Sarah’s blog 22/02/22
When you are so poor you can’t even finish primary school as you have to try to earn some money to feed yourself as your family cannot afford to feed you….that is a level of poverty that is, for most of us, hard to comprehend.
When you don’t have enough money for food to eat every day, that is something that most of us cannot understand. This is the story of three young men who have faced hardship like that. They are living in extreme poverty but, thanks to their own initiative, and now thanks to their sponsor, there is a plan in place to improve their lives and make something of themselves.
Manase is in his early 20s. He and his brother had been pictured previously working hard labouring for the builders who were building the shower block. He has been helping out at The Foundation. Chancy (early 20s) also helps out and Levison is able to give them small amounts of money for their work.
Yesterday, Levison went to see some of the eco stoves that Manase and Chancy had made, free of charge, for people in the village. Because of their initiative, their hard work and thoughtfulness is being rewarded.
Lameck, a teenager, has been on my mind since Levison took a photo of him reading books at the Foundation Library a few months ago. He didn’t even finish primary school due to poverty and has been doing piece work to earn a pittance since, but there he was reading in the library and trying to learn. I’ve been wondering how we can support him since then and now an opportunity has arisen.
We have matched them with a sponsor who will provide some money for The Foundation to pay these three young men each month whilst they make eco stoves for those in the community who don’t yet have one.
Eco stoves are….as the name suggests….eco friendly. They are an enclosed method of cooking so are far safer for people than cooking on an open fire, especially when young children are around. They use less wood which is obviously better for the environment and they retain heat so they can give off heat when it’s colder weather. Because they use far less wood, people don’t have to spend so long searching and collecting wood, leaving them more time for work or other household chores. Along with planting lots of tree saplings, the team at The Foundation are doing their bit for a sustainable future for people and the planet.
Manase, Chancy and Lameck will work on these and also brick making. Hopefully, they will be able to make enough bricks for future buildings and, possibly, if they want to, they may be able to go to college or have a tutor come to the Foundation to teach them bricklaying and building.
Hope you enjoy looking at the photos. If you’d like to donate to one of our project or support a young person then please do get in touch contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thanks for reading, Sarah x
