Blantyre North Relief Project

From only five orphans in 1985 to 700 in 2005 (in the ’90s there was an explosion of orphans” due to the AIDS epidemic in Africa).

The Sindima family has been supporting orphans in many ways: food, clothing, blankets, shelter (building brick homes), school uniforms and materials, tuition and fees for high school, vocational training, and college.

Sindima Memorial Institute of
Arts and Technology

Now our family is building a school for 2,500 students to train in various skills, careers, and professions: accounting, architecture, business management, computer system technology, engineering, graphics, nursing, medicine, automotive technology,woodwork technology, among other programs.

They work throughout the local communities and the Presbytery to elicited the support for the projects.

Read more about this project, Harvey and his wife, Gertrude.


Blantyre North Relief Project Information

Where is Malawi?

BNRP / Sindima Memorial Institute of Arts and Technology Brochures:
Overview
Detailed Version
Missions: Hard at Work and Working

Rev. Dr. Harvey J. Sindima
Hamilton, NY — Malawi, Africa
Thank you in advance for supporting my family's efforts to make a difference in the life of orphans: to give them joy, hope, security so that they can smile. The smile of a child is priceless.

Now, may the One "by the power at work within us is able to accomplish far more than we all can ask or imagine" bless you exceedingly now and in the New Year, and to God "be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations for ever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:20).

MediaGlobal Interview (December 2009) : View PDF File
Caring for Malawi's orphans to build a more sustainable future:
An interview with Dr. Harvey Sindima, founder of The Blantyre North Relief Project
By Henoch Derbew
http://www.mediaglobal.org
Progress Updates — Spring 2009 (select pictures to enlarge)

BNRP thanks God for blessing us with visions. We thank God for faith and hope that make us believe that whatever vision the Spirit shows us will be accomplished. We have no doubts that all plans will come to pass. We at how much we are led to do as say with the Psalmist, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23).
It is indeed marvelous in our eyes!
THE FEEDING CENTER
In January BNRP again enrolled 100 children in its feeding program. Children are feed breakfast, Lunch and have a “little” meal before they are picked up by their mothers or guardians late afternoon.
Health Development: Once a month, Public Health officials come for updates on immunizations and to check on other health related issues. All our children are at or above their weight gain according to their age and height.

Intellectual Development: The children are taught reading and math. They are divided into three age-groups: two pre-kindergarten 2-3, 4-5, and kindergarten 6. Our children were already doing much better, reading above their age group and sometimes well above their grade level. To strengthen our teaching and teaching staff, one certified first grade teacher was hired in January. We have been using all Malawian instruction materials in our teaching, but we added Hooked on Phonics in May. All the children love Hooked on Phonics because they were already being instructed in English and they all knew their ABCs extremely well.

Physical Development: The children play a lot of team games. More than half of their day at the feeding center the children is spent collaborative playing, thus encouraging the traditional sense family.
The feeding Center is a very successful program. Food and balanced eating are the keys to this great success. Children in the villages often do not have enough to eat and when they do it is not balanced eating. Food is very expensive, but BNRP is ready to stop any of its programs to feed the children.

Spiritual Development: The Feeding center teaches spiritual mattes through what we call “Choruses” in Malawi. These are short songs based on verses from the Bible.
CONSTRUCTION
The Institute (a Arts and Sciences university for orphans and the poor in Southern Africa). Construction of the second building of the Institute is at the second level as the pictures above show. The second floor will house labs: biology, chemistry, dental, nursing, optics, physics, physical therapy, radiology, surgical, and a 150-seating capacity lecture hall. All the classes are on the first floor.

Housing for Orphan: Work will commence in July on three houses for orphans.

Medical Center: Due to the depressing fact that there is not a single a health facility of any kind in one of the areas of BNRP operation, BNRP has started making bricks to build a very small, but comprehensive medical facility that will include: ten-bed wards for children, general female, and male patients. There will be a 10-bed maternity ward, with a four-bed delivery room. Surgery will have a four-bed recovery room and all necessary rooms. Surgery will be performed for most medical problems except the more complex ones such as cancer. Construction of the medical facility will begin this fall and we anticipate completion in the summer or fall next year, God willing.
THE FARM
The irrigation farm has proved to be really useful, giving us three yields per year. We are growing mostly corn and different kinds of greens to feed children in the BNRP program including the feeding center. We continue to increase the acreage, but our output is still very little because of the traditional methods of farming we are using.

Next month we will complete construction of a 30-meter barn for ten milk cows and twenty for beef. Four farm workers will have their houses near the barn.
Past Progress Reports

A New Feeding Centre: (select picture above to enlarge)

November last year, I set out to visit our orphans village by village, from home to home. I was also bringing them food and clothing too. While I was on this visit, I was deeply sadden to find children in the area very thin because lack of food. Most of those children looked like they would not make it; that they would die if they did not get food within a short time. These were not our orphans, but children of young mothers, most of them widows, or of very poor parents. I was so disturbed by what I saw that I came back to my home hoping to talk to my brother to see what we could do. When he called, I told what I had seen and how sad I was. I told him that we needed to do something right away, if we didn’t want to be ashamed before God. I told him that it was a priority for us. Of course, his concern was money, given the many other things we are doing. We both felt we did not have a choice, but to engage in this work. Within days we were ready to begin saving lives. We started with 100 children ages 1–5, serving breakfast around 9:00 and lunch around 2:00. Within one month, only 2 children were borderline, but every child weighed within normal range.

Distribution of Mosquito Nets for Malaria Prevention: (select picture above to enlarge)

The death of a child from malaria, prompted BNRP to acquire and distribute mosquito nets to all of the area children. Blankets were also distributed at this time to children in need.

School Construction: (select pictures to enlarge)

The Sindima Memorial Institute of Arts and Technology
academic buildings are now being plastered on the inside.

Safe Water / Well Project: (select picture above to enlarge)

Since February 2008, BNRP had three wells sunk in three different villages. These wells have relieved women and girls from walking more than a mile each way to fetch water from one of the wells BNRP sank a few years ago. Before the new wells, women and girls walked the long distance with five to six-gallon buckets on their heads, several times a day for cooking, cleaning/washing, and bathing. The women would start fetching water as early 5 a.m. and some even earlier. This safe water project was made possible by funds from the Patnership Committee of Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery, New York, working together with the Partnership Committee of the Pyongyang Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of South Korea. A fourth well will be sunk in April 2008 by BNRP alone. BNRP will continue sinking wells as is able, or as donors are found. Contibute to the BNRP safe water project to help the women of Malawi from walking long distance for water.

Annual Corn & Fertilezer Distribution: (select picture above to enlarge)

Each year BNRP distributes corn seed and fertilizer to over 200 families (mostly orphans and elderly). It is a tradition that children must have their small plot of land, or a garden to learn how to farm. While BNRP gives out food to orphans, it gives them seed and fertilizer for them to learn the importance of farming.
About: Rev. Dr. Harvey J. Sindima
Rev. Dr. Sindima is a graduate of Church of Central Africa Presbyterian College, New College, Faculty of Divinity, Edinburgh University, Interdenominational Theological Center, and Princeton Theological Seminary.

This site is sponsored by the Presbyterian Women of the Morrisville Community Church

Additional Books by Harvey available online

 email: hsindima@twcny.rr.com