The technicians at the newly established Servicing and Maintenance Unit at Ekwendeni, led by David the electrician, are being trained in the servicing of basic hospital equipment, for example oxygenators. Service manuals and tools have been provided and, using these, the technicians have repaired a number of machines. David and his colleagues find this work very satisfying and are delighted with their progress.

It is planned to expand the Servicing and Maintenance Unit’s work to include computers and other hospital equipment.

While Neil and Doug were looking at the water well repair project outside Ekwendeni, they came across this bridge (well, it was at one time) across the river. The track across the bridge is the villagers link to hospital, school and trading centre. In the rainy season it is impassable.

Neil carried out a survey of the area and funds have now been secured to build a new bridge using local labour. The village chief is thrilled that, at last, the villagers will have a good link to the main road.

FCL 73 and FCL 74 arrived safely at Ekwendeni recently with seals intact.

FCL 75 was loaded on 14th June at Strachur on one of the few summer days we have had in this part of the country. We are not sure by how much the new Malawian Government taxes will increase the cost of sending containers but this could become significant as more items become liable to duty. However, we are collecting for FCL 76 which will be sent once the position regarding duty in known.

Jombo

John has been visiting Jombo, the village that was given a new water supply last year. 60 families now have access to safe water and, as a result, sickness in the village has been markedly reduced

Now, into their second growing season since getting a bullock drawn plough and ridger in 2009 , the villagers are bringing more ground under cultivation in order to grow soya which will be sold as a cash crop to Ekwendeni Hospital to provide a sustainable supply of soya. This is added to ground maize, powdered milk, vitamins and minerals to make Likuni Phala – an enriched maize porridge which is given to malnourished children

Ekwendeni Hospital

Nutrition Unit

The building in which the Likuni Phala is made is in need of upgrade and the machinery requires an overhaul. John is hoping that funds can be found to renew the eletric installations and to overhaul the machinery necessary to grinds the maize and soya and mix the Likuni Phala.

Maternity Unit

The electricity supply at Ekwendeni Maternity Unit is not always reliable. During power outages, staff struggle to carry on the business of safely delivering babies, especially during ceasarian section etc. They need:-

• a rechargable fluorencent tube light to use as emergency lighting until the generator can be started
• 5 LED headlight torches
• 10 floorstanding posable examination lights (anglepoise type)

Can anyone help with these items?

The Raven Trust’s storage space for storing goods until they are loaded into containers has had to be reduced. As a result we have had to change arrangements for taking delivery of goods for onward transportation to Malawi.

• ALL goods MUST be boxed. As we no longer have space to sort and repack goods, we can no longer accept black bags and similar items.
• Delivery of goods to the store MUST be arranged in advance with either Sue Challis or Iain MacPhillimy and no goods must be left unattended around the store.

We would be very grateful if all donors would co-operate with the new arrangements.

Thank you

John Challis set off for two months in Malawi this week. While he is there he intends to complete the refurbishment of the Clinic and staff houses at Mlowe which will include replacing electrical fittings and installing electricity in the units which do not have electricity at present. He will also reinstate the water supply from an old bore hole, installing a new pump so that all parts of the complex, including the staff houses, have an adequate water supply. He also hopes to install a power supply for the radio transmitter and reinstate the system.

Also on John’s “to do” list 

• a survey of the hospital buildings and grounds at Ekwendeni hospital with particular reference to water and sewage systems and establishment of new facilities for the Servicing and Maintenance Unit (SAM) within the dental/eye clinic at Ekwendeni
• a short course on tool sharpening at Ekwendeni Lay training Centre and supply of sharpening stones to trainees
• study feasibility of use of a windmill to raise water for agricultural irrigation at Jombo
• monitor container contents with recipients and discuss future requirements
• monitor “Good Hope”
• construct secure store at Livingstonia engineer’s workshop
• assess condition and use of orphan houses and accommodation built last year

There are also a few more bits and pieces on his list and, as always, he will be talking to lots of people from various walks of life as he travels around

Good luck with the list, John and God Bless.

A big thank you to all our volunteers who turned out on a very cold windy day to load FCL 74 EKW. For almost the first time, the container was late arriving because strong winds had closed the Erskine Bridge to high sided vehicles. Despite of snow and hail showers the container was loaded with 1078 assorted boxes, bags and parcels.

Thank you to the “shed team” who load the trolleys, the “trolley dollies” who move trolley loads of boxes to the container, the “loaders” who load the boxes into the container and the “packers” and last, but but by no means least, the catering team who supply us with hot tea and coffee, soup and filled rolls and keep us all going. Thanks to all of you, FCL 74 EKW was waved off down the road on the first leg of her journey to our friends in Malawi with a prayer and a blessing.

Peter and Tina say a big thank you to the Raven Trust.

Raven Trust’s co-workers, Peter and Tina, have been living and sharing God’s love and compassion in Central Asia and the Arab world since 1999. Their work began with involvement in income generation programmes for refugees. This was followed by teaching English and computing in poor regions. This enabled many of their students to secure further training at university and gain employment which has helped to lift them out of poverty.

