Category: Newsletter English

Dear friends of Tikondane,
Three years of drought have come to an end at Tiko. In the last days of November a light rain started, none too early to put the seeds into the soil. This is a much-needed encouragement for the Tiko crew and the people in Katete. Still there are some difficult months ahead until next May ́s harvest. The drought has already morphed into a famine. It will be a challenge to prevent starvation. Statistics say that Zambia lost half of its maize harvest this year. Prices are 40 per cent higher than in 2023. According to FAO 5.6 million people in Zambia will experience a hunger crisis this winter, while a quarter of a million are even facing an emergency…

When Elke and her literacy classes colleagues were searching for land for TIKONDANE COMMUNITY CENTRE, the land they were given by Chief M’bang’ombe for development was waste land. But, it was right on the GREAT EAST ROAD and over the road there was electricity to be had. Wonderful, if it was not for climate change…

Dear friends,
Tiko and the crew are in a state of emergency. Twenty crew members have to be retrenched to save money and drought has led to loss of almost all planted crops.

As we embark on another year filled with hope and promise, we find it crucial to share with you the current state of Tikondane Community Centre and our ongoing efforts to sustain and grow this vital community resource…

Dear friends,
As the holiday season unfolds, we at Tikondane Community Centre invite you to be part of a movement that’s changing lives in Katete, Zambia. Your support can help break the cycle of poverty and bring hope to many.

We trust this newsletter finds you in excellent spirits and ready to join us in celebrating the incredible impact of your steadfast support for Tiko. We would like to share the profound positive changes taking place within our community, thanks to your generosity yand the kindness of a cherished friend…

Dear Friends,
While the Northern countries roast in high temperatures, Katete, as the coldest place in Zambia, feels like the Arctic, and it was just the time that Jens, a teacher at Berlin Humboldt Gymnasium, arrived to visit Tiko, his ‘home away from home‘ for the 15th time with colleagues Dagmar and Ruth for their 2nd and 1st visits. Like Father Christmas again they brought goodies for Tiko, which are also from the FRIENDS OF TIKO in Germany…

Dear Friends,
If you saw our December newsletter, you may have gathered that we are rather busy with our seven potential solutions to Tiko’s problems, especially crew members who are working on a computer (including me). For me to delegate our tasks, we need a number of Tiko crew to have computers…and Wi-Fi. But in reality our crew work part-time to save money on lunches for the crew, with crops having been caught by inflation, and they need time off to work in the fields; we don’t have enough laptops and our Wi-fi often doesn’t work; our computers are agonizingly slow and it can take 20 seconds to open a Facebook message…

Dear Friends,
Too much time has passed since we posted our last newsletter. Why? We did not want to give you bad news, the world is full enough of that, so we waited until we had a reason for hope, which we do now have. Second, our editor Lorraine was not well but Claire (a volunteer from 10 years ago) is stepping in. Christoph and Rey have also helped a lot – as they do in so many ways – so thanks to of all our wonderful helpers, zikomo kwambiri. And our best wishes to Lorraine….

Impressions of the stunning ceremony of the chief of the Chewa people…