The Raven Trust…… serving communities in Malawi and elsewhere directly
December 2013
Psalm 37 and Matthew 5 v 1 - 16
A very young mum gives birth to her first child in a rough shelter, mud floor, leaky roof, wind whistling through the gaps.
An anxious new dad is hovering around, as are busy women. Then all the neighbours come crowding around, chatting
and singing.Much later they leave. Alone now, the young couple face the cold, wet and mud. Shivering baby, exhausted
parents. Food? Clothing? Blankets? You must be joking.
Nothing much has changed in 2000 years, has it? A cell phone or two, the occasional luxuries of a good water pump in a
village, but still too many mums and babies are at risk. And a certain small baby who 2000 years ago grew up and
changed the world, still asks us to-day ‘’what did you do when you saw me? – I was cold, hungry, without clothing or
shelter – one of the little ones - what did you do?‘’
The Government in Malawi is trying its hardest to get all mums to give birth in the safer surroundings of hospitals with
qualified staff and good equipment. This means an increase in births in Ekwendeni hospital, for instance, from 80 a
month a few years ago to the present 250, rising soon to over 300 births a month. The present facilities are seriously
overstretched for this huge and challenging task. The hospital management and medical staff are united in their
concern about this situation.
We are hearing through the staff at the three hospitals and various clinics that mums are very keen to get to the
hospitals because they now know they will get clothing for their babies. Please keep knitting, you are saving the lives of
babies and mums – keeping babies warm and changing attitudes so mums and relations are happy to use the safer
environment of hospital for the delivery of babies.
Water repairs…
Great progress has
been made on the
identification and
then
repair
of
boreholes around
the Ekwendeni area.
The
local
community
help
with the physical
work of withdrawing the pipes and then it is possible to
replace or repair mainly the foot valves which can be up
to 50 metres under the ground. Once all the parts are
put together and water flows again from the pump,
there is much rejoicing particularly from the women
who no longer need to travel sometimes considerable
distances for water. Still many wells to repair and a local
team of maintenance staff have been appointed to
undertake this ongoing work.
Knitting…
Many bags and boxes
of knitting have been
donated. The small
new-borns all get a
hat and woollens.
While the image of
Africa is of a hot
country
the
temperature can be
quite low at night
3000ft above sea
level and it is
important that the new-borns and infants are kept
warm and cosy. Sometimes bags and boxes appear at
our store with no donor name. Recently such items
arrived with a note saying that the knitter had recently
broken her arm and could not knit any more for the
moment. We hope you recover soon. Thank you to all
those who have knitted for the children.
Dentistry…
The dental chair donated by the school in Elginwas
successfully installed after some difficult and
challenging work. Connections to the services were
made and welded locally. On their return visit to Malawi
of Nigel and Vicky from Dunoon were able to use this
equipment and undertake dentistry work in rural areas
where the locals have no access to dentistry services.
The new mobile
dentist chair and
sterilizing unit means
that work can move
around
the
countryside.
They
also organised a
conference for local
dentists
which
enabled colleagues to
share experiences. It
is hoped next year to
develop this further.
New kitchen units, donated by Fyne Homes, have been
sent out in the latest container to upgrade dental
facilities in Livingstonia and Embangweni.
Water
testing…
A new visitor
to Malawi was
John Littlejohn
who
has
expertise
in
water quality
,having
worked in the water industry for many years. Testing of
water was carried out at various sites. He developed
links with Mzuzu University who have the facilities to
undertake microbiological tests and also with
Ekwendeni hospital laboratory for basic testing.
Containers…
A number of containers have arrived safely and it was
good to see, while in Malawi, the distribution to the
various departments and hospitals etc. This is a
tremendous operation from those who supply goods
right through to the shipping and all that this involves,
to those who receive the items after a 10,000 mile
journey by sea and road. The Raven Trust has been able
to assist Dr McLean and his family move possessions to
Embangweni and Rob Jones at Nkhoma as they use
their expertise to help at the hospital there. The latest
container was loaded at Strachur on 17th December.
Everyone has a part to play and praise God that
everything arrives safely at its intended destination.
New Depot in Dundee is open…
As the work of the Raven Trust expands, a new depot
has been established in Dundee at 11 Peddie Street. It
is hoped that this new depot will ease the pressure on
the Strachur store. A new team of local people from
Grace Church is getting to ‘grips’ with the
documentation and sorting of boxes. The first container
will leave from Dundee on 11th January 2014.
programme is traditional story telling based on the
gospel accounts. Instead of hiring equipment the group
is praying to have their own PA equipment.
