Malawi Jake

Dear Jon,

My name is Spencer Mallard and I’m a friend of Jake’s from Virginia Tech. If you read Greg’s recent journal entry “In the Back of the Beyond,” I’m the guy who works for the “African Strategic Defense Command” and am also the guy who may or may not have had a little problem one morning in Zolokere while Greg was being attacked by a giant, killer rat.

Concerning the ongoing fundraiser, I just quickly wanted to let you know that Mr. & Mrs. Tom Kreutzer of Woodbridge, VA, good family friends of mine I’ve known my entire life, have just put a check for $1,000 in the mail. The check will officially be on behalf of the Rotary Club. Mr. Kreutzer had been asking me for a while if I knew of any grassroots organizations or groups in Africa to which he might be able to make a donation, and your mention of Jake’s most recent effort immediately came to mind.

I gave Mr. Kreutzer my highest assurances that this money would go a long way in making quite a lasting difference in Jake’s neighboring village of Khutamaji. If he had the opportunity of actually meeting Jake, I’m sure he’d be even more convinced. I know Jake will only be back in the States for one month this summer, but I’m going to try and convince him to come down to DC for one or two days and perhaps give a talk of his past, present, and future efforts to make the Rumphi district where he lives a more prosperous, pleasant place to live. I’m sure Mr. Kreutzer and his pals at the Rotary Club would be keen on meeting Jake and hearing from him. And given my job and current position within the government I could most likely widen the audience a bit and perhaps get an official from the Malawian Embassy here in DC to participate.

This idea is only in the initial stages and is admittedly dependent upon Jake’s willingness to share his efforts/views to a crowd and his availability during his month off here in the States. I certainly don’t want to ask Jake to do something he doesn’t want to do, but I think a lot of folks would be surprised at how many people in the DC area would be willing and excited at the prospect of meeting Jake and hearing what he had to say. Having worked Africa issues for close to three years in DC, I can tell you that although the community is quite small, it’s also one that is really engaged and eager for positive news, whether it be the building of a school in a small Malawian village, or the eradication of terrorist activity in Algeria. Both are important victories.

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled on enough, but I really hope you achieve your goal of $15,000. Please keep in touch (via e-mail or Jake’s website) and let everyone know how things are going.

Take care,
Spencer

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Spencer -

Thanks so much! I did get an email from Mr. Kreutzer and thanked him for his donation; however, I didnt realize how generous it was. My father is a Rotarian - I may see if his local club will want to donate as well. I am going to ask Jake if he would be willing to speak at the Rotary as well in Moorestown NJ.

Greg -

Please post this email to the website and forward to Jake.

Thanks again Spencer!

Jon

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 at 8:13 am and is filed under General Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.