REPORT
NYACHIKADZA

Nyachikadza lies at the southernmost tip of Malawi, some 200kms South of Blantyre and 20kms from Nsanje.It refers to a collection of villages and homesteads occupying the low lying ground in the middle of the River Shire.

The annual rains( Rainfall: ) always flood this area to a greater of less extent, making the rainy season a miserable time and displacing many of the people. It brings with it the heightened threat of waterborne diseases and cholera is not uncommon and often fatal.. It is the time of the year when mosquitoes, which are prevalent the whole year round, breed, increasing the number of the population, adults and children, who catch malaria. Malaria is in any case endemic here and causes deaths. One suspects that when one sees in the children’s files the cause of death listed as ‘headache’ this is another description of malaria.

‘Marooned’ as it were on an ‘island’ and remote from any clinic and with the

under- resourced District Hospital a bike ride, boat trip and bumpy road away

in Nsanje the people of these communities are left to their own devices.

To the District Assembly in Nsanje seeking to meet all the challenges of a poor

peasant farming society Nyachikadza is one community too far. Their proposed

solution would be for these people to relocate.

Precarious and sometimes perilous as life can be in Nyachikadza the people

stay because the land is fertile and well watered.

Access is by boat – Usually, large log canoes ‘punted’ by boatmen who know the river. Although not always in evidence the river is inhabited by both hippos and

crocodiles which are a potential threat to those crossing.

The crossing takes about 40 minutes. The canoes must first navigate their way through the reeds on one side of the river, then out into the main channel and

across into the reed beds on the other side where a channel winds its way to the

recognized landing place.

From here it is about 7kms to the main village. A long walk or a rather uncomfortable ride as a pillion passenger sitting on the luggage rack on

the back of a bicycle. Even then, there is another ‘creek’ which has to be

crossed by boat. We are told that this stops some of the children from

attending school as they do not have the ‘fare’ for the boat man.

It is here that Healing Every Nation/Blythswood Care has financed the building of a

school, the chosen priority of the community in their desire to better

their lot and that of theirchildren.

In August when we visited the building had recently been completed ready for the new term which began on 18^th. August. It has been built on stilts 6 – 8’ above the

ground to protect it from the annual flooding. It is perhaps 100’ long and 45’ across.

It has chest high walls and a roof. It houses 3 of the 5 primary classes . There are 5 teachers in the school, all but one of them volunteers. The other, receives a small wage from Healing Every Nation. His name is Paul Campbell, he returned to his home community having worked for a time with Heidi Baker’s ‘Partner in Harvest’ organization. He is highly knowledgeable about the community and the circumstances facing many of the children. He is a very conscientious and reliable person, overseeing Healing Every Nation’s work here,/ Blythswood Care in Chibule and in Thoera. The fact that the people here and across the border in Mozambique are all Sena

People and that the language spoken is similar in much the way that Spanish and Portuguese are makes this arrangement possible. The number of children who could attend is almost 300, but daily attendance is about 100. Reasons why children do not attend vary. One issue is that parents/guardians would be ashamed to send their children in the rags which for so many pass as clothes. According to the time of the year, children aged little more than 6 years old work alongside adults in the fields. Remoteness from the school is another reason. Paying to cross the ‘creek’ is another A stone’s throw away is the kitchen where meals are prepared for the orphans.

Our visit to mark the opening of the school attracted almost everyone in the

surrounding area adults and children. We were able to present educational

materials ( chalkboard, chalks, notepad, geometry set) all in a bright yellow

school bag to each child. These were the contents of Shelter Box Schools gifted for use in disasters but meeting a real need in the school . The wind up radio will

allow the classes to hear the school’s broadcast each day.

Our visit was cut short by the need to reach the other side of the river before

dark.

Ten days later Integrity Medical Missions from Texas visited to hold a clinic.

In the time available to them they saw over 200 children to treat them

for worms, and a short course of antibiotics for a variety of complaints and

woundcare since the children all go bare foot. They also saw some burns

given that cooking on open fires is universal. Cases of malnutrition were

also seen as were cases of ‘rickets’.

