WMC project brings hope to teen mothers

By Elias Banda

Esther Petulo stood near her house and cursed the day she was born. She wondered why she was introduced to this hopeless and horrible world where there is no love, a world where she would go to bed without food for several days and nobody seemed to care. Esther faced her demise when  her husband abandoned her with her newly born bay. The only close relative was her uncle who passed away a few months earlier. She was found HIV positive during antenatal checkups when she was pregnant. She looked at her baby and shed tears because all her hopes were shattered.

Esther sited right with club members, the project has brought smiles back on their faces

This is the plight of the 19 year Esther who hails from Sabola Village in Traditional Authority Juma in Mulanje District of Southern Malawi. Esther narrated that when her parents died 6 years earlier she was left under the care of her uncle who supported her until she reached form 2. When her uncle died, Esther’s future hanged in limbo and she became vulnerable as no one within her family network was capable of supporting her. Just like what many girls do in her community, marriage became the only option left for her survival.

Esther is harboring big dreams -to become a nurse

She got married to a young man in her village but after two years into marriage Esther was shocked to discover that her husband had several other women. It took several months for her to recover from this shock and when she inquired about her husband’s infidelity, he reacted by abandoning her and married in the other village. This was her critical moment in her life as she recalled that it was even better for her to die and escape all the life hurdles she would go through. She imagined how life would be for her to stand on her own with a fatherless child. After weighing several survival options, she put up a brave face and decided to face the challenges head on.

Esther caounselling fellow teen mother and village members

In October 2014 a glimmer of hope was cast when Esther, together with her peers joined the Teenage Mothers Group introduced by ADRA Malawi through the When Mother is a Child (WMC) project.  What motivated Esther to join the group was   the direct link between her situation and the goals and objectives of the project. She saw herself reaping more benefits from her participation in the project activities including efforts to go back to school and skills how to cope with challenges facing teenage mothers in her community. In November 2014 Esther was elected chairperson of Tikondane Teenage Mothers Group, comprising 20 members. Group members meet on weekly rotational basis to discuss issues affecting teenage mothers and find solutions.  Her group has since mobilized and reached out to 167 teenage mothers between October and December 2014, encouraging them to go back to school and helping them how to cope with challenges teenage mothers face.  She said that plans are in the pipeline to reach out to more than 500 teenage mothers between January and December 2015.. She also said there were hundreds of teenage mothers who have since been abandoned by their husbands and were going through problems to cope with life. She said her group is geared to reach out to all such girls and bring hope of a better future for them.

 Meanwhile, Esther said she would like to go back to school in form 2 and continue where she left before she got married.  She said when she completes her high school, she would go for nursing course. She said that nothing would come on her way to stop her from achieving her goal. She thanked ADRA Malawi through WMC project for this wonderful project that has revived her hopes for a better tomorrow. “Not all is lost I can now see my bright future” Esther said.  The WMC project has since established  15 teen mothers groups.

Community passes law to reduce illiteracy

By Elias Banda
In a bid to increase literacy levels community members at Group Village Mdondwe in Lilongwe have passed a law enforcing men and women to attend adult classes. During a village meeting community members agreed that those who would not register and attend classes would pay a fine of K3000 (about $6). The unanimous decision was arrived at upon getting the news that all 22 people who sat for October 2013 examinations in the village adult class failed to reach the passing mark.  
Speaking in an interview Village Head Mdondwe said the results were unacceptable given the high levels of illiteracy in his village where many people could not read and write. He said it was difficult for his subjects to participate in community development activities when they could not read and write. During the interview the village head was visibly shocked by the results his village got and expressed concern that his village would lag behind in development if illiteracy was sustained. He therefore gave a stern warning that he would deal with failures. The chief however said he was optimistic that things would improve with the imposition of a fine because people would now be serious.
 Last year ADRA Malawi, through the Action for Social Change Program facilitated establishment of an adult class in the area for people to learn how to read, write and count. Meanwhile, classes have resumed in the village and an impromptu visit to area showed an overwhelming class attendance.
The Action for Social Change Program is being supported by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Tradional Authority Tsabango in Lilongwe.