Jamieson house…
Evangelism…
This exciting and challenging ministry goes forward. The
Raven Trust has provided projection and audio
equipment so that the local people can undertake the
work of evangelism in Malawi. Recently, John was able
to travel to the very edge of Malawi right by the
Tanzania border where there is no Christian church or
ministry. Here, in northern Malawi a mission had been
organised and as part of this the ‘Jesus Film’ in Nyakusa
Ngonde - the local language - was shown on the large
screen in an open field. Many thousands of people
came to see this film based on Mark’s gospel. Many
turned from witchcraft and local worship practices to
follow Christ and to begin to understand the Christian
gospel. A new church has been established in this area.
In
Mzuzu the Evangelism Association has been
undertaking outreach in the various suburbs which has
been welcomed by the locals and Churches in the area.
Again, many have found faith in Jesus Christ and fed
into the local church network. An interesting part of the
This overseas mission accommodation in Mzuzu is
almost finished. There are still some painting and
snagging jobs to be done. The various visitors have
written good comments and the house provides a
welcome refuge after a busy day’s involvement with the
people and institutions of Malawi.
Bridges…
Whatever happened to all those huge pipes that were
loaded into a container in March, thanks to the help
given by Mckerral’s in their yard at Stachur. They
arrived in Ekwendeni in July where they were stored
until John arrived at the end of the month when they
were loaded (manually) onto lorries and taken to Zenda
– not a place that is well known - in northern Malawi. It
is a small village miles from anywhere. Yet the road
over a stream to the school is impassable in the wet
season. Hence no children go to school for 3 months of
the year. John used the pipes in conjunction with bags
of sand/cement mix and special membranes and, with
the help of the local people, built a culvert which will
allow all-year-round access to Zenda. As you can see
from the pictures, the bridge is not yet finished but Ben,
driving the Raven Trust vehicle, tested its strength. The
finishing of the bridge was hampered by unseasonable
heavy rain but the people of Zenda look forward to their
first rainy season when they
will not be cut off from local
services. The bridge will be
completed on John’s next visit.
Another bridge will be built at
Henga to replace the present
“bridge” across a deep gully.
Instructions have been left so
that the local people can
continue with the work
This kind of work makes a
tremendous difference to the
lives of people in remote
communities.
Library and educational resources...
Bob and Jan Baxter
have been organising
the sending of books
for some years via the
Raven Trust containers
to school clusters in
Mzuzu and recently to
Luwuchi (on the lake
shore
near
Livingstonia).
From
here all the schools in
the clusters have been
encouraged and have
established
small
libraries. Visiting the
schools recently, Jan and Bob had the joy of seeing
children reading books sent out from the UK. Evidently
the academic results of these children have also
improved considerably because of reading materials in
the schools. Besides books, boxes containing other vital
school resources have been sent and delivered. During
his recent visit, Alan Laverock was able to give teachers
skills training in both budgeting and costing school
accounts which were much appreciated.
Livingstonia Lodges…
The Lodges at Livingstonia are open! These are run in
conjunction with the Stone House and provide
accommodation and food for tourists and other visitors.
As much food as possible is being sourced locally, 16
jobs are being supported and the profits will be used in
the local community. There are still teething troubles
but hopefully these will be dealt with during 2014.
Prayer…
Praise God for keeping everyone safe and well through
some difficult experiences – health and safety, security
etc. are often quite low priorities in the minds of locals.
. Praise God for our amazing friends in Malawi who
work tirelessly to undertake projects and encourage us
with their wonderful friendship. Thank God for all the
donated goods which ease the lives of people living and
working in very challenging circumstances.
Current needs…
•
•
•
•
•
Metal working lathe for well work
Teenagers brightly coloured woollen
(Beanies)
Big long stillsons for well repairs
Children’s jumpers
2nd generation laptop computers
hats
The Raven Trust
Bay Villa, Strachur, Argyll, PA27 8DE, UK
Telephone +44 (0) 1369 860436
Email:- strachur@aol.com
www.theraventrust.org.uk
Scottish charity SC30260
Company limited by guarantee Co No SC362281
Director: John O. Challis
Company Secretary: Susanne Challis