April 2020 Great Expectations Malawi Mission Update

Today marks the 22nd day of quarantine for the Jewell family. Two days before our flight was to return to Malawi, South Africa (our point of entry to the continent) closed its borders, forcing us to pitch our tent here in Golden, CO with my sister’s family. Fortunately, Western Union has remained open in Malawi, who, at the time of writing, has around 18 reported cases with 3 reported deaths. I was able to wire necessary monies to Snoden to continue feeding the kids and keep the 4 member staff employed. Malawian government has closed all schools but continues to allow groups of 100 to assemble, allowing our kids to continue to  benefit from the feeding program. Stay at home orders for Malawians are in effect which means joblessness will increase leading to more starvation. There is no stimulus package coming and no unemployment program to fall back on. I’ve instructed Snoden to harvest the 2 acres of maize this week and hire a few extra personnel to process the food. As long as funds continue to come in, Great Expectations Malawi will serve as a food bank for local residents. 

Implementing social distancing practices is very challenging since most Malawians believe this to be a virus that only affects Chinese people. Snoden and Susan are busy each day enforcing hand washing practices and doing their best to educate their neighbors to the truth. In the meantime, our family will wait and pray. We are still paying for personal living expenses in Malawi and maintaining constant contact with the expat community there on the ground. Several are evacuating the country, mostly those with medical conditions of some sort or those mandated by their employers. Our hope is that the borders will open within the next several weeks. Until then, we rely on your continued support and mercy toward our family and the families affected in Africa. We will update you as more information comes in. 

- John