Christmas message from the field

As the year is coming to an end, we reflect on all that has happened in 2024. This marks the fourth year in which we have been privileged to contribute to improving the self-reliance of the community in Phulanya.

It has been a remarkable and eventful year. For our family, it was a year of many changes. InFebruary we moved from Zomba to Blantyre, where the children started their journey at a new school. In April we welcomed our baby boy Hosea. Gratitude fills our hearts! We are also deeply thankful for the work of One Hope Malawi, which impacted many lives in and around Phulanya in 2024. We would like to share some highlights:

Reforestation Reforestation: At the beginning of 2024, 1,000 new trees were planted at five different schools. Students and teachers work together to care for and protect these trees.

New toilets: In August, new toilets for the Baobab Primary School were opened! This ensures that all students have access to clean and safe facilities during school hours. In augustus werden de nieuwe toiletten voor de Baobab-basisschool geopend! Hierdoor kunnen alle leerlingen gebruik maken van een schoon en veilig toilet tijdens schooltijd.

Expansion of the Bicycle Project: Thanks to the purchase of 25 new bicycles in 2024, we are now supporting a total of 65 primary school students with bicycles. These provide access to education! The results are encouraging: improved school attendance and better academic performance.

Pastoral Support and Evangelism: Pastor Frank and Pastor Zitha dedicated themselves in 2024 to reaching people in and around Phulanya with God’s Word. They do this by visiting homes, offering pastoral care, and organizing weekly gatherings. These activities provide reliable Biblical teaching for people of all ages!

Hunger interventions: Hunger remains a harsh reality in Phulanya. This past year, we implemented several interventions to combat food scarcity, including distributing additional seeds for a new harvest, food packages for the elderly and vulnerable, and nutritious porridge to ensure preschoolers go to school with full stomachs.

Bridge for Namagawa: In 2024, we began constructing the bridge for Namagawa. The local population is closely involved, and the project provides employment opportunities. Once completed, the new bridge will ensure that Namagawa remains accessible even during the rainy season.

The end of2024 brought its own challenges to carrying out our projects. From October until today we there has been no to limited fuel available in Malawi, affecting the implementation of our projects. On top of that we have experiences a lot of black-outs, up to seven days in a row sometimes. We had to be very creative to implement our projects. This meant that some project had to be put on hold. The evangelism event has been postponed until the fuel situation stabilizes. The hand-out of new bicycles was postponed for 8 weeks, but finally happened when a truck came available that could bring the bicycles to the primary schools close to Phulanya. We went back to covid-times and had online meetings instead of face-to-face meetings with our staff members. We pray that the fuel and electricity situation will be solved soon and that things can go back to normal.

We want to thank everyone who supported the work of One Hope Malawi over the past year! These projects bring hope to the community in Phulanya! May this work continue to grow and transform even more lives in the future. We wish you a blessed Christmas and pray that 2025 will be a year of hope, blessings, and new opportunities.

Warm regards,

Moses and Janien Banda