Kondanani Newsletter 2003

June 2003
Dear Friends,

After being away in the United States for 6 weeks it was wonderful to be back in the bush. I don't want to give the impression that it was not good in the States, but there is nothing like home sweet home.

My first stop in the States was Pennsylvania, Amish country, I was intrigued. I was only a few hours at the home where I was staying when the doorbell rang , I opened and before me stood a young girl very beautiful and untainted from the world, she wore a black cap, green long dress and a black apron, on the road I saw a buggy and two horses. I was translated into a different world for a moment and it seemed I was in the movies. I was so moved by this girl that I wanted to cry. She was selling her wares, which she and her mother had been baking, lovely goodies as Amish women do, they also make the most beautiful quilts.
The following Monday I went to visit the family, a lovely Christian family who lived in a big farm house. The kitchen was very large with a huge table with a lot of chairs around it, no running water or electricity, no modern amenities at all and yet so happy. They had a big farm and all the children help to work it , yet there are only horses to plough the fields. The males did not shave their beards and their clothing was very simple and wore straw hats. They are amazing people, who want nothing in their lives that could take them away from their relationship with God, they truly were people where the God of materialism was unwelcome.
Fools some people may think, well perhaps, but they live what they preach and have a very good reputation among the people because of that , something to think about.

I had a hard time at every airport in the USA, I don't think I look like a terrorist, but I was what they called the pick on.
To crown it all, when I left Denver airport my shoes tested positive for explosives, imagine that, nitro glycerin, where I got that from I'll never know. When I got home I found every single address I had in my case missing , and brochures inside from the USA security services, the tell tale sign that they wanted to make sure they could get hold of me if needed.

Being back at Kondanani brings it's joy's and it's sorrows, once again I am confronted with death, we lost 4 of our children while I was away including a set of twins. Yes I know they have gone to the Heavenly nursery , but I would just love to see them growing up and be in good health.
The wonderful thing was though that when the little ones saw me they all came running and shouting mummy, they are worth all it takes to have Kondanani.

KONDANANI CHILDREN'S VILLAGE .

It is such a joy to have the 3 and 4 year olds at the Village , they have lots of space to play and go on outings with us.
The sweetest thing is to see them every morning with their hands on their chest singing the Malawi national anthem, these little one's are going to save this nation I tell you . They love Jesus , I wish you could hear them sing and the house mother playing the drum. One day I will take them all on a trip to sing for people .
We need prayer for Pamela, she had a stroke while I was away, can you imagine at the age of 4 a stroke, she is recovering well though, the doctors did lots of tests but found nothing wrong, they refused to do a cat scan because of the cost involved, I think she is worth the cost but they don't seem to think so. We are doing exercises with her every day to make sure she gets completely well. I am still mad with the doctors though.
I had been playing ostrich for a while as far as the HIV status of the children was concerned, it actually hurts to face up to it especially as they grow bigger and closer to me. They are all tested when they are babies and at two again, one forgets who is what, if they are not sick as yet. Josef got sick last week and by the looks of it it was HIV related, I had no choice but to look at his file, he indeed is positive. It led me to go through all the files and face up to the truth and I was shocked, it was a difficult day for me. The children are innocent and yet they suffer the consequences of the life style of the parents. Please pray for them, they are so precious and I dread the suffering they still have to face.

THE KEGEL NURSERY SCHOOL.
The nursery school is going strong. Julia has come back from the States after a year at University. Julia is a great asset to Kondanani, the children learn a lot from her and they just love her. Their English is improving which is very important.
We have a donor for a new nursery school building and will start working on the foundation within this month. In July we are going to be blessed with a team from Holland who are going to start the building of the school.

THE RORY ALEC CLINIC.
In my last letter I told you that the clinic was closed due to lack of funds.
During this time sister Chris went back to Holland and did a tropical medicine course. She is well equipped now and will arrive back in Africa on the 16th of July 2003.
We will open the clinic again, the Lord has answered our prayers as far as the finances are concerned and we are so grateful for that.
I will be so glad when we do not have to take our children to the government hospitals anymore.
Our plan is that each baby we receive will first go to the clinic for observation.

THE GOLDEN AGE CLUB.( Widows over the age of 60)
Our golden oldies are adorable . They come early in the morning long before we start with their programs many of them leaning heavily on sticks, some very hungry and cold. What a joy to be able to give food and clothing, to give them our love and care.
They enjoy getting a hug from us, who does not want to be loved ?
We have had a few collapse because of hunger and lack of care, they walk for miles to get to us.
I will be so glad for the day we can build the GOLDEN AGE VILLAGE, pray with us that the sale of the land comes through soon, I believe it is all in Gods plan.
I submitted a project proposal for an arts and craft center for the widows, a place where they can work and earn some money.
We received the great news last week that the project has been approved, we now need to get the land to build it on.
We give Glory to God for this break through.
The project are going well, can you imagine being 90 and being able to write your own name for the very first time, they learn that at literacy classes, I am so proud of them. They make lovely outfits at sewing classes and some of them are bragging about their grandchildren wearing jerseys they have knitted. I rejoice when I see progress in their lives.
I am grateful to Cherie who is from Australia and is the project manager.

CARING HANDS INFANT HOME .

As I mentioned earlier we have lost quite a few babies, but then there are the others who are growing so beautifully.
I looked at little Catherine , she is still under a year old and when we got her she was totally malnourished, she was in our clinic for weeks and we held out little hope for her, she would loose weight and yet eat, but now, she is a big girl rather "porky" and very pretty, a joy to behold.
Our nursery is rather full with very small babies, many have AIDS and are in their last stages already. The situation is not improving, people are not changing their life style and these little bundles are the victims. Many are born premature, when the clinic is up and going we can put them in the incubators again.
A lot of little ones are simply left on the side of the road, the mother knows she has AIDS and hopes that someone will find the baby and give it a better life.
Caring Hands was blessed with a container from well-wishers in the UK. Loads of lovely goodies for our babies. We suppose to get volunteers to sort it for us, but I found it difficult to keep my hands of it, to many blessings and I went from one box to the next, the problem was that there are 375 boxes and I could not keep up with it to much to handle on my own.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FOLLOWING NEEDS :
With all the building project coming up our need for a builder missionary is becoming more and more urgent. Apart from the school there is the Arts & Craft Center and staff housing for which we have donors too.

A missionary nursing sister to share the load with sister Chris.

Although we get lots of money for building projects we need the cashflow for the running of Kondanani.

It would be nice to hear from you.

Yours in His service Lewis and Annie Chikhwaza.
 June 2003