Machinga man breaks silence on male adult learning

By George Million
The common sight suggests that only women go for adult learning in Machinga as men retract because they feel ashamed to learn in the presence of women. A few men who join the adult classes are ridiculed by fellow men and they eventually drop on the way, leaving women to continue with the informal education. However, this was different with Pias Bunnet who braved the mockery from fellow men and vowed to continue with adult learning until he would acquire writing, reading and counting skills. Piasi said he had never been involved in any formal education since he was born 48 years ago. He said since he joined Nthundu REFLECT Circle in August 2012, his situation has improved and he could read a few words in a sentence.
Nthundu REFLECT Circle is among the 9 circles established and supported by ADRA Malawi through Action for Social Change (ASC) Program in Machinga District to facilitate community dialogue sessions and adult learning.  Across the program, ADRA Malawi has facilitated establishment of 39 REFLECT circles in Mzimba, Lilongwe, Machinga and Mulanje.

Piasi Bunnet captured among women during an adult class session

Piasi hinted that his main goal is to participate in leadership positions at his church and in some community based organizations where he is a member. He said he would launch a campaign challenging fellow men to join the adult learning classes.
The Action for Social change program is being supported by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Mzimba, Lilongwe, Machinga and Mulanje districts.

ADRA Malawi intensifies campaign against GBV

Certificate presentation at the function

Over one thousand people gathered at Chisitu School Ground in Mulanje on Friday December 16, to participate in activities marking the end of 16 days of gender activism for 2011. The event was spiced by dances, drama, testimonies and speeches, all depicting gender based violence.
Under the theme ‘From peace in the home, to peace in the world’ men and women sung songs against acts of violence that have destabilized peace in the homes, leading  increased divorce cases and poverty.
Speaking at the function organized by ADRA Malawi through the Enhanced Livelihood through Gender Empowerment Project (ELIGE), Traditional Authority Chikumbu who was Guest of Honor bemoaned the rising gender related violence cases in her area and called on men and women to take full responsibility to end violence. She said women and children become victims of gender based violence.

Simbota captured during the function

During the function, a drama show depicted how violence occur in the homes and the misery it brings. The drama also revealed a strong connection between gender related violence and HIV/AIDS, that divorced wives become desperate for husbands and the need for voluntary counseling and testing are often ignored.
During testimonies, sexual cleansing was mentioned as one of the outstanding forms of violence against women still existing,  despite calls to abolish some cultural harmful practices. The cleansing is done in secret especially when the husband has died and a man is hired to have sex with the bereaved wife as a means of chasing bad spirits in the wake of the husband’s death. If the bereaved wife refuses to do the ritual, the belief suggests that she would be victimized by evil spirits  that would bring calamities in the home.
Speaking to the gathering at the function Makweche Simbota 36,   who had been hired to do the ritual revealed that he had sexually cleansed 22 women in her village and was paid 1500 Malawi Kwacha ( about $9) for each activity. He said there were a few women he did not charge any money because he naturally loved them. However, he said that some of the women he cleansed died. Simbota expressed remorse and regret in his speech that he was involved in such activities.

Reacting to the testimony Traditional Authority Chikumbu thanked Simbota for being brave and open and appealed to all men and women involved in such practices to stop or face consequences if discovered. She however advised Simbota to go for HIV test.

A training session in progress for couples and chiefs

Another testimony came from Estere Baloni who told the gathering that she was married for 13 years and has 5 children. She was sexually abused by her husband for several years and later he divorced her.  She said she was struggling to feed and send the children to school. A few months after divorce, one of her daughters, Mary,   left her for unknown destination. The message was sent to her husband to help find her where about but he did not pay attention. Mary was found three years later working in a bar at Lunchenza and she doubled as a prostitute and was found pregnant at the same time. She was later taken back to her mother.
Speaking earlier, Andiyesa Mhango,  ADRA Enhanced Livelihood through Gender Empowerment Project Manager   said her project has intensified the campaign against gender based violence by engaging couples in health and family matters to reduce violence. During the function, 21 participants received certificates after undergoing a two –week long workshop as peer trainers. Participants included couples and chiefs. The trained couples are expected to train other couples and build their capacity to promote and uphold family values.
Andiyesa  said that her project is targeting girls and young women to support them with primary and secondary education opportunities.       
ADRA is also empowering women with economic activities through Village Savings and Loan so that they can be self reliant other than depending on marriage as a means of survival.

