The secret life of Susan Reimer
Posted on Sat, 18 Sep 2010
It’s been a long time since I last added an article to the website. Sorry about the long silence! It’s been a rather unusual year — in fact it’s been mainly a Malawian year. I’ve spent most of my time in the rural parts of Malawi, involved in development work.
When Muffins began 14 years ago, I never dreamt it would eventually lead to this! While my husband holds the fort at home in the UK, I’ve been building links with a community of 19 villages and beyond, working with them to bring about sustainable change.
Most Malawians are subsistence farmers, unable to generate enough cash for basic things like school materials and medicine. Through projects such as student sponsorship, irrigation pumps, solar lighting, road improvements, poultry training and distribution, micro-loans for small businesses, and adult literacy classes, we are trying to give them the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.
As most of my time and energy is now focussed on Malawi, I’m afraid there isn’t much time left for muffin experiments (although I’m having fun working out new forms of baking using only a hotplate + frying pan + cover!).
I’m glad Muffins continues to live on in Britain and I’ll still be able to check my email from time to time if you’d like to get in touch. But meanwhile, if you order a copy of Muffins, you’ll know where the money is going. And when you take the next fresh batch of muffins out of the oven, you can think of Malawi!
