Wukwahi wa Nzambi making chairs - ZAMBIA

See the cute chairs made by the Wukwashi Volunteers for children with disabilities.

An order through Naomie Silavwe, the physiotherapist at the Company Clinic in Kitwe.

Emmanuel and Patrick overseeing safe delivery

A New Green Social Enterprise - calling all interested parties!

• How about a new volunteer challenge for the New Year?


• Want to be in at the start of a really new and different project?


• Would you like to meet creative and enterprising new people locally?


• Have you got skills and a little spare time to share?


• Want some fun doing something practical, exciting and very GREEN?


• And all of this in a really great cause too!.....
  
  Join Paper Furniture Enterprises - A not-for-profit social enterprise!

Our aim is to set up a new social enterprise making furniture from recycled paper and card developing the work of Jean and Kennett Westmacott. They have been using paper furniture techniques, developed in Zimbabwe, by Bevill Packer and Timothy Gono to make specially adapted chairs, standing frames, ride-on animals and wheel chair inserts for severely disabled children in various parts of Africa - see http://www.peoplepotential.org.uk/ and http://www.cerebralpalsyafrica.org/

We want to see if we can learn the lessons of running a small social business first hand to help fund more workshops in Africa and India as well as the production of instruction manuals. We will do this by setting up Paper Furniture Enterprises (PFE) – a mini 'factory' to pilot larger scale production of customized paper furniture. We aim to record the pilot process as we go, learning by doing, so we can pass on our expertise and create a model for sustainable income generation for disability projects across the developing world.

Open Day - Monday 18th January

Plum Cottage, Hattingley Rd, Medstead, GU34 5NQ

Drop in anytime from 10am to 5pm - refreshments will be provided.

You are warmly invited to come and see photographs of Jean and Kennett's work in Africa, to have a chat about getting involved in this new social enterprise and to wish Happy 20th Birthday to the paper furniture sofa!

You can try it out too!

PFE want to build on Jean and Kennett's work to help the projects they have been working with become more self sufficient in their funding so that they can continue to provide the support and equipment these children so desperately need - see www.cerebralpalsyafrica.org. Jean is creating a manual of the construction techniques and we would like to add a 'how to' guide to income generation and running a small business from our experiences at the Medstead 'factory'. We want to involve as many local people and partners as we can. We are especially keen to work with young people in the village and local community. So please spread the word, pass on contacts of anyone who might be interested and get involved yourself!



Call Libby Brayshaw on 01420 562227 to register your interest and to ask any questions.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Award for Archie Hinchcliffe

Mrs Archie Hinchcliffe, has been awarded a Fellowship by the
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, UK.

Congratulations!!

Archie started the work of training ages ago and with Allan Burns and others established the Cerebral Palsy Africa Charity (Scottish Charity SC036501). She works tirelessly and really deserves the award. Lots of reflected glory to Peter Hinchcliffe, her supportive husband.

Blantyre Training for Trainers(TfT) course

The TfT course involved talks on training methods and lots of practical work such as doing a microteach on a useful subject to help others and thinking through difficult topics and then doing a presentation for example, introducing an idea to a manager.

McDonald Wayekha, a Rehahabilitation Technician who works in outreach from Blantyre. He is doing a 'Microteach' on training and helping parents feed a child with cerebral palsy - all part of Training the Trainers. A very necessary thing too as feeding can be quite a challenge.

Participants and teachers (MAP teachers Mr Caedric pahuwa and mr Robert Mzota also taught).

Lilongwe and weekend at Kwathu Family resort

Loads of good work is done at Zomba Prison MAP Workshop

- see all the walkers for children with disabilities

Gloria and Headmaster discussing school pupils 'self-catering' and how to help

- all in the hot midday sun




Lesley on arrival at Sani Trading Centre while we contacted Gloria to say we had arrived

Beautiful Lake Malawi, slightly choppy compared to normal but great fun for swimming!

Taken at Kwathu Family resort, near Nkhotakota.

From Lilongwe to Blantyre

The recession is making an impact on organizations like Malawi Against Physical Disabilities (MAP) Full orders but no materials to make the equipment

We stayed at the SOS children's village in Lilongwe. They do an amazing work. The Malawi Social services alert them to children that have been orphaned. Their Social Affairs Officer visits the children (anywhere in the country), meets any family members and spends a lot of time getting to know the background as well as the children. Then the child/children will be placed in a house of about 10 children with their new mother. Lots of support is given and the children always keep links with their homes. So they live in a new family, have a chance of education even to u niversity for those who are capable. Some of the children have now left the SOS village and married looking after their own families

Benjamin, son of Lamack who works at SOS. He attends the SOS School

Moving on towards Blantyre.

We went to Nkotakots first and landed up going by minibus loaded to the gunnels and then 2 huge matresses were tied on the outside over the back windscreen!

Photo of fast food available - chips take-away through the window of the bus

After a long minibus trip from Nkotakota we arrived in Blantyre in the dark. Lesley fell off a step and fractured her wrist. So we have got to know the inside of Hospitals going for X-ray and ECG and finally today she was in the wonderful Cure Hospital, having the fracture manipulated under anisthetic. Wonderful care - all is well.

Lyn helping Lesley tend to the broken arm

In Malawi!

Our first day in Malawi consisted of meetings, meetings and more meetings. These were really interesting as they were with people from Malawi Government Ministries interested in the training on cerebral palsy - hopefully CPA can contribute in helping children through the training given to Malawian therapists technicians and other means. We also visited Malawi Council for the Handicapped (above)

Lameck Saka showing Lesley the gaiters and arm wraps that are made at the SOS Children's village in Lilongwe.

SOS kindly allowed us to use a room at their school for the training.

Training for Trainers Workshop Participants

The Lilongwe group, comprising of therapists, Rehabilitation workers and equipment makers. All had done a CPA course before and have had the two day training in order to pass on their skills more effectively. They all taught on a subject of their choice for 5 minutes each. By the huge varitey of topics and intersting presentations they will certainly be training others well.

Over the last week Lesley (Education speicalistMalawi