VSL magic; women dreaming big in Lilongwe

By Levie Chiwenda
The Village banking system commonly known as Village Saving and Loan (VSL) continues to unleash magic spells as women in Tradtional Authouty Tsabango in Lilongwe are now dreaming big after accumulating huge sums of money.
During the last share out event at Group Village Nkhulawe in 2012, Chikondi  VSL Group accumulated K580, 000 ( about $1, 450) and Elizabeth Lemani  got the highest share of K62, 000 (about $155) and the second highest share went to Rose Shaibu, who got K60,000 (about  $150).

Elizabeth and her cow

Elizabeth, 50 and divorced bought a cow for milk and four bags of fertilizer which she used to harvest 40 bags of maize during  the 2012 and 2013 agriculture season, the highest achievement for a single woman at an advanced age. Rose shaibu, also divorced bought six bags of fertilizer and harvested 48 bags of maize and she has kept some to be sold during the anticipated hunger period between December 2013 and February 2014 when maize price goes up.

Rose Shaibu at her house

During the 2013 share out cycle, the 20-member VSL group had K925, 520 to share (about $2, 314)and again Elizabeth and Rose hit the highest with K90,000 and K75, 000 respectively. At the close of the share out event, Elizabeth’s joy was over pouring and she said in an interview that she was planning to invest more in future in order to buy a maize mill.  In a separate interview, Rose hinted that she would buy more land and invest in farming.

ADRA Malawi, through the Action for Social Change Program has facilitated formation  and is supporting 56 VSL groups in the area and with success records reported, more VSL groups are mushrooming through  village agents. On average, women membership in the groups constitutes 90%.

Members of Chkondi VSL display cash during share out

The Action for Social Change Program is being supported by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Lilongwe, Machinga, Mulanje and Mzimba districts.
  The outlook of the village communities is now changing as the banking system has revived hope for quick economic recovery and is seen as the best method of rising women self esteem.

FBS formed in ASC program targeted districts

 By George Kamanga and Elias Banda
Seven farmers business schools (FBS) have been formed in Lilongwe, Mzimba, Machinga and Mulanje to enhance capacity of local farmers to produce quality crops through the use of conservation agriculture and other modern technologies.

Gift Mwnda ASC Lilongwe District Coordinator addresses FBS members at Dima irrigation site

The FBS concept was initiated by the Malawi Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food security to improve food security through quality crop production. ADRA Malawi is complementing government’s efforts by mobilising farmers into FBS.
In Lilongwe the FBS has been formed with members drawn from Chambala,Santhe, Tsabango, Chimono, Chingira, Mdondwe, Khundi and Dima group village communities. The school comprise 25 members of which 5 are women and it has special interest in soy and groundnuts.
 In Machinga, four FBS have been formed at Nanyumbu and Mbonachela with special interest in groundnuts, poultry and cotton. 

FBS members share ideas at Chambala demonstration site

In Mulanje a school has been formed at Chimwamezi in Traditional Authority Juma, comprising 22 members with special focus on pigeon pea. In Mzimba the school has been formed at Choma, focusing on soy and beans.

ADRA Malawi through the Action for Social Change Program (ASC),  is collaborating with government extension workers to ensure that the schools are strengthened and sustained. Skills acquired through FBS are expected to help small holder farmers to penetrate the wider market with quality and well packed products.
The ASC program is being supported by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Machinga, Mulanje, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

Village banking casts glimmer of hope in Machinga

By Elias Banda
Traditional music echoed as big speakers produced loud sound effects and women were clad in traditional chitenje regalia as the excitement was over pouring. And it seemed everybody failed to resist the temptation to dance.  This is how the event marking the ‘share out’ as it is called by the community could be described at Nkata Village in Machinga, where 41 village banking members mostly women, were sharing their bank shares. The members were from two groups and as their constitutions dictate, the banking group should not exceed 25 members.

