Our mission to Malawi in November 2013 was our first visit to Southeastern Africa. It was an exciting but mixed experience for most of us. The suffering was beyond the scope of my imagination and it took a few days to adjust to the pain around me. The poverty level was so overwhelming as there was nothing to compare it to.
There were people who survived only on corn husk and water for weeks at a time. These grateful people were just thankful for a full belly. There clothing were tattered and mostly reduced to what we consider as rags. Most of these people were just happy to be covered with the simplest of clothing.
The people need jobs and the opportunity to better themselves through training in advance agricultural techniques for one, craftsmanship and the like . They need training in building construction, mechanics and other basic disciplines.
Even though the climate is not the best for growing anything, agricultural techniques that are used in the Western Hemisphere desperately need to be exported to these parts of the world.
There is just no good reason for starvation and deprivation in any part of the world which is loaded with abundance.