Villages in Partnership

Poverty in Malawi

Friendship and Medical Trips

Saving in the Villages – By Liz Heinzel-Nelson

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“Food secure” is a term we don’t hear in America. It means that a family has enough food to last until the next harvest; they’re not concerned about where their next meal will come. In VIP’s Impact Area, where all people are subsistence farmers, I’ve never heard anyone say they are food secure. Until this summer. I heard it, on multiple occasions. And I’ve realized our approach to helping people lift themselves out of poverty is bearing significant fruit!

We met with a group of 20 women who belong to a Village Savings and Loan program. They have been able to start small businesses through saving and lending to one another. All of them sat on the bamboo mat, explaining to a group of VIP visitors and proudly told us that they are food secure, they don’t worry. One woman said that many people this year are crying from hunger because of the heavy rains which destroyed crops this past growing season. None of these women are crying from hunger, they are food secure.

This is one of the healthiest comments we can hear. It means that the many varied VIP initiatives are collectively working to enable people to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and become independent. Thanks to all of you who have supported our brothers and sisters in the region of Sakata. Life is changing! We are seeing and hearing miracles!

A Decade of Impact – By Stephen Heinzel-Nelson

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Before – 2008 Kalupe Medical Clinic

I am sitting outside of the Kalupe Clinic as hundreds of Malawians stand patiently in line to see the medical staff. It is another brilliant, beautiful day in Malawi; the temperature’s in the 80’s under crystal blue skies. Healing is taking place all around me. Suddenly in my mind’s eye I am drawn back to eleven years ago. It was the summer of 2008 that we were first brought to this very spot. 

After – 2019 Kalupe Medical Clinic

Then there was no clinic; only a dilapidated broken-down building and an old man molding bricks in the hope that one day there would be a new place for people to receive medical treatment. That was the beginning of VIP. That old man died this past year, but his dream and ours is alive and well. From that otherwise insignificant day God has launched a movement that is transforming thousands of lives including my own.

Clinics, wells, schools, businesses, bridges; hopes and dreams everywhere I look. Healing is swirling around me. I come back to myself and watch as a mother and her child head for home with a prescription and the new life it represents. Something deep inside of me stirs.

Here I am Lord! – By Fadi Zanayed

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Last year, I almost made the decision to go. But I did not. This year, in January, that call came again. This time I answered…”Here I am Lord”. Our first day on our Christ Mission Trip to Malawi began on a Sunday—a day of worship. What a day it was! In a country qualifying for one of the poorest in the world, the resource of a vehicle to take us to church was a commodity that is not common among the inhabitants of Malawi. The fact that we rode on a bench along each side of the back of an SUV that vibrated and bounced our bodies with every bump on the unpaved dirt roads did not seem to bother us as we rehearsed the song “We are Walking in the Light of God” in both English and Chichewa. Once at Church, we rehearsed again outside under a blazing sun with the other members of our team who came from different parts of the United States.

The sermon was given by the wife of the pastor. Preaching the word of 1 Kings 17:8-16 where Elijah encounters a widow and asks her for water and bread although she barely had enough for herself and her son. Elijah tells her that the Lord wanted this to happen and she obeyed. After giving water and bread to Elijah, she and her household ate for many days thereafter. The point of the sermon was that in the face of great despair and great odds against you, have faith in the Lord who will provide. What an important message!

The statistic of being one of the poorest places on earth was not evident as the richness of Christ was superimposed in the eyes of the young children, in the rhythmic moves of the teenagers and in the hearts of the ladies. They are rich in the Lord. They are truly walking in the light of the Lord. This feeling carried us to our home visits as our team broke off into three separate groups that afternoon. Each group were to visit two families and each had a suitcase full of clothes and a bag of towels and toiletries. I was in the group led by Liz Nelson, executive director of VIP. We drove through those unpaved roads to our first home. It was the dry season and I imagined how it would be when it rained, how muddy the fields would be and how the lack of shoes on most feet we encountered withstood the conditions.