GVH Nkunda presenting shares to one  of the members

The event takes place twice every year when   members unveil the total amount accumulated through shares and each member receives the dividend according to individual contribution. Each year, when the share out event comes into effect, there is always a new figure unveiled much higher than the previous one. Last year, the group shared out K259, 000 (about $681).
And this year 2013,  Nkata Village Bank accumulated K320,000 (about $842) and was publicly shared  at the  ceremony witnessed by chiefs and hundreds of village members. Before the sharing ceremony, Group Village Head Nkunda said that the event was a landmark activity which was set to reduce poverty and change the community in his area and appealed for more groups to be formed. He told the gathering that village banking had improved women esteem as it empowered them economically. He said that the dependency on marriage as means of survival has been reduced because women were becoming self reliant. He also commended ADRA Malawi for facilitating the establishment of village banking systems in his area.

women carrying gifts ready to exchange

Gedion Kachidowo, Government extension worker in the area echoed the chiefs’ remarks and said that through village banking, food security in the area has improved because instead of selling the food crops, people utilize the shares to buy domestic needs while maintaining the harvests for consumption. He said that the local banking system has improved the culture of saving.
Ndamilire Manesi, who got K26, 000 (about $68) and the largest share, was overwhelmed with joy and said she would use the money to meet her family needs. She said part of the money would be used for buying iron sheets for the house that she is building. She said that her life has changed since she joined the group in August 2012 because she was now economically self reliant and was able to sent her 3 children to school. She said she would save more in the next phase so that she would finish building the house.
Ndamilire also hinted that in wider village context, the village savings and loaning system has reduced prostitution and cheating among married women because they could now easily meet their needs.

According to Dyson Katete, Bank facilitator, their group has big plans. The immediate plan was to buy a maize mill that would help them reduce poverty as long lasting solution. He hinted that their expectation was to raise more than K500, 000 (about $1, 315)  by the end of this year. 

It was really difficult to resist temptation to dance

Apart from shares, village bank members raised K13, 000 (about $34) as an emergency fund in case one of the members fell sick or had a funeral. Apart from cash, members also exchanged gifts such plastic pails, cups and containers to empower each other materially.
ADRA Malawi through the Action for Social Program has built the capacity of bank members and in Machinga District, the program is supporting 9 functioning village banking groups.
The Action for Social Change Program is being supported by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Machinga, Mulanje, Mzimba/Mzuzu and Lilongwe.

VSL changes Mulanje man

   By Redson Damalekani                                                                                         

 For a long time, life had been difficult for Duncan Ntope  45, a father of four children who hails from Kamwendo village in Mulanje District. Duncan has been selling second hand clothes since July 2010 when he started the business with only K5000 initial capital (about $20).

Second hand cloth market at Kamwendo

Since then, his daily sales could hang between K1500 and K2500 ( $5.7 and $9.6) not enough to meet the daily family needs.
In November 2011, Duncan joined Chiyambi Village Saving and Loan Group facilitated by ADRA Malawi. A few months later, he borrowed K25, 000 ( about $96) from the VSL Group to boost his business.

Chiyambi VSL Group in session

Speaking in an interview, Duncan said he can now make daily sales as high as K12000 (about $46).
He said his life has changed and can now afford basic family needs, including sending his children to school. Duncan also hinted that he is dreaming big and recently, he sent one of his children to Soche Private Secondary in Blantyre, something he never imagined would happen to him.

ADRA Malawi through the Action for Social Change Program  is working with various community based groups and individuals to bring about society and individual change. The Action for Social Change Program is being supported by Denmark.

There is a new business in town

 Written by Krystle Praestiin, ADRA Malawi Intern

Rose Feza- entrepreneur

Meet Rose Feza she is a single mother of five children and a successful entrepreneur who had a vision for developing an energy saving stove business. Now her vision is selling like water in a desert.

Before she started her business Rose was finding it difficult to survive on piece works because it wasn’t providing a stable income. So when ADRA Malawi came to her village offering trainings in how to make energy saving stoves Rose jumped at the chance to learn.

Equipped with this new knowledge and access to funds from her village savings and loans group Rose started making energy savings stoves with other women in her village to sell to her neighbours and surrounding communities.

Rose discovered that demand for energy savings stoves is high because it is a new innovation to Malawi and it is very popular due to its many benefits such as: reducing the amount of firewood needed to cook a meal, which in turn reduces the amount of time women spend collecting firewood allowing them more time to do other things.

As a result, Rose is able to sell all the stoves that she manages to make within a week (usually 10), in just one day. She has even found that sometimes demand is often higher than she is able supply.