Chibule

Chibule, again in the very South of Malawi, lies some 15kms from Nsanje, the District Captial. You take the dirt road South and turn off right heading for the hills. 5kms along this road., just after passing a burial ground with perhaps 15 -20 recent graves, and on rising ground you come to the brickbuilt First Primary School and its ‘garden’ hedged around with branches to keep out animals. This is an oasis of green in otherwise dry and dusty surroundings. It owes its existence to the school pump, although that pump gives only a ‘trickle’ of water and is the only water in the area, because the ‘village pump’ is broken. No one seems to know what it would take to fix and so this community must seek to survive with next to no water to cook and wash in. No one locally has the skills or equipment to mend the pump. Little wonder that here too there have been recent deaths from cholera. We understand that HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death in this community. Behind the school, scattered among the trees are the people’s homes. Among them is the home of Healing Every Nation’s worker, Ernest. The food used to feed the children is stored in his home and prepared by 2 cooks in a small mud and wattle kitchen close by.

Looking at photographs taken on the two visits made in August one can see

that there is a ‘generation missing’ – Lots of children, quite a number of

teenagers, but not many adults of working age and a lot of ‘grannies’.

Here too Integrity Medical Missions held a clinic and once again were able to

offer treatment to over 200 children. Here, perhaps ironically, for children who live their lives so much in the open air, asthma is a common problem. Explained in

their case not by the ‘hermetically sealed’ environment of Scottish children which is often blamed for the prevalence of asthma but by the dust that is everywhere.

Thoera

Healing every Nation began its work here in 2002. Thoera is a small rural village

In the Tete Province of Mozambique the nearest town Mutarara is 30 kms away as is the one and only ‘social worker’ responsible for Aids orphans, even though in the province there are 70,000 orphans. In the opposite direction, only 2-3kms away there is a clinic. There is a programme of childhood vaccinations but it isn’t evident that these are carried out because of the limited resources of this very poor country. It lies about 1km from the Zambesi River and maybe just some 50 – 100 feet above the river. So dramatic are the annual floods that the waters reach to within a few meters of the village. The floods wash away the roads which are rarely repaired from year

to year.

Here the Child Centre is located ½ km away from the main village.The entrance

to it from the road has a tidy fence and a few welcoming flowers. The buildings

of the child Centre, set back about 50 yards from the road, consists of a large

covered area ( 60 x 30 feet ) which is a shelter from sun and rain. Close by is

building (40x 20) used for storage and preparation of meals for the children.

The cooks cook on special metal stoves which need only a few branches each

to produce food for 100 plus children each day. This is an important consideration

In a country where cutting, carrying, buying wood and charcoal for cooking is a

daily preoccupation.

Behind the Child Centre is a brick built pit latrine with cover. Another attempt to maintain hygiene in this dusty environment is hand washing before meals. Maize

porridge is provided at the start of the day. Lunch consists of ‘Nsima’ – Porridge and chicken, goat, fish, vegetables on different days. The children are fed 7 days a week.

1/2km distant in the village is a brand new pump delivering water from the bore

hole completed earlier in the year by Healing Every Nation/ Blythswood VineLife Care from Texas who have made trips

to drill wells in both 2007 and 2008. The water from the pump is clean. cool,

100% pure, suitable for even Western stomachs, and plentiful. It greatly benefits the village No more trips to the river with its crocodiles a threat to life and limb. Close by is a ‘ garden’ (300 x 200 feet ) which grows vegetables to supplement the children’s diet. This, as well as the Child Centre as a whole is overseen by Pastor Miguel. It was here that a substantial crop of maize was harvested this year.

There is a Primary School in Thoera. All the children do not attend. However,

Healing Every Nation has sought to encourage school attendance by providing

‘uniform’. However, after 2 years this exercise needs to be repeated. We are glad that the village of Thoera now enjoys the benefit of clean water but hope that in 2009 Vinelife will be able to find water close to the Child Centre.

