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OCTOBER 2009 UPDATE: Feeding The Nations with our partners shipped the last container to Iris Africa Ministries for 2009. This year FTN was able to provide 1 million meals to reach families with life-saving nutrition.
SEPTEMBER 2009 UPDATE: On September 15, 2009 FTN teamed up with Shekinah Ministries to send 43,700 pounds MannaPack-Rice meals to Kalibu Academy and Ministry
in Blantyre. The 270,864 meals will help feed the 800 children
attending Kalibu Academy. Kalibu Academy is a school not only excellent in academics but strong in ministry. An additional 400 children and 250 adult overseers will also receive food through the 300 churches they minister to in the rual areas.
In most of the rural areas there is severe malnourishment
because of poverty. Many parents die from HIV/Aids and
according to African custom family members or the members of the village take in the orphans. Most families are too poor to take care of their own children let alone nephews
and nieces. There has been either drought or flood over the last decade which has decimated crops leaving little or no food especially in the southern areas of the country.
JULY 2009 UPDATE: Feeding The Nations in cooperation with World Children's Fund and Global Assistance shipped approximately 270,864 meals to Iris Ministries in Blantyre, Malawi on July 28, 2009.
Many in Malawi need assistance but Iris Africa looks for those who are extremely needy. Dave Morrison wrote FTN about one such family. Joanna, an Iris Africa staff member, met with a mother of twins. Twins are considered a blessing in some cultures but in southern Malawi they are a serious burden. After questioning the mother Joanna found out that her healthy baby was named Bridget. She chuckled away as any normal baby would, but she had a "medicine neclace" (lucky charm) around her neck. Joanna asked the mother if she could remove it, and she agreed. The second baby was obviously unwell, crying and refusing to nurse. His name is Mavuto which means 'trouble'. Joanna encouraged the mother to give him a new name, and together they chose Longezo which means 'Promise'. Joanna asked if they had eaten and they had not. In her desperation the mother had ridden her bicycle carrying her four children two days in a row from a village 12 1/2 miles away in search of help. Joanna loaded the four of them into the truck and headed home where she found them some clothes and some MannaPack-Rice meals for the coming week. As dusk rapidly turned to night, Joanna drove them home on a very rough road. She wondered how this family would have made it home with all four on one bicycle. Once again Joanna was grateful for the donation of rice meals as it will give this mother time to think clearly about the future. The nutritious MannaPacks continue to make a difference in body, soul and spirit of many in Malawi.
APRIL 2009 UPDATE: On April 20, 2009, Feeding The Nations once again partnered with Global Assistance and World Children's Fund to ship 43,700 pounds of nutritionally fortified rice casserole meals to be distributed through Iris Ministries.
Death, Disease and Natural Disaster:
Misfortune Runs Rampant in Malawi
The nation of Malawi fights many battles: HIV/AIDS, unpredictable weather, poor crops, extreme poverty and more. Ultimately all these factors lead to malnutrition, creating a nation of hurting people; a nation with one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world; a nation with a life expectancy of 40 years; a nation of orphans. We have heard their cries and have teamed with Global Assistance and Iris Africa to reach the hungry, the hurting and the lost.
Ravaged by malnutrition, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, the people of Malawi fight
many battles to survive. The HIV infection rate is one of the highest in the world. The life expectancy of someone born in Malawi is around 40 years. Nearly half of the population is under 15 years old. That is why Feeding the Nations has joined with Global Assistance and Iris Africa to reach these hungry, hurting and lost people.
Together we have been reaching the Bangula area with food and hope. Each year, volunteers travel from village to village in search of the most needy, compiling a list of 1,500 families who will receive a portion of the shipments a total of 131,100 pounds (813,000 meals) of dehydrated rice casserole meals fortified with vitamins this year 2009. Then on the 15th of each month, 3,200 children, widows, elderly, handicapped, blind and other vulnerable people, arrive to receive food distributions and learn how to properly prepare the meals. Some travel up to 10 kilometers to receive nine packets of rice meal per familyvital nutrition for families who have no other way of receiving sufficient nourishment.
The people of the Bangula area need our assistance. Often an entire generation is missing from a family unit because of disease. Small children must live with aunts or grandparents because their parents have abandoned them due to death, illness or other inabilities. The area relies on farming to meet their needs and provide for their livelihood, but drought and heavy rains wreak havoc on the crops. Even in good years, Malawi still has a food shortage. In the fall of 2008, the availability of maize, a staple food, dwindled and the price more than doubled. Malawi needs our continued support. Please join with us to reach these people.