The leader of the first home was the grandmother. Agogo is the term for grandmother in Malawi, and this Agogo was truly an inspiration. She had nine children, all of whom are still alive—to the amazement of Pastor Stephen, Liz’s husband. The respect that she commanded from her children and 32 grandchildren, all sitting on the dirt around us, was truly evident and inspiring. This led me to ask for pointers as I enter my grandfather phase of my life. We met in the open air as mats are placed on the dirt ground for women to sit on and men are given chairs. This is their tradition, and we respected it. Agogo eloquently answered our questions. Because of her age, she does not tend the garden that surrounds the home, and pointed to her children and grandchildren. This year the harvest, which occurs in March and April as Malawi is south of the Equator, was not very good as there was flooding.

There was no sorrow in her voice as she described the harvest. For all these years, God has provided and the sense in her words is that no matter what happens, God will always provide. While the conditions which we Americans would consider the poorest of the poor, I did not see any sorrow in the Agogo’s or her children’s words. I did not see any “Woe is me” attitude. In fact, before both home visits were over, women broke into a spontaneous song of thankfulness. After a thorough discussion, we asked to see one of the homes.  As we entered a small, and I mean very small, three room home, I saw no dresser full of clothes. In fact, there were no clothes. I did not see a refrigerator. In fact, I saw no electricity. I saw no stove—just several pots that may be used as dishes. The residents of the home sleep on mats which are placed on the dirt ground.

We exited the home and went to our vehicle to get the gifts that we had brought with us. We sized up the children and their parents and Agogo, and we took out clothes that we thought would fit each of them. We didn’t have clothing for everyone. I wish we did. We presented the clothes and the toiletries to Agogo. We also gave her the eggs that were given by the Lady’s Choir. She was very appreciative. Then we took out the soccer ball and the eyes of the children lit up. They clapped with joy. In the yard, there were no swings or slides. There were no toys left by the front doors or on the side of the house. When the children saw the soccer ball, their eyes were filled with extreme happiness. That alone was worth the trip to Malawi.

Dental Care in Malawi – By Scott Gradwell

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We, meaning myself and two talented Malawian dentists, saw 96 patients  in the dental clinic today. 96! And I am confident the next few days the numbers will be even higher and that’s because access to care and dental supplies is so limited here. The government dental clinics have not had any lidocaine for the past three months so they have not been able to perform any extractions. Can you imagine having to wait for months to have a painful, decaying tooth extracted?

With poor access to care, extractions are the most frequent and required treatment option for the villagers and care in these remote villages is done without electricity or running water.  With the commitment of our Malawian partners and with support from my colleagues in the Us we are trying to shift that paradigm. Each year that I have returned to this community we have brought additional materials and equipment to support more treatment options. In 2014 we were only able to provide extractions and we did so with patients sitting in two plastic lawn chairs.

Today we have three Asceptico dental chairs a generator and portable dental hanoieces. This year we added a portable cavitron machine which will allow us the ability to clean teeth and treat periodontal disease. We also brought restorative materials for doing dental fillings meaning we can repair teeth instead of extract them. All of this equipment is used during monthly dental clinics run by VIP. It’s exciting and invigorating to impact such critical needs and to do so in a great partnership with my Malawian dental colleagues. It’s time for bed now though because hundreds will be waiting tomorrow.

A Day of Impact – By Devin Murray

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I can only describe today as terrifying and honoring. After lunch, one of the providers named Sarah, whom I had formed a close relationship with the day before, came up to me saying we were being called away to see a patient. So, I grabbed a blood pressure cuff, my stethoscope, and a thermometer. We hopped in the back of the land cruiser and we were on our way. Finally, Sarah told me what was going on. The chief’s husband was sick and was unable to walk to our clinic so we were coming to him. As we drove, we went over the correct greeting with Sarah’s translator and when to kneel and when to stand. We arrived and our moment of truth was upon us. Sarah and I looked at each other, gave a terrified excited smile, and went to the chief’s door.

