Seeds for Malawi from Irish Seedsavers

27th June 2016:

Seeds glorious seeds
Real seed, saved and collected by real people.
Seeds that have lasted through families and generations past.
No genetic modifications.
No animal genes stuck in to improve anything
And most of all NO MONSANTO INVOLVEMENT
Imagine my delight in finding these on my arrival after the usual torturous 24 hour journey, from Mzuzu.
I sat down straight away and writhe this to Jo and Valerie at Irish Seedsavers, in Scarriff, Co Clare, amazing people, in a spectacular and precious organisation. (for the World)
I really love the seeds in brown envelopes, saved from Malin to Mizen, by people who care for the planet and the food we all eat.
We will again save the seeds in our Lusangazi farm and again pass them on for future generations of Malawians.

Hi Valerie and Jo,


Once again I am so excited and delighted with this enormous bag of seeds.


I really love the personal ones and so will our team be in Malawi.


Last year we started a new venture of enabling girls who had qualified for Government Secondary Schools to take up their places.
We are now supporting 98 in all. The oldest is a 39 year old woman who has 8 children, just beginning Form 1.


Just returned, yesterday morning, after a month in Malawi, with 12 final year students from Teacher Training College in Limerick, and when I couldn’t sleep on the plane , I
began thinking of the futures of those 98 girls.


If they qualify for nursing, who will pay for them, and there will be few jobs as the Government Bureaucrats have robbed all the donor money for that.
If they qualify for teaching they will again have to find fees and then there are over 20,000 teachers qualified for 2 years and more who are still awaiting placements.


All will be better and stronger young women, but most will have no jobs and a dark future of almost slavery.
They will all need food and the country has almost none at the moment


So I reckon agriculture/horticulture may be a help.
At our factory we have about 2 acres of land, where we began some growing last year.
So now we will do it in earnest, find some qualified person (almost impossible) and make their  school agriculture programme into the real deal.
Now with the boost of your seeds, I will get on it today and do a few summer camps with the interested girls. Yippee.
When they come, maybe 50 of them, they will sleep in mats on the floors in our new Centre for Learning, as they do.
We bring in “Matrons” to mind them at night and cook three meals a day.
(Malawi is on famine mode since April and will get much worse, so three meals a day is past their wildest imaginings)


We have a well/borehole there as well, so a solar pump and our own latest invention irrigation hand pump will provide the water.


Maybe we could have a little diploma course in extremely practical horticulture later and send them out on their bikes to assist others,because there are no agricultural extension workers operating at the moment, except those on maize, cotton  or tobacco!!


Sorry about the rant, but this is how mad we are. and maybe, as they say, watch this space!!!


Its still the cold season, so we will begin with the brassicas and maybe turnips, and having looked carefully at what you sent others as well.


I will send you a few pics later.


I couldn’t have a better present
and your timing was impeccable


God Bless


John  (and Mary)