a wonderfully warm welcome at St Marks Lutheran School in the chilly Mt!

What a simply stunning morning for a drive to Mt Barker.

Freezing cold, mind you: icy-windscreen-see-your breath-in-the-car-despite-the heating-on-full-blast-cant-feel-your-fingers-gripping-the-steering-wheel-icing-sugar-dusted-snap-frozen-white-grass-kind-of-morning!

I'd received brilliant instructions on how to find the school and the street directory even had Mt barker in it so a grand start all round. As I pulled in to the car park to wait I watched the children arriving and reflected on how incredibly luck this country is. i could smell the smoke from the nearby homes with wood fires where children were preparing to rug up and walk with their mums or dads a few minutes to their school, arriving to a beautiful facility where there was heating as well as books and technology and art and music and such wonderful opportunities for their future.

The Grade 3 students made a fantastic assembly presentation regarding their recent camp to a 'wilderness'site at Mylor and the school principal engaged in negotiation with the student body regarding play areas in view of the very wet weather. A very small student raised his hand, engaging in a question with the principal, freely and fully expecting his question to be met with seriousness and consideration - which it was.

The presentation regarding the chimwemwe project was met with enthusiasm demonstrated by the childrens' spontaneous(and very successful)efforts to engage in the Chichewa language. Such great effort has been put into the shoe raising project- boxes have been built and painted, charts to monitor growth of the shoe numbers and a colourful display at the entrance to the school building to remind students and visitors of the endeavour.

Virginia and I will return after the collection period is completed, probably next term and hopefully to visit individual classes. Shoe Pal #2 is bearing shining witness to "the Power of One", working with wonderful staff to bring a dream true for little(and big) feet on the other side of the world.

Our heartfelt thanks to Lori, the staff and students at St Marks Luterhan School at Mt Barker.

wofetsa mowolowa manja, mowolowa manjanso adzakolola

Blessed in the hand that giveth

Virginia introduces Malawi, Mulanje and Makuluni

MALAWI

Malawi branded ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’ is one of the least developed countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa. It was declared British Protectorate in 1891 and became independent on 6th July 1964. It covers a landlocked area of 118484 square kilometres with 20 percent of it covered with water which includes Lake Malawi, which has beautiful tourist attraction fresh waters. The country has an estimated population of 13,931,831 whose 85 percent live in the rural areas with 41.7% of it living below poverty line (less than $1 per day.) Administratively, the country is divided into northern, central and southern regions (provinces) and in total, it has 28 districts. The economy is predominantly agricultural which is hugely affected by unpredictable weather which leads to droughts and floods.

The current total income per capita according to WHO (2008) is $690 making it difficult for the country to sustain itself. As a result, Malawi relies on economic assistance from international donor agencies like IMF and World Bank including individual donor nations. Its main challenges are developing a market economy, improving educational facilities; facing up to environmental problems, dealing with the problem of HIV/AIDS, and satisfying foreign donors that fiscal discipline is being tightened.

Poverty, famine and HIV/AIDS enhance one another causing the population really struggling; although we have never had wars, these problems have denied its citizens the peace they deserve. Currently, adult HIV/AIDS prevalence is at 12% down from a maximum 15% in 1997; about 1 million of the population is living with HIV/AIDS and this is leading to an estimated 60, 500 deaths annually. The pandemic has caused havoc such that by 2007, 91,000 children were living with the virus and about half a million children have been sadly orphaned by AIDS.

MULANJE

Mulanje is one of the 28 districts in Malawi and is found in the Southern Region of the country. The district takes pride in Mount Mulanje which is of the most prominent physical feature and the highest peak in the entire Southern Central Africa. The mass rises up to 3000m high and has plenty of endemic natural beauty.

The district is predominantly Christian because the British colonialists first settled in this area due to its beautiful weather. They made the district a tea growing centre and it is green and beautiful.

