Update March 2006

Late March 2006

Hello again everyone. For those of you that don’t know, Robyn left our shores on 8th March, arriving in Lilongwe Malawi on 9th March. Thank you so much to every person who contributed to getting Robyn there. In the first email I received from Robyn, she shared about the hut she had previously been living in, & how it is practically falling down. But she goes on to say “It doesn’t matter where I live, it can be a bark hut for all I care - I am just sooo glad that you have all helped me to return”. I think that pretty much sums up Robyn & the type of person she is. We won’t have her living in a bark hut, but we are attempting to raise some money to enable a humble dwelling for her to built when the work party travels to Malawi in June (more on this later).

Upon returning to Malawi, this country that is already so incredibly poor, has now endured flooding, resulting in crop damage which in turn leads to a lack of food availability, increased illness & a chain reaction of other serious problems. When Robyn first arrived in Lilongwe & attempted to buy porridge, she had hoped to buy 5 x 50kg bags but could only get 3, & that was after lining up for hours. The price has increased by about AUS$25 per bag & now costs approx $80 per bag. Robyn had not been able to buy any further bags of porridge until last Thursday (6th April) when, thankfully, she managed to get hold of 4 more (thanks for all the prayers!). She informed us that they are serving approx. 2,160 bowls of porridge per week – 400 each week day & 160 at the Saturday morning kids club – that’s a lot of porridge! At that rate, one 50kg bag will last for one week, so please keep praying that more porridge will be available for them to buy when the time comes.