Heber Springs, Arkansas … The board of directors for the Malawi Project convened its annual meeting at the Abbe House in Heber Springs, Arkansas, in mid-April. While the board meets quarterly for official Zoom meetings and frequently convenes special online sessions to address pressing and immediate concerns, the board holds an annual in-person meeting yearly. Members reside in five different states across the U. S. with seven of the eight board members present at the meeting. Five of the eight members are planning to travel to Malawi in the coming months. Despite being an all-volunteer board, there is a high level of involvement and commitment on the part of the members.
Also addressed was the critical famine facing Malawi. With over five million people facing famine the board reaffirmed its commitment to raising funds to provide food assistance to the affected areas. The board recognized the shortfall in funding for other projects due to the prioritization of immediate food relief but focused on ways to obtain funds for other ongoing programs.
Chester Kabinda, the chairman of Action for Progress in Malawi, joined the meeting via Zoom to address some of the pressing needs and challenges facing the country.
In other business it was determined that after nearly 30 years it was time to update the By-Laws for the Project. A “State of the Project” report was submitted by Richard Stephens, a co-Founder of the organization, and later, by a unanimous vote he was selected to serve as the Executive Director for the Project.