Dear Frans and all at Grace Episcopal Church of Ocala in the Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! I am writing to share a brief update on the hunger situation in Malawi. As previously communicated, Cyclone Freddy brought a lot of challenges to people living in the Southern part of the country. Many lost their loved ones, fields, livestock etc and the effects of such a loss is bitting hard on our people. We managed to support a few families with food parcels and also supported seventeen school going children with School fees. Please continue extending our word of thanks to the church for enabling us to support such needy families. Through this support, God enabled us to serve some of our people who were going for days without food. A good example was a young girl named FATIMA who was severely malnourished. Fatima has now been able to come to church and is showing signs of great improvement in her health. We visited Fatima today and she looks beautiful and friendly.
Going forward, Malawi will continue experiencing the hard effects of the Cyclone as the majority did not harvest anything since their maize fields were completely washed away. Currently food prices have gone very high. In a normal year, food prices are always lower between April and September but this time around, the prices are already high. In readiness for the most difficult months of October to February, we used part of the $5000 we received to purchase a few bags of maize so that we could use them to support people when food prices go up between the months of October 2023 and February 2024. Currently one bag of Maize is being bought at K27,000 (approximately $27) while a bag of Rice is currently going at K90,000 (approximately $90). It is being projected that between the months of October and February the prices will go beyond double and many within our poor community will not be able to afford that. For those earning K50,000 per month (approximately $50 per month), life will extremely tough. Our plan was to buy more bags of maize and rice now so that we could manage to support the most needy members of our community, the elderly, child headed homes and those directly affected by the Cyclone. We are therefore in the process of making more appeals to well wishers who could be in a position to assist us more so that we can add the number of bags while they are slightly cheaper. To be able to support our people well, we are looking for approximately $900 for 10 bags of rice and $810 for 30 bags of corn (maize). Feel free to share with any individuals who might be willing to render a supporting hand. While making this appeal, we really thank God for the support you gave us which has helped us in many ways.
Please continue praying for us as we seek better ways of serving our people, not just spiritually but also in meeting their physical needs, mainly as they recover from the devastation caused by the Cyclone. Also pray for all the evangelistic efforts we are carrying out as we bring the Gospel of peace and hope to those that almost lost their faith. You can also pray for the leadership seminar we will be leading from the 10th to the 12th of August 2023. May the Lord continue blessing you all as we continue serving our Master together. We thank God for the partnership in the work of the Gospel.
Love and blessings,
Robert and Ellen
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