Dear Kudimba friends,
The last update of the year is here.
It has been a good year for Kudimba.
All the staff are doing well, their daily commitment is a testament to their motivation and everyone has found a role that suits them within the organisation, which is now running like a well-oiled machine. The children and young participants enjoy the daily routine and benefit from the caring environment of the project. The little ones are growing fast and we see their progress every day.
Everyone at Kudimba is gearing up for the Christmas party this Friday afternoon. The children and staff will enjoy the annual tradition of a soft drink and an abundance of food, games, music and dancing. The Christmas party will be followed by a thorough cleanup of the day care centre and then Kudimba will close for two weeks for a well-deserved rest. Gladson and Mustapha both return to Lifuwu from their boarding schools and we look forward to seeing them and hearing their stories.
On the 9th of January Kudimba will reopen its doors for another year of exciting developments and adventures.
The kitchen block starts to look like a real building.
Soon we will be able to start planning the inauguration of Kudimba’s new kitchen block. We’re in the final stages of construction and it’s starting to look like a real building.
In July we welcome the Circolito team for the Kuwala circus project, which we are very excited about. To share this amazing adventure with as many people as possible, we are planning a video diary of this project, where all the participants can share their achievements and challenges in a short daily video.
We will share this video diary on social media so that everyone who is involved or interested can follow along. More news on this in our next newsletter.
The Circolito team has organised a fundraiser for this project. Participants were sponsored to commit to 24 hours of circus, their ambitious plan was a huge success and even made the national Belgian news.
Happy New Year with the Kuwala Project
In the background we continue to work on the expansion of Kudimba, with the land we have purchased and the plans we are making for our social employment and sheltered housing project nearby. At the moment the administrative part of the project is underway, which is not very exciting but essential. We want to make sure that the entire registration part of the project is 100% processed before we start investing in the development of the land.
In other news from Malawi, the 44% devaluation of the Malawian currency, the Malawi Kwacha, has had a huge impact on people’s lives and livelihoods. President Chakwera’s government decided that a devaluation was necessary to address the country’s economic problems, including a depleting foreign currency reserve that has led to frequent fuel shortages.
The aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Freddie earlier this year is also still having an impact on the economy.
The devaluation has caused prices of basic goods and services to skyrocket. For Malawians already struggling to make ends meet, this is yet another challenge. Kudimba is trying to compensate for the devaluation and rising prices by gradually increasing staff salaries, according to the new currency rate. A successful harvest season this year will be crucial to help people cope with the challenge of rising food prices. The outcome is greatly influenced by the amount of rainfall. It is important that the rainfall is consistent, neither too much nor too little.
To end this newsletter on a very positive note, we are very proud of the glowing feedback we received from one of Kudimba’s main supporting organisations: the mondiale raad of the city of Kortrijk, in response to a grant application we made:
“Because the jury judged that the project stands out in approach, we are awarding you the highest grant. The jury knows Kudimba’s excellent work well. It can be considered an exemplary project in terms of global cooperation and community building.”
It is gratifying and motivating to receive such positive comments and the financial push is of course much needed to help cover all costs, both the day-to-day expenses and the further development of the project.
A massive thank you to all our loyal sponsors for their continued support over the past year.
The Kudimba organisation is growing and our future goals are reaching unimaginable heights. It is your contributions that help us achieve our goals, each and every single one of them.
ZIKOMO! (Thank you in chichewa, the language of Malawi)
Our warmest Christmas wishes and a very happy new year to you.
The Kudimba team