MOSES NEWSLETTER – January 2016

Dear Sponsor,

Welcome to 2016! Before we completely leave 2015 behind we want to acknowledge that last year was a very significant year for us as a charity. We believe that the work of MOSES has progressed very well under the leadership of Peatry Ntodwa and Daphney Phiri. This was confirmed for us when we visited Malawi at the end of October and especially being able to visit several schools and meet MOSES students. It was a reminder of the challenges that Malawians face and the dedication that many have to achieving in the educational field.

One of the MOSES students receiving a bike in 2015.

Last year the charity changed bank accounts and we had several sponsors leave us as well as several join. We are now in a stronger financial position and we can only say a massive thank you to our sponsors many of whom decided to continue with us and also increase their giving. We have 25 sponsors giving a total of £519-50 each month. That income is enabling us this year to sponsor 36 students. In addition we have used some of our reserves to provide additional needs such as maize and bicycles. Sponsorship pays for student’s school fees, uniform, shoes, stationery, exam fees, books as well as the support given to the students from Peatry and Daphney.

The current list of students, forms and districts is as follows:

  1. Thandiwe Balakasi (F) Form 3 Monkey Bay
  2. Matthew Jack (M) Form 3 Monkey Bay
  3. Thomas Jack (M) Form 4 Monkey Bay
  4. Gideon Chimbayo (M) Form 4 Monkey Bay
  5. Hussein Loga (M) Form 3 Monkey Bay
  6. Bright Chafikana (M) Form 2 Zomba
  7. Rhoda Malaya (F) Form 3 Zomba
  8. Jessy Kachere (F) Form 2 Zomba
  9. Eunice Kumonga (F) Form 2 Zomba
  10. Rita Chanza (F) Form 4 Zomba
  11. Rose Mlongola (F) Form 1 Zomba
  12. Emmanuel Nangwale (M) Form 2 Zomba
  13. Farida Aufi (F) Form 1 Mulanje
  14. Reuben Staubi (M) Form 1 Zomba
  15. Chisomo Kapindula (F) Form 2 Zomba
  16. Trevor Kalanje (M) Form 1 Zomba
  17. Chinsinsi Manyozo (M) Form 2 Zomba
  18. Madalitso Ndalama (M) Form 2 Zomba
  19. Kennedy Banda (M) Form 4 Zomba
  20. Mary John (F) Form 3 Zomba
  21. Arthur McDonald (M) Form 4 Zomba
  22. Chisomo Nakhwali (M) Form 3 Dedza
  23. Anthony Kulapani (M) Form 3 Zomba
  24. Fred Chiwindi (M) Form 1 Blantyre
  25. Yamikani Mzunga (M) Form 1 Blantyre
  26. Stella Saulosi (F) Form 2 Blantyre
  27. Daniel Vincent (M) Form 2 Blantyre
  28. Praise Banda (F) Form 3 Blantyre
  29. Yankho Champiti (M) Form 3 Blantyre
  30. Prince Changoima (M) Form 3 Blantyre
  31. Daniel Kapinga (M) Form 4 Blantyre
  32. Pemphero Frank (F) Form 4 Blantyre
  33. Rebecca Nanseta (F) Form 3 Blantyre
  34. Bethel Chinyoka (F) Form 4 Blantyre
  35. Beatrice Gama (F) Form 1 Blantyre
  36. Disi (M) Form 4 Blantyre

There are 21 Male students and 15 Female students.

Form 1 – 7 students

Form 2 – 9 students

Form 3 – 11 students

Form 4 – 9 students

One of the MOSES students receiving a 50Kg bag of Maize/Nov 2015.

The hungry season

It is a long time in our history since we were concerned about harvests and food supply but in Malawi January to March/April is known as the hungry season. This is because the harvest is gathered each year in March/April and for most families that is their food for the year. This inevitably means that the last few months are a struggle and families stretch out their dwindling food supplies from January to March. This is generally the case in a good year but when harvests are poor the problem is exacerbated. The 2015 harvest suffered from erratic rains, sometimes very heavy and in some places unseasonal high winds were destructive of both property and food supplies. It struck us in October/November during our visit that many Malawians were already appealing for help with food which is why we have asked Peatry and Daphney to ensure that each of the MOSES students receives a 50kg bag of Maize. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Sandy meeting MOSES students in Monkey Bay, October 2015 and presenting school materials.

Visits to Malawi

We have two groups going out to Malawi this year. The first group departs March 26th for two weeks and some of the group will be visiting schools and students. In July we have a school group from Manor CE Academy visiting also for two weeks and they also will interact with MOSES.

We will be planning further visit opportunities in 2017 and if you are interested in joining us please let us know you are interested and we will send you details when they are ready.

Chipironi School Blantyre – we met 8 MOSES students at this school. One of the boys gave a great speech expressing their gratitude for the sponsorship that they received. The class sizes were large and the resources very few but what was so evident in this school was a sense of order, laughter and enjoymentin learning and a great relationship between staff and students.

Thank you sponsors for the great difference you are making. If you have any questions you can contact us using:

Zikomo/Thank you

Denise Ellis, Julian Watson and Sandy Watson

Trustees