Lilongwe, Malawi … There is a sad saying that “promises are made to be broken.” All too often this is the case when people with good intentions make promises and are unable to keep them. Behind them lays a path of disappointment and pain. Action for Progress (AfP) stands out as an example of an aid group that lives up to what it has promised. Time after time AfP is called upon to offer assistance and time after time they come through.
This was the case when Lobin Clarke Lowe, a member of the Malawi Parliament asked for assistance for some people in his district. With an almost immediate response, AfP stepped forward to fill the request. Lowe addressed the gathering of friends and family as several people with mobility issues received a new lease on life with a mobility unit made by Mobility Ministries in Demotte, Indiana. In a speech to the gathering, the member of the Malawi Parliament expressed his happiness at how AfP reacted so quickly to his request for assistance to people in his area. He said the quick action by AfP shows their commitment to serving those with mobility issues.
One of those receiving assistance was Tadala Samuel, 21, who lives in the area overseen by Tribal Authority Tsabago. (Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi, is divided into, and governed by 18 Traditional Authorities, with 221 group village headmen and 2,234 villages). Her parents told AfP her problems started when she was very young, and she experienced back pains. Unable to isolate and treat the cause soon left her unable to walk, and this in turn affected her academic life. She soon dropped out of school.
The arrival of AfP has given Tadala new hope, hope that had faded away when she and her family realized they could never afford such a device as the mobility unit that had just been given her at no cost at all by AfP. It renews her dream of going to tailoring school and opening a shop of her own where she can support herself and her parents. The celebration, upon receiving the unit, extended, not only to Tadala, but also to her parents, and to the honorable Member of Parliament.
Action for Progress is the sister organization to the Malawi Project. This all-managed and all-run Malawi organization administers the programs in Malawi that are supported and funded through the Malawi Project and its supporters.
Pictured is Tadala, sitting on her new mobility unit, holding a Bible donated by Mobility Ministries. Her smile reflects the excitement she is feeling with her new opportunity for a new life.