The accounts and administration department expanded to fill the vacant ward clerk and junior clerk positions. This has improved fee collection, and reduced the burden on the already over-stretched nursing staff. It has also enabled us to implement more rigorous internal control mechanisms, including much stricter control of cash. Our auditor's report for 2000/2001 reflected these improvements, but there is still much work that needs to be done.

We opened a Foreign Exchange (US $) account in Malawi, which will help offset the effects of the devaluing Kwacha, and allow easier transfer of monies from donors overseas. All of our accounts are now computerized and we have found the 'Quickbooks' (tm) system that was introduced last year to be extremely useful in day-to-day monitoring of our finances.

Our financial position remained essentially unchanged in 2001. We still are heavily reliant on the generosity of partner churches overseas. We thank God for his faithful servants in the USA, Ireland, Scotland and England who contribute so much in time, finance and prayer to the work we do here. We also acknowledge with thanks the sustained funding of salaries from the Government of Malawi, distributed through CHAM. We trust this funding will continue and that a formal Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between CHAM and the government in 2002.