded by the current Coronovirus Pandemic.
Most of the vulnerable children who are fed at the project are orphans. Being orphans, they live with families other than their parents and are usually a drain on already scarce resources. Most of the families in the Kanyenyeva area are subsistence farmers, growing only enough food for themselves and their family. It is a means of survival but does not produce income. Subsistence farmers are impacted greatly by variations in weather.
In January, 2020, UN’s World Food Program warned about food insecurity in Malawi and other southern African countries.
“An unprecedented number of people in 16 countries across southern Africa are gravely food insecure as climate change wreaks havoc on the region.”
“This hunger crisis is on a scale we’ve not seen before and the evidence shows it’s going to get worse,” the WFP’s Regional Director for Southern Africa, Lola Castro, said in a statement.
The crisis is impacting 45 million people — many of whom are women and children. The region has been hit hard by repeated droughts, widespread flooding and economic hardship.
Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are among the hardest-hit.
Many families across the region are already skipping meals, taking children out of school and falling into debt to stave off agricultural losses, the WFP said.” (Source: https://www.dw.com/en/un-warns-hunger-crisis-in-southern-africa-on-scale-weve-not-seen-before/a-52029274)
According to USAID “Recurring droughts afflict Malawi’s agriculture sector, threatening the livelihoods of Malawi’s smallholder farmers, who constitute 80 percent of Malawi’s population. Thirty-eight percent of Malawians live below the poverty line, and 47 percent of children are stunted.”
Malawians are currently experiencing the hungriest time of the year. It is the time while they are growing and harvesting their crops for the year ahead. They have eaten their harvest from 2019 and have nothing until they can eat from their harvest of 2020.
During this time of the year, the orphan project experiences a higher than normal number of children seeking a meal. Due to the Coronavirus in North America, several fundraisers which support the feeding program have been cancelled or postponed. With less income than expected, the leadership at the orphan project have been forced to reduce the number of meals they offer to the children in their community from 6 days a week to 3 days a week. For some children the meal they receive at the orphan project is the only meal they receive that day. Decreasing the number of days the children can have a meal can be devastating.
We know that many people around the world are experiencing a decrease if their own incomes, too, however; a meal for a child costs $.50. A donation of $10 will feed 20 children! No amount is too small. Please prayerfully consider donating to help the children in Malawi be fed. Click here to learn more about how to donate.
Manna for Malawi 2019
Manna for Malawi 2019 was a great success!!
This fifth annual event raised approximately $44,000. These funds will be used to purchase a truck for the farm in Malawi, for education for high school students, and food for the children.
The event featured the Johnny Holm Band which was very popular. Despite the rain fans stayed and listened to the music and danced. Everyone was enjoying the music.
Thank you to Maucieri’s Italian Bistro for the meal and to Mixed Company A Kava
House for the beverages. A special thank you to The Woodtick Inn for hosting this event.
As soon as possible $40,898 will be wired to Malawi. Of that money $30,000 will be used for the truck, $5,898 will be used for education, and $5,000 will be used for food.
There were activities for all ages, including a silent auction, face painting, hula hoops, balloon sculptures, and more!
Mark your calendars now for Manna For Malawi 2020 which will be held Sunday, June 28th and will feature the Johnny Holm Band.
Floods during growing season will decrease harvests in Malawi
Photo from the Times Group (www.times.mw/expect-more-floods-met-department-says/)
Please pray for the people and the country of Malawi. At least 56 people have died this year as a result of the flooding in Malawi. Most of the flooding has occurred in the southern part of the country. The orphan project is in the central area of the country and has received much rain but not deadly flooding.
According to The Malawi Times, at least 13 of the 28 districts in Malawi are affected by the flooding. The floods began as a result of Tropical Cyclone Desmond in late January and heavy rains have continued through February and March. These floods have affected at least 922,945 people and displaced at least 16,545 households, who are now living in camps.
The Village Civil Protection Committee has reported that most boreholes were underwater and 97% of latrines have collapsed in the flooded areas. The flooding will increase the likelihood of cholera and malaria in these areas.
The floods and heavy rains have also ruined their crops which were planted in December and January; this will increase the cost of food countrywide.
“An estimated 3.3 million people were assessed to be in need of food assistance until the start of the main harvest in April. The most food insecure districts are in the south, reflecting the impact of production shortfalls in 2018. As a result, many households depleted their food supplies from own-production earlier than normal, compelling households to access market supplies prematurely.
Moreover, the recent floods in the southern region, which have affected over 900 000 people, have further compounded the situation. Losses of food supplies, damages to the soon-to-be harvested 2019 crops and reduced access to markets, are likely to aggravate food security conditions. Heavy rainfall, forecast for much of the second dekad (set of 10 days) of March, could increase the risk of further flooding, potentially resulting in larger crop losses and interruptions to humanitarian operations.” (http://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=MWI)
Please pray for safety, housing and adequate nutrition for everyone. If you feel led to make sure the orphans have adequate nutrition, learn how to donate here.