Community amends initiation policy to control early pregnancies in Mulanje

By Elias Banda
The  initiation policy has been revisited in Traditional Authority Chikumbu in Mulanje to bring under control cases of early pregnancies while fostering the promotion of delayed sex debut among younger girls.
Prior to the review process girls and boys aged between 9 and 10 years were legible for initiation and were exposed to sex and family matters, a situation widely condemned by the community because such issues were morally against their age.  And when they graduated, they were expected to put what they learn t into practice, a  situation that led to increased early pregnancies and marriage. Early sex debut   also had a bearing on school dropout among girls as they highly preferred marriage to school. 

mothers are now encouraging and supporting the girl child to go to school

Hot issue: community members debating the initiation ceremony policy review.

ADRA Malawi through the Enhanced Livelihood Gender Empowerment Project (ELGE) launched a sensitization campaign by engaging community leaders and traditional counselors known as Anankungwi in the local language, emphasizing on the effects of   the custom. A series of community dialogue sessions were conducted to analyze the impact of the cultural practice and how it would affect the society at large.
Group Village Headman Chitambi said things were now changing and it was imperative that some of the traditional practices especially those that impinged human freedoms were removed from the society.
The current policy adopted by chiefs enforces that those legible for initiation ceremony should be 13 years and above and that matters of sex and family should be removed. The new policy also highlights that religious organizations should be engaged to provide spiritual and moral support to the girls and boys while they undergo initiation ceremony. 
Speaking in an interview, ELGE Project Manager Andiyesa Mhango said since the amendment of the policy, there is an observed shift from reliance on traditional counselors as sole girl instructors to mothers taking more responsibility of instructing their daughters.     Andiyesa said that the increased women enrollment in the adult literacy program is encouraging more parental support in the girl child education. She said that her project is monitoring the situation though there are positive indications that the targeted communities are now placing more value on education than culture.
The ELGE Project is being supported by Sweden to bring about individual and society positive change in Mulanje. 

Mulanje District Council approves K3.7m for Chinomba School Block

 By Andiyesa Mhango & Elias Banda

Mulanje District Council has approved about K3.8 million (about $8200) of Local Development Fund (LDF) for the construction of a school block and two teachers’ houses at Chinomba Village Community in Mulanje. Community leaders at Chinomba submitted a proposal in 2013 to the district council outlining challenges faced by children due to long distance to school. The vicinity of Chinomba community is 20 villages big and has over 800 children who walk 7 kilometers to get to the nearest school. The situation gets out of control during rainy season when rivers are flooded.

The foundation stage of the school block

ADRA Malawi through the Enhanced Livelihood through Gender Empowerment Project (ELGE) responded by building the capacity of village development committee leaders in proposal writing. After the training, participants quickly developed a proposal putting together pieces of a resolution agreed at the community forum where the need to have a school block was tabled and debated.

When the proposal was submitted mid 2013, the village development committees and the community mobilized 70 000 bricks and 25 tones of river sand for the project. And when the funds were disbursed in December 2013, the construction immediately took off. A community member who declined to be named said the school was expected to enroll between 120 and 150 children when completed.

Raising the school superstructure

And a school management committee member Mary Majiya who could not hold her excitement  said it was a frightening experience   sending children especially very young ones to a school about 7 kilometers away. She said it was more frightening during the rainy season when it was difficult to cross the rivers. 

Village development leaders supporting the project

Speaking in an interview, ELGE Project Manager Andiyesa Mhango said it was the first time for this community to initiate a project, submit a proposal and get funded. She said the development was a land mark activity for the community and it would encourage them to initiate more developmental programs in future. 

The ELGE project is supported by Sweden to bring about individual and society change in Mulanje District.

