I have always read the Malawi Update with interest and many a time my mother, Dorothy Lewis, tells me to write an article to let people know what my charity, 'The Landirani Trust', is doing in Malawi.

My parents went as missionaries to live in Livingstonia in 1956, taking with them a young 6 month old baby boy. My father, Harry Lewis, was teaching carpentry and joinery. Two years later twins were born in Zomba, my brothers Robin and Charlie, and then I was to follow in 1960. We were then based for the majority of the time in Malawi until 1969, therefore some very influential years for me.

Our family moved to Scotland for a short time firstly in 1965 and then in 1969, but the magnet of Africa drew us back, this time to Lesotho; and after 9 years in Maseru, my parents went onto Kenya. Africa is a continent that does not let go easily.

Sadly, Martin, my eldest brother, died in Malawi at the age of 8 and was buried at St Michael's in Blantyre. For many years I wanted to visit Malawi for nostalgic reasons, and to visit my brother's grave. I was given my husband's blessing to do this in 2005, leaving him for three weeks with our three children. This trip changed my life to what it is now. I contacted Child Survival in Malawi to say I was going on this journey and asked whether I could help them at all. We decided that I would visit 5 of their projects and report back on their progress. I had contacted the CCAP prior to my journey and hoped to get help to stay in some missions. Little did I know that this connection was the start of my new journey that was to lead me to where I am now.

I was taken into a rural area north of Lilongwe to be shown the problems faced by orphan and vulnerable children who were not getting any support. This gave us a bench mark to then look at the projects supported by CSIM which we visited. The number of orphans and vulnerable children in this initial area was staggering and I could not believe there was no support, since the closest village was only 25 km away from the capital city, Lilongwe. At the end of my journey, the decision had been made to help support this initial area and on 23rd April 2005, The Landirani Trust was born, and duly registered as a charity in the UK a year later.

I cannot believe what we have achieved in such a short period of time; and most of this is due to having built up an amazing relationship with our local community. Four years down the line and still there is very little support besides us going on in this remote area. We have a fluctuating 3,000 children's names on our beneficiary list. Since my background is in education, we have put the majority of our support through the schools, of which there are 25 in the area. To make it manageable we have a Hard Focus Zone (100km square) where we focus the majority of our support, and then a Soft Focus Zone (also approx 100km square) which gets minimal support. We felt that, to make a difference, it was best not to spread ourselves too thinly. It was still a mammoth and scary prospect to take on just our Hard Focus zone.

Now we are seeing the difference, by building and renovating schools and helping them to get a better education. Health and nutrition can be taught in the schools, along with other important life skills. We have also introduced vegetable gardens that the children tend and from which they share the produce. Orchards are also grown at the schools and again produce is shared. Both are very important, giving much needed nutrition to help fight HIV/AIDS, and also strengthening the immune system. We have now started up a reforestation programme in the schools, because trees are disappearing fast in Malawi as the ever increasing population rely on firewood both for cooking and for making bricks. We have just started a mobile book library, giving the children the chance to see a 'real book' for the first time in their lives. We are setting up feeding programmes aimed particularly at the under 5's since this age group is the most vulnerable. Our first Children's Corner is set up - this is a special out of school club to which orphans can go to get emotional support and meet others in the same position as themselves.

We celebrated our third volunteer group trip in April and already have a full trip organised for next year. The wonderful thing about volunteers helping on short term trips is that they can spread the word when they get back. It is a two way satisfaction, with both communities working together for the same aim.

We also have 8 of our schools linked with schools in the UK, thus forming special relationships between children in Malawi and children in the UK. We have produced a school pack that helps to educate the children in the UK about life in Malawi. I truly am amazed at what we have achieved. If you would like to find out more, please look at our website www.landirani.org or go to www.youtube.com/landirani. We are currently looking for a Country Manager, so if you feel you fit the bill, please contact me on heather@landirani.org.

Heather Palmer is the Chairperson of the Landirani Trust.