Past Current Events (Oct 2006)
School Visit
At the invitation of the RE department, Mary and myself visited Our Lady’s, College, Terenure, on Monday Oct 9th.
The warm welcome, interest, care and attention of the 5th and 6th year groups was heart warming in a time when there is so much emphasis on the negative aspects of our young people.
It is refreshing to find that these young people had just as much concern for, and interest in, the less advantaged of our world as my students had, when I last taught, 20 years ago.
Their comments and good wishes on the guestbook are very much appreciated and will be an encouragement to us on our next visit to Malawi on Tuesday Oct 24th.
No one told the street children I was retired
Mary Coyne - October 06
On my return to Ireland after my first encounter with my “ragamuffins” in the Umosa Project for street children, I found that they were seldom out of my mind. The photograph of Wezzie, Janet and myself even became my computer desktop.
I was looking forward to our reunion as we set off on our second visit. I got a huge welcome, hugs, handshakes and warm smiles. Most were surprised to see me again as very often promises of return visits are broken.
I was delighted to see that most of the children were now regular school attendees and came to SJOG for the afternoon club. They followed their usual routine: showered and put vaseline on their skin, changed into their Umosa t-shirts, washed their clothes and played games of table tennis, football, bao and drafts. I was warmly welcomed and encouraged to take part in their timetabled activities. I noticed that the children were good friends. Boys and girls mixed and chatted comfortably with each other.
I spent a memorable Saturday at a “Children in the Wilderness” workshop. It was a follow up to a summer camp attended by a group of them during the school holidays. The team leaders were marvellous and the interaction between them and the children was magical. One leader had trained in Paul Newman’s “Hole in the Wall” project in Straffan, Co. Kildare “Respect, Teamwork and Challenge” was the mantra.
Nutrition and HIV/Aids were among the topics of discussion for the workshop. Everyone listened attentively to the leaders and each other. The children were divided into groups for discussion, feedback and team games.
All this happened with a good dash of drama, singing, dancing and fun. Yet it was obvious that so much learning was taking place. The leaders were excellent role models and the children respected them. Huge dinners were prepared by the canteen staff and consumed enthusiastically. Nobody wanted the day to end.
Once a week the children attend a “circle time” activity with a counsellor. I had to rely on an interpreter, but the facial expressions and body language was very telling. Using role play, drama and discussion they attempted to find solutions to problems they encounter every day.
I joined the boys for a carpentry session with Thumbiko. They were making houses and enjoying themselves. The girls meanwhile were having a “girl talk” with Maria the Umosa project worker.
Being the eternal teacher I soon found my niche. My latest project is the “homework club”. After much planning it eventually got under way with the assistance of Patrick Banda, (a seminarian on hols!), Ephaim, Kedrick, Andrew and Atanasio (prospective SJOG brothers), Maria and myself freshly arrived on my third visit.
I have never experienced such enthusiasm for homework. They came early and couldn’t wait to get started. Tons of sums were done, orally and written. Multiplication tables were explored on a 100 square constructed by the group. Our personal stories were shared and written in English. And naturally it all ended with songs and dancing. The tasty scones we shared were baked for us by the home management team.
The boys and girls in the Umosa project are so hungry for education. They are bright and enthusiastic and dream of accessing secondary education. As a result of family and other problems they each have huge gaps in their schooling. Absenteeism from school is rife among these vulnerable children, yet they realise that education is the way forward and a way out of their present situation. Hopefully, the fledgling homework club is the beginning of a possible solution.
As I prepare to return on Oct 24, many questions arise regarding the further development of the Umosa homework club. I wonder who will replace our wonderful volunteer leader Patrick Banda who has returned to the seminary. He carried the club with his good humour and enthusiasm and of course translations to Tumbuka. How can we access other volunteers? I have had offers from Ireland but I would need to work on accommodation for them! (and my builder husband is building wells and dams). What about the possibility of employing students who have completed secondary education in the local community? They would need some training. Where would the funding come from?
So many questions, but as Br Aidan says “with the grace of God” and a bit of help from St John of God everything is possible.
Pump Manufacture
We expect to begin manufacture of the Canzee-Malawi pump in the first quarter of 2007. The initial training will be undertaken by Richard Cansdale, designer and developer of this simple and technically brilliant pump made wholly from plastic components. The pump is enjoying low maintenance success across the African continent and especially in Madagascar where very large numbers are in use.