Snake falls from tree while pupils are learning

By Elias Banda
Hell broke loose when a  snake fell from the tree while pupils were learning at Khwalala Primary School in Mulanje District, causing fear and panic among the learners. Calm and order were restored when the snake was killed though  lessons failed to continue.
Confirming the incident, Group Village Head Khwalala said the snake called Namasamba in local language fell during  a class session but no casualties were reported.
Pupils at the school especially those of lower classes learn on open grounds and under the trees due to shortage of school blocks. School Head Teacher Dickens Hapala said an interview that his school has 20 classes but with only 8 classrooms, forcing 12 classes to learn on open grounds. He said the situation is aggravated during rainy season when it becomes difficult to learn from outside and absenteeisms are considerably high when the ground is wet. Hapala said some pupils were accommodated in the near by church building under desperate circumstances.
Mary Gedion, member of the school committee said children are forced to sit on the dusty ground because the school does not have enough desks, making it difficult for learners to write.
Last year,  the school committee mobilized the community to mold 150, 000 bricks in an attempt to attract government attention but all efforts proved futile after three years elapsed without any response.
ADRA Malawi through the Action for Social Program established the Radio Listeners Club in the area as a platform where the community would discuss issues that affect them. The program would be aired on the public broadcasting station and hopes were higher that they would be assisted through the wider audience.  And during their first radio program, the community recorded the issue on shortage of school blocks and engaged a duty bearer from the Ministry of Gender and Community Development. The community is optimist that after the radio program, school blocks would be built at Khwalala.
The Action for Social Change is supported by Denmark to bring about society and individual change in Mulanje, Machinga, Lilongwe and Mzimba Districts.

Young woman divorces, goes back to school

By Elias Banda
The number of girls dropping out of school to get married or due to pregnancies is on the increase in Mulanje and the situation is attributed to lack of female role models coupled with the perception that marriage is the only means of survival for women.  But the issue seems different for Brenda Misomali 17 who,   Under the influence of her peers,  dropped out of school three years ago and got married to a barber at Mulanje Mission Trading Center.
However, the marriage was short-lived because after eight months into marriage, Brenda’s husband started cheating on her and most of the times, he could not come home for several days. The situation made Brenda worried that she might contract HIV in the process because rumors were rife that her husband was promiscuous. She later divorced him and went back to her parents.

Brenda with her parents

Meanwhile Brenda’s mother was a REFLECT circle member where she acquired writing and reading skills and this development motivated Brenda to think about going back to school. Her mother further encouraged  her to go back to school and she eventually registered at Nalipili Primary School where she is now in Standard 7.
In an interview, Brenda expressed regret that she rushed into married and she vowed to continue her education despite scoffs from her peers. She said that her ambition is to became a nurse some day and become a role model in her area.

serious with school, Brenda would like to be a nurse

Speaking in an interview    Enhanced Livelihood Project Manger Andiyesa Mhango said her project is mobilizing girls such as Brenda to go back to school. She said the project is collaborating with the Ministry of Education and village based mother groups to encourage girls who are married to go back to a school.
The Enhanced Livelihood Project is being supported by Sweden to bring about individual and society change through empowering women and the girl child in Mulanje.

Over 20 sex workers set for vocational training

Elias Banda
29 rehabilitated sex workers aged between 18 and 30 are now set to undergo various vocational trades under the auspices of Center for Youth Rehabilitation CYR in Blantyre. The development emerged after CYR was featured on ADRA Malawi sponsored Zatonse Radio Program in March and October this year.
According to Marko Chipwaila, CYR Executive Director his organization received positive response from organizations and individuals after the radio program, including the National AIDS Commission (NAC)   which offered to sponsor the 29 sex workers through the Technical Enterprise and Vocational Training Authority (TEVET).
 Mr Chipwaila said the sex workers would undergo trades such plumbing, tailoring, electrical installations, hair dressing, carpentry, refrigeration and bricklaying which he said would transform them into meaningful citizens of this country. 
The trainings start on December 27 and would go on for the next three months.
CYR was formed in 2009 with the aim of rehabilitating, promoting and protecting the Malawian youths through psycho-socio, economic and spiritual programs in Blantyre, Zomba and Mulanje districts.

In September this year, CYR collaborated with Blantyre City Council and launched a sensitization campaign in Blantyre townships, targeting sex workers. During the campaign, 72 sex workers were identified and 10 of them were vulnerable youths.


Zatonse Radio platform  is sponsored by ADRA Malawi through the Action for Change Program which is being supported by Denmark to bring about society and individual change in Malawi.

