Good News - October 2025

Elizabeth's Library
5 days ago
7 min read

In this October Good News, we believe the stories will illustrate the joy and wonder of new experiences; whether playing with new musical instruments, exploring art through painting, developing new skills of raising chickens or learning the joy of teaching others. Open your imagination to sense the excitement and then realize as ELI supporters, you are a part of making it happen!

Susu Community Library: Early Education Program

The twice weekly Early Education program held at Susu Library offers many new and creative educational experiences for the children of Susu and the neighboring villages, and the enrollment numbers keep increasing. Children are excitedly waiting at the library door for the arrival of Mr. Kenneth and Ms. Ntasha and wondering what interesting activity is awaiting them. Last week the children painted for the first time and Mr. Kenneth reported that their excitement was contagious. After basic instructions on how to hold a brush, use the pallet and mix colors, the children were instructed to draw and paint any object. The concentration was intense and masterpieces went home to surprised parents. We wonder who is a future famous artist, but for sure, each child will look at the world around them with a different perspective.

Mr. Jacob(EL Malawi Director ) writes:

"Grandmother Alefa's heart for the children of Dima Village is a testimony to what one passionate individual and a few resources can achieve in a community. Her home is more than a location, it’s a place to access books and games in a warm and welcoming environment where Dima children gather to learn and create."

Grandmother Alefa estimates her age to be over 70 years, yet she welcomes 10 - 15 eager young children every day. She helps them read books and holds a well attended story time. The addition of various games brought to her inventory has been a great success. Games are a new learning experience for the children and it doesn't take long for competition to develop!

A few months ago, ELI supporters funded an immediate basic needs donation and a poultry project for Grandmother Alefa. Being elderly and without help is a very difficult position in Africa, so it is with great joy that Grandmother Alefa now has a flock of 18 hens. Not only do the eggs provide much needed protein for her and her husband's diet, but she trades the eggs for essential items such as soap, matches and vegetables.

Grandmother Alefa's selfless devotion encourages all of us. Please pray for her and her vital work in the community of Dima Village. She is a positive influence for the next generation; maybe the future president of Malawi!

Mobile Library Program - Mphonde Village

Mphonde Village is a very large and wide spread village. It was very difficult for all the children to visit the original mobile library center supervised by Mr. Limiton, who has a BIG heart for the children of his community. He wanted all of them to have access to the amazing books and educational resources provided by ELI. With just a small blackboard, Mr. Limiton also organized classes where he could teach basic literacy skills to children unable to attend school.

Soon these classes were well attended, but Mr. Limiton kept thinking about the children living great distances from his home. He decided that if the children couldn’t come to the library, he would take the library to them. Several times a week, he packed books from his inventory into a large plastic bin and carried his heavy load to the waiting children. Learning about his initiative and dedication, Mr. Limiton was gifted with a heavy-duty bicycle to make his journey easier.

This new outreach effort was well received by the entire community, but there were still so many children longing for access to books. The hunger for learning is really remarkable, and EL Malawi determined that more learning centers were needed. After consultation with Mr. Limiton and the village chiefs, two more book monitors were identified. Mr. Blessing and Mrs. Zione, both came with the highest recommendations as they were known for their caring actions within the communities. Both of them had graduated from secondary school (not an easy accomplishment for someone from a village) and had often expressed the desire to do "something" for the children of Mphonde.

Mrs. Zione is a young mother of a four year old son. Her husband works as a farmer and does piecework to provide support for his family. Mrs. Zione was very fortunate to complete her secondary school education with aspirations to continue her studies. Because of the expense for additional education she was not able to proceed further. This remains a challenge for many village children.

When Mr. Jacob and Mr. Limiton began searching for another book monitor candidate, the village Chief gave his highest praise to Mrs. Zione. He told Jacob of her interest to serve her community even from a young age and her dreams of higher education.

Mr. Jacob writes,"As the new Mphonde book monitor, Mrs. Zione has discovered a profound purpose and joy. She enthusiastically helps community members access the books and other resources. Her warmth and dedication shine in her interactions with everyone, and her home based library center is a welcoming space for all."

