I thought I was finished writing about Malawi, but not so! There is one thing that I never wrote much about, and it's a project we were hoping to get more involved with. It's the Ndirandi Social Club.
The Ndirandi Social Club is an organization that exists to support handicapped people (especially children) and their families. They meet every Tuesday in a church hall that they rent. The man in charge, along with the Board, is our friend Hamilton, the one who took us hiking up Ndirandi Mountain. He is completely dedicated to keeping this club going, to serve the needs of his community.
The week Steve and I visited, they started the session with a talk by Hamilton. They did some singing together as well. Then they broke into small groups for various activities. There was a Bible study and a math class, a health group where children were being weighed, and a dramatic group who were practising a skit to present the next week. The skit was on the topic of including the handicapped child in family activities, the importance of treating the child well. They were totally involved in what they were doing, but they seemed pleased to pause and explain it to me.
The younger children were playing with toys from a bag on the floor. I played with them for a while. There was also a group of people playing a game with a ball, led by an albino man. In Malawi, people who are albino are often rejected by the society, so this is a safe place for him to be.
Later in the afternoon they served some food, so everyone went away satisfied. The club is a great support for people who otherwise have very little support.
One of their challenges right now is that they have just recently bought some property on which they plan to build a facility where they can meet and keep supplies, perhaps set up some physiotherapy equipment and so on. They also have plans for some income generating projects on this property. Presently they are in the process of building a wall around the property for security. The Presbyterian Church in Canada has supported this aspect of the project with $30,000 in funds, which covers about three quarters of the cost. They are looking for more funds to complete the wall. If you are interested in contributing to this cause in support of handicapped people in this very poor suburb of Blantyre, you can click on the link here.
Where it asks you for a project designation, you can write "Ndirande".
Steve is still getting regular updates on the building of the wall, and we are satisfied that the money is being well spent.
Please pray for this important work as they try to carry on through this challenging time.