ADRA Malawi staff mango’d

 By Elias Banda

ADRA Malawi staffs have undergone an intensive training in financial management systems, courtesy of Management Accounting for NGOs (MANGO) an organization based in Oxford, United Kingdom. The five –day training which took place at Blantyre Adventist Guest House was aimed at building confidence and financial skills among ADRA Malawi staff so that they should operate financial management systems effectively.

The training was characterized by practical activities

The training drew 16 participants from ADRA Malawi projects and the Action for Social Change (ASC) Program. The training targeted coordinators from Tsogolo Labwino Project in Salima and  the Women Empowerment Project Manager in Mulanje.  ASC participants included district coordinators from Mulanje, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Machinga . Other participants were the program technical officers, accountants and the Procurement Officer. 

A busy mango training session

Speaking in an interview, Jacques Lauruol,  Mango Financial Management Trainer said his organization helps non -governmental organizations particularly in Africa, Asia and other developing countries to improve their financial management systems.
The course module included the key financial management principles and concepts and the four financial building blocks such as the  financial planning, accounts records, financial monitoring and internal control systems.

Jacques presenting a certificate of attendance to Elsie Mwimba

One of the participants, Shadreck Bandawo from Tsogolo Labwino Project  said the skills acquired would go along way assisting him to budget and code items on the project chart of accounts.

Speaking on behalf of ADRA Malawi Administration, Emma Jakobo, Action for Social Change Program Manager described the training as a step ahead as staffs would be able to produce credible financial reports.
At the end of the training, participants were awarded certificates of attendance.

The Start of a New Decade

By Sangwani Mwafulirwa

With the support of ADRA Malawi under its Women Empowerment project, the women group of Village Headwoman Chilingulo in T/A Chikumbu in Mulanje conducted a double celebration. It was a celebration of Mother’s Day and International Rural Women’s Day which has coincided with the launch of the African Women’s Decade in Kenya. Led by T/A Chikumbu, the women outlined what they wanted to achieve in their area of environmental conservation, education, gender equality and women empowerment.

According to the Group Village Headwoman Chilingulo, some children have been facing challenges to attain secondary education let alone tertiary training because their parents or guardians were too poor to afford school fees and their upkeep.

She said this has contributed to early marriages amongst girls who find nothing to do after completion of primary school education which is free. As for boys, they go and work in tea plantations in an attempt to make ends meet.

To avert this, the village head said they have set up a special fund that will help all needy children who have been selected to government secondary school so that they do not fail to pursue their studies because of the two usual challenges; school fees, examination fees and uniform.

“Even those that will go to tertiary schools will be supported. We are very much interested in having nurses from our areas and we will make sure that by 2020 there are five nurses from this area working at the hospital,” she explained.

To achieve all this, each family will be contributing money or harvest, to be sold and the money will be administered by a committee. According to the village head, so far the households have already contributed a gallon of pigeon peas for selling.

The Chilungulo head has also taken a stern stance against early marriages by imposing a ban. Any parent who will consent to early marriage will be summoned to her court where if guilty, will be fined a goat and the child be sent back to school.

On women empowerment, they plan to engage in income generating activities whose proceeds will be saved in a village savings group.

“We want to have easy access to capital other than rely on micro-lending institutions whose conditions sometimes leave us poorer than before. We will borrow amongst ourselves at flexible conditions and low interest,” she explained during the launch.

To conserve the environment, the women will have already planted a nursery of natural tree seedlings which they will plant in uncultivated areas and also a village managed forest so that they get firewood easily.

The village head said women will also be encouraged to attend adult literacy classes so that by 2020 no one will need to use a thumb when voting or signing after receiving a subsidised fertiliser coupon.

Supporting her junior’s initiatives, T/A Chikumbu urged men in the area to support the women by providing them space to work and participate. She said she will see to it that some traditional practices that perpetuate gender inequality and hinder women participation in development work are abolished.

Under its WEP project, ADRA Malawi is working with women in the area to empower them to be economically independent through engaging them in income generating activities and by teaching them about their rights and how best to claim them.

It is through the training and support provided by ADRA Malawi in the WEP 2 project (Funded by ADRA Sweden), that women’s groups like this one have been able to mobilise themselves to initiate development initiatives within their own communities. It is inspiring to see women taking actions that will have a positive and lasting impact for women, girls, men and boys, for today and into the future.