NOVEMBER 2008 UPDATE: On November 25, 2008 Feeding The Nations, in cooperation with World Children's Fund and Global Assistance, shipped 43,700 pounds of vita-meals to Malawi.
OCTOBER 2008 UPDATE:
Food arrives just in time!
FTN received the following letter from David Morrison of Iris Africa concerning 43,700 pounds or 270,864 meals of food that recently arrived.
This year Malawi experienced another year of good harvest except in the southern district of Malawi where there are food shortages once again. Also, the price of maize has skyrocketed making it very challenging on those who earn less than one dollar a day. A few months ago the Malawian government intervened and put a price cap on a 50 kg bag of maize in order to protect the poor.
Distribution Report
I am glad to report that all the rice meals have been eaten up by vulnerable people in the southern region of Malawi! We distributed half of the container to 3,500 families (approximately 8,000 people) registered in our feeding program in September and the other half in October. Who are these families? Most are elderly widows who are caring for orphaned grandchildren. Only Iris Africa is providing this kind of assistance in this area. Each family received between 10-15 packets of rice each month.
We used some of the food to feed the fifty orphan children who are in our care here at the Iris Africa base in Bangula. The children really enjoyed the rice meals and while they lasted, we served them twice a week.
We kept some of the boxes back in reserve and have distributed them to people in emergency situations.
Here are a few profiles of the poor in Malawi who have benefited from the rice meals.
Fyness, Chikondano & Catherine 
We first heard about this family from one of our workers who lived in a rural village south of Bangula. Fyness lost her husband to sickness two years earlier and struggled to care adequately for her two children ever since. We witnessed their extreme poverty proven by the little they had and the pathetic condition of their home and surroundings. At one time Fyness managed a garden to support her children but had to stop as she became too weak. Chikondano (7 years old) and Catherine (9 years old) were hungry and afraid as they watched their mother suffer. No relatives came to assist them and their neighbors were just as poor with nothing leftover to offer. Catherine became the main caregiver for her mother and her little brother. She swept the house, cut firewood, carried water from the bore hole, and cooked meals with whatever she could find begging from others in the village. She and Chikondano dropped out of school and stayed near their home hopeful that their mother would champion her illness. They only had one outfit of clothing and there were no toys to play with. Fyness had made repeated visits to the district hospital but eventually was told that there was nothing anyone could do. She lied in the shade on their only mat and her condition weakened daily with every cough.
A visiting doctor and nurse from Canada accompanied us and treated Fyness with pain medicine and antibiotics to help bring relief from the pneumonia. They washed her bed soars and then we gathered around and prayed for the family. Before we left we purchased a new mat, some blankets and assisted the family with a box of rice meals. We repeated these visits over a period of two months. Sadly, one day Fyness' fight with sickness was over and in the presence of her two children took her last breath. Now Chikondano and Catherine live with us at the Iris Africa Children's Home where they are safe, well cared for and attend school. This situation is unfortunately all too common here in Malawi.
Orphan boys of Tengani
Chakanza (7years old) and Nkhamala (9 years old) are orphans who live with their elder brother's family in a village called Tengani in the southern district of Malawi. Two years ago their parents died of sickness and so the boys had to take refuge with their elder brother Ronex. He is very poor and finds it difficult to care for his own children. He provides Chakanza and Nkhamala with some simple shelter for sleeping but can not do much more than that. Their only other relative is their grandfather named Lembetsani who is blind and also needs assistance from Ronex. When we met these two young boys they were really in rough shape. They wore rags for clothes and they were very hungry. They do not go to school and it seems that they are used by Ronex for fetching water and working in the field. Many orphans are taken advantage of in this kind of way. An orphan always lives with leftovers and has to fight to survive – it is known to be the lowest place in society. Thanks to World Children's Fund and their associates, we were able to provide Chakanza and Nkhamala with nutritious food.
Grandmother (Gogo) Christina
Christina is a widow and a grandmother of orphans. She lives all alone in a small village near Bangula. Two years ago her six year old grand-daughter died after a long battle with HIV/AIDS. Christina was too poor to care for her grandson Thomas so he came to live with us at our Iris Africa Children's Home. Christina is able to manage a small garden of which some of the produce she can sell at the local market, but this is not enough to survive on. She comes once a month and receives a food supplement from Iris Africa. During September and October Christina was one of the many beneficiaries who enjoyed the rice meals.