The chief and her husband were extremely kind and welcoming. Sarah asked what his complaints were and to see his medical passport. The chief went off in search of the passport and we continued to get information from the husband. Using our translator Emma, we were able to get all of his major symptoms. We went through the passport looking at his medical history. We really collaborated together about what diagnosis we were thinking and how to best handle them. Knowing that he had a history of hypertension I went in thinking the blood pressure was going to be high. I took it once and got a low reading. I turned to Sarah and told her my findings and said I wanted to take it again. Diving deeper into the history Sarah found he was taking medicine for his hypertension and the reading I got was similar to the ones that they were getting while he was taking his meds. Knowing that my second reading was almost exactly like my first, I moved on to the easy stuff, temperature and pulse. He thanked me and gave me a toothy smile.

Knowing my hard part was done I returned to Sarah’s side to figure out what medicine treatment would best take care of his ailments. We explained to the chief and her husband what our plan of action was and that we would be back in 15 minutes with medicine and instructions. After many thanks were exchanged in both English and Chichewa, we calmly walked back to the land cruiser. Once we were safely behind closed car doors Emma, Sarah and I all let out a huge deep breath and burst in to laughter. As the car drove, we went to work on our med plan. When we reached the clinic, Sarah asked to wait in the car for a few minutes to finalize the plan and celebrate. After a group-hug/high-five situation and some good old women empowerment encouragement, we went into the clinic in search of our meds to bring to the chief.

This experience in Malawi has been incredibly impactful. I am out of my comfort zone completely, eating new things, taking manual blood pressures, standing or rather kneeling in front of village chiefs. I am so thankful to my nursing instructor Lucy who encouraged me to go on this trip on Thursday morning in early September at 7am (when I should have been studying for my test). I am so grateful to the VIP staff and medical and dental team for this big community of love and service. I can’t wait to see what the final day of clinic holds.

Cydney is my Mchimwene – By Noah Seelhorst

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Words can’t begin to explain the bond and friendship that I have made with Cydney. I am going to attempt to explain how much he has impacted me this past 10 days as well as our team. Cydney has a dynamic and impactful personality. He is well respected among his village. He comes from humble beginnings and does not take anything for granted. Cydney has such a big heart and is loving and caring towards his people as well as the Americans.

As my translator this past week, Cydney has taken me under his wing. He has taught me many words in Chichewa which has allowed me to see more into the lives of the villagers we have interacted with. He has also introduced me to foods that are favorites of the Malawian people. I have had the opportunity to try sugar cane, sweet potatoes, papaya, nsima, and cassava. I was also blessed with the opportunity to be welcomed into Cydney’s home which helped shine light into Cydney’s life. He grew up as an orphan living with his uncle and cousins, whom he refers to as his father and brothers and sisters. Through the help of his family and VIP, he is now in his second year of university. He is studying communication with a minor in theology at African Bible College.

He has aspirations to join the ministry because of the love and care that VIP has provided him. Cydney also takes a big role in his church and can be heard singing aloud on Sunday’s.  Cydney has shown me the reason we need to break down the walls that may be dividing us, and I am happy to say I now have a friend and brother who lives across the world from me. I know that he is going to continue to inspire and help his people. I can’t wait to come back and see the positive impact that Cydney has made on his village and the Malawian people. Zikomo kwam biri my mchimwene Cydney. 

Inoculating Chickens – By Dr. Barbara Edwards

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This morning, eight of us woke up at 4:45 AM to go help the village of Ntambo inoculate chickens against Newcastle Disease.  This is a virus that has ravaged the chicken population in Malawi.  Because of Newcastle Disease, VIP has had to suspend its program of chicken distribution to the most vulnerable families until they could get the disease under control.  Now VIP helps the villagers inoculate their chickens every 4 months.

