Pastor Binda delivering our bicycles to 2 of the women monitors in Malawi.
The call of 1010 women has a way to reach your ears.  Villa Nova is a small village on the border between Mozambique and Malawi.  People are very poor and the lack of just about everything hits you in the stomach.  But their call, when it echoed through nearly 800 km’s of villages, mountains and rivers, were not for food or clean water …. or even just the basic medical care they so desperately needed.  It was for books – literacy material and Bibles.

More than a 1 000 ladies are attending the literacy program from the Simukai (shona word that means:  Stand up!)  program.  Due to the lack of roads and the distances people need to travel to get to the various ‘Literacy Dream Points’ it was decided to provide bicycles for the trained teachers and monitors.  We used the local church to help us with the distribution of bicycles so that the material could get to the awaiting ladies.  The screams of joy was heard in the Vatican I was told …..!  Well not really …. but you get the idea.  I think even the pope would have been moved anyway!

The Simukai program empowers the poorest of poor women to get back their dignity by teaching them to read and write by using the Bible as a tool.  Ladies from as young as 70 attend the literacy courses and when they are able to read and write for the first time they break out in dance and song.  It continues for several minutes ….. and then the whole school erupts in waves of screaming and celebrating.  When they grab their Bible ….. it’s quickly opened to make sure …. they can actually read that too.  It’s joy unspeakable.

Here are a few highlights of the latest delivery in South Malawi.  Pastor Binda (Moz/Malawi) and Alec Wilson (our team) helped us to deliver the surprise packages.  


Bicycles are loaded with blackboards and writing materials, books and Bibles for the various schools.

New stock arrives as a teachers gathers the various materials.  Some of the Simukai materials came by train and the rest Alta Rauch (Director:  Simukai) delivered via various methods.
It’s all about dignity!!!  The moment women has the ability to read and write it changes their way of not just looking at life differently, but seeing themselves as a human being that has something to offer others.  Many old ladies are part of the program who teaches literacy in their mother tongue.
One of the many lady schools in Malawi receiving their materials – delivered now by bicycle.

Another happy school with materials arriving at last.
This was so cool!  Men gave their own bicycles too to help transporting literacy materials to the women schools in Malawi.  “Our children are being changed for the future which is fantastic …..” this man reported as he was eager to help.