Mrs Zione says, "I find so much joy in this work" displaying her genuine passion for serving her community and creating opportunities for learning. "And I am learning too, as I read these books to myself or the children."

Understanding the financial challenges Zione's family faces, ELI funded the construction of a poultry house and the purchase of a rooster and several hens. Access to clean water is a very tough challenge for the people of Mphonde, so even growing a small garden near their home is very difficult. The poultry project offers both short and long term benefits, providing eggs for consumption and sale, and the potential to grow the flock and create a sustainable income source.

Mr. Blessing is a small scale farmer and his small plot of land is about a kilometer from his village home. He is married to Annie and they have two children - their son Jonas (age 10) and his daughter Aisha (age 8).The farm income is not enough to support his family, so he seeks piecework on other people's farms.

He was excited when the Malawi Mobile Library came to Mphonde Village as he had been concerned that the village children did not have good opportunities for education or learning of any kind. He was very excited to be chosen as another book monitor for Mphonde Village. With the full support of his beloved wife, his home welcomes an average of 35 children and adults per week. He dedicates specific days for story time, which listeners of all ages enjoy - especially when he reads Bible stories. His newly developed book lending program is becoming very well used. It’s amazing to think that only two years ago, there were no books available in the village for anyone to read.

Mr. Blessing devotes many hours of service to ELI and the people of Mphonde, but he also needs to provide for his family. As soon as possible, ELI hopes to fund a poultry project for Mr. Blessing. Will you help?

Basic Needs

Mr. Jacob and his team have come to know and love the people of the three villages served by the mobile library program. They know that most of the children participating in the various activities are hungry and come from very poor families. When the Boxes of Blessings arrive, they find beautiful clothing items and small toys to give to these precious children - tangible expressions of God's love for them.

Last year when the EL team visited different homes, they met families with absolutely nothing to eat. Jacob sent ELI US an urgent request, "We have to do something for these families!” Thanks to our supporters, the Basic Needs program has helped many families this past year, and we pray for this important ministry to continue. Hunger is a constant companion in Malawi, but now is the time of the "Hungry Season." The price of food becomes even more expensive, and even corn meal, the basic commodity becomes unavailable. For the elderly and the children, life is a struggle.

The EL Malawi team pray fervently for wisdom as they identify whom they will be able to help each month. In October, ten families received assistance, and Jacob sent this story.

A Story of Hope

"Our team travels through the villages and we ask the community to identify neighbors who are struggling severely with food insecurity. One elderly couple were mentioned repeatedly. When we visited the couple's home, we encountered a heartbreaking situation. The elderly pair (Zingalume and Nasapika) were simply sitting in their home with no food available. They have no source of income and depend entirely on the goodwill of their neighbors for survival. On days when the neighbors cannot spare food, they go to bed hungry.

Madalitso, their 12-year-old granddaughter lives with them, and she has the painful responsibility of going door to door and asking neighbors for food. This is an enormous burden for a child."

Thanks to your generosity, the EL team provided a month's supply of food and a much needed water bucket. The couple cried and rejoiced at the goodness of God to see their need,"just in time."

Over and over as the team distributed food supplies, they heard that these gifts had arrived "just in time." This just underscores the urgency of this much needed help!

Madalitso attends school whenever possible, so she will receive a new dress and sweater from donations sent in Boxes of Blessings. It will also be a joy to gift her with a stuffed animal and a Children's Bible to call her own. It is our prayer that these items will bring joy and comfort to this little girl living in such a tough situation.

Dear ELI friends. Thank you so very much for your faithful prayers and financial gifts. Though you haven't personally met the precious people your generosity has blessed, we enjoy introducing you to Grandmother Alefa, Mr. Blessing, Nasapika and many others, whose lives have changed because of your love and caring for a stranger living so far away.

Our special season of thankfulness and giving is upon us, and we have some priority needs that we ask you to consider supporting. We are always praying for more regular monthly donors to support our current programs and help us add others. Your gift of any amount is a blessing.

We ask you to consider a generous gift to meet one of our priority needs, thank you.