Attending Literacy classes

For most followers of this blog reading and writing is a given in life; however in Malawi, official estimates point to over 4.6 Million people out of 13 M that do not have the ability to read and write. From those, the vast majority reside in the rural areas and way over half are women.

In a recent visit to one of our projects in the district of Mulanje, I was able to participate in one of the Functional Adult Literacy classes that ADRA promotes. It was a special moment to see women that had spent their life asking someone else to read or write for them stand and proudly write their name, read a text, or demonstrate their numeracy skills. From the several conversations with the persons attending the Literacy class, it was clear that knowing how to read had increased these women’s self esteem and exposed them to new opportunities to engage in small business partnerships. To support this new interest and development initiative ADRA has trained these groups on how to establish a Village Savings and Loans Fund, functioning entirely with the group contributions and management. These funds are set up to allow these women to access a loan or to have the money they invest earn interest.

ADRA Malawi is providing access to literacy classes to 1000 people per year in Mulanje, specially targeting women, and has similar literacy programs in two other districts (Neno and Salima).

ADRA Malawi has reached with development and relief activities over 160.000 people in 2009 and is an active member of the ADRA worldwide network present in over 120 countries.

Author: Emanuel da Costa

Making Women Empowerment Projects Succeed

The purpose of this paper is to briefly present the success factors of the Women Empowerment Project implemented by the Adventist Development Relief Agency in Mulanje, District, Malawi.

Factors that have been critical to project performance and achievement

1. Involvement of the men and leaders One of the strategies in the project was to involve the men and the village heads. Without their participation it would not have been possible to achieve the results. The men have transferred skills to the women like leadership skills and maintenance of boreholes. In so doing, some of gender barriers that have manifested in household chores and community activities have been broken.

2. Communication within the project The communication has been of a high quality between the field staff, the field office, the ADRA office in Blantyre and ADRA Sweden. The consequence has been that the project works in conformity with the application guidelines and procedures.

3. Linkages to stakeholders The project has built and strengthened the linkages between the local communities and different change agents (such as the police, hospitals, human rights organizations). This has enabled the communities to learn more about their rights but also use the rights when violated. This approach also ensures sustainability of the interventions.

4. Service and Human Rights The project has had a clear rights base approach, at the same time, it has had a clear service delivery approach. The two quite opposite approaches have worked together to deliver a better result they would have done individually. Even though water and goat rearing have been the starting point the training in gender and human rights has been a central part of the project. Without the service activities it would not have been possible to engage the communities in a similar way. The conclusion is that you can not only talk about rights without doing anything, you have to work as well with the practical problems people cope with.

5. Innovations by the communities

The communities are exploring their own ways of economically empowering themselves by getting organized through Village Savings and Loans. This is the fund which is built by the communities themselves through savings and members access the funds periodically. The project has brought hope and aspiration for the future.

Women Empowerment Project started 2007 in Malawi with the aim of facilitating women empowerment through promotion of their rights, improvement in health status and implementation of self supporting income generating initiatives. The project targets poor vulnerable women. Main activities include: Trainings in Gender and Human Rights, Health, Water and Sanitation, Adult literacy, Home gardening and compost manure making, Provision of portable water and Goat rearing.

This paper is based on a discussion held on 2009-10-30 between Andiyesa Mhango from Adventist Development Relief Agency in Malawi and Claes Johan Alexandersson and Mikael Wiking both Swedish Mission Council.

Author: Claes Johan Alexandersson (Swedish Mission Council)

Campaign against gender based violence - World Human Rights Day in Mulanje District

“Commit, act and demand together we can end gender based violence” this was the highlighted theme for this year to conclude a sixteen -day global campaign against gender based violence. The campaign ended on Thursday, December 10 2009.

In Mulanje, activities marking the event took place at Chisitu Primary School Ground attracting over twenty village communities including those targeted by the Women Empowerment Project. The event was graced by drama, speeches, poems, testimonies, songs and dances. All of them highlighted the theme with appealing messages that violence of any form is an evil act and must be stopped.
Earlier in the day, village communities staged a big walk, covering about two kilometers. The procession carried banners and waved placards while singing, telling the world that gender based violence should be stopped.
Speaking at the function, the Guest of Honour, Mr Gideon Mothisa from Ministry of Labour thanked ADRA for championing the campaign and urged stakeholders to take a gallant fight against violence.
Mr Michael Usi, ADRA Programs Director commended all participants and stakeholders for the united effort towards curbing gender based violence and stressed that ADRA would be committed to collaborate with all partners to reduce incidences of violence.
Mulanje Police Station Officer, Mr Bwela said that though gender based violent cases are reducing, there is need for more community awareness as cases come in different shapes and sizes. He said that Mulanje Police through the victim support unit has helped to promote awareness and settling domestic squabbles.
Speaking earlier, WEP Project Manager, Andiyesa Mhango said the event was in line with the project objective to empower women and build their capacity through promotion of information sharing, promotion of male participation as partners in development and advocate for change when human rights are violated.

