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| Snoden (in the middle) and his wife Susan (holding Irene) with the family from Dedza |
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| Snoden and Fades (the widow who needs our help) |
The kids in Malawi have two weeks off of school right now for something akin to our spring break. Since some of them have siblings in public education and the parents often use holidays for travel to visit family or find work, we follow their schedule to make things easier for everyone. Also, we’re in the process of accreditation through the government, so it makes sense. Snoden and his family should have this time off as well, but you may know him by now and you might have guessed that he has found someone to help instead.
Before we met him, Snoden was a traveling salesman. He would go to other towns to buy food, clothing, or household items and then resell them for a profit in Lilongwe, the capital city and where we lived. He often traveled to a town about two hours away called Dedza, where the potatoes were plentiful and cheap. He tells of one time when he arrived and found no potatoes for sale and no money to return home. A family took him in and fed him until he could find what he was looking for and return to Lilongwe.
The same family that showed Snoden such kindness so many years ago has now come to him in his own village, asking for help. How they found him is unclear, but what is clear is that our program has developed a reputation for compassion that apparently reaches farther than we realized. The father was very sick and in need of medical care that he could not afford. Snoden was able to get him to the hospital, where he received life-saving treatment. The family was very grateful and sheepishly asked Snoden if he could help with one more thing. The man’s mother lives in a tiny house that is dilapidated to the point of collapsing, which has happened once before. It’s completely unsafe and needs to be rebuilt—but the right way this time. Snoden spent his own money on the man’s medical care and only then did he call us to tell us he’s out of money to help any further. He asked if we could raise support to rebuild the house.
At first we were hesitant to entertain the idea of going so far outside the boundaries of our own ministry. The widow’s house is far away from our school and not within the scope of our mission statement, which includes helping only the families of the kids we sponsor. But, on second thought, we realize that Snoden will do what he’s going to do with his own time and his own money, and there are worse things than helping the poor. I’ve said before that we are tweaking our plan as we go along, so here’s a new rule: We will support any benevolence that our own people are willing to spend their own money and time on. That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?
So instead of vacation photos from Malawi, Snoden has sent us photos of the family in Dedza and a video of himself at the widow’s current house, asking for $1,000 to rebuild it. I will be posting that video on DonorSee shortly after I post this blog article. As always, thank you for your interest and support. You can help with this project or any other by making a tax deductible donation at the link below. Thank you and God bless you!
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