- Where is Malawi?
I'd like to quote from a few letters that we have received from the Chonde's in Malawi.
As those of you following our AFRICA section and our humanitarian efforts to save lives
in one of Africa's most densely populated and poorest countries,
we have been collecting
life sustaining help: medicine, food, blankets, clothing, cash
etc etc. We are going to fill two 40 foot containers which will leave from Minneapolis,
Minnesota for Malawi through a US government aid program which pays the shipping for these
containers....the shipping value is about $20,000 per container.
- How you can help
Through UCG pastor Bill Jahns in Salt Lake City, we have shipped over $15,000 worth of badly needed medicine which is now beginning to arrive in Lilongwe. Bill Jahns made five shipments at two week intervals and Malakia clinic will be receiving the antibiotics and other drugs at those intervals for a while.
The aid we plan to send by much larger container (20 tons each) will be administered through two clinics. One is in the capital city of Lilongwe and is called Malakia clinic, managed by the Chonde's; the other is the Kasambala Medical Centre in Nchenachena, Malawi. The United Church of God is primarily helping with Malakia Clinic while Unity Unitarian church in St. Paul, Minnesota is helping with the Kasambala Medical Center. We will both share space on both containers.
We had hoped to ship by July, but it looks like a more realistic shipping time will be in September or even October. It is not an understatement to stay that it's not easy organizing shipping to Africa. Our current problem is getting the proper authorization from the government of Malawi to allow our United Church of God member, Gladstone Chonde and his wife Alice, to receive the aid. It just takes time to have all this documentation in order.
The people who have been actively helping us
Here is what the Gladstone and Alice Chonde write us:
Malakia Clinic
P.O. Box 30705
Lilongwe 3
MalawiJuly 23, 1997
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Kubik,
How is life over there in the States? We are all right here -- including my sick daughter Jane who has AIDS. Jane is back to her job. Thank you for your prayers.
I received a a carton of medicines on July 14, 1997 from Mr. Bill Jahns of Utah. I wrote to thank him for the gift. We also thank you for the good work you are doing. God bless you.
The medicines arrived on time. They came when I had used almost all antibiotics and had none left. When a letter from the customs department came, I didn't know they had drugs for us. It was all joy when the drugs came. Thank you very much.
My wife Alice had an audience with the secretary of health. It was a follow up to the letter we wrote them requesting that we given a letter allowing you to be sending humanitarian aid to Malawi through Malakia clinic. He said he will answer us in writing. He wants to ask the Medical Council and the Drugs and Poisons Board to give him an OK.
In Malawi it takes time to have one thing done. We are praying that God will help us get the necessary documents.
My telephone is not working. The telephone people say they will give me another telephone to replace the one we have. That, too, takes a long time.
We are looking forward to the coming Feast of Tabernacles at La Rochelle Hotel in Zimbabwe. Time is running fast.
We send you our warm greetings and best wishes. We all love you.
Sincerely yours,
Alice and Glady
July 1997
Dear Mr. Bill Jahns,
I write to inform you that we received the drugs you sent us for which we thank you very much. You do not know what joy this gift has brought to our family. We thank God who made your people generous as you are.
It's funny. It was not easy for us to go to the Feast in Zimbabwe last year because it was expensive for four of us. In faith and and for the first time in our lives we went to celebrate the Feast in another country other than Malawi where my wife and I met the Kubiks.
Our clinic has improved. We have a little more drugs than we used to have.
Greetings and love from the Chondes