Newslink March 2013 The Raven Trust… serving communities in Malawi and elsewhere directly Containers… These continue to be sent from Scotland and arrive into Malawi. Praise God. It is a long journey of over 10,000 miles by road and sea. Many people are involved, from those who donate the goods, label the goods, load the containers, provide refreshments on the loading day, undertake the shipment of the full container, undertake the customs clearance in Malawi and those who unpack the container at Ekwendeni before the goods are finally distributed to the various departments and institutions. It is an amazing story. A few days ago container FCL86 was dispatched and FCL87 is currently being numbered. Each box is valuable and much appreciated by those who receive the goods. FCL86 container has loads of pipes for ‘paddy bridges’ to link communities isolated by flood waters to main highways so they can get to schools, hospitals, markets etc. A tremendous series of gifts, from our many friends. John’s major summer project will be bridge building… This information is used in preparing the shipping manifest which is the basis for our customs declaration. Some goods arrive in ‘thin’ boxes (like this) which get easily crushed and not properly labelled which sometimes causes problems. We are hoping that a container depot will be available soon in Dundee and discussions are currently underway regarding this. More help is required in Dundee and if you know of any people who are willing to become involved please contact us or Alan Laverock. Gift Aid… It is understood that new rules are shortly to be announced by HMRC regarding claiming back Gift Aid. Once we know, we will let you know what these changes will be and how it will affect Gift Aid claims. s. People... Packing boxes for shipping… A reminder that goods need to be packed in strong boxes (banana/whisky/home removals) and labelled with the general goods description, destination and contact person if appropriate, also the sender’s name. Recently Dr Lyn Dowds and her husband Johnny were with us for a long weekend. Lyn is the doctor at Livingstonia and she was able to share her challenges of working in such a remote place. At the Raven Trust we will continue to support her and the Primary Health Care (PHC) work of Mrs Soko as people provide goods for them. They need basic hospital resources like bandages, gauze and gloves as well as funds for the Samaritan Fund to pay for patients who are unable to afford the very basic cost of service provision. While with us they visited Pitlochry for a coffee morning, meeting many friends. They also visited the Bike shop that provides the many boxed bikes for those in need in Malawi. Now contact has been made between Lynn , Johnny and the Bike shop even more bikes will be sent to Livingstonia. Dr Ross (Muiry) died unexpectedly a months ago. For a while he was the gynaecologist at Embangweni Hospital. We have supported this hospital for some time. More recently he built a baby unit and the Raven Trust was involved in the construction work on this unit. We have been asked to help with reinstating the soya milk production unit and a nutrition unit at Embangweni for malnourished children as well as securing the water and electricity supplies. Another visitor has been Dr Alex Mclean who hopes to go to Malawi with his family later this year to work at Embangweni. The Raven Trust has been asked to help with shipping some goods and items out for him. Some of us are going back to Malawi in April where we hope to develop the water well repair project, work on finishing Jamieson House and undertake various repair and building projects at Ekwendeni , Livingstonia and Embangweni Hospitals. Sue is looking forward to seeing various projects and meeting the people again. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his…. for the Lord is good and his love endures for ever, his faithfulness continues through all generations… (Psalm 100 v 4,5) Prayer items… •
•
•
•
•
•
Praise for the safe arrival of past containers Praise for the good weather on the loading day Praise for the many people involved in all aspects of the Raven Trust ministry Pray for the forthcoming visit to Malawi – about 13 people in April/May Pray for the economic and political situation in Malawi Pray for those with whom we partner in Malawi, the hospitals, Church and community, that together we can make a change for good for the people of Malawi. Needs list… •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Blankets Cotton gauze Gloves Bandages Knitted jumpers and hats for children Building and construction tools Laptop computers Footballs and sports kit Good News Bibles Christian music CDs and Videos The Raven Trust Bay Villa, Strachur, Argyll PA27 8DE Telephone +44 (0) 1369 860436 www.theraventrust.org Scottish Charity SC30260 Company Limited by guarantee SC362281