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Malawi - 2 kids with greens
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Monthly Newsletter: January 2019

With World Vision staff preparing for the April THRIVE/Building Secure Livelihoods Forum in Malawi, it is a good time to review the progress the THRIVE Malawi program has been achieving.

Known as the warm heart of Africa, Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world.  A brief country overview from the International Monetary Fund can be found below.  As we would expect, the majority of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi live in the countryside, and most are smallholder farmers.  These are the people THRIVE aims to serve and to lift out of extreme poverty.

Christopher Shore

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Ireen and a THRIVE Malawi Update

Ireen Madzumbi, a mother of five children in Chilenje, Malawi, once harvested only five bags of soybeans from her 2.5 acre plot.  She and her family were barely making it.  After learning farming technologies from the THRIVE program, she doubled the land she farmed—and increased her harvest eight-times.  She is a woman on fire to help her neighbors lift themselves out of extreme poverty.  She is an empowered woman!

The Malawi THRIVE program helped nearly 7,700 smallholder farmers like Ireen to sell close to $700,000 in crops in FY18, almost three times our original plan. 

     Ireen

Through more than 80 demonstration plots and 8 farmer field schools, farmers learned improved agricultural technologies and approaches.  Nearly 90 commercial villages provided farmers with opportunities to collectively market their products.  Almost 3,000 clients took out loans from VisionFund to support and expand their businesses.

With her increased income, Ireen is able to pay school fees for her children – and built a new home!  “I was one of the poor and vulnerable people,” she said, but THRIVE has “created a calling in me to help my fellow farmers.”

By increasing their skills and changing their worldview, participants continue to develop sustainable livelihoods and become more resilient.

To learn more about Ireen’s incredible journey out of extreme poverty, come to the Every Last One Conference in Carlsbad, California, where you will experience her story by way of a video from the main stage.

To read the full (AND VERY ENCOURAGING!) annual report from Malawi, click HERE.

Click HERE to read a synopsis of the International Monetary Fund report on Malawi. 

Upcoming Calendar Events

  • Vision Trips (please contact your World Vision representative about participating)
    • Zambia (April 8-13, 2019) On this trip you will travel with Chief Development Office Christopher Shore to see all of the great THRIVE work in Zambia.
    • Honduras (April 22-26, 2019) On this trip you will see the work in four different sectors over this four day trip, including EE!
    • Kilimanjaro Climb plus Rwanda THRIVE (July 24-August 4, 2019) with Vinh & Leisle Chung
  • Michael Mithika US Tour (January 26-February 12, 2019)
  • Every Last One Conference (March 8-9, 2019) in Carlsbad, CA
  • THRIVE / Building Secure Livelihoods Forum (March 31- April 5, 2019) in Lilongwe, MALAWI

Prayer Requests

PRAISE

  • For GREAT events
    o South Florida Economic Empowerment Summit and “Fork to Farm” Reception
    o “Fork to Farm” reception in Seattle

REQUESTS
  • For God’s blessing on the donor trip the Michael Mithika (CEO of VisionFund International) and Christopher Shore are making throughout the USA in the first half of February
  • For the upcoming Vision Trip to Honduras (in mid-February) and Zambia (in April), that God would lead our donor partners to see with God’s eyes
  • For the planning processes for 2 large events
    o Every Last One Summit in Carlsbad
    o THRIVE Forum in Malawi
  • For the family of Mano Kamaleson, one of World Vision’s early leaders in microfinance, who was killed in a suicide truck bombing in Kabul where he was CEO of First Microfinance Bank of Afghanistan. For his wife and 3 boys, peace and God’s comfort.
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World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their
communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
In 2017, 85 percent of World Vision's total operating expenses were used for programs that benefit children,
families, and communities in need. Learn More.