Malawi Flooding Part II- Chikwawa District

In our last post we recorded our trip into the flood area of Southern Malawi.  When we returned to Blantyre we started preparing to make the Church's emergency relief donation to that same area.  We saw that the flood victims needed food, blankets and cooking utensils so we went to work looking for vendors where we could purchase those items.  With the help of the Blantyre District President and a counselor from one of the Branch Presidencies we located several vendors and then selected those who could best help us with procuring the needed materials. We concentrated on blankets and basic food items that they could prepare easily.  The process of finding vendors, creating a budget, getting project approval, getting the vendors registered with the Church's financial system, ordering the materials and making arrangements for payment took the next 3 weeks.  In the mean time we were able to contact the Malawi Red Cross and get instruction from the Chikwawa District Council so that we could coordinate our donation with the local authorities.  We finished paying for our supplies and picked them up on February 25th with two 10 metric ton trucks.  Early the next morning we headed south from Blantyre to make our contribution in Chikwawa.  When we went down to the area the end of January this is what we saw from the hills above the flooded area.

One month later, as we descended the hill, this is what we saw.

It had rained hard all night and the area was again flooded.  We wondered if we would be able to get to the areas that needed relief supplies.  We arrived at the Chikwawa District offices and met our two trucks.  

Here are all but one of the volunteers that went to help us unload the trucks.  Elder Reynolds was taking the picture.

We met with the District officials, received our directions and split our group up into two groups so we could send each delivery truck in a different direction.  Each group had a someone from the district who would help with the organizing the distribution when we arrived at the camp. One truck went back a little to the north to find several small camps and a larger camp of 360 families in need.  The other truck headed south to a camp of where 435 families were to receive supplies.  We went south and this is what we found.

And then we got to Konzere and this group of women were anxious to see us.

Their only problem was they lived on the wrong side of the highway and were not those who had been displaced.  The camp that we were sent to help were living in a temporary camp on the other side of the road.  They had been registered by the District so they came and lined up to have their name called so they could receive our donation.  

Which they received as they walked around the truck.

When we finished our distribution at Konzere we started back north to meet our other truck at Nchola.  Close to there were two Tizora camps with 314 families needing donations.  We met the other group and proceeded through the sugar plantation to the villages where the group was staying.  This is what we found when we arrived.  

The district official was starting to get them organized so they could have their name called and receive their donation.

When we finished at this site we dropped off two small donations and headed for the district warehouse.  The other group had not been able to find one group of 350 families and the District was not prepared to have us place the 1250 blankets we had purchased so we had to leave them at their warehouse hoping we could come back in the next two days to make the final distributions.  That has yet to occur so we have left it in The Lord's hands.

Now for the other side of Relief.  Emotinal relief is always a good part of taking care of an emergency so while preparations are being made and distributions are being fulfilled there is need for dealing with children and supplying relief to their mothers.  So Grandma Cindy and Elder Reynolds filled in when they could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, Papa Howie got some face time with the kids.