December 2021

Kiaora everyone and welcome to the last update for Mphatikizo in 2021. This year has been hard for us both as a family and for Mphatikizo in Malawi as it has also been for people the world over. Covid has added an extra obstacle to our efforts and added another medical ailment to those living in poverty, on what at times seems an ever-growing list. With costs of items like sugar and soy spiraling, medical facilities already broken being stretched coupled with poor governance, the need for organizations like Mphatikizo is increasing and we are providing need support to the communities in our area.

The Joyce Banda Foundation continues with its donations of Lukuni Palor which Mphatikizo distribute to our outlying centers and which over the year has amounted to a sizable donation/commitment. At our kitchen here in Malindima, we are currently feeding some 105 children two meals a day funded by our New Zealand donations and thanks to the generous help from our Dutch friends at Ipso facto and several New Zealand donations we have repaired or replaced 7 boreholes within our catchment. We have also continued at a reduced capacity with our student sponsorship and family food and medical assistance. All this we have achieved collectively and under what has been a difficult year. These pictures are of a meal day Regina put on for the community kids at our house in Liwonde with the last picture being taken outside the kitchen at the orphanage.

This last picture shows one of the borehole repairs we completed this year. You will notice from the picture how dry it is. The rains which should have arrived late November early December have not as of writing arrived. This spells a hard year for us here as these rains are vital for the recently planted maize, much of which would have already perished. We will be facing food shortages a sobering reminder that even without Covid we have much work to do.

I will finish this here with a huge thankyou from my family both in New Zealand and Malawi to everyone who is a part of Mphatikizo. To the trustees, our numerous volunteers both here and in Malawi and our wonderful supporters, gratitude is not enough. It is from your sustained help that we are able to give both tangible and ongoing support to our communities gifting hope and the knowledge someone cares. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Much Love The Smedley Family