Dear Friends and Family,

Robin and I are back from our trip to Africa tired, but exhilarated.  The experiences we had will take time to process, but the main impression I can relate today is that the people of Malawi are welcoming, kind, gentle, hard-working, and full of faith.  The guardians of the orphans and the project committee that administers the funds were extremely grateful for the financial assistance we brought.

 The money you helped to raise will be spent for infant formula, medical transport, fertilizer for corn crops, school fees, clothing, blankets, and shoes for the orphaned children.  Funding loans for small business start-up costs was agreed upon as a future direction for a percentage of our funding as well.  The guardians would like to be self-supporting. 

Dollars go a long way in Malawi.   For example:

     $2 allows a guardian to take a sick child to the local hospital by bus.

     $4  buys a warm sweater for a student.  Winter temperatures are 40 - 50 degrees.

     $10 buys a pair of sturdy shoes or a warm blanket  (Many children are barefoot now)

     $18  buys infant formula for one month for a baby whose mother died at birth

There are currently 140 orphans registered with the project.  We now have two individual sponsors and are sponsoring 35 more through our benefit concerts.  Many more sponsors are needed.  We worked out the costs for individual child sponsorship with our partner organization, FOCAS (Friends of Children Arts Society) and received an initial list of the most needy orphans.  Information about individual sponsorships will be available soon at our website:  http://malawi-ministry.tripod.com/.   

If you visit the website now and click on “Our Experience”, you will see some photos of highlights of our trip!  (If you are interested in being notified by e-mail of updates to the website, you may send me an e-mail at joyful0323@sbcglobal.net)

Our hope is that the chairman of our partner organization, Shadreck Lakudzala, will be coming to the U.S. in November to participate in our Benefit Concert on November 27^th.   I would like to present him with a check for orphan support from my friends and family at the concert.  Will you please continue to collect cans and bottles (or the deposit receipts) for me?   Call me to have them picked up or bring the deposit slips to church.  Checks made out to First Congregational Church are always welcome too, of course.  My mailing address:  Amy Webb-Mower, 50 Wheeler Village Drive, Southington,  CT  06489-3753.  Let’s shoot for $1000 by Thanksgiving!

A thank-you brunch and travelogue will be held at First Congregational Church of Cheshire on Sunday, September, 25th  at 12:30 p.m..  If you wish to attend, please call the church office at 203-272-5323 and add your name to the list or come to a Sunday worship service (8 a.m. and 10 a.m. in the summer months).  We are a welcoming church!

On behalf of the orphans at Nthandizi, Malawi and the Malawi Ministry Team: