We are still moving forward

Elderly women

Some of donated items

Sorry its been a while, CURE and the rainy season put Ovaha and the construction behind schedule.  However, a couple exciting thins happened during our last mission to Ovaha.

The water line was installed and flowing in a central location near the entrance of the village.  The walk to the river (about 3 miles) roundtrip is now unnecessary for fetching water daily.  It has been greatly appreciated by the villagers at Ovaha's Hut and will continue to improve the daily routine for lots of families for years to come.  We were ecstatic to see it up and running during our last visit.  It is the direct result of outside support for a small village in Malawi, Africa.  Thanks to everyone that is backing this project, it wouldn't be possible without YOU!

Lawrence's church (Enlightened Christian Gathering) is preparing a trip to Ovaha's Hut on 13 July 2013.  Many youth (and a few older guys) from the church will travel to Ovaha's Hut to share encouragement, provide clothing and toys and let the villagers know that they have strong Malawian support for a short distance from them.  I'm excited to see Lawrence's church get behind the project and especially excited that the villagers will get to meet & greet with a group of selfless individuals that love Jesus. 

We have found a great source of clothing and toys in Blantyre.  A post at the International Trade Fair sells wholesale lots of clothing & toys.  Bundles are put together and sold by weight.  We intend on buying materials from this post to be able to deliver more materials with donation money.  

We are excited about the work that God is continuing to do through Lawrence and the supporters of Ovaha's Hut.  Enjoy the pictures from the last visit to Ovaha and we will update again soon.

Elderly men

Kids time, choosing clothes

Dressed up

Making them smile 

The Team

The Huts

New water line at Ovaha's Hut

Mark Barrett on the new Tap

Alex Somanje with a big smile

Its About How You Dream

Dreaming moments

Alot of achievements in life starts with dreams, but most of  many people's dreams dies on the bed or on the mat they sleep on. The other thing that makes dreams to die is the people who are helping you to interprate the dreams, even the color of dreams can make you to fail the progress a head of you. Color of the dreams means the ideas and pillars that can make all your fantacies to come to reality regardless how far you have been dreaming.

Dreams without color

Ovaha's Hut started as a dream, after the dreams grew they started making things to change, when we believe on making something out of nothing Malawi will never been the same as today, this time is about growth and trusting our dreams and realising the people who can make our dreams to slip through our hands. Poking fingers with one another will make underprivileged people suffer and make the dreamer loose focus, wake up Malawi for success.

Now the dreams have started having its colors, just after Ovaha's Hut meeting with great good people like Tara Anderson, Mark Allen Barret, Alli Coyle, Angela Prima, Ruth Markus and Angela Yu, whose ideas is to make underprivileged people's life have another chance to live. The community joined Ovaha's Hut creating the land, thats the other part of inteprating the the dreams. Ovaha's Hut was born to make Gladstone and Takhiwa villages a better place for elderly people and underprivileged kids.

Men working on dreams

 

 Its all about how you dream and last you will get what you want

First Visit to Ovaha's Hut

Angela Yu and Mark on the way to Ovaha's Hut place

My first visit to Ovaha’s Hut was heartbreaking and very powerful.  I was moved and could see the heartache and pain in the eyes of the elders.  I saw a connection with Lawrence and the villagers, a real deep connection that cant be accurately described with words.  The trip to get to Mulanje and the village is about 1.5 hours by way of mini-bus from Blantyre.  The backdrop of the Mulanje mountain range is beautiful and the people that live in it’s shadows have hearts as big as the towering mountains. 

We arrived early Saturday morning and met with 20 of the elders.  Lawrence laid out the plan to assist and visit them in the coming months.  I didn’t understand much since the conversation was in the native Chichewa tongue but I saw hearts open and ears holding attention to Lawrence’s every word for an hour.  After we talked with the elders, we greeted each of them and gave them a little bit of spending money that was donated by Ovaha supporters.  We then walked around the village, checking out the homes of the villagers.  Sad conditions but the zest for life is real there.  The villagers live hard, tough lives.  You can can see the wrinkles in the face of the elders.  Years of barely getting by and raising children with very little.  I also saw the hope, hope for the future.  Hope for Ovaha’s Hut and hope for Lawrence. 

As we headed back to Blantyre, I put in my earbuds and just sat in thought for most of the ride.  I thought about how I ended up in a village in Africa with a dear friend.  I thought about God using me to help with the blog and fundraising for Ovaha’s Hut.  I thought about being an answer to prayers in the village.  As I prayed for the villagers, I asked God to alleviate some of the problems that plague the village.  I prayed for hope, comfort and peace.  I prayed for support for the village.  I prayed for guidance and growth.  I prayed that God uses Lawrence and he is granted wisdom to help his village.  I prayed that we are able to bring an ounce of happiness and the hope of Jesus to the people.  January is going to be a big month for Ovaha’s Hut, please continue to pray for this project.

Mark Allen Barret and Mama Botha

Mark, Mama Botha and Mama Boths's inlaw

                     

Lawrence, Nina Weyman, Angela Yu and Mark Allen Barrett

By Mark Allen Barrett, From USA South Carolina,  working with Beit Cure Hospital-Malawi.