Updates from HELP Malawi: Trips, Charities and New HELP Malawi Additions
Here is a little update on what HELP Malawi has been doing the past couple of months:
October Trip
HELP Malawi and 16 of our supporters went to Malawi to meet the students at the Nanthomba School, visit the medical clinic, and volunteer at the Lake of Stars Festival. During our time at the school we were all able to help teach lessons and interact with the students. As part of a community service, we started to sell malaria nets for a huge discount to the villagers and will be donating the money to the Nanthomba School for various projects. This will be an on going project. The Lake of Stars festival was a great success. UNICEF was able to raise over $8,500 to help clean Malawi’s water. Overall, this trip was a blast! Everyone fell in love with the children, the culture, and the people.
November Trip
We were fortunate enough to have Jillian’s daughter, Ilana, and Lori’s daughters Shannon and Nikki join us on this second trip, along with Tish Dahlby from MedWish International. The girls, who are juniors in high school, were thrilled to finally see in person the projects we have been working on over the past couple of months. Tish also came along to look at the medical clinic, so she could report to MedWish the size of the building and what supplies were most needed. Once the medical clinic is complete MedWish International will be stocking all of our supplies! As a group we were able to accomplish so much within the five days we were in Malawi. We delivered clothes and other donations we have been collecting over the past few months to the Njobvu cultural center. They will choose the families who are in most need for the donations. We also passed out HELP Malawi school totes that Max Azria generously designed and donated. The students were thrilled to have them, and quickly filled them with their school supplies. At the end of the trip we took the girls to volunteer at the Open Arms AIDS Orphanage, which is the home to 56 children between the ages of one day to five years. After this trip, the girls came back with a different view of the world.
S.W.A.P.
Once Ilana, Shannon and Nikki returned from their trip to Malawi in November, they wanted to make a difference. A year ago the girls founded an organization called Students With A Purpose (S.W.A.P.). This is a high-school, student-run organization whose members dedicate their time to several fundraising events. In the past they raised over $20,000 for Darfur Refugees. Ilana, Shannon, and Nikki decided to focus on raising funds for HELP Malawi. They are in the process of planning an event on May 10th at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. They are doing an amazing job, and we are so proud of them. We will keep you posted on the event details.
New Additions
Last of all, we have three new additions to the HELP Malawi team: Marc,
David, and Lindsay. Marc and Lindsay own an organic lawn care company called GREENWISE. During their “off” season, Marc will be living in Malawi providing nutritional education to the children and the village as part of HELP Malawi. While Marc is there, Lindsay will be staying in Chicago taking care of the business. In addition, GREENWISE will remain committed to HELP Malawi by giving a 10% discount on their 2008 fertilization program for contributions to the foundation. David, who is Marc’s brother, will be living in Malawi when Marc is back home. He will oversee the projects that Marc has started and stay in close contact with the teachers at the Nanthomba School. Wilderness Safaris continues to be an amazing partner and has provided us with permanent staff houses. This is where Marc and David will be staying. We also have filled out the necessary paperwork, and will hopefully soon be getting our NGO status. This will allow us to send duty free donations over to Malawi. We are very excited about all the new updates! In the near future, Marc will be posting a blog about his time in Malawi. Keep checking back for more updates!