Mulanje is the district where I was born and raised up my mother without a father. My mother and relatives are in this district and we drive about 1 hour from the commercial city of Blantyre to the village. Malawi has various tribes of different languages and Mulanje is comprised of the Lomwe tribe who speak Lomwe. As a country, the national language is Chichewa and English is the official language. The southern region suffers a multitude of challenges including pressure on the land due to overpopulation and inadequate resources such as health facilities. Poverty is the order of the day and their prayer is, ‘God, give us our daily food’.

MAKULUNI VILLAGE

We have now narrowed down to the target community of about 1000 people which lies at the base of the beautiful Mulanje Mountain. The huts are grass-thatched and only a few are roofed with modern materials. There is one school in this village, Monjole Community Primary School which was constructed and donated by the European Union.

The villagers are all Christians belonging to different denominations, some Catholics, Protestants and Pentecostals. The community is united with social cohesion as a basic value. Children are cared for in a communal way -when one family has food, it invites children from the starving family to share. Life is so collective; however, there are changes because the expensive life is making people individualistic. Unfortunately, the village is isolated and disconnected, it is over 45km away from the nearest trading centre where one can get public transport and buy and sell goods and services. I used to walk this distance with my bag on my head to catch a bus to the boarding secondary school and university. Even now, the road is still in a very poor condition and it is scary to think how people are managing life in this village.

I have a strong belief that God lifted me up from the dust to use me; I am living my life for others and I feel satisfied. My dream is to extend this help to other disadvantaged people in my village and beyond and I am optimistic that with the support of organisations in my country, I will live to see this happening in my lifetime. I see this partnership as the genesis of great things to come in my isolated poor village; together we can make a difference.

"are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin..."

Virginia and I met at the beginning of 2008 whilst undertaking masters studies in Public Health at Flinders University, SA.

Virginia came to Australia in February 2008 after being challenged by her country to compete for an AusAID scholarship. It has always been her dream to further her studies and return to Malawi to support her fellow citizens and having succeeded in the interviews came to Australia to study for a Master of Public Health: Nutrition. The course runs for a period of 18 months so Virginia returns to her beloved Malawi, husband and 3 beautiful children in July, 2009.

Virginia ia a teacher by profession attaining a Bachelor of Education degree majoring in Home Economics from the University of Malawi in 1999. Virginia went into teaching in a government high school for five years where she rose up to the postion of principal.

In 2004, Virginia joined the central government as a Principal Administrative Officer until the time when it was identified that her nutrition background was very important to 'beef up' capacity in the newly established Department of Nutrition and HIV/AIDS. This department, which is under the Office of the President and Cabinet, is mandated to facilitate nutrition requirements for people living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable groups like under-five children, orphans, the aged, the disabled and all those prone to nutrition related disorders such as chronic heart diseases.

Virginia will therefore return to take up this 'humble and challenging calling' (her words) where she will be in close touch with the Ministry of Health and working as a Principal Community Nutrition Officer, Virginia will be directly involved with the affected groups as well as contributing in the formulation of nutrition policy guidelines.

And so the friendship began and grew over the months as we shared experiences, dreams, hopes for a better world and the possibilities ( ...and whether there actually were any?...) that could be investigated for somehow contributing to a more socially just and equitable world. Now what? Hmmm. Not so sure, we decided! Better take a bit more notice at those lectures we decided!

small beginnings

This is the first entry for the 'chimwemwe footprints project' - and hopefully a way in which friends and family around the world can watch a journey that began with a meeting between 2 students from opposite sides of the world at Flinders University, SA.

The decision to create a blog is a result of a sense that the journey needed somehow to be "diarised" (perhaps not a real word?) or somehow tracked so that (a) we could all see where we were at and how far we had come as well as how much we had learned and (b) to enable others to learn from our challenges (and very likely mistakes) as well as contribute with their thoughts and experiences. It is also a way in which Virginia's family and friends in Malawi can watch what is happening!

So as you share the journey, please remember that we are amateurs! If you have words of advice or support, hints or experiences of your own to share, please do so - that is part of the whole reason for sharing our experiences.