Love's Harvest 2010
Helping the rural poor of Malawi grow the food they need on their own land.
We slept in a bit today and arrived at the Leonard Kamungu Theological College for a 9:00 am business meeting about Love’s Harvest and the Theological College, now in its third year of partnership. With Dean Alinafe Kalemba, Fr. Martin Mgeni and Fr. Goodwell Timverane, we reviewed the past year, made plans for shifting the mostly conventional demonstration garden at the seminary to Permaculture and implementing the design for a new animal husbandry Permaculture project on a recently purchased piece of land outside the city proper. We discerned a significant change in atmosphere at the college, a strong vision and sense of confidence. We were gratified to hear the Dean’s appreciation for the commitment of Love’s Harvest to help ensure the health and future of the college while doing our small part to foster unity in our corner of the Anglican Communion.
We then visited the site of the new farm, which is beautiful and large with workers in the process of making 200,000 bricks! Then we were off for a two hour drive to Mpinganjira, the One Village at a Time project funded by St. John’s Cold Spring Harbor.
This OVT project is very new, in a community unused to much agriculture at all. It is close to a lake, so the people rely on fishing for food and do not eat many vegetables. Permaculture is an enormous cultural shift for them but we found the women and men warm, welcoming and game to apply themselves to Pastor Joseph’s Permaculture scheme. The potential for improved nutrition as well as income generation is good. We saw the demonstration garden, which was half Permaculture and half conventional garden, and then the early planting stages of a handful of women’s kitchen gardens.
The priest, Fr. Robert Mtitimira, has been quite sick but is recovering. We met with him briefly in his home and then gathered with the women inside the church, called St. Luke’s, for a welcome ceremony and prayer circle. Jane Appleyard Roel presented the women with a lovely book of pictures, messages and drawings from the children of St. John’s Cold Spring Harbor’s Sunday School, and then the head man, or local chief, gave an inspiring word of support to our project. This partnership is clearly in its early phase but plans were firmed up for Pastor Joseph’s follow up visit and we departed with many hugs, kisses, and expressions of thanksgivings for the miracles God is working in the U.S. and Malawi through Love’s Harvest.
