Seeds for Malawi

Support food sustainability and education in Africa while indulging your passion for plants.

"Salt Spring Island Seeds for Malawi", a project of the Garden Club, raises funds year-round for the African AIDS Angels project in Malawi by selling quality, interesting plants well-potted in a sterile commercial mix. Volunteers propagate shrubs, vines, perennials, grasses, native plants, and bulbs. Request a list of our extensive inventory by contacting susanevans@telus.net. Plants can be purchased at any time of the year by appointment. Plant sales occur from time to time at public events.

** Seeds for Malawi will have a display table with great plants at the Fulford Hall, headquarters of the SSI Apple Festival this coming Sunday, Sept. 28, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For information on the Applefest, www.saltspringmarket.com/apples/

** Seeds for Malawi Fall Plant Sale Saturday Oct. 18, 1:00 p.m. at the Farmers' Institute, 349 Rainbow Rd., Salt Spring Island. This is a combined sale with the SSI Garden Club. To avoid disappointment, arrive by opening time...the sale is usually winding down after about an hour. "

Malawi

Agricultural Training

AAA has supported many orphans through to the end of high school. However, when they graduate there are very few jobs. In 2007 and 2008 AAA funded training in Market Gardening. The funds provide tools, seed and fertilizer for one year’s crop. Also AAA pays the local Agricultural Extension officer to teach the courses for young people to start up small agricultural businesses. (There is no government funding available for such an initiative.) Thirty youths have trained each year.This year the ratio of girls to boys is about 50/50. Several students from last year's program have become independent farmers.

Teddy Phiri’s note from Malawi:

”Our intervention for the youths in agricultural production is a miracle.
As you are aware we trained them and gave them materials
individually. These are scattered homesteads. So far each beneficiary is doing
extremely well. It is so pleasing that girls are even doing better than
boys. What is also pleasing is that the assistance went to one individual
on the homestead but the reality is the whole homestead has access to the
watering can and the sprayer thus the whole homestead was encouraged to grow
vegetables.”

Check the website for new photos including the youth training workshop.

AAA Guests and Travellers

Guests

The Aids Angels Board was delighted to meet with Bishop Mulungise of South Africa who visited Victoria in June. He is our connection to Thembalethu Orphanage and St. Mary’s Hospital. In July, we met Wenda Dil of St. Nicholas Orphanage, Makeni Center, Zambia. She described the progress of the new dormitory block. Wenda told us the orphans are very healthy and well cared for. Now Makeni Center is concerned about how to support children in the area still living with single parents who struggle to feed and educate them.

Both Mrs. Dil and Bishop Mulungise emphasized the importance of AAA and the very positive impact of the funds we have raised.

Travellers

Stan Shannon has just returned from two months working in Malawi for the Salvation Army. He was able to visit the AAA group in Mzuzu, Malawi and meet some of the people we support. He met a group of five widows who have been restored to life with ARV drugs and nutritional support from AAA. All five women are now healthy enough to grow their own food.

Thanks from South Africa

This month we sent the second half of our 2008 disbursements to 3 projects in South Africa and Zambia. Vic and Lorraine Parsons spent time in South Africa at the end of last year, and received these emails back in response to the funds.

Born to Live, Mariannhill Hospital (support to HIV-positive pregnant women, new mothers and babies).

Greetings to you! This is fantastic - thank you so much!

We most certainly will send you information on our programme and our other HIV and AIDS treatment programmes.

Keep well and God Bless! Kind regards,
Sheena

Thembalethu Assisi Orphanage

Thank you very much for your email and the donation. Your generosity is very much appreciated. I shall pass it on to Srs Andrea, Evarista and Pacis.

The children are happy. They play ball outside and enjoy walking round the convent, pretending they are visiting sisters.

Sr. Andrea was laughing because she sleeps in the same quarters with them and when she is not in her room, the children hide her shoes and say they are helping her to clean her room.

Thank you and your people who are committed to help the little ones.

