With your generous donations the Moyo family were able to help thousands of fellow villagers who did not have enough food during the famine of 2005/2006. The project was a great sucess, so a big thank you for all your help.

Hunger in Malawi 2005

Richard Moyo
I have just returned from another visit to Malawi. It was wonderful, as always, and on the surface the country seems to be ticking along just fine. The capital city, Lilongwe, has more cars than ever, new hotels, new restaurants, more choices. On weekends the bars are busy with middle and upper class Malawians enjoying their wages. By the lake, in my favourite village, Senga Bay, the market centre is buzzing with music and fishermen and there is no shortage of challengers on the pool tables.

However, as my friend Richard Moyo, born in Senga Bay, ‘People who have a reason to be around town are doing OK, but it’s when you move away from the road and deep into the village that you find the people who are very hungry. Yes, they have some feeding programmes here, but it’s usually not the most needy that benefit, it's those with friends in the right places.’ He explained to me that it’s the elderly and sick, people who can’t move far from their remote mud huts who are in the most trouble when the crops fail. He described to me the 2002 hunger, when people he knew were just ‘dying on the roads’.

Mr and Mrs Moyo Eating Lunch at their Home
Nyumba Ya Thanzi has worked with Richard Moyo and the village Chiefs to help them distribute food to the people who really need it in the numerous villages in and around Senga Bay. They requested two bikes which will allow them to carry several bags of maize per trip and other food stuffs to remote areas of the village. They bought maize, beans, eggs, msamba (vegetables) and the small fish people eat near the lake. They also requested fertiliser and seeds so these families can prepare for a better crop next year and not remain dependent on Richard and Lameck’s handouts. They know the farms up and down the lake where you can purchase maize in bulk at good prices and they can organise a truck to take them to the capital city to find food when things get really bad. They know their village well and those around it. With family and friends scattered across the district and the help of the local chiefs they are in an excellent position to seek out those most in need. They had the opportunity to do something about the hunger this time around.