Author: Andiyesa Mhango

Violence Against Women Hindering Development, Says Agency

November 25th marks the day where international attention is drawn to the Elimination of Violence Against Women. ADRA Malawi as part of the International ADRA Network joined the United Nations in the commemorations of the day, promoting the enditnow global campaign, co-sponsored by ADRA, whose primary aim is to put an end to the global pandemic of violence aimed at the female gender. In the press release from ADRA International, a development project by ADRA Malawi, promoting women's rights, was highlighted.

Bellow the press release from ADRA International:

The deep effect that violence against women and girls is having around the world is not only stalling the development of millions of women, but also that of their families, communities, and entire societies, reports the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).

“Although women are often the most vulnerable in a society, as mothers and primary caregivers their empowerment is essential to the well-being of their children,” said Charles Sandefur, president of ADRA International. “Protecting them from physical, sexual, or psychological harm is not only is the right thing to do, but an absolute necessity in reaching our development goals.”

In order to push for the eradication of violence against women, ADRA is joining the United Nations on November 25 to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by highlighting the enditnow™ campaign, a global initiative co-sponsored by ADRA whose primary aim is to put an end to the global pandemic of violence aimed at the female gender.

As part of its first phase, the enditnow™ campaign is gathering 1 million signatures from supporters in more than 200 countries and territories, which will then be presented to the United Nations once the goal is reached in order to drive attention to the issue and advocate for policies that will better protect women and girls.

To sign the petition online, click here. View the campaign video here.

ADRA is actively working to eradicate violence against women and girls through various initiatives, including the Keep Girls Safe Project in northern Thailand, which combats sex trafficking; the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Project in Kenya; the Stop Sex Traffic Project in India; and ADRA House, a shelter for battered women that ADRA recently opened in Romania.

Recognizing the role that inequality holds in many abusive situations, ADRA’s women empowerment projects also help women increase their role within their own families, gain greater control over their own bodies, and become a voice within their own communities.

In southern Malawi, ADRA is running a project that helps women in the Mulanje district understand their rights, improve their health, and initiate self-supporting income generating activities. By its completion in April 2011, it is expected to have benefited 11,000 people directly, and 33,000 people indirectly, including both men and women.

“The project helps men see women as partners in development, improving marital relations among targeted men and women, a factor that has proven successful among other rural families,” said Per Bolling, project officer for ADRA Sweden.

In southern Chile, 200 women from indigenous Mapuche communities in the Araucania region participated in a one-year project that improved their self-esteem, raised awareness on issues relating to domestic and gender violence, and taught them about gender equality and women empowerment.

“We would like to see Mapuche women as a central protagonist of the destiny of the [Chilean] nation,” said José Antonio Viera-Gallo, special minister for the Presidency of the Republic of Chile, during the project closing ceremony held in October.

ADRA is also improving the literacy skills and health of an estimated 2,000 women and children in a region of Bangladesh where approximately 90 percent of women are illiterate.

“Most of the women have never attended a class before,” said Elidon Bardhi, country director for ADRA Bangladesh. “Many have indicated that the project has changed their lives.”

According to the World Health Organization, violence against women and girls is widespread and comes in a variety of forms, most notably through rape, sex trafficking, domestic abuse, sexual assault, honor killings, female genital mutilation, child marriage, sexual harassment, and emotional and verbal abuse.

In the United States, one-third of women murdered each year are killed by intimate partners. Women and girls constitute 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually, with the majority—79 percent—trafficked for sexual exploitation. In addition, approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice. In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence, mostly involving women and girls, have been documented since 1996, though the actual numbers are considered to be much higher, according to the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which is recognized annually on November 25, is designed to raise awareness regarding the issue of violence against women. Additional information about the enditnow™ campaign is available at www.enditnow.org.

Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.

Author: Nadia McGill

Mary, an icon of hope in Waruma Village

Author: Andyiesa Mahango - Women Empowerment Project Manager

Mary Majoni 25, of Waruma Village could not believe that she is now able to read, write and count figures.

