The missionaries have overseen a number of water and sanitation projects in Yawo towns and villages, including drilling a borehole rig, providing piping and irrigation with water from nearby springs and digging a trench pipe into a village.

The Yawo people are subsistence farmers and have traditionally grown tobacco and maize, but they were badly affected by sharp price drops in the tobacco market. After researching the situation, they were encouraged and supported by the team, to plant crops of beans alongside the existing maize. The beans fetch three times as much for the farmers, which has considerably eased their poverty.

A great deal of the area has been badly deforested by the local need for fuel. The team have begun a programme with local people of planting indigenous tree seeds and the current aim is to plant 70,000 seeds per year, with the hope of developing this project to increase the annual number significantly.

The missionary team have worked hard to present a holistic Christian witness to the region. There are no formal churches, but there are now a small but growing number of new Believers. A new translation of the Bible in the native tongue is nearing completion and there are regular Bible studies. They are keen that the Christian community that does arise is based around the culture and experience of the Yawo, rather than importing an outside ‘Christian’ culture.

Education is very limited in the area, with children currently walking up to five hours daily to attend the nearest (overcrowded) school. The government is keen that there should be proper schooling for this region, and have agreed to provide pay for staff and teaching materials once the school is built. Proper education for the children will transform people's lives in these villages and will be a huge witness for God's love towards the Yawo.

2010

Our involvement:

In August 2010 the first Mission Direct team to visit Malawi mainly spent their time clearing elephant grass from the site that the school would be built on, and then that was completed, they got to work on treating the wooden marker posts that would be used for marking out the site from the plans. This involved poisoning and creosoting the wood to protect it from the hungry termite population that inhabit the bush! The team also did some finishing off of the newly constructed team cottage, making and fitting mosquito mesh frames to all the windows, and painting the walls in the living area.

Outcome:

The site was fully cleared and measured, ready for the villagers to start levelling the ground by the time we left. Working alongside the local people was great, and spending time playing games and doing crafts with the children was brilliant.

2011

Our involvement:In 2011, there was no team of volunteers for the May dates, but the team leaders went out and spent time with the missionary team, building the relationship between them and Mission Direct and carrying out more upgrading jobs in the team and missionary cottages. In August, the team's primary role was to prepare window frames ready for when they are needed for fitting in the school building. The metal frames were made locally and needed to be rubbed down with wire-wool, treated with red oxide against rusting and then two coats of white paint applied. Alongside that, work began to remove some of the excess soil from the site from where the foundations had been laid and clearance began on the area for the second module with elephant grass being cut down and marking out the site for the foundations to be dug.

Outcome:

In May, the work carried out on the cottages gave a smart new look and added valuable space for hanging towels and kitchen storage. The link between the missionary team and Mission Direct was able to grow and enabled opportunity to consider possible expansion to the projects in Malawi.
In August, the time spent working on the site gave plenty of time for team bonding and also proved to be a lively place for light hearted banter, deep theological discussion, sing-alongs and working alongside the local villagers - especially the children who were always enthusiastic to help and provided a lot of fun and laughter. The team's hard work ensured that there are enough window frames prepared to fit out the first module when it reaches that stage. The local people were pleased to welcome us back and eager to make us try out our language skills, which always caused much laughter! It was great to be able to watch the children grow and to get to know them better too.
The progress of the building was seriously delayed due to the political and economic difficulties in Malawi during 2011 causing national shortages of cement and fuel for transporting materials to the village. However, this didn't dampen the enthusiasm and determination of the team to complete as much work as possible and to have a fulfilling experience during their time in country.