The pump will be made on license by Wells for Zoe at this new facility at St John of God’s, where we will train and employ clients of SJOG Mental Health Programme and others from the local community.
Orders are coming in already and the numbers may reach 500 by the end of 2007. This low cost, low maintenance, user-friendly pump is already endearing itself to the communities around Mzuzu who consider themselves lucky enough to already have one.
The new site
We have agreed a location for the new factory with Br Aidan at St John of God’s in Mzuzu. It is about 100 sq metres in area and was previously used as a builder’s yard. Plans are under way and we expect to have planning permission by the end of October.
We are sourcing the necessary equipment and are looking for the cheapest means of transporting it to Malawi, which is a land-locked country with no useful rail network.
A second “Village Garden” is taken in trust
Another one and a half acres was handed over to Wells for Zoe on Sept 11.
The land lacks adequate water and will need irrigation, innovation and serious perspiration. With the spirit in this village, it will hopefully be: “no problem John” again!
The villagers here are looking forward to the completion of their new irrigation dam (before the rains), their other new wells and their horticultural training in “Freedom Gardens”, together with whatever they see as a priority in the future.
As usual, the produce from this village garden will help to pay for their development programmes on an ongoing basis, with a little help from their friends (in Ireland).
The picture shows the Village group secretary, Lonice Chiuma and Benidicto Banda at the hand over.
“Freedom Garden” Students Depart
The first two students from Elumaleani set out on the 6am bus for Freedom Gardens, 360 km away, on Monday last. Our hope is that they will pick up some of the skills fostered by the award-winning programme at this amazing facility.
Cambesi Kaunda and his sister-in-law Maria are the first from their village to benefit from this new training initiative. They are already progressive farmers in their own right and look forward to training others on their return.
They will also be leaders in the development of their own “village garden”.
We eagerly await reports of how they get on.
We are very conscious of the gender equality principle and consequently, in this village, Chief Kaunda has decided that there should be more women than men on the committee responsible for the “village garden”.
An Irish grant for road-building?
On my previous visit I was accosted by a small delegation of soccer fans wondering what would be the chances of procuring a ‘real’ football amidst all this talk of wells and dams.
I duly obliged on my return trip but as I travelled to deliver it, actually on our way from the airport, it occurred to me that there was a deal to be done. We had just travelled over 2 km of enormous craters; it was the worst ever series of potholes we had encountered. So, the deal I offered was: a road for a ball. There was now a small squad gathered in anticipation of their first ‘real’ ball and I agreed to hand it over when the craters were filled and the road was passable. Within an hour, the “meithil” was hard at work and the result is pictured.
Second irrigation dam underway
Lonice Chiuma wish comes true eight months after being told that she couldn’t afford to use a diesel pump to irrigate her maize.
The new dam on the river K will enable the fifteen village families to irrigate the valley by gravity and as Professor Richard Carter repeats “Gravity always works”.
After three days of hard labour the dam base is finally in place and the project will be completed before the rainy season. A series of “Lavada” or channels will carry the water long distances and other smaller ones will deliver the water wherever it’s required. All of this without the use of a pump! We concentrated on using the simplest technology possible like using bamboo pipes as aqueducts and whatever other, available materials. Of course, everyone expected lots of plastic pipes, large concrete structures, machinery, white jeeps and consultants, because history has shown them that this is the “Western Way”. Our approach is much less ‘sexy’, but plastic buckets and bamboo will deliver the “one step at a time” approach, which gives the village people ownership, affordability and the possibility of replication, and above all: sustainability.
Over the three days, help came and went, spirits were high, equipment was scarce and the miracle happened.
A look at the pictures will show what is possible with two plastic buckets and a metal one with holes, six hoes, two short shovels, two picks with one handle and a solid tyre wheelbarrow!
I discovered amazing women, some good men, children who did their share, treating the project as fun and games, and one super granny (an ‘agogo’, who performed magic with her enamel bowl). Everyone worked like people possessed, who just want a better life for themselves and their children.
Hired labourers get about 70 cents per day, but these people were doing it for their village with the future in mind.
