Dear Friends of Makeni,

Revd Pierre Dil continues to receive medical treatment in South Africa for cancer. Please keep him and Mrs Wenda Dil in your prayers at this difficult time.

We will continue to endeavour to keep you informed about work at the centre, from a distance.

The following news is gathered from communications reaching me from Zambia:

USAID Sponsors HIV/AIDS Workshop

The first HIV/AIDS workshop took place over four days in November, 2003. The USAID sponsored project was opened by Fr Mukuyamba and took place at Fairview Hotel, Lusaka. There will be ten workshops in all, spread out until mid April, 2004. We invited the grantor for this project, USAID, to send a representative for the opening session and they have promised to send a representative to open one of the remaining workshops.

We hope to provide you with more information about this event in a later newsletter.

ZECAB Support Received

The Zambia Education Capacity Building Programme has provided support in the amount of K4,000,000 (about £500) each to be given the Carpentry and HSN departments. In addition, the following items have been supplied:

2 black and white TVs, 2 colour TVs, 8 soldering wire coils, 8 digital meters, 8 analog meters and 7 tool boxes.

We thank ZECAB for their support!

Boreholes
In June 2003 two new boreholes were sunk, namely in Chisamba Settlement Village and in Mwomboshi SV. Water was struck at 36 metres in the former and at 35 metres in the latter. The first borehole yields 3 litres of water per second, the second one 2.5 litres per second. We are, of course, very pleased that water was located -- that has not always been the case previously.

The cost of these two boreholes was K29 million (about US$ 6,700). Now the next phase is to install the windmills, construct the towers and connect the main lines. That will cost approximately K88 million [about US$20,500], excluding the cost of water tanks and distribution piping, which we have in stock. Financial support for MEC's projects has been low in 2003, so we may not be able to proceed.


Orphanage Play Park

The construction of a play park for the AIDS Orphanage Village children, the pre-school and lower primary school children has been going on. The children are enjoying the play park enormously!

Leopard’s Hill Farm
MEC has won its court case against the Ministry of Lands with regards to funds invested in the Leopards Hill Farm. The High Court awarded the Centre substantial damages, and the Government has paid out part of the amount awarded. Further details are available from Mrs Christine Allen.

Support from Kerk in Actie, Holland

We were delighted when Kerk in Actie in Holland recently decided to continue its financial support for the Centre. Kerk in Actie, the mission body of the Reformed Churches in Holland, has been supporting the work of MEC financially and materially since 1971!

Thank you all for your support and interest in our work!

Please note my new e-mail address which you should use while I am in S.Africa:
dil@telkomsa.net


With sincere regards,

Yours in Christ,

Fr Pierre J Dil / Founder Makeni Ecumenical Centre


News Archive
Annual Report 2002

2002 News zip
2003 News zip

2001 News zip
2000 News zip
1999 News zip
1998 News zip

January 2004 News

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