The creche [a community facility not funded by African AIDS Angels] has been painted with colour outside and drawings inside of animals, cars, a big bus and aeroplane. It is beautiful. But your little friends add on their own drawings on top!

We will send you more information. We hope to see you again.
Sr Basil

Saltspring Newsletter

Seeds for Malawi on Saltspring Island has produced another issue of their newsletter. You can catch up on their fundraising efforts here.

Seeds for Malawi passes their funds on to African AIDS Angels.

New Shop

Art Knapps Plantland at Matticks Farm

We are delighted to announce that Plantland at Mattick's farm will begin carrying African Aids Angels.

We have a had great response to our request for volunteers to deliver angels to Plantland. Someone is now in place. Thanks to everyone that offered their time. We hope that some of you will stay on our list as a back up for angel delivery when things get really busy in November and December.

Garage Sale

Angel Garage Sale in Cyberspace

Do you have some interesting items that could go in a garage sale? What about that ornate mirror? Outlived rocking chair? Extra dishes?

Used Victoria will help you turn these into cash for African Aids Angels.

Here’s how:

1. Take a digital photo of your item. (i.e. chair)

2. Write a brief description of the item and set a price

3. Email photo, description and price to Erin at erin.ruff@saanich.ca

She will post it on Used Victoria, noting that the funds raised go to African Aids Angels, along with our weblink. If there is a buyer, Erin will send you the person’s contact information and you set up a time for the item to be picked up at your home.

If you are familiar with Used Victoria you can do this yourself. Please be sure to include the link to African Aids Angels. It is another way of spreading our name in the community.

These will be cash only transactions.

Does this work?

Mary's note: I raised $215 in 3 days by clearing out a few cupboards. I’m happy with the new space and two more bags of food corn will be available for hospice care in Malawi.

For Out of Town groups, you can try the same thing using Craig’s List. Let us know your results.

November 15

House Event.

African Aids Angels will once again have a special holiday event hosted in a private home. It will be open to the whole community. Please put November 15^th on your calendar and think about who you will invite.

More news when the leaves turn colour! Now go enjoy the summer.

Fabric

Surplus Fabric

We are often donated very large pieces of fabric. We use part of the donated material for making angels but have been looking for someone who could use the surplus.

We have learned that Beacon Community Services accepts fabric for their thrift shop. You can drop off your extra fabric and support another community group. Check for a shop in your area. There is one on Quadra and one in Sidney.

Guns, Glue and Paint

Work Party

Volunteers needed.

Gluing experience an asset,
but will train!

The first body construction workshop was held June 24th. Six volunteers experimented with ways of efficiently gluing beads to pegs, drawing faces , putting on hair and tagging completed angels. Two hours of work produced almost 200 angel bodies, most with faces and many with hair. We were pleased with the first effort.

Watch for other workshops in the fall. We need to produce a at least 2000 bodies to supplement the work of individual volunteers who make another 2000 of them at home.

Think about hosting one at your kitchen table. All materials are supplied. If you have a table that seats 6 comfortably and can provide tea/coffee that is all that is needed. You choose the night and open your doors for 2 hours.

Contact Gail at africanaidsangels@gmail.com for details.

Aids Angels AGM

African Aids Angels
Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, June 3

New Board

1.African Aids Angels Annual Report, Financial Report and Project Reports are all available now.

Ask for them at africanaidsangels.gmail.com



2.Welcome to our new Board Members Gail Blais and Erin Ruff.

Gail is working on inventory management and new ways of organizing the construction of angel bodies. See blog notes. She is also a professional crafter and has experience in publicity for small groups.

Erin is experimenting with new ideas for fundraising. She is organizing the Angel Garage Sale on Used Victoria. See blog note.

Mary Bomford remains as Coordinator.

Pierre Dill continues as our Zambian orphanage contact and is working with Makeni to explore a new agricultural project for food security for AIDS affected people.

Joan Fox joins us again working with a very productive home based group and also with the House Event committee.

Vic Parsons remains as Secretary and our contact with Thembalethu orphanage and St. Mary's Hospital Born to Live Program.