Married with four children and expecting a fifth child, Mary has never been to school because she had to look after her mother who was sick persistently before she died 15 years ago. She was the only girl in the family of four children and even if she attained school age, she was forced to cook and care for her sick mother. Her father left them when they were very young and they have never seen him since.

When her mother died, life became unbearable for her and her brothers. Her brothers dropped out of school and preferred casual labor for survival while Mary’s life miseries forced her to get married at the age of 16.

When the Women Empowerment Project came to Waruma Village and introduced adult literacy programs, Mary became one of the first five women to enroll. At the early stages, other women used to laugh at her apparently because adult literacy was a strange program and many thought it would not work for adults. But Mary paid no attention to the scoffs she got from her friends and concentrated on the program. A few months later, things began to change as she was now able to read and write. This became strange news to the whole village and people started to talk about it.

Strangely, the number of people enrolling for adult literacy class rose to 35 from 5 because of Mary’s testimonies.

Mary’s husband is happy too and said in an interview that he did not expect it happen to his wife. Mary uses the knowledge to assist her two children with school home work and helps her husband with their business plans. Mary said she has on several occasions tested for HIV with her husband and she encourages other to do the same. With her fifth pregnancy, Mary has never skipped HIV test at antenatal clinic and she encourages other women who shun antenatal clinic for fear of being tested to go for testing. The Malawi Government has embarked mandatory counseling and testing in a bid to reduce HIV mother to child transmission and Mary is fulfilling her responsibilities to inform others about the right to good health.

Mary however said that the sky was her limit as she intends to enroll into formal education and learn how to speak English and participate at higher levels of community activities. Her husband is a radio repair and they plant cassava seasonally for cash and for consumption. The project intends to link women like Mary to government lending institutions such as MARDEF for business loan. This is part of capacity building and economic empowerment.

This borehole is located few metres from Mary’s house and was made as an ADRA investment in partnership with the community. The provision of easily accessible water gives time to women like Mary to attend adult literacy programs.

Human Rights Training - An Eye Opener for Communities

Author: JUSTIN KUMADZULO - DISTRICT COORDINATOR, MACHINGA

The issue of human rights is very diverse in its nature. There are several issues that communities find difficult to understand up to this time. In the context of Malawi society, the issue of human rights brought in some conflicts with our culture. For instance, misunderstanding on the place and importance of the wife in the home. The husband was the only one responsible for the financial welfare for the home even if it the woman was the earner of the money. Women have no say over their own money yet they have every right to access the money because they worked for it. Women had no say when it comes to sexual behavior in the family, but with the coming of the open discussions on human rights they were able to open up and say something, this according to most communities was an insult to culture – a woman had no place to say how she feels.

In some communities the issue of human rights was seen as a way of diluting culture in the sense that parents were told that children especially the girl child had every right to attend school and marry at a more older age like 19, but for most parents this was seen as elusive and being striped off their power as a parent.

Apart from family, other issues affecting human and more specifically children’s rights were given very little attention. An example of this is well exemplified by a specific story told involving a teacher and a student where the teacher impregnated a girl child and as a result the girl, a minor, was dispelled while the teacher’s job remained secure; this was due to limited information that communities had on what are the rights girl child has in such cases.
As such ADRA Malawis Let’s fights HIV and AIDS in Malawi (LEFAM) project saw the gaps that were as a result of lack of information and knowledge on basic human rights. With funding from DANIDA, ADRA organized training workshops in five districts of Chiradzulu, Lilongwe, Dowa, Mchinji, Mulanje, Phalombe and Machinga between June and July 2009.

A total of 700 people have been trained in all the five districts. In order to make sure that all level of people in the community has been reached participants to the workshops training comprised of the following: the clergy, people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWAs), youth club members, traditional leaders and men and women group representatives
And to make sure that the trainings carried meaningful content that equal with community needs, facilitators for the training were expatriates in human rights from partner NGOs.

The three day training mainly focused on:

- Background, general facts and overview of human rights

- Local & universal declarations on human-rights-&-HIV-Aids issues with reference to UN UDHR, UN CEDAW, UN Convention of the Rights of Children, Malawi Republican Constitution and HIV-Aids as a human rights issue
- Vulnerability as a Human rights issue
- Role of community in mitigating HIV-Aids & Human-rights issues Human rights vs. responsibility

Through these training participants acknowledged that human rights violations happen but lacked the knowledge on the procedures on how to follow and seek redress of issues concerning human rights.

While closing one of the workshops a group village headman (see the picture below) narrated that it was the first time that his subjects had been exposed to human rights training. He said that the training had been an eye opener and the knowledge gained was priceless.

