The rain begins...

Francis writes after I sent £150 last week:

"With the money which you sent I bought 21 bags of fertiliser, 2 x 50kgs of maize seed and the remaining money I used to buy Chitenjes."

He tells me the seed is enough for 50 families. The rains have started. I spoke to him this morning and he said it is raining well.

The village committee prioritised buying seed and fertilizer and has developed a project with the help of an agricultural advisor to build a demonstration poultry house or "Khola" in Chichewa. To stock this with 250 broiler chickens will cost about 100 pounds, which they can start to eat or sell after 6 weeks. Their plan is to re-stock this every 3 weeks. So after the first couple of cycles it becomes self sustaining.

He is sending me a few chitenjes - the traditional cotton wrap skirts - which I will put up for sale to raise money for the village.

At the same time, even though the rains have started, there is little food. So with the 100 pounds I can send today, this will be split between buying maize, targetting the orphans living with elderly relatives, and the chicken project.

To help contribute, please see my eBay sale or email me to make another arrangement.