Nicely Manda - The Dignity Project

NICELY MANDA

We were introduced to Nicely by our two contacts in the village as a deserving casue for our support and we drove out of the village down a small narrow lane for about 2 miles and found two houses just off the roadside. The houses were of the mud and straw design that you see a lot of in rural Africa, but they were immaculate inside.

We found Nicely sitting outside her house and we were introduced to her. She told us that she had contracted polio and could no longer use her legs and we asked her when she had last been into the village or town. She told us it had been eight years since she was last in town and that was only to go the hospital.

We discussed her needs and agreed that we would buy her a sewing machine as she could then learn tailoring and earn a living, and we would also try and source a wheelchair for her. She looked at us rather skeptically but wished us well.

We were inspired by her openness and genuine wish to achieve something and two days later we arrived back with her sewing machine and were met by great delight by Nicely and her parents. A further two days later we arrived back with a wheelchair for her sourced from the Mzuzu Rotary club with an additional donation from a Scottish MSP.