A village head speaking to the trainees

Participants to these workshops pledged to share with others the knowledge that they have gained so that the whole community benefits.
In the meantime the trained groups are working on outreach strategies to ensure that messages on human rights reach the masses for example through community dialogue sessions, youth days, and kids’ days. The youth have pledged to use theatre for development tools to come up with plays, songs and poems that will have a theme on human rights.
The clergy on the other hand, have also promised to include messages on human rights in their sermons.

Women of Mukakhe Village Join the Fray

Mukakhe is one of the villages in Kalinde area in Migowi, Phalombe where the ADRA Malawi’s Let Fight AIDS in Malawi (LEFAM) Project is doing its activities in helping to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic, food security, home based care of the chronically ill etc.

To achieve its goals the project formed groups of women to discuss issues that are thorny in their communities and find solutions to these problems. Realizing that they are not part of the women’s group that was formed, other women in this village, led by Alefa Maiwala and Edna Magodi, were impressed with the good work that the Organization is doing in the village and felt they could lend a hand. They decided to mobilize other women and form their own group to help in what the ADRA women were doing. They also decided to go further by getting involved in message dissemination through dances and drama and strengthening food security and nutrition by setting up a group vegetable garden and encouraging the setting up of kitchen gardens in the village.

The group has gone further to lobby for the provision of safe water sources within the village, which has no borehole or water tap despite its size and population through knowledge attained from ADRA activities. These women also harbor the ambition of improving the members’ economic status through saving and lending.

Realizing the power of drama, yet not having any experience in drama, the group approached ADRA Community Worker in the area for some coaching. Since this was a separate group from ADRA’s group they had limited resources. They needed some seeds for the garden to supplement what they had contributed and bought. They also needed some equipment like drums for the dances. To make sure that their efforts are not in vain the group has been granted permission to use whatever equipment that is available within the ADRA groups.

The group was formed in April this year and has so far 25 members. As of now, they have set up the vegetable garden and planted using the seedlings they bought and what was donated by the Community Worker. ADRA regularly visits the group to encourage and build their capacity, through demonstrations, on how to make sunken beds, plant seedlings and mulch to preserve moisture and reduce watering frequency.

What is interesting with the group is that the village Chief tries to attend the group’s meetings and supports them in their activities. This makes ADRA feel that with some support, this group will be an important partner in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Author: Stanley Mpasa - District Coordinator

A mother in Mulanje

“The most important thing is to show your children that you love them, then the rest comes a bit easier,” says 30 year old Grace Chisoso from Naliya village in Mulanje district.

Since her husband died in 2001 she has raised and supported her three children on her own. A task that is never entirely simple, especially because her husband’s relatives took their house and most of their possessions when he died. Grace moved in with her mother and has had to struggle to find money to buy food and clothes for the children.

“Life has been difficult,” Grace reflects on her situation. “There are two things that are difficult. The first thing is raising enough money on my own to look after the kids properly. The second thing is bringing up the children, you know, moulding them, guiding them on how to behave.”

Though her own family have supported her in her struggle, they are not in a position, where they can help her out materially. So when Grace joined the, ADRA initiative, LEFAM (let's fight AIDS in Malawi) farmer group last year it was a big relief. The group has just harvested their maize, and Grace really feels she has benefitted from the project. She has maize enough now - not only for her family but she will be able to sell a bit as well.

Single parents’ choice

Though the family is very poor, Grace is happy about her choice to stay with her children.

“A lot of my friends have advised me to just leave the children with my mother and then go out as a sex worker. But I said no, I will not take that route - it is not the best for my children,” Grace narrates. She says, that most women, who have lost a husband, either opt to get remarried or work as commercial sex workers. ”But you know, if you take that road of commercial sex work, chances of staying alive long enough to raise your children is very slim”

Rather Grace is considering going into the egg business.

Being a single parent is never easy, and in the upbringing of her children she often misses having her husband around.

“Within the family setup you definitely need support from the husband. Sometimes the word from the husband carries more weight than the word from the mother. So it is sometimes difficult.” Her two sons are 11 and 13 now, and often times they could use some fatherly advice but Grace does what she can. She suspects, that it will be easier with her youngest daughter Linda.

Support from the women

It has been tough on Grace to watch how her children suffer from the loss of their father. Especially her eldest son Lawrence, who was 7 when his father passed away, took it hard. “At that age he was aware of what was happening, so it affected him very much. The two others were still quite small but now they are realising that there is no father around,” Grace says.

