THE STORY OF THE BAOBAB TREE

Traditional stories have been passed down through the generations about how God, angry with the Boabab tree, pulled it out and flung it back into the ground headfirst.  With branches that look just like a root system when the tree is leafless, it is easy to see how this and many other similar stories came about.

The Baobab called the tree of life with good reason.  It is capable of providing shelter, food and water for the animal and human inhabitants of the African Savanna regions.

The cork-like bark is fire resistant and is used for cloth and rope.  The leaves are used for condiments and medicines.  The fruit, called “monkey bread” is rich in vitamin “C” and is eaten. The tree is capable of storing hundreds of liters of water, which is tapped in dry periods.

Mature trees are frequently hollow, providing living space for numerous animals and humans alike.  Trees are even used as bars, barns and more.  The Baobab also features as the tree of life in Disney’s “Lion King”, and is the centerpiece in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.


WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT

Baobab Christian Outreach has been in the development stage since early 2007.  By that time our president, Jack Schenk, had served the people of Kenya (2000) and Malawi (2002/2003) during periods of famine in these countries.  Many areas of both Kenya and Malawi were under severe famine conditions due to consistent crop failures because of inconsistent rain patterns in these areas of Africa.  The need for these food interventions left an indelible stamp on the life of Jack and his wife Henrietta.
Shortly after returning from Malawi, Jack was asked to assist Shelter For Life in Sri Lanka.

This was in 2004.  At that time Shelter For Life was building small houses for people that had been dislocated because of the ongoing civil war in that beautiful country.

When this program had come to completion, Jack and his wife Henrietta were ready to return to Canada.  But before leaving, the tragic events of the 2004 tsunami enfolded in Sri Lanka.  The result was that in excess of 200,000 people were left homeless and more than 30,000 people had lost their lives in Sri Lanka only.  In excess of 30,000 dwellings had been lost because of the tsunami and once again, thousands upon thousands of people ended up living in refugee camps.
Jack and Henrietta were asked to stay in Sri Lanka for another year, as they had developed the experience to build modest houses of 200 sq.ft. for the war affected refugees, many of whom had lived in refugee camps for 15 to 20 years.  This time though the replacement houses to be built for the tsunami affected families that had lost their houses and were at the time sheltered in many additional refugee camps throughout the country.
Since early 2008, Jack and Henrietta have been working at the Nkhoma Hospital which is located 60 KMs South of the capital city of Lilongwe.  Jack provided need assistance in the hospital administration and bookkeeping while Henrietta worked with various patients to teach them new skills such as embroidery and child care.  During their time in Nkhoma groundwork has been laid for the potential building of a plant that manufactures much needed nutritious food, still using the local staple, maize, however, with added soya and peanuts as well as various vitamins.  In addition work has started to repair the hospital’s generator to provide electricity to most parts of the hospital in the even of power failures.  Since the automatic switch became defective, every time a power failure occurred, those on ventilators and oxygen concentrators died within 20 to 30 minutes.  This repair has been taken a lot of time since the necessary parts have to be shipped in from South Africa, and a part was not available at the time.  Other work at the hospital continues.


THE “WAITING ROOM” FOR THE NKHOMA HOSPITAL’S EYE CLINIC


How you can help

The best way you can help at present is to consider making a donation.  For instance, for 50 cents per day ($15.00 per month) you can sponsor a patient to ensure the patient will receive proper medical care.  Please check our donations page to obtain the necessary details.