Starting from this first generous act, CVS became Temwa's primary corporate sponsor. In 2006 they pulled out the stops again, raising donations among a group of their own partnership organisations to buy a 4x4 vehicle in South Africa. Again, Martin personally drove the vehicle up to Malawi with colleague Michael Houlden. Also in September 2006, CVS organised their first corporate black tie ball to raise money for Temwa. The ball was a huge success and raised a huge amount for Temwa's ongoing projects in Malawi. The money raised was used for a large range of projects including the building of the first ever library in Usisya and funding of the librarians salary for a year; the running of horticultural training courses; peer HIV & AIDS education training for young people; the purchase of a Temwa motorbike; and the upgrading of the Temwa office's solar power system.

During several more years of constant support, CVS organised three more annual charity balls for Temwa between 2007 & 2009, which were all huge successes. The money raised from these events funded the building of a new primary school block in the village of Nkhutu and the purchase of a second Temwa motorbike. A large part of Temwa's project area can't be reached by 4x4 and thus the motorbikes are used to perform project visits in the more remote areas of Usisya as well as travelling to the nearest city of Muzuzu for supplies and administrative duties.

In 2009 CVS also raised funding through a sky dive which has contributed towards the production of a groundbreaking national HIV & AIDS education film aimed at 5-12 year olds. It is titled 'Mawa Langa' (My Tomorrow), and will be used teach children ways in which they can protect themselves from contracting HIV in the future. Currently, in Malawi, there is just a 1% prevalence rate of HIV in children in this age group – so, if these children can be taught how to protect themselves before they reach puberty, just imagine how dramatic the overall reduction in the prevalence of the disease could be.

Having begun recently, the final CVS funded project over this period is a Youth Development Loan Scheme. A new member of staff has been employed for a year to help mobilise youth within local communities to be able to access a new programme of business development loans from the government. These loans are aimed at helping youth to set up small businesses and Temwa will help facilitate this process. It is hoped that such endeavours will after time contribute to an overall reduction in poverty in local communities.

Temwa would like to take this chance to send a heartfelt thanks to CVS for their ongoing support, without which we wouldn't be where we are today. We look forward to many more happy years of fruitful partnership.

www.uk-cvs.com