She talks about how the children are slowly realising that their lives might have been different if their father was still around. ” It affects them, especially when they see their fellow children with their fathers, the love that they get from them. And they only get advice from one side.”

Grace has found support in the, ADRA initiative, LEFAM women’s group that meet every Tuesday to discuss different topics such as domestic violence, voluntary HIV testing or how the community can deal with the growing number of orphans. The possibility to openly discuss the hardships, she is facing, with her fellow women in the village has lifted a burden from her shoulders. “I get a lot of moral support from my family, but the ladies from the women’s club, that is where I get most of the support.” 

Grace Chisoso is also a volunteer Home Based Care provider in her village who helps taking care of aids patients who are feeling very ill.

Author: Lise Grauenkær Jensen - ADRA Denmark

A soft toy in her hands

In May, Rohde Åkesson and I from ADRA Sweden visited ADRA Malawi together with two representatives for the Swedish organization Water for All. Our purpose was to learn more about what ADRA Malawi does to provide people with water. We spent about ten days visiting various water installations, and we soon realized that ADRA Malawi is doing a very professional and competent work. But the visit included more than that. We also visited some of the beneficiaries in a Women Empowerment project that ADRA Malawi is implementing in the Mulanje area, and that ADRA Sweden is supporting with money from the Swedish Mission Council. We did this in order to give our friends from Water for All a better understanding of what life is like for people in the villages of Malawi.

One of the visits made a special impression on us. We stopped outside an ordinary African house built from locally made bricks. A group of children were standing outside the house. Or, they were not really children. Another year and they would be called youth.

One of them was a girl who may have been about 13 years old. Her clothes were colorful but worn. They looked very bright in the weak evening light – and when she saw us arrive, her face broke into a smile that was even brighter than the fabric in her clothes. Though she was poor she seemed to have the ability to enjoy life.

The girl had a soft toy in her hands, a small elephant, and while she was talking to her friends she was stitching up the neck of the elephant. Andiyesa Mhango, who was our guide and travel companion, told us that the girl’s parents were dead and she and her four siblings were now living with their maternal grandmother. The grandmother had a small plot of land where she grew maize and other foodstuff, but the plot was not large enough to give the family all what it needed. They had enough to eat, but the crop was not large enough to give them any extra produce that they could sell in the market. So money was a constant problem. There was no money for clothes or school uniforms – no money at all.

Andiyesa explained that this is why the soft toy that the girl was stitching was so important. It was her key to a better future. Selling toys gives the family an extra income. Without that income, the girl’s grandmother would not be able to keep the girl at home. She would have to marry her off, probably to an older man looking for a young wife. A couple of years later, the girl would be the mother of one child and expecting another. And when she was 17, the man would probably leave her for a younger woman. In order to provide for her children she would then have to find another man she could live with. A few years later, when she was 24 or 25, she would be the mother of four children, HIV positive and soon dead in AIDS. This is what life looks like for many young women.

But this is not the way her life will be. After the girl’s mother had died, the grandmother joined the Women Empowerment Project that ADRA Malawi is implementing in the area. One of the things she learnt there was how to start an income generating project. Since Mulanje is a tourist area, she chose toy-making as her project. And this has changed the life of the whole family.

The family is still poor, but they have a small and steady extra income that gives them security they did not have before. Now the children will be able to go to school, and they will have a better future, a better life, than what their grandmother has had. And all of it thanks to the small toy animals that the grandmother and the children are producing.

The visit left a lasting impression on us all. It made us see how ADRA changes lives for the better.

Author: Per Bolling – ADRA Sweden.

Empowering Women Essential to Successful Community Development

While gender equity and women’s empowerment is now widely held as essential to reducing poverty, a disproportionately high number of women and girls around the world are still subject to the effects of discrimination, poverty, and illiteracy, said the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).

In Malawi, where female-headed households are among the poorest in the country, ADRA is helping women overcome these obstacles through the Women Empowerment Project (WEP), an initiative whose main goal is to empower women by promoting their rights and health status, and encourage self-supporting income generating initiatives. By April of 2009, ADRA expects that some 5,000 people will have benefited directly and another 15,000 indirectly in communities in the Mulanje district of southern Malawi. Women currently head many of the targeted households, while at least 81 percent of the indirect beneficiaries are women and children.

“The proposed project will help men see women as partners in development, without whom society is not complete,” said Per Bolling, project officer for ADRA Sweden, about the inclusion of men in the project. “This will also help improve the marital relations among targeted men and women, a factor that has proven successful among other rural families.”

