SEEDSOWERS NEWSLETTER

Seed Sowers Trust
Winter 2014
Volume 18 Issue 1
SEEDSOWERS
NEWSLETTER
Mwanza Project
Inside this issue:
Tikondwe Gardens
3
Percussion Drilling
Training
4
Farming God’s Way
4
Stephen Carr
4
New Malawi Coordinator
5
‘Agape’
5
Special points of interest:
• Mwanza Project
• ‘Agape’
• Tikondwe Gardens
• Percussion Drilling
Training
• New Malawi Coordinator
• ‘Farming God’s Way’
On the 23rd September
Mike Ansell flew out to
Malawi for his 16th visit
over 20 years. He flew
out in the company of
Mrs Sue Godfrey, wife
of one of Seedsowers’
Trustees.
One of the aims of the
visit was to visit the
nine villages which have
been adopted by Agnes
Mkoko; to ascertain
their needs.
After consulting with
the nine chiefs and the
group chief, it soon became apparent that there
were two pressing
needs, more boreholes
and an irrigation programme to grew cash
crops.
A borehole sponsored
by MAC’s, a UK charity, was installed two
years ago. However although this is very welcome it cannot adequately supply the nine
villages with clean water.
After much discussion it
was decided to divide
Chiefs and Elders of the nine villages with Agnes Mkoko, Sue
Godfrey and Mike Ansell
the villages into family
groups and for each
group to drill their own
borehole using the Baptist Percussion Drilling
Technique. Seedsowers
have used this technique
in the past to provide
boreholes in Malawi. It
was agreed that a training programme in the
technique would be arranged and that Seedsowers would return in
2015 to initiate this programme.
In the past these villages
have used charcoal
burning and selling as
their main income. They
have realised that after
many years of felling
trees and not replanting,
the next generation will
have no effective means
of income generation.
Their solution for this
dilemma is to irrigate
some land they have by
the Shire River to grow
cash crops. To do this
they would require
Treadle Pumps and
asked for our help in
supplying these.
Again it was decided to
divide the villages into
family groups to initiate
Page 2
SEEDSOWERS NEWSLETTER
Volume 18 Issue 1
Mwanza Project—cont.
the programme. It was estimated that around 20 treadle
pumps would be needed.
A UK sponsor has donated 10
of these pumps and these are
on their way to the villages to
make a start on the programme.
We hope to incorporate the
principles of ‘Farming God’s
Way’ into this programme together with the lessons learnt
from the Tikondwe experience. More about this later.
During the discussion with the
chiefs, a well dressed villager
gave testimony of how she
with some other women were
given two treadle sewing machines. With these two sewing
machines they started a dressmaking business. The business prospered and with the
excess money they earned
they started a Credit Union to
enable other women to start
income generating businesses.
She gave this testimony to encourage the chiefs and elders
in their income generation
scheme. Here was a case of a
little help to the poor to help
themselves with a great result.
The chiefs and elders of Masalawatha 1,2,3, Jonathan, Kazunag, Matana, Batto,
Liwonde and Chikaya villages meeting to discuss their needs
Borehole and pump supplied by UK charity MAC’s
Left- Treadle pumps being demonstated- Mwanza villages
Below– Treadle Pumps delivered to Mwanza villages
SEEDSOWERS NEWSLETTER
Volume 18 Issue 1
Page 3
Tikondwe Freedom Gardens
We were advised by Dr. John
Wibberley of Bicton Agricultural
College to visit Tikondwe Freedom Gardens while we were in
Malawi.
Hendrick Kunkeyani of Freshwater International and Mike Ansell
visited these gardens which are
on the outskirts of Lilongwe at
Dowa and met with Daniel
Chinkuntha, the son of the founder Dr. Fred Chinkuntha.
The gardens were started 27
years ago by Dr. Chinkuntha
from a small patch of swamp
land which he ‘begged’ from a
local chief when he moved into
the area from the north of the
country.
The swamp was drained and the
reeds dug up. Organic farming
techniques were then employed
to cultivate the land.
The enterprise has now grown to
23 acres growing a large variety
of crops from maize, beans, tomatoes, etc. to coffee. They have
diverted a river and have three
large ponds for irrigation and
farming fish.
No artificial nutrients or pesticides are used in the enterprise.
All the nutrients and pesticides
needed are made from plants.
The husbandry also uses sacrificial plants to deter pests. Trees
have also been planted to give
natural shade and to stop soil
erosion.
Daniel Chinkuntha, who now
runs the enterprise, showed
Hendrick and Mike around the
gardens explaining all the activities that are taking place there.
The enterprise is well known in
Europe especially in Switzerland
and parties from Europe visit
Tikondwe to learn their techniques.
Daniel Chinkuntha has produced
Hendrick Kunkeyani and Mike Ansell at Tikondwe Gardens
One of the irrigation/fish lagoons at Tikondwe Gardens
a manual of their techniques
which he has given to the pair.
This will be of great benefit when
the project in the Mwanza villages is started.
Daniel Chinkuntha of Tikondwe
SEEDSOWERS NEWSLETTER
Volume 18 Issue 1
Page 4
Percussion Drilling Demonstration
During the visit the principles of
the Percussion Drilling technique
for sinking boreholes was demonstrated to the young boys at
‘Agape’ on two successive Saturdays at a school site at Bumbvwe
near Limbe.
Prior to the practical demonstration the boys were shown videos
of the technique in the weekdays
after school.
The boys soon got the idea and
were soon down to 3 metres. We
hope this knowledge will stand
them in good stead in the future.
