April 2021

Kia Ora everyone and welcome to another update for Mphatikizo. As with all countries in the world, Malawi continues to suffer from the added burden of Covid, with families suffering both medically and financially with costs soaring for basic food items. The official figures for Covid in Malawi are 34,000 cases, 31,700 recovered and 1,136 deaths. I cannot verify the accuracy of these figures, but Regina says life in Liwonde is relatively unchanged with few wearing masks and the only evidence of the pandemic being the closure of schools and government institutions.

There are unconfirmed deaths in Liwonde, but this, as is common in Africa, cannot be substantiated. As said earlier, people seem more affected by the increase in prices, lack of basic imported items and increasing financial burden. From an Mphatikizo perspective, Covid has meant that, of late, our primary focus has been support and medical/food assistance for the community, in comparison with previous years when we were able to run several projects and host volunteers. This change has been dictated by the arrival of the pandemic and, as a charity, we will move back to a more project-based process once the dust has settled.

The last few months have seen the charity support many local families and, of course, continue to school and feed the children under our care. During these uncertain times, Regina has organised and run numerous education sessions with the community on covid, with the children and local families receiving face masks, sanitiser and soap. Below there are some photos of the kids, teachers and volunteers.

Great news this month also, with Mphatikizo receiving support from a group of European students who have pledged their fundraising efforts towards borehole repair. Regina has visited several communities requesting assistance with repair costs for their boreholes, but more to follow on this later. As always, thank you to all those who have continued with their support these last few months. Mphatikizo continues to assist many in the Liwonde community - this is achieved by many hands, both in Malawi and New Zealand.  Without your incredible help and ongoing support, this would not be possible.

  Love and hugs the Smedley family