Carol Sherwood continues her work as Treasurer, Website Management and graphic design.


3.Outgoing:

We wish to thank Linda Scotton, our outgoing Board Member, for her work on Board development and the House Fair. She will continue to be an active Angel volunteer focussing on this year's House Fair

Angel Supplies

Where to find angel making supplies

Angel making kit complete with:

Angel bodies, with 15 hair and 5 without

Name tags

Raffia

Glue sticks

Will be available from Mary July until 25. Again after August 20.

Send a message to africanaidsangels@gmail.com to arrange pick up.


The following are also available:

Fabric, bling, ribbon, beads

Remember:

Angels can be delivered to angel making sessions.

Come to pick up materials, or exchange fabric even if you do not have time to stop and make angels with the group.

See dates and locations posted on the blog.

Angels available in Victoria via website

One of our volunteers is experimenting with asking for donations in a new way.

UsedVictoria.com is a popular website for buying and selling items. Now African AIDS Angels has a spot in the folk art category. You can check this out at www.usedvictoria.com, and type African Aids Angels in the search box.

Since items are delivered in person, it only works for orders in the local community. It's an interesting new fund-raising effort, and we're curious to know how the experiment turns out.

Ideas

Design Inspirations

Many of you have asked for more photos of different styles of angels. Carol has created a link to an album of varied angels, including some notes on how they were made. Check the website and click on “What’s new”.

Thembalethu Report

Thembalethu (Our Hope)

The name of the children’s shelter that Lorraine and Vic Parsons worked at from October to December 2007 pretty much sums up the hope for the future of the many orphaned and abandoned children in this part of South Africa. Both the shelter and St. Mary’s Hospital are located in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, the hardest hit part of South Africa by the HIV-AIDS pandemic.

We were astonished at the deep connections that the Zulu order of nuns, Daughters of St. Francis, have in the local community. The shelter is located two hours south of Durban in a rural setting of steep hills and green valleys. Not only do the sisters run the shelter, which accommodates between 20 and 26 children at a time, but they also provide meals for local schoolchildren, and they have an Outreach program that supplies food parcels – rice, beans, cornmeal, dairy supplements, oil – and blankets. If someone needs a wheelchair, they will work diligently to find one. If an ill person needs assistance to get a doctor’s certificate so they can get a pension from the government, they will explore all means possible. They also run a day care for children at the Assisi mission, and help support another about 10 kilometres away that serves 80 local kids. They distribute fresh food from their gardens to the local community.

When we consider the word Hope, we think of little Sanelisiwe, a toddler who came to the shelter shortly before we arrived. She had been abandoned by her mother for days and the only brief care she received was from passing strangers. Although she has not been tested, because she does not have a birth certificate and her mother has disappeared, she most likely carries the HIV virus. At first, no one could approach her crib without her bursting into tears and crying loudly. The only way the sisters and caregivers could get her to stop was by tossing a blanket over her head. Gradually, she allowed people to hold her, and then to give her small amounts of food. By the time we left Assisi, she would grin happily whenever we opened the door to the shelter. She would play with the other children and was so proud of her little frilly dress. To us, it was a minor miracle!

The other program African AIDS Angels contributes to is Born to Live at St. Mary’s Hospital just outside Durban. Drugs are given to pregnant moms to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. About 4,000 babies and 3,500 mothers have gone through this program with a 95 per cent success rate. The AAA money provides counseling so the drugs are taken appropriately. If the drugs are not taken properly, the therapy would fail.

Angel Supplies

Where to find angel making supplies

Angel making kit complete with:

Angel bodies, with 15 hair and 5 without

Name tags

Raffia

Glue sticks

Will be available from Mary after May 12.

Send a message to africanaidsangels@gmail.com to arrange pick up.


The following are also available:

Fabric, bling, ribbon, beads

Remember:

Angels can be delivered to angel making sessions.

Come to pick up materials, or exchange fabric even if you do not have time to stop and make angels with the group.

