We stay busy on the field. Here are highlights of our accomplishments from January – April 2017.
Education:
We started adult literacy classes in each of the 4 communities we serve. We currently have 87 adult learners! Thus far, we are already seeing positive results. Many of our learners didn’t know how to read and write anything when they started classes; now many of they can read and write their own names. Other learners, like Tasiyana pictured on the right, have decided to go back to school. Read Tasiyana’s story.
Christian Outreach
We reached over 3,000 people with the Gospel and have now started fellowships at our weekly clinics. We are continuing to offer home-based Bible study groups led by community members who finished Bible study training.
Entrepreneurship
Over 400 people are saving money through our village savings and loans program. They’ve collectively saved over 2 million Malawi Kwacha (about $3,000)! The goal of the savings program is to enable people to save money as a group so that they have capital for their various business ideas. Members of the group take loans out to start their businesses. Pamoza supports the members with business training, monitoring, and connections to further resources.
Agriculture
We are helping 50 families break the cycle of hunger and also helped 565 families with temporary food relief so they wouldn’t go hungry during the lean period which is when people start running out of food because the new harvest is not yet ready. Pamoza does not believe in handouts; therefore, the maize we distribute for food relieve is sold to community members at a reduced rate and the funds are used for food relief needs in the future thereby creating a revolving fund.
In April, we identified 20 people living with HIV/AIDS and provided them with fruit tree seedlings so they can grow fruit. The hope is that the fruit will give them additional nutrition and also be a source of income if they can sell some of the fruit.
Health Care
Over 1,000 people were treated at our weekly clinic over the last 4 months. The most common illnesses were malaria, pneumonia, and AIDS. Our campaign to get more people tested for HIV/AIDS has been effective. We are seeing an increase in the number of people willing to get tested and to also admit they are positive. This was not the case in the past.
We also started offering prenatal services at our clinic. We currently have 13 pregnant women who come for regular check-ups. Previously, they had to walk 5 miles to the nearest hospital for this service.