In addition, Peter and Tina have provided cross-cultural awareness training addressing the many wrong presuppositions, misconceptions and misunderstandings between East and West. Hearts and minds have changed as a direct result of this training. People who once had hatred for everything western have adopted a friendlier attitude. Hostility has given way to a desire for peace. Given this success, Peter and Tina have expanded the work by recently establishing their own English language and cross-cultural and ethical awareness centre. They will also be involved in producing literature and educational resources to equip other trainers throughout their region.

Some quotes from students:

“Teacher, you have not just taught us English; you have taught us about life.”

 “Our view about the West is 100% wrong.”

Peter and Tina’s work is mostly voluntary. In addition to prayer, the Raven Trust gives practical support by providing accommodation, transport, clothes, and other necessities while Peter and Tina are on home leave in the UK. Should you wish to support Peter and Tina, please get in touch with the Raven Trust for details.

On 9th February, a cold and wet day, Raven Trust volunteers met at the store in Strachur to load the latest container to be sent to Malawi with a large autoclave (steriliser), fish transporting tanks and over 1,000 boxes of assorted goods.

The fish transport tanks had been donated and were on their way to John Blyth at Mzuzu University who will use them at orphans’ houses to collect water from roofs to be used by the household. Archd, Fergusson Ltd., a local building contractor, made it possible for us to load these heavy items onto the container by loaning a fork lift and driver. Then it was up to the volunteers to load and pack the rest of the boxes, suitcases and equipment.

4 hours later, with a celebratory wave from Iain MacPhillimy, the last box was loaded, the doors closed and sealed and the container set off for Greenock on the first stage of its journey to Ekwendeni in Northern Malawi

Last August, in John’s “half term report”, we reported on the improved situation of the people of Jumbo, a village some 10 miles north of Ekwendeni, after they had been given a bullock drawn plough and ridger. At that time their water supply came from a shallow hole and was unsafe. Following talks with Jim McGill, the Synod of Livingstonia’s “water man” and the gift of some funding from Alba Aid, we have recently received pictures of Jumbo’s new well.

The people of Jumbo are delighted and it is hoped that it will be possible to use the original water source to irrigate their fields using a windmill powered pumping system.

We have just heard from Young Soko in Livingstonia of the damage caused by a storm there recently. 15 families are homeless as their roofs were blown off and many have had their food store damaged. Some of these households are headed by elderly women who are looking after orphaned children.
At Khota school, one building has lost its roof while another has been completely demolished. Teacher’s houses have also lost their roofs.

In 2010, a church in Argyll collected some £1,200 and donated it, through the Raven Trust, to help with the housing of orphan headed households in the Ekwendeni area of Malawi. John delivered this donation to Esther Lupafya when he was in Ekwendeni in the summer.

We have just had an email from Esther reporting on what has been achieved with this money – a family of orphans now have a decent, weatherproof and secure house to live in.  Esther was able to buy 40 sheets of corrugated iron (28 sheets of which were used on the house and the other will be used on another house), cement, window frames and doors.

The top picture shows where the orphans had been living and the bottom picture shows them posing proudly in front of they new accommodation.

A couple of Christmas trees in Dunoon were decorated in spectacular style this year. People donated old glasses and prescription sunglasses to the Raven Trust in partnership with Focus on Malawi by hanging them on the trees. In return, they were invited to take away a “thank you” tag to hang on their own Christmas tree at home.

The glasses will be sent out to Livingstonia and Ekwendeni with the next container in February. Once checked by opticians, they will be given to patients for whom they will make life a great deal easier.

A big thank you to all of you in the north east of Scotland for the welcome given to John and Sue on their tour. John writes “We met many people, congregations and groups. It was good to be able to report on and share the ongoing practical work of the Raven Trust in Malawi. People were especially interested in the orphan housing and re-roofing project around the Livingstonia area.

“So many individuals undertake knitting for the hospital babies and children and collect clothing and bedding and the visit gave us an opportunity to thank all those involved on behalf of the many people who benefit from their gifts and show some pictures of the children wearing some of the garments. Thank you to all who made us so welcome.”

Due to strikes in South Africa the last two Raven Trust containers have taken longer than usual to arrive at their destinations. FCL 70 left in mid May but did not arrive at Ekwendeni until mid September and FCL71, which loaded in June, finally reached its destination in mid October.

At our Open Day on 16th October, FCL72 was loaded and set off for Malawi. Unfortunately we have just learned that the port of Beira in Mozambique, where Raven Trust containers are unloaded from the ship to begin their long journey to Malawi, is experiencing congestion. We are told this is a result of the South African strikes as a high volume of backlogged cargo  is currently moving from South African ports. In addition, Beira is a small port where only two vessels can berth at any one time and because the vessels are heavily laden, they can only berth at high tide. Furthermore Southern Africa has experienced bad weather, particularly high winds, adding to the delays. To add to the difficulties, it is now the rainy season in Malawi when travel by road can be hazardous, so it maybe February before the container arrives at its destination. We pray it arrives safely.