Malawi has 5 seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and Hunger. In the west, it is hard for us to comprehend that there is a genuine season for hunger. In Malawi, the hunger season is given fact of life.
80% of the people in Malawi are unemployed. They live in small villages of 15 to 150 people. Most have a garden where they grow the maize, cassava, and other vegetables. Generally, the rains only come December to April. During these months the gardens must produce the food people depend on for the entire year. They work hard but there are factors beyond their control.
Not enough rain can come. Too much rain can come. Pests can attack the crops. Cyclones have destroyed entire districts in past few years. Elephants may trample the garden. As if all this were not bad enough, this year new challenges have made life even more difficult. The war in Ukraine and inflation have caused new problems. People cannot afford to buy the fertilizer needed to ensure good plant growth. This means what they harvested was much less than they need. As is always the case, it is the poorest of the poor, the most vulnerable, who bear the greatest impact. This hunger season is exceptionally bad. By the Fall of the year people were scavenging unripe mango fruit to keep themselves alive.
There is good news. The Y-Malawi community has responded. Thanks to your generous gifts, our teams have been able to provide emergency food to feed 1,000 people per week since the beginning of December. The work has stretched our teams to what seems like the limit, but in this effort the pain is truly worth the gain. Without help, many of those suffering would not just go hungry, they would die.
We praise God for those who have responded. You have not just saved lives, you have shared the love of Jesus. With His life Jesus demonstrated the importance of caring for those who are suffering. Our Y-Malawi community is living out what Jesus taught us.
This crisis will not end until the harvest this Spring. Until then, as long as we have resources, we will continue feeding those who are suffering. Can you help us? Your gift could make the difference for someone praying to live through just one more Spring.
Y-Malawi teams providing food to the hungry