We arrived at 5:30 AM along with the sunrise.  After being greeted by the chief of the village (a woman!) the villagers all brought their chickens to the center square in the village. So many chickens! Entire families came with chickens. There were chickens in baskets. There were chickens in buckets. There even were chickens carried in their hands.  Little children arrived swinging chickens nonchalantly by their feet and wings. There were roosters and newborn chicks, and we took care of them all. VIP staff member Charles Sokoso explained to the villagers and the Americans how to inoculate all of these birds. It was surprising how simple the process was.

While each villager held a chicken, we grabbed its beak, turned its head and put a single drop of vaccine into one eye.  When we weren’t busy giving this medicine to the chickens, we were able to cuddle with the baby chicks and play with all the children. It was a great morning and definitely worth it even if we did have to get up at the crack of dawn!

Addada, One of Endearment – By Katie Hulit

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Villages in Partnership works in conjunction with each of the villages’ “VIC”, Village Implementation Committee, to identify the most vulnerable families in the area to visit. This allows our American team to gain some insight into the daily lives of those they are serving. Today, I travelled to the village of Disi and was welcomed to Addada’s home. Her actual name is Patuma but everyone calls her Addada, a term similar to “grandmother” and one of endearment. She welcomed us to join her on a straw mat outside of her home which also happens to be what she sleeps on at night. She doesn’t know how old she is but says that she was about 10 years old around the great famine in 1949 – putting her around 80 years young.

We asked her questions about her household, how her harvest was, how far she has to walk to access water… questions that one would rarely, if ever, ask in the United States. Her 14 year old granddaughter, Shalom, lives with her because Addada can no longer take care of herself. At 14, Shalom is Addada’s sole care provider. Shalom works in the garden in hopes to harvest enough food to feed her and her grandmother, she carries water on her head and helps manage Addada’s health. It was heartwarming and incredible to witness this young woman care for her family with little to no resources. Having helped care for my own grandmother, I appreciated how special this was and how difficult it must be. It was a privilege to be invited to their home and I am humbled by my time spent with them. 

A New Vision – By Timothy Golden

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On my second visit to Malawi I was asked to take on a new venture.  VIP had acquired a package of eye glasses and lenses through their partnership with Global Vision 2020.  This consisted of 250 pairs of frames and a variety of corrective lenses.  But the key feature was a device which is worn like glasses which has a plastic piece on each side which can be adjusted with a wheel to change the setting.  We would first test a patient’s vision using an eye chart taped to the wall and identify on what line their vision started to fail.  Then we would use the device to identify what corrective setting cleared up their vision.  Using setting on the plastic piece we could then select the specific lens from a case of lenses and snap them into the frames.

The real significance of this project is that these people had no access to glasses before we brought this here.  In many instances, when the new glasses were placed on the patient, their face brightened up with the realization that they could see clearly.  We also brought reading glasses in various strengths.  Again, the reaction from the people when they could clearly see the words in their medical passport was very rewarding.  Wearing glasses myself, from a young age, I can appreciate how beneficial they will be.

We are trying to make this program a sustainable one rather than something that only happens with the clinics.  One of the group that ran the eye clinic portion of the clinic was a local Malawian teacher. I trained him on how to conduct the exams and how to assemble the glasses.  He then did most of the exams and the interaction with the Malawians while I assembled the glasses from the resulting tests.  To keep the program sustainable, we charged about $1 for each pair of glasses. This should be enough to cover the costs of replacing the frames and the lenses and to generate a small profit for the teacher.

Another aspect of the eye clinic was the participation of a local Malawian eye doctor.  Many of the people who showed up at the eye clinic had problems with their eyes that were not related to glasses and he was able to provide assistance through drugs from our pharmacy or through a referral to the local hospital for proper treatment.  Again, this access to eye care is something which does not normally exist in the villages.  We are now looking at the opportunity to add eye care to the ongoing clinic services.