Tues morning September 10
In 2010, OPSEU supported the Tyanjane Centre for the
Disabled in Kasungu, giving a small amount of funding to begin renovating a
building to use for skills training.
This morning, our delegation was invited to tour the Centre to see what
has happened from 2010 to 2012. Recently
Tyanjane has joined together with another organization, Skills for Youth
Network as many of their aims are the same. Both organizations are struggling
to provide necessary skills to youth and the disabled in the community. With some funding from the Canadian High
Commission, they have recently acquired some woodworking machines, welding
machines and sewing machines. However,
they are a community-based organization, not an NGO with staffing etc. and it
is a hard job to get these kinds of organizations off the ground. Their many volunteers are trying hard to get
the building completed so they can set up machinery and begin their skills
training programs. In the meantime, they
are able to provide youth and the disabled community with meeting space and
educational dialogue on all kinds of issues facing them in their community.
OPSEU meets with Tyanjane and Skills Youth Network
After our visit with Tyanjane and the Skills Youth Network we
headed off to Lake Malawi, but with one stop on the way. Eric Davis had brought a suitcase full of
medical supplies with him from Canada, specifically 12 cases of syringe of
different sizes, donated by health professionals in Kingston, Ontario.
The staff at St. Andrew’s Mission Hospital were very
grateful. “We know these things may seem
cheap to you back in Canada, but to us they are very valuable,” said one of the
administrators of the hospital.
Tues afternoon, September 11
After dropping off the supplies, we headed for the Lake again and
spent a night and a morning there. Although totally landlocked, Malawi has what is described
as its “inland sea”. Lake Malawi is a vast
body of freshwater more than 500 km north to south and 80 km wide. The Lake is extraordinarily
deep in the north- 2300 ft/700 m, plunging well below sea level. This reflects
the enormity of the natural faulting of the Great Rift Valley, which is the
origin of the Lake.
Because of its rich fish harvest, the Lake plays an
important part in the economy. Fishing villages are scattered along the shore
and our group watched the fishers come in with their catch. Tilapia (Chomba) is native to Lake Malawi and
is organically farmed in other parts of the world.
Lunch at Lake Malawi
Sunrise over Lake Malawi
No comments:
Post a Comment