Category: News

We are investing $1700.00 (K3 Million) on two motorcycles.  These will be used to greatly increase the number of cows that can be inseminated on a daily basis.

In our next phase of introducing Lavender as a cash crop in Malawi, we are looking to import drought resistant strains of lavender.  We are working with an agency in Zambia and with other organizations to source the seeds.

We are investing in composting toilets to help improve sanitation, combat cholera and provide fertilizer.   Each installation has tw0 composting toilets.  One is used for six months and then the second is used for the next six months while the first is composting into manure.  The initial roll-out was funded by a $5,000 grant from the Harvard Lions Club.  We are in discussion with another organization for additional funds to expand the program. 

We are working with Tufts Medical School and University of Massachusetts Medical School to bring 1sr and 4^th year medical students to work with and learn from us and our K2TASO colleagues in Malawi for 6 to 8 weeks.  The students will be involved in direct patient care as well as medical related research to help improve overall health in the district.

We’d like to take a brief moment to congratulate the winner of this year’s high school contest, Josie Blake. Josie has won a free trip to Malawi with our medical mission team when we go in April 2024.

A total of 11 students from Nashoba Regional High School and Hudson High School participated in the contest. We hope the 10 who didn’t win will be able to come along with us as well.

For further details and photos, see our January 2023 Detailed Trip Presentation slides.

Trip Objectives:

1. Communicate program objectives to beneficiary school leadership
2. Observe school’s implementation of Information/Computer Technology (ICT) studies
3. Evaluate solar power systems
4. Add projector and 5 additional laptops to each school
5. Offer professional development (PD) to beneficiary school teachers
6. Enhance female student ICT studies and access
7. Offer model lessons to beneficiary school students
8. Build collaborative relationships within Malawi
9. Build efficiencies within ICT technician team

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To learn more about our technology initiatives, visit the Laptop Donation/Education page.

The above video is Brian’s latest annual update presentation given to the Stow Lions Club.

Thought you all might like to see a video done by a local Malawian (hence the spelling errors,etc.) about our nonprofit Bridges to Malawi (BTM) efforts to fight an ongoing famine in Malawi. Please note that whenever the word “beneficiaries” is used, it means an entire family (usually 7 people), not just one individual. – Brian

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We also have some photos to further illustrate the food situation.

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… And some more photos showing our efforts to fight cholera with water chlorination.

We’ve received the following updates from Peter Minjale:

1. The famine is worsening.  He wants another $12,000 USD to fight it. He is working on a Lions International grant proposal to get funding beyond that. We are currently feeding close to 15,000 people right now.
2. The cholera epidemic is worsening. There have now been over 750 deaths and over 13,000 cases nationwide (530,000 cases projected). Kasungu District, including the city, has been spared due to our ongoing chlorination efforts since August. Peter says the District had no cases till this week when 1 person became ill.
3. The government of Malawi is very interested in our IT education project and is sending teachers to our area to help bolster our efforts.
4. The government of Malawi and World Bank approached Peter with a grant proposal to help our dairy project go to the next level with enough money to, among other things, purchase about 230 more heifers.
5. The premiere agricultural research facility in Malawi has expressed interest in our lavender initiative, hoping to bring it to other parts of the country if we are successful. So far about 50% of our seeds have germinated (which is awesome because no seeds germinated here when we planted them).
6. So far the rains have been good.
7. Reforestation, bamboo, hydroponic project, chicken pass on, microcredit bank, land lease and cows and ploughs projects are all going well.