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Eating fried grasshoppers to help the needy

Thursday, November 24, 2005

From fried grasshoppers to a cottage industry, Hazel Lund, poses with garments made by her African pupils.

Social worker Hazel was motivated by the honest African smiles of the villages she visited during her overseas travels. They were very sincere people who didn’t have piles of westernised junk.

Energetic Hazel, formerly from Rockhampton, Central Queensland, developed a novel way to sponsor several African villages, touching the lives of all levels of their society.

Supplying scrap wool

Mother of three grown children, at the ripe old age of 55, Hazel kept up a supply of wool for several years, which allowed these Africans to knit their way to a respectable standard of living. They sold the finished product.

Proud of the result.

Women, children and even macho youths contributed to the clickety click as they knitted themselves out of the poverty cycle.

This is the scene: Under a clear blue African sky, elders in the southern Malawian village of Chikwawa excitedly unwraped a precious cargo of Australian wool, paper and pencils from Queensland. Some of it may be excess scrap to the Aussie donors however the recipients cannot hide their delight.

This scene has been repeated many times in four southern Malawi villages, each with about 300 residents. That is a big family and a lot of lives Hazel has touched. And the family loved her dearly too.

The idea came to Hazel about 10 years ago when she visited her son Glenn and his Welsh wife Wendy formerly aid workers in Malawi but later in Uganda.

Infant mortality

She discovered that this village had the second highest infant mortality rate in the world. Mothers had no access to a clinic or medicine unless they walked 35 miles (56km) to a nursing station.

Only one child from each family could afford to attend school but once enrolled, these lucky ones had no pens or writing paper.

Knitting while on the job.

She saw village women with scrappy bits of wool, trying to knit with the rusty spokes of old bicycle wheels.

No toys and no hobbies

The children had no concept of playing with toys. They’d never seen toys but still they were happy.

“The people were so open, honest and industrious but they didn’t have any hobbies due to their shocking poverty.

Sick of waiting for governments to see the problem, Hazel decided that an “average gran” could make a difference.

She and other aid workers gave the locals knitting lessons with a few “strings” attached. Each had to go back to their villages and teach ten of their friends.

Back in Central Queensland Hazel put out an appeal for wool, pencils and paper to be deposited regularly with the Rockhampton Salvation Army. The supply kept coming for several years.

The pencils and paper are used in schools and for literacy classes.

Tough kids learn to knit

One youth called Elliott Arkileni was laughed at by his peers when he began knitting babies clothes. This handsome athletic youth took no notice as he was too busy selling the garments and enjoying his newfound entrepreneurial skills.

Some of his knockers became knitters when they saw him bring in about 10 kwacha, or two dollars Australian, per week.

Elliott knitted his way through high school. Impressed with his business acumen Hazel recently rewarded him with a soccer ball which is also being kicked by 100 fellow pupils and several other schools of similar size.

Hundreds of other village children who can’t attend school also wait in line to kick the ball. At the time of this writing, there were about 1000 soccer-mad Africans waiting their turn and Elliott was thinking of reducing their 20 minutes allotted ball time.

Taking your turn to kick a ball

The children of Chikwawa were thrilled recently when they received parcels of kites, marbles and yoyos, designed to balance out their education.

“I have never seen a lazy African,” observes Hazel. “Even children as young as five years carries their younger sibling on their backs while others may have a 10km walk to fetch water for the family.”

“Girls work with their mothers and boys toil in the fields, growing crops alongside their fathers. Anyone silly enough to aspire to be an extra wife in a polygamous marriage, often gets the “non-glamorous job of sitting in a mud hut with bags of rocks to throw at the pesky baboons. It keeps them out of the corn patch. Still it’s hard work.

One African offered 20 goats for Hazel as an extra wife. The thought of “baboon duty” put her off but the chap still sends her love letters.

No junk and no litter

Visitors to Malawi are amazed to find no litter on the ground. It is not a consumer society therefore no one has anything to throw away. Welfare payments do not exist.

Proud of their handiwork.

Hazel Lund is in no way an accidental social worker. She did an apprenticeship of 20 years trying to alleviate aboriginal health and other problems in outback Australia around Alice Springs and Camooweal.

“Many people ask if it really makes a difference to sponsor an African child. I tell them they can help, not just one child, but an entire village,”
said Hazel.

Donation from elderly

It is not the government but ordinary Australians who are getting the message. One 97-year-old woman from Box Hill in Victoria sent Hazel a A$97 donation. She just needed reassurance that “the relief supplies actually get through to the ones in need.”

A group of West Australian women associated with Emmanuel International sent their own wool donations. Hazel also has a network of generous friends in church groups throughout Australia.

On one occasion, Qantas helped out by taking medicine freight free to Africa after the Australian government declined to assist.

Hazel even received a negative response when she asked for rail or postal discount on the transport of wool, knitting needles and literacy supplies.

Mrs Juni of the delightful village of Chikwawa sums up the situation nicely. “Thankyou for your parcels of wool, books paper and pencils. I conduct three knitting classes each week and we are learning to use a pattern. I thank you for English dictionary which you have sent to me. I didn’t expect that I will receive it. It is an unexpected thing to me. God must have heard my prayer.”

Hazel currently lives with her son Glenn in Western Australia. She has a large “family” and great memories. It is in her genes to enrich other family trees.

(Sanderson Media's breezy writing style and great images can get your message out to the world) contact john@sanderson-media.com

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