Through the WEP, members benefit from group discussions, theater, and door-to-door visits that highlight issues that are important to them, such as gender and human rights, adult literacy, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, clean water, home gardening, animal husbandry, and additional livelihood activities.

The project is targeting 1,000 households in 20 villages, with each village receiving a water well. Through the installation of wells, women, who are the primary water-collectors, have additional time to participate in literacy training, home gardening, and other project activities.

“People are now able to envision their future in a more positive way, and identify and advocate for the issues that directly affect them,” said Andiyesa Mhango, WEP project manager for ADRA Malawi.

Due to its success, this two-year project has been extended for two more years, said Emanuel da Costa, country director for ADRA Malawi.

The project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) through the Swedish Mission Council, and ADRA Sweden.

Since 1982, ADRA Malawi has been working in the areas of disaster relief, water and sanitation, HIV and AIDS, family planning, agriculture, primary health, basic education, and empowerment of vulnerable groups, such as women and children.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit http://www.adra.org/.

Author: Nadia McGill
ADRA International

Water means life

When we arrive in the village, we see the new pump right in front of us. There are children all around it, happy children who are busy pumping water into basins and containers. They laugh when some of the water is splashed on their hands and legs. They know that water means life – and this well is giving them much water, much life.

But this is not the way it used to be in this village in the Mulanje area in southern Malawi. Up until about one year ago, this village had to rely on a well which is situated close to a small stream that runs through the area. Every litre of water that they needed had to be carried from that stream, and as usual, it was the duty of the women to provide their families with water.

The villagers tell me that they want to show me the well. “It is not very far,” they say, “in other villages, the women have to walk much further when they are bringing home the water.” So we set out along the road that leads from the village to the well. After a while I start wondering what the women mean when they say that it is not far. As a boy, I lived on a farm and I had to carry water to our animals every day, so I know how heavy it is to carry water. But I never had to carry it as far as this. And we just keep walking and walking, on and on …

At last we arrive at a steep ravine that has been created by the stream. The banks are muddy and they tilt sharply downwards, so it is not all that easy for an elderly and slightly overweight gentleman like me to manoeuvre my way down the slope to the stream. It is hot in the ravine, hot and moist. Ahead of me I can see a short pipe sticking out from the mud-wall. A small stream of water is coming out of the pipe. This is the well that has provided water for a village of some two thousand people. Until they got the pump, this was the only water source that they had.

Two women are filling their containers with water. It is a slow process. The women must have done this many times before, so they are patient and wait for the water to fill their vessels. But suddenly they look up at the trees above us. All the people around me suddenly become very quiet.

“There is a snake up there in the trees,” whispers my guide from ADRA Malawi. “It is a green mamba.”

I look up, but I cannot see anything. My untrained eyes cannot distinguish the snake from the foliage.

“Last year,” whispers my guide, “a girl was bitten by a snake when she was carrying water back to the village. She died.”

I shiver. I hope that the snake will find us uninteresting and disappear. And after a couple of minutes, the women start talking to each other again. The snake is gone. It has slithered off into the grass and disappeared somewhere along the path where we walked just a few minutes ago.

One of my companions tells me that some of the women have had to spend eight hours a day carrying water from this well. Many of them had to get up at 3am in the morning in order to bring home enough water so that the children would be ready and fed in time for school. But now the village has a deep well with a pump, and life has become different. The time that they had to spend bringing home water can now be used for other activities. It has become possible for them to start kitchen gardens and grow their own vegetables. This gives them more varied and nutritious food, and any surplus they get can be sold for cash. Now they can also set aside time for the adult literacy classes that ADRA Malawi has started.

The wells, kitchen gardens and literacy classes are all part of a project that ADRA Malawi is implementing with support from ADRA Sweden and the Swedish government. I am impressed with what I have seen. Just one well – and life has become so much easier for a whole village.

From: Per Bolling, ADRA Sweden

Meliya Story

Meliya Lupiya a widow aged 56 from Ngolowera village has been struggling taking care of her family comprising of seven members of whom 5 are orphaned grand children. Life has been unbearable due to lack of basic needs like food, potable water, clothes just to mention a few. Being illiterate it has been hard for her to get a job. Women empowerment is targeting women like Meliya to improve her household for the better. Being involved in trainings and various activities she has all smiles to own a beautiful vegetable garden, this is helping her to meet nutrition needs and income for the household basic needs after selling some vegetables. She has enrolled for adult literacy class, therefore she encourages her family members to attend school. Her 5 orphaned grand children. are amongst those benefiting from the drilled borehole at Ngolowera Primary School. courtesy of ADRA Women Empowerment Project (WEP). She has also been a beneficiary of donated goats. The manure collected help improve her garden. Life has her improved for the better through involvement in Women Empowerment Initiatives. Bellow are pictures Meliya and her family, vegetable garden and a goat. “ I am very grateful for this project, it has empowered my life. We will continue with this work even if the project phases out. Thanks to Sweden and ADRA Malawi for the parternership God bless.”

