New chapels for two remote villages
Malawi, a landlocked country of Southern Africa, is among the poorest countries in the world. The parish of Benga lies in the east of the country, close to Lake Malawi, in a region of great poverty. Though only established in 2013, the parish has already witnessed 6,000 baptisms. Still, a mere 20% of the population are Catholic, the majority being either Protestant or Muslim.
The parish covers a large geographical area with many scattered outlying settlements or villages, as is so often the case in Africa. Consequently, the Catholic faithful often live so far from the parish centre that the distance is too far for them to walk. Because of this, many of the villages have managed to build small chapels where the people can gather to pray. These are often simple makeshift mud chapels, built by the people themselves.
There were two villages in the parish of Benga where new chapels were urgently needed—Kachule and Njiza. While there were just 12 Catholic families in Kachule in 1960, there are 55 today. The original chapel, like many traditional African huts, was merely a grass-thatched structure. In 2010, they repaired the chapel with clay tiles, but the heavy rainfall caused cracks to develop in the walls and the building was at risk of collapsing. Besides, it was already far too small, given the growing number of Catholic families. In the village of Njiza, the Catholic faithful had likewise tried to repair their small and crumbling chapel through their own efforts, but the building lacked a proper foundation and has since collapsed, leaving 20 Catholic families without a permanent chapel.
The archbishop of Lilongwe urgently appealed to us for help, sharing that the people in this neglected region needed a chapel of their own in which to pray together and draw strength and hope.
His plea did not go unheeded. Thanks to the generous help of our benefactors, who donated $23,940, both villages have been able to build new and permanent chapels, which have been blessed by their bishop. There is great rejoicing among the faithful, and so we now pass on their heartfelt thanks to all of you whose generosity made this possible!
