Every morning, Yamikani sets out on a long and painful journey to school. Yamikani lives with a physical disability, and the several-kilometre walk to his school is difficult, especially under the hot Malawi sun. His legs often ache before the school day has even begun.
“My legs also going and coming back, I feel much pain.”
– Yamikani
His mother, Rute, knows how difficult this is for her son. Sometimes, she follows him along the road, ready to carry him home when the pain becomes too much. But Yamikani and his family face many other challenges. Floods and cyclones destroyed their home, farmland and possessions, forcing Rute and her family to leave everything behind and start again in the village of Kampira. Today, they struggle with poverty and hunger. At times, the children are simply too weak to attend school.
“Sometimes they stay home for a whole month. We do not send our children to school when they are weak with hunger.”
– Rute Petulo, Yamikani’s mother
And yet, Yamikani continues to dream of a better future. With your help, that future can begin. Through the Church’s mission, Fr Matthew Semba is helping to build St Peter’s Nyamikuta, a new primary school close to where Yamikani and many other families now live. This school will be a blessing for the whole community. It will give children a safe place to learn, a nourishing meal to help them grow and concentrate, and the books, uniforms and other essentials they need. For Yamikani, it will also mean that his journey to school no longer has to be a source of such pain. Fr Matthew shares the hope this project is bringing:
“It has given them a sense of hope going forward to say they’re not left alone. They’re with the Church, they’re with God, and God comes to them through other people.”
– Fr Matthew Semba
Your kindness can help turn this hope into reality. A gift to Missio Malta can help provide classrooms, meals and educational resources for children who have already experienced so much hardship.This year, your generosity carries special significance. Sunday 18 October marks the 100th World Mission Day, a century of people joining together in prayer, generosity and action so that the Church can carry Christ’s love to communities in need around the world. Pope Leo XIV has called us to be “One in Christ, united in mission.”
When you give this World Mission Month, you become part of that mission. From Malta, we can stand in solidarity with families like Yamikani’s, showing them that they are not forgotten and that their hopes and dreams matter. Yamikani dreams of one day becoming a driver and living an independent life. His journey towards that dream can begin with something as simple and as important as having the opportunity to go to school. Will you donate today and help give Yamikani and the children of Kampira the chance to learn, grow and hope for a better future?
Every donation, whatever its size, can make a difference.
Thank you for your generosity, your prayers and for being part of the mission of the Church.