Author: Andiyesa Mhango

Happy and free - ‘NANYONI’

Nasiyani Kadyampakeni is a female headed house holder who lives at Njolomole village. She is 52 living with her 16year old daughter and 7 year old grand son depend on her for their survival. Nanyoni relies on subsistence farming for her livelihood. Looking upon her low social status she decided to join the Community Home Based Care in June, 2007 so as to seek company.
Despite a number of problems that she come across to provide for her family especially to work for the education needs of her children she is dedicated to lend a voluntary hand with dedication in the CHBC committee. Her dream has always been to have livestock yet she fails to save enough for that due to big responsibility.
When the SAFARI project introduced poultry pass on program she was among the first to benefit from the first batch. She received 7 birds. With excitement to a dream come true she employed all her efforts with skill imparted to her during poultry management training by lead farmers to take extra care for the birds. She built a poultry house from simple available materials as was trained. She processed the remains of her soy bean milk with some maize bran to feed the chicken. Sometimes when she doesn’t have feed she just let the birds out of house to pick some little things in her compound. At times when she is stranded she just fetch green grass to feed the birds. Today she expresses her joy because the chicken have started laying eggs and she is rest assured that when the eggs hatch and she pays back 10 birds to the KU she will embark into a hot poultry business. As of now she is an admirable woman in the village that the members of the community are coming to learn from her how she has manage d to care for the birds which were only 3 weeks old on delivery.
Nasiyani is no longer seeking for company as before but rather people are seeking to befriend her so they can learn much from her.
Author: Francis Zande ( SAFARI Project Manager in Malawi)

"Women empowerment starts with us"

Women Empowerment Project (WEP) started on 1st April 2007 with the aim of facilitating women empowerment through promotion of their rights, improvement in health status and implementation of self supporting income generating initiatives. The project targets poor vulnerable women. These include widows struggling to survive, those that are taking care of orphans and the chronically ill, the disabled and those that are denied access to resources for economic empowerment.

Main activities include;
Ø Trainings in Health, Water and Sanitation, Gender and Human Rights.
Ø Adult literacy.
Ø Home gardening and compost manure making.
Ø Provision of portable water.
Ø Goat rearing.
Ø Provision of maize mills for Income Generating Activities.


Picture above: Women Empowerment Project photograph of Traditional Leaders, Project staff and ADRA Programs Director Mr. Micheal Usi

One of the strong points in the project has been the positive response and support from Traditional Leaders. These are the entry point as well as custodians of tradition and culture. Some negative traditional rituals involving risky sexual practices contributes to HIV/AIDS infection rates. A strong tradition persists to maintain the low status of girls and women and this extends to marriage and throughout the life cycle. This contributes to increase in violence against women. These negative deep rooted cultures affects community development. With this background, the project first step was to sensitize and empower the 20 participating traditional leaders to fully understand and participate in fulfilling the objective in empowering women. This is working well because most village heads are in the forefront participating in development activities. The traditional leaders have been drilled on women’s role in community and importance of encouraging men to support the women empowerment initiatives. Once the leaders are empowered it becomes much easier to reach to the grass root. With time, there is hope that these deep rooted negative cultures will be a song of the past.

Community leaders in action:

Picture above: Village Headwoman Waruma and beneficiaries appreciating safe potable water..
Picture above: Village Headman Ng’oma and his wife in their home vegetable garden.

Picture above: Village Headman Namputu stressing a point during Gender and Human Rights workshop.

Author: Andiyesa Mhango

Highlights – Women Empowerment Project

Snapshots from the Women Empowerment Project:

Picture above: Women enjoying the fruits of home gardening.

Picture above: Project beneficiaries happy with portable water through donated borehole.

Picture above: Women taking an active role during borehole maintenance training.

Picture above: Gender and Human rights workshop in progress.

Picture above: The Country Director, Emanuel da Costa, and the Finance Director, Hopekings Ngomba, making a speech during Project launch at Waruma village.

Author: Andiyesa Mhango