Next year we hope to expand
their knowledge and fully sink a
borehole, line and cap it.
Some of the ‘Agape’ young men learning Percussion Drilling
‘Farming God’s Way’ and Henry Maliri Phiri
Mike Ansell was able to meet up
again with Henry Maliri Phiri
who he first met in Malawi in
1994. Henry is now the
‘Farming God’s Way’ coordinator for Malawi and has
made a DVD on the subject. He
is now supported in his work by
an American sponsor and runs
self funding enterprises which
consist of 2000 laying chickens,
broiler chickens, private primary
school as well as farming 150
acres of Muringa, from which a
tea is made which boosts the
immune system. The American
sponsor has shipped over from
the US the necessary tractors,
ploughing equipment, trailers
etc. needed for the project.
On the current site at Bumbvwe
Henry is building a secondary
school for 300 pupils and a 1000
seater church.
Henry’s passion now is to evangelise and plant churches. As he
plants these
churches he organises the congregations to plant
gardens using
‘Farming God’s
Way’ to support
the orphans in
their communities.
Henry’s Maize
Visit with Stephen Carr
Mike with Fletcher Kaiya, one of our
Malawian trustees, was able to meet
again with Stephen Carr another of
our trustees in Malawi. Stephen is now
86. He still advises the Malawi Government on agricultural issues. It was
a very pleasant interlude taking tea in
his English garden at Zomba, eating
avocado and fresh strawberries from
his garden.
Mike Ansell with Stephen Carr
SEEDSOWERS NEWSLETTER
Volume 18 Issue 1
Page 5
George Mkoko– Our New Co-ordinator
With our last Malawi Coordinator, George Bhima, now
retired and living in South Africa,
it has become necessary to appoint a new Co-ordinator for
Seedsowers in Malawi.
George Mkoko, son of Agnes
Mkoko has agreed to fulfil this
roll.
George has a successful computer business which he runs
with his business partner John.
He has volunteered to
look after our affairs in
Malawi working with
one of our Malawian
trustees, Fletcher Kaiya.
George Mkoko
‘Agape’ - Future Needs
Margaret
James Martin
Andrew
James
Charles
Cadie
The children of ‘Agape’ are now
young adults and their needs
have changed. There is now a
need for funding for their further education. Some are academic and others have a potential in a practical way. One or
Irine
Christopher
two of them are university
material. Fletcher and Clara
have done a great job in absorbing these youngsters into
their family and it is good to
see how the natural born
children of Fletcher and
Clara treat them as their own
brothers and sisters. Without
the support of Seedsowers and
their sponsors ‘Agape’ could not
have carried on. A big thank you to
all those who have supported these
children over the years.
We are now looking for sponsors
for the next education phase of
Bestina
Tereza
these young
people.
For those that
are able to
progress to
university the
cost is £ 420
per year for 3
Grace
years.
Christopher, Margaret, and
Upile are potential university
material. James Martin wishes to
go to Bible college and Bestina
wants to be a nurse. The rest are
more practical and are suitable
for vocational training.
Seed Sowers Trust
Seed Sowers Trust is a UK based charity founded in 1994 under
the name of Malawi Mission. Its vision is to reach out to the poor
and help facilitate them to help themselves. It also has at its heart
the desire to propagate the Gospel of Christ and wherever possible
support the indigenous churches to enable this.
Hill House Cottage,
Oaklands Road,
Buckfastleigh,
Devon, TQ11 0BL
Phone: 01364 642206
Fax: 01364 642206
Email:[email protected]
The charity has been involved in water and sanitation programmes in Africa as well as food growing projects. It is currently
working with local NGO’s in Africa on Orphan projects, water
projects, and farming projects.
C HARITY R EGISTRATION N UMBER: 1 0 8 4 8 4 7
C OMPANY R EGISTRATION N UMBER: 4 1 2 3 8 7 4
W EBSITE: WWW. SEEDSOWERSTRUST. ORG
It has supplied over 2000 Bibles in Chichewa to congregations of
the rural churches in Malawi.
Helping the Poor to Help Themselves
A big thank you to all our sponsors and
donors who have supported us in 2014
A HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL
Seed Sowers Trust
‘AGAPE’ –MALAWI
The little Orphan Home, ‘Agape’ run by Rev. Fletcher and Clara Kaiya is home to 13 teenagers
from various backgrounds. Since 2006 Seedsowers has been the main sponsor and we have
seen the children grow up in a stable environment. Due to our supporters generous giving we
have been able to fund the children through their early years, in food, clothing and education
despite the Credit Crunch. We now wish to see each of these teenagers reach their full potential by funding their further education to equip them for life in the outside world. We are calling on our readers, once again to help us come to the aid of these young people and to sponsor
or help sponsor their further education. Do you feel that you could give £5, £10, £15 or more
per month or could team up with others to help sponsor a young person
Just a £1-00 a week given on a regular basis will make the difference to these
youngsters
lives.
Name________________________________Tel.__________________Mobile No.___________________
Address________________________________________________________________________________
I wish to partner with Seed Sowers Trust in their ‘Agape’ Appeal and wish to give a regular payment of
£_______ a month for a period of ____ year(s). Please send me (tick where appropriate):
• Tax Reclaim Form
• Standing Order Details
• Details of your Child Sponsorship
• I enclose a one off payment of £____made payable to Seed Sowers Trust
Please send completed form to: Agape Appeal, Seed Sowers Trust, Hill House Cottage, Oaklands Road,
Buckfastleigh, Devon, TQ11 0BL
For further information please contact: 01364 642206 or visit our new website: www.seedsowerstrust.org
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