They realise that “water is life”. They can see that the dam will give them to second crop in the dry season, enough food for their tables and money to pay school fees which are very important but also hugely expensive.
We are looking forward to completing the job in November.
Link with CCAP
CCAP, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterians, has a long history of shallow-well digging and pump installation in the Livingstonia Synod in Northern Malawi. They are supported by the Marion Medical Mission in the United States.
Together, they have installed in the region of five thousand wells over the past fifteen years. They tell us that up to 40% of these pumps are inoperable at any given time. Richard Cansdale has worked on a solution to their pump problem.
On our last visit we refurbished a number of their pumps by replacing the “down the well” parts with those used in the Canzee pump. The results are very promising and have been very well received by its’ users. We have left enough conversion kits to enable them to convert ten more pumps and to enable them to closely monitor the usage over an extended period.
If the conversion is as successful as we expect, we will hopefully be able to manufacture the parts required at our new facility at SJOG Mzuzu.
Dancing at Mzgora’s new well
Strangely and impressively the women only danced and sang when we had all left. I stopped to take a peek back when we got to the top of the hill and it was wonderful to see their quiet, private celebration. It was a first for me and is surely an indication of how much they appreciate and look forward to the clean water from their new well.
The May family in Lucan are the recipients of the prayers of the villagers of all denominations at the moment. I thank them for their generous gesture last Christmas on behalf of the ten families of Mzgora, and assure them that it will make a big difference in a small remote community thousands of miles away
The Miracle Tree Project
In many parts of Africa and Asia the Moringa tree is called the Miracle tree. It grows in poor, dry soil and they have acres of that in Malawi! Having linked into a very welcoming and helpful, worldwide, moringa network, I found and bought seeds at the Land Resource Centre in Lilongwe. (I couldn’t resist buying Acacia seeds for firewood and some others for intercropping soil improvement too).
The staff of SJOG in Mzuzu has agreed to take the seeds, plant them and take part in this research programme, to see how well they grow at this altitude. I found them growing 200m higher when we visited Tanzania, so I am hoping for their success in Malawi.
If this variety proves suitable, we will, as they say in NGO jargon, “mainstream the programme” throughout the country.
Land Wanted
We are now on the lookout for about 20 hectares of land in the Mzuzu area. We need half to have a reasonable water supply, and the rest we will develop as the project progresses. I have already looked at two pieces which are unsuitable. The search goes on.
I expect it to be a difficult task, but as Br. Aidan says, 'with the grace of God' we will succeed.
I feel that, long term, this 'Tipperary Garden' project can be the most important contribution we will make to the area. We will take sponsorship from anyone with Tipperary links or others. You can have any name associated with Tipp or Clonmel, just give us the money! You might well ask why Tipperary.
Br. Aidan Clohessy is from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He has spent the past 12 years in Mzuzu developing the most amazing health care facility imaginable. To do what he has done in Europe would be a major miracle. The fact that he has done it in one of the poorest countries in the world is a credit to his intellect, skill and fierce determination, his dream and his unique ability to work.
As we sat around the table in “the brothers house” for the evening meal, Professor Richard Carter who, with his University, is employed by no less than, the Bill Gates foundation, to work on a sustainable approach to water programmes in Africa, was with us. In an attempt to look at a structured approach to success, Richard asked Aidan, “How did you achieve all you have in 12 years?” Aidan replied, by the grace of God (not much of an answer from a man who is looking for a 10 point plan). What we all knew at the table is that God has given him very special gifts, but we also know that he has made the most of them. Professor Richard has learned a lot from his visit, and has committed himself to a long term involvement with Wells for Zoe.
Aidan works with an all Malawian staff. He knows all his staff, clients and children, and he loves them all.
Don't be mistaken, he is no softie. He is a realist with a vision. He is made of steel but has a heart of gold. He is no soft touch but he helps everyone. No free lunches but he has a Jesus room. He won't try to impress you but you will be open mouthed by his achievements. He is one hell of a Tipperary man and I'd hate to have been his opponent on the hurling field. If St. John of God lives on, I know where he can be found!
This unique facility in Mzuzu is also a credit to the SJOG order and all who have supported this and other work over the years.
By-the-way, Br. Aidan celebrated 46 years of brotherhood on September 8th. Mary Coyne shared her birthday with him.