The James Family 
Mose and Ellen James are an elderly couple who have survived the loss of ten of their twelve children. Sickness has devastated this family. Mose and Ellen are wonderful grandparents and now responsible for the care of seven orphaned grandchildren. They have gentle hearts and try very hard in providing for their extented family as best they can. Even though Mose is old and frail, he perseveres through pain thatching his roof before rainy season and cultivating a small field with a hoe in preparation for planting. He's not at all lazy and proves it by often overextending himself - he does not want his grandchildren to be hungry. Yet with all his efforts, the children are still hungry. That's why Iris Africa stepped in to provide monthly food supplements. The nutritious rice meals have really made a difference to people's lives such as the James family.
Thank you very much for helping us help the poor.
Sincerely,
David Morrison
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| Ellen James very happy with their share of the rice meals. |
An orphan girl, blind in one eye, carries her rice food home. |
A grandmother receives food for herand her orphaned grandson. |
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Children patiently wait outside the |
Little boy follows the example of Iris |
The elderly receiving food for their families. |
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| Boy waits for his turn to receive rice meals. |
An Iris Africa volunteer gives 12 bags of food to an orphan girl. |
Every month 3,500 people arrive at the |
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| A widow pleased with her box of rice food in order to feed her family. |
Chakanza and Nkhambala in Tengani on Oct. 23, 2008 |
Every little bit helps! |
Additional images in the photo gallery
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On May 28, 2008 Feeding The Nations shipped an additional 1 x 40 ft container with 270,864 vita-meals to Malawi through Iris Africa to continue to support these precious orphans.
April 2008 Update:
Malawi
Located in southeastern Africa, Malawi is home to more than one million orphans, nearly three-fourths of whom lost their parents due to AIDS. The life expectancy for men is just over 43 and 42 for women. The country faces repeated famines due to droughts, government corruption and diseases, among the other factors. Seeing the great need, Feeding The Nations blessed Malawi with $400,000 worth of food and multi-vitamins. The canned vegetables and vitamin-fortified rice and vegetable meals were distributed to approximately 8,500 people, while doctors and medical clinics received many of the vitamins to use with their patients.
David Morrison of Iris Africa helped distribute the supplies and he wrote to give us this first-hand account:
Greetings to you all!
Thank you very much for your ongoing support of the ministry of Iris Africa here in 
Malawi. We are so grateful for the two containers you recently sent to us. The process to clear the containers at this end went smoothly as well as coordinating the last journey by truck from Blantyre to Bangula.
Our Iris children who helped offload the trucks were pleased to find the cardboard notes and pictures written by the volunteers who packed the containers. It was a nice personal touch and showed how much people really care for the poor.
The rice-soy casserole meals are excellent and enjoyed by all. We see this first hand from the fifty orphan children in our care here at the Iris Ministry base. We have kept
several boxes for them to enjoy over the next few months.
We have distributed most of the rice meals and canned vegetables among the 1,900 families (approximately 8,500 people) who are registered in our monthly food distribution program. They are the most vulnerable in the society who without the assistance of Iris Africa would be left to face their difficult circumstances alone. Thereeitherwhichcropsoutherne is no social welfare office to provide them support nor any relatives or neighbors willing to help. In this culture grandmothers are overwhelmed with the burden to care for their orphaned grandchildren - there are so many, and they make up the majority on our
recipient list. We also help the elderly, crippled, blind and the chronically sick.
Earlier this week, we heard of an emergency in the village of Tengani, located 35 km south of us. An arsonist had randomly set four homes on fire as he stormed through the village. People in that village are now frightened as the police search for the perpetrator. On Monday, we brought these fire victims relief and encouragement.
The families had lost everything, including food supplies, dishes, clothes, blankets and sleeping mats, as their grass houses were quickly engulfed in flames. We were also able to take the last few blankets from the medical container you sent last year.
We were so grateful to receive the huge donation of vitamins and minerals. Since they arrived in bulk, we distributed them to local hospitals for safe distribution.
Dr. Kachika from Tikondane clinic in Bangula was thrilled to be able to distribute freely to patients at his clinic. Kalemba Catholic medical clinic in Bangula also took some. We were also able to send some to CURE orthopedic children's hospital in
Blantyre. They were especially interested in the calcium. Nsanje district government hospital in southern Malawi was also a recipient. Our 50 orphan children at the Iris base in Bangula also benefit from daily vitamins. Several pastors throughout the region are distributing throughout nearby villages.
There are still many barrels yet to distribute. We're keeping a good supply here in order to assist our children and staff.
Again, I thank you for helping us help the poor.
God bless,
David Morrison.
DECEMBER 2007 UPDATE:
Feeding The Nations provided 87,031 pounds of fortified rice/soy vegetable meals, assorted canned vegetables and with assorted vitamins and minerals valued at $400,000 to Partners in Harvest-Iris Africa sent to bless the hungry and hurting of Malawi.