News fron Nova Scotia

New Groups in the Maritimes

Judy Staritt visited Victoria and Parksville Angel groups and then returned to Nova Scotia to start two groups.

Her message:

"Our small group met and made our first Angels together. We are starting with 210. I visited my mom on Yarmouth and she has a small group going there. Love dressing them! That is our news from Nova Scotia."

Teddy Phiri

Teddy and Delilah Phiri, Gilda and Vincent Munthali are the Malawiians who carry out the work of African Angels Association in the Mzuzu area of Northern Malawi. This group works tirelessly as volunteers to provide support for 190 individuals who are affected by Aids as widows, orphans, or are infected with the disease. Funds are provided by African Aids Angels based in Victoria. B.C.

We have been saddened by the news that Teddy has suffered a stroke about 4 weeks ago.

His wife, Delilah, sent a brief email last week,

"Teddy is recovering from the stroke he suffered. His right side is paralyzed and his speech and memory are also affected."

This morning, March 26th, we received the following email from Jean Sauti Phiri who travelled to Victoria with Teddy in 2005.

"I was with Teddy and Delilah yesterday. Teddy is now able to walk, though with some difficulties, but there is tremendous improvement. He used to be supported or even had to be carried a few weeks ago but now he can do without any support. One hand is still paralyzed.

Delilah says they have support from the university and from friends. His face could also tell that he is getting better. We were able to crack some jokes and he could show that beautiful smile again. ..he has some little problems speaking, he wishes to say something but in the process he forgets what to say. ....the doctors say he will soon regain his memory.

The good news is that there is great improvement and we hope to have Teddy, the laugher, back to himself.

Delilah expressed gratitude towards your love, concerns and prayers.

Lots of love and big hugs,

Jean"

Malawi Project News

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Delilah Phiri sent photos and news of the people we are supporting in Malawi.

Delilah (in the sunhat) is shown meeting with the 20 members of the Doroba group. African Aids Angels supplies seeds and fertilizer for a total of 89 family groups. Most are headed by widows who have lost their husbands to HIV-Aids.






These women receive nutritional support to help them gain maximum benefit from the Anti-retroviral drugs they are taking to combat HIV-Aids. AAA provides the funding for their extra food and the Malawi government provides their medication.

Delilah on the lower left.







These are some of the 45 orphanned teens who receive funding to cover school fees, books, uniforms, and kerosene for lamps so they can study in the evening. In Malawi it gets dark at 6pm year round.










This young man has received training in market gardening in order to help him become financially independent and able to support family who depend on him. Funding from Aids Angels pays for the instructor from the Ministry of Agriculture, seeds, fertilizer and tools for the first crop. After the initial support the young farmer is on his own. 60 youth have received this training over the last two years.

Streamlining Body Production and Distribution

We are looking for new ideas from all those creative minds out there - ways to streamline the sanding of bodies, staining of heads, drawing of faces, gluing of heads and bodies, fixing hair, and all those other little chores that must be done before angels get to put on their clothes. At present a small number of dedicated people are tackling time-consuming chores like sanding, staining and doing hair. If someone has to drop out from one stage of the process, the whole line could come to an abrupt halt.

You might say that we are victims of our own success, a terrible burden to bear.

At 3:30 p.m. on Monday, April 6, Lorraine Calderwood-Parsons is hosting a meeting of those involved in the early preparation of angel bodies to brainstorm new ways of production and distribution, and to share tasks. If you can't make it, but have ideas to share, let us know anyway. Lorraine's address is 1473 Banff Place, phone no. 250-472-6499, and email lvparsons@shaw.ca

Saltspring Grapevine for March

Check out the March edition of Seeds for Malawi's newletter from Saltspring Island. The group is a major supporter of our agriculture projects in the Mzuzu region of Malawi.

Click on the newsletter to enlarge it.