Malawi Initiative

The close relationship between Ayr Presbytery and Bandawe Presbytery in North Malawi began in 2004 when a World Mission team, which included a minister from Ayr Presbytery, visited Malawi and one of the many people they met was Rev H Matiya Nkhoma, General Secretary of the Synod of Livingstonia.

In 2005 Rev Nkhoma and his wife Mariya spent 6 months in Ayr Presbytery with Monkton and Prestwick North Church as their base while they visited churches, guilds, schools and nurseries, telling people about life in rural Malawi. In 2006 a team of 7 people travelled to Bandawe to participate in the twinning of Ayr Presbytery with Bandawe Presbytery. A secondary objective for the visit was to “fact find” in order to determine how best to help the local people. For 6 members of the team it was their first visit to Malawi—for them it was a dramatic and traumatic experience. Bandawe Presbytery covers a large area with only two towns of reasonable size, Nkhata Bay and Chintheche. The majority of the people live in small clusters of “houses” spread throughout the area. The 2004 team visited the area after a very poor harvest--many people were virtually at starvation level and there were no Aid Agencies to provide help.

This guided the decision to provide assistance to Bandawe. The 2006 team arrived after a good harvest but still saw many examples of extreme poverty and hardship. They identified ideas for helping the local people based upon churches/church buildings, orphans/orphan care/nurseries and widows, education, health and the need to achieve sustainability. On returning to Ayrshire they set about turning these ideas into reality. People throughout Ayrshire and beyond opened their hearts, and their wallets, to help. In 2008 a recast team visited Bandawe to assess the progress of the works undertaken, to familiarise new members with the culture of Malawi and to determine other ways in which we could help the people. It was during this visit that a training course was held on project management—planning, reporting, cost control, etc.

A few of the things which Ayr Presbytery has done/is doing since the visit in 2006 are detailed below. We

have provided computers/peripherals and laptops to several recipients, including the Presbytery Office [these have greatly facilitated communications via the email system]
have sponsored students in full time education at University/Technical College [Two students who received sponsorship have now graduated from the University of Livingstonia and are teaching at a school near Bandawe]
are supporting Orphan Care Centres and Community Nurseries so that the children can be fed on seven days per week instead of three
are supporting two dispensaries in rural areas where there are no hospitals
have financed a deep-well for a village which previously had only a shallow well which dried up completely during the summer months
have funded the installation of electricity in an Orphan Care Centre
are supporting the upgrading of toilets/shower facilities in a Girls Secondary School and upgradingclassrooms and installing electricity in primary schools
have providing and will provide more Rocket stoves [energy efficient, environmentally friendly, safe cookers] to Orphan Care Centres, a Nursery and a school
are supporting a training programme designed to create efficiently run, sustainable Orphan Care Centres in several villages which do not currently have these
have provided financial support to organisations which required assistance with building work/maintenance.
have provided funds to enable a Widows Association to start a micro-loans operation
have enabled individual churches and groups to partner directly thus sharing mutual spiritual needs and benefits
have provided on site co-ordinated training for ministry teams in each congregation on planning, reporting, project management and multi-purpose use of facilities, particularly churches
have provided 40 hearing aids to the School for Children with Hearing Difficulties
are providing 2000 mosquito nets which will be distributed to Singo Village and surrounding areas in the Nkhata Bay District.

And last, but by no means least, we have sent to Malawi, on a reasonably regular basis, packages of goods which were surplus to our requirements but suitable for their use.

In late 2009 Ayr Presbytery set up a Sub-Committee to oversee the Ayr--Bandawe Presbyteries linkage, namely the Bandawe Presbytery Partnership [BPP] Ad Hoc Committee. In late May a recast team of 6 people will visit Bandawe for 2 weeks to strengthen further the links, both spiritual and material, which have been established and which are of great value.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a really big thank you to all those people throughout Ayrshire and beyond who have contributed so much over the last 4 years to the work which is being done in Bandawe.