St. Mary's in the World

We are called to be the hands and heart of Christ in the world

Greetings from Janet Chipanga

One of our closest partners in Malawi is Joseph Chipanga, the head teacher at Namiasi Primary School, which St. Mary’s helped fund and build a decade or so ago. It serves children from a number of small villages north of Mangochi, Malawi. With Joseph’s help, we were able to bring clean water and bathrooms to Namiasi Primary School during the earliest days of the Covid pandemic. More recently, an anonymous member of our parish family has made it possible for the school to receive electricity, and for laptop computers to become part of the school’s curriculum.

Joseph's daughter Janet is a counselling psychology student in her second year at the University of Malawi, thanks in part to the support of our fellow parishioner and brother John Ascott. John, who died earlier this year, quietly paid Janet’s school fees through high school and into her first year of college.

In one of the poorest nations in the world, where less than 2% of graduating students are able to attend college, and even fewer are women, Janet represents our hope for tomorrow. Janet and Rev. Michael correspond regularly; and this month she has written a letter to the congregation of St. Mary’s, which you can read at this link.