See dates and locations posted on the blog.

Reports from the Field

Over forty people attended our information meeting in Victoria on March 13th. We were able to get a much better sense of the impact of our fundraising efforts. Vic and Lorraine Parsons described the family atmosphere provided by the nuns at Thembalethu Orphanage in South Africa and the community outreach work they are also doing. AIDS Angels will be providing funds to assist with the outreach program in future.

Pierre and Lee Ann Dil presented a slide show about Makeni and the orphanage in Zambia that you can view on You Tube. Check below for the links.

Teddy Phiri sent a report and photos from Malawi about one of the families we are supporting. That is included below.

You can find more photos by checking the website.

Malawi Report

Teddy Phiri, one of our Malawi contacts has sent this report about a family that we are supporting. This gives a good picture of the larger issues that this family and others affected by AIDS are facing. Further comments in italics.

This family of Mr and Mrs Ngwata live in Dunduzu area about 10 km from Mzuzu City. Both of them are on ARV treatment. (Anti-retroviral drugs suppress the symptoms of Aids and may allow the person to assume some of their responsbilities). One child died in January 2008. He was also on ARV treatment. They have had 8 children, 5 are still living. Their eldest, a daughter, just disappeared leaving behind two children. The last-born child who is 7 months old also shows signs of being HIV positive.

Discovery of HIV Status

The husband in 2004 became very sick. After tests at the hospital, he was diagnosed as HIV positive and the wife was also tested and she was found positive too. Immediately both of them were put on ARVs.

Community Support

They feel no segregation in the community despite their illness. The village Headman is very supportive to the family ever since they declared their HIV status openly. (in the past many people were isolated and shunned when their HIV status became known)

Acceptance by their Children

Both parents informed their children of their status. The children are very supportive to their parents. For example the oldest boy and daughter are the main income generators of the family through general farming and vegetable gardening. They always make sure that parents have taken the ARVs. Due to a shortage of fertilizer they mix fertilizer and maize husks in their vegetable gardens. The vegetables grow very well (This was a new lesson learnt by us).

(Because soils in Malawi are depleted by overfarming, chemical fertilizer is necessary . However, soil can only be rebuilt with organic matter such as compost and manure. These young farmers have made a good discovery)

Education
The wife Elita is playing a vital role in the community by encouraging people to go for testing. They informed us that there are many people in the village who are on ARVs due to their civic education.

Availability of ARVs

The medications are always available at the hospital and hospital staff are very supportive.

African Aids Angels Support.

The family is supported by African Aids Angels in the following way.

1. Seeds and fertilizer for their farm.
2. Youth training: One boy dropped out of school in Standard 7 in order to help the family. He is receiving training in market gardening and is provided with seeds and tools to grow vegetables.

Zambia slide show/video

For all those who missed the James Bay slide shows, here's a You-tube version of the presentation from Pierre and Lee Ann Dil.

Read the note below, then click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N6rGstJKFQ


Suggestions and notes about what you will see:

The presentation may take a while to download. If you set it up and walk away, you can return when it is downloaded. Then you can enjoy the music and images without interruption.

In sequence you will see maps to orient you to Makeni which is located on the outskirts of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Next come photos of Lusaka to give you a flavor of the city.

Then you move to Makeni where you will see some of the workshops and photos of Rev. and Mrs. Dil, the founders of Makeni and Pierre’s parents. The orphanage is part of Makeni and you will see lots of photos of the children at work and play. Look for the “Keep Zambia Clean” day and the children’s swimming field trip. The soccer players are wearing uniforms donated from clubs in Victoria. Finally you will see the additions to the dormitories. More space is needed as some of the orphans enter adolescence. The buildings were funded by an Aids Angels special donation and by funds from donors in Holland.

Coming to James Bay, Victoria

New Group
James Bay
Victoria

An African Aids Angels group is starting up at the James Bay Community Project.

547 Michigan

The group will meet every Thursday morning from 10 until 11:30 a.m.

Many thanks to Catriona Campbell for organizing this new location.