Local MSP Marilyn Livingstone has facilitated a meeting between a Fife-based member of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership and Jack McConnell MSP to inform Jack of the work being done locally to help others in Malawi
Marilyn invited her constituent Margaret Cranston of the Lusangazi-St Kenneth’s Partnership, based in Kennoway, to meet Jack and for both parties to share their expertise on what more can be done in Fife to support those in need in Malawi. St Kenneth’s started working in Malawi in 2005 and their work is now concentrated in the seven villages of the Lusangazi area in the North of Malawi.
The aim of the partnership is to assist financially with the infrastructure within the villages by funding fresh water boreholes, schools and sustainable small money projects to help lift people out of poverty. The local group are also developing sustainable food projects in order to feed orphans in the villages during times of shortage. The cultural exchange between schools in the villages of Lusangazi and all primary schools in Kennoway is key to the partnership, with local schools learning about the partnership and raising money to assist with small projects.
To date St Kenneth’s and the wider community have raised in excess of £53,000. There have been four trips organised from Scotland to their partners in Malawi, and three different sets of participants from Malawi have visited Fife over the years. Among the projects completed by the partnership are the building of a primary school block in Lusangazi, a chicken and goat project which allows those in Malawi to generate a small income for themselves and an orphan feeding programme. The latest project includes building a multi-purpose community kitchen to teach food nutrition and health education.
Marilyn invited Margaret to meet Jack McConnell because of his expertise, links with and knowledge of Malawi, having taken an interest in its development while he was First Minister and having been an advisor to the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative in Malawi and Rwanda since 2007. Margaret and Jack discussed fundraising and how to get young people in the community involved with the project, and the efforts of the Fife group were commended as making a difference to the people in Malawi.
The local MSP added:
“I was pleased to set up a meeting with Margaret and Jack to highlight the good work that is being done in Fife to help those in Malawi and to learn from Jack’s expertise about how to raise even more money and get others involved in the partnership.
“In these difficult times every penny that is raised for projects such as the ones funded by this partnership needs to go even further and the contribution of each volunteer is even more important.
“I would like to take this opportunity to commend Margaret and others involved in the Lusangazi-St Kenneth’s partnership on their fantastic achievements in Malawi to date and to wish them every success in the future.”
