Irvine kirk's Malawi fundraiser boosted by special event

Fullarton Connexions recently hosted a fun day in aid of the Irvine Kanyanda Project.

The venture has involved the construction of a clinic and funding healthcare workers in the remote town of Kanyanda.

(Image: LDR) Attractions on offer at the Irvine fun day included a bouncy castle, virtual reality headsets, soft play, games including hook-a-duck and beat the goalie outside.

Indoors, there were craft stalls, baking biscuits and crocheting as well as raffles and competitions to guess the name of a giant bear and guess the number of sweets in a jar.

(Image: LDR) Organiser Ian Young said: “We are hoping to raise about £700 and we had 100 or so people along at the event.”

Asked how the project was faring, Ian added: “The clinic is built and the water supply is in and working, which is a huge plus.

(Image: LDR) “We have bought land for housing which is really important as you can’t get to Kanyanda easily during the rainy season. It will allow us to have staff on site and it also brings salaries and cash into the village.

"They can buy food from the farmers nearby and this increases the turnover.

“Each house comes with a patch of land which the occupant can cultivate and they are expected to grow their own vegetables and maize to supplement their cash. I would like to see the houses all built within two years. 

(Image: LDR) “People are at the clinic once a week currently. At the moment, they can be tested for malaria and treatments for minor ailments and dehydration. Eventually we will have a maternity unit on site which is away in the future.”

So far, £83,000 has been raised for the project since it was launched three years ago.

Ian added: “We are really pleased with the progress. Numbers have been down at the last couple of events but want to get the story out to more people. 

“One of the encouraging things is that out of the 20 volunteers, five or six are from other churches than Fullarton. That is something we had been hoping for.”