One facility not yet mentioned at Thoera is its ‘Mission House’. It stands

high above the Child Centre at 1kms distance and Healing Every Nation

owns the land nearby. The ‘Mission House’ began life as a home and ‘retreat’ for Healing Every Nation’s founders and directors, Eddie and Vilma Brito who worked

In Thoera fulltime for over 2 years, and during most of that time slept in their car!

The ‘Mission House’ is a round thatched building whose diameter is 50’ with windows all round. It is cooler than down by the Child Centre and the views

and sunsets restore a sense of equilibrium after long, hot, dusty days working with the children,. Although, you can never quite get away from them and they will race up the hill to get there before you. When they leave their voices and laughter can be heard until they reach home.

This is a popular place with those on Short Term Mission although the facilities are basic. The floor has only just been concreted, there is no glass and no screens in the

Windows and the ‘facilities’ are a brick built pit latrine some 20 yards away and no running water.

Here too Integrity Medical Missions held a clinic for the children during their

Stay and yet gain saw 100’s of children.

Reviewing the background of these children one finds that many fathers and/or mothers died of cholera, or some times simply ‘diarrhea’. Here, as elsewhere

throughout Southern Africa AIDS is a leading cause of death. Only here do we find recorded as the cause of death ‘war’. A reminder of the long running, brutal civil

war in Mozambique. The long civil war ended in 1992. Many fled to Malawi. The railway line runs through Thoera and having been extensively sabotaged during the war is now being restored. Work in the area looks to be imminent and with it. What its impact will be one cannot be sure.

Chimoio

Chimoio is the capital of Manica Province in Mozambique. It is situated 300kms

From Mutarara. It lies 750 metres above sea level and has a population of 239,000.

It has industry and a hinterland of intensive, large scale agriculture. It is only

95 kms from Zimbabwe and has received many refugees in recent years. Although

there is the semblance of a modern town, there is also a large poor district in

the shadow of the rock formation for which Chimoio is famous: ‘Cabeca do Velho’

( the Old man’s head ). It is at the bottom of this district that the Child Centre is located.

Chimoio Child Centre was only established in 2007. It came about through the

long term leasing of this and another compound to Healing Every Nation by another gospel ministry. It provides readymade facilities in the form of a gated

compound, large church building, with an open but roofed kitchen attached at

the back. There are a large number of latrines and a well stocked garden and room for more cultivation. The compound benefits from piped water. There are two staff bungalows. Healing Every Nation cares for 126 orphans here.

This is the only centre in an urban setting. The compound is a magnet to local

children and many come and go who are not part of HEN’s programmes. The

work here is overseen by Pastor Joffre.

During our visit there were the culminating meetings of a course run for local

Pastors. Not to be outdone the children of the centre sang and repeated their

Bible Memory verses.

Integrity Medical Missions also held a clinic here and saw over 200 children including a terminally ill child ‘Antonio’ whose surgical wound was dressed,

And prayer and comfort offered to his mother.

There is a ‘buzz’ about the centre at Chimoio and a happy atmosphere. There

is a greater take up of primary education but there are still barriers, real or

perceived to the poorest children. School facilities are meagre as may be judged

by the fact that every child takes their own stool to school. Clearly there is an

absence of even the most basic furniture.

SUMMARY

What has been achieved to date and what remains to be done can be measured by

A 5 – Point Plan based on the finger and thumb of one hand.

GOSPEL MINISTRY

(1) The ‘thumb’ is the finger on the hand which makes the others work.

Healing Every Nation believes that a personal Christian commitment

to Christ on the part of the children will make them strong to cope

with the challenges of life.

NUTRITION

(2) Jesus said: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ Indicating how

essential food is for the body but alongside a need for God’s Word.

HEALTH

(3) The Suffering Servant is spoken of as the one who ‘Heals all your

diseases’.

HYGEINE (inc WATER)

(4) Jesus is the ‘good shepherd’ who in Psalm 23 is said to lead the sheep

Still waters.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

(5) It is Jesus who told the parable of the talents showing that we are to make

the most of our God given abilities.

By Rev Iain Penman