The success of her business has allowed Rose has make plans for the future of her business. Her visions are:

An energy saving stove made by Rose

1.    To open a little store at the local market where people can buy and place orders for stoves. This means that she will have a larger customer base and she won’t lose customers if she has run out of stoves.
2.    To start up an ‘energy saving stoves” guild with other ladies in her village who were also trained. This will ensure that the quality of the stoves is maintained and will give her village the reputation of providing the best quality stoves in the whole district.
3.    To scale up her production to 15 stoves a week by hiring someone to help her make the stoves.

 Since starting her business Rose can pay for her girls to continue their education in high school. She has also grown in confidence and skill and is now training other people on how to make energy saving stoves. This has provided her with another avenue for receiving income because she can charge money for her training services.

Another benefit that has come out from being trained in energy saving stoves making is that she is able to transfer these skills to her daughters, who are already starting to help her in their spare time. By passing on her knowledge she is providing her girls with viable skills to continue earning an income that will support their own future families.

Rose and her daughter with their tools

It is inspiring to meet someone who seizes an opportunity with great enthusiasm and turns it into something that can greatly benefit her family. It is also great to see that by providing Rose with a skill she can now make plans for her future because she is not worried out merely surviving the day.

All it took to transform this woman’s life and her family’s life was firstly her determination to make the best of an opportunity and finally an opportunity to learn a new marketable skill.

It is stories like this that encourages ADRA Malawi to continue providing communities with opportunities for education and training, in order to open doors to brighter futures.

Total Recall from dependancy

Author: Mercy Chakoma (Food security & Nutrition Officer)

Tsogolo Labwino Project funded by AUSAID through ADRA Australia (Salima District, Malawi)

Sometimes life begins at 40. At least this is what Metrina Mkumpha agrees to be true, she feels like a fresh college graduate, as finally, at the age of 49 she is able to handle her own money and run a small business, thanks to the support she received from the Tsogolo Labwino project’s Village Savings and Loans initiative.

Before her introduction to the Savings and Loans group Metrina Mkumpha as per tradition, hoped to become a respect elder in her village after spending 30 years in marriage. During this time she had become fully reliant on her husbands provision for basic house hold needs and the needs of their 8 children. She had no concept of one day playing the role of household head for her family.

Metrina could smell the sweetness of good fortune with the many children she had born. However, roses started to mix with thorns when her husband developed a drinking problem and later married another woman from a nearby village. Her husband spent most of the time with his new wife, leaving her alone and with little to no assistance, she couldn’t even get help from her children who had all married and moved to distant villages.

Hard times forced Metrina to learn how to participate in group activities. She joined women in a neighboring village who were assisting each other through round robin, fortnight contributions for two members at a time. With this arrangement she received K3,000 after two months, in a group of 10 women. Although this provided some welcomed relief she had to wait for long periods of time before the benefits could be realized.

When the Tsogolo Labwino project introduced the Savings and Loans initiative to the Chisangalalo women’s group, Metrina promptly joined. Upon joining the group Metrina was elected the groups chairperson. To ensure her total commitment she quit the first group, as per the requirements of the Savings and Loans group constitution.

Within three months of her time in the Savings and Loans group Metrina has bought K2000 in shares which has entitled her access to loans. Metrina says that the current initiative allows her to save whilst having regular access to loans when needed. If the amount for the loan is not enough, she will get back her shares with interest after 12 months which is double the benefit from the previous single saving group.

Already she has borrowed three loans. The first two loans Metrina used to start up a baking business before changing to tomato vending in April. The reason for her change was because she realized that the baking business did not attract many customers in the harvesting season as people have a wide variety of food to eat such as, cassava, sweet potato and green maize.

Metrina expects to buy more shares in the coming months through her business. She also dreams of roofing her house with corrugated iron sheets one day. She is very sure to achieve this dream because as chairperson of this savings and loans group and also a committee member of Kumanga Umodzi committee she has to be exemplary.

Metrina encourages all women to work hard, including women who have husbands because from her personal experience she saw the struggle that comes from trying to earn a living for one self when the man is no longer around. She has also found that men sometimes are more motivated to stay with women who contribute financially to their family other than just through household chores.

Have you guessed the conclusion to her ordeal?

The husband wants to come back home and is often found pestering their marriage counselors to reconcile them because he can now see Metrina’s potential in contributing to their household.

Metrina Mkumpha (in white blouse) selling tomatoes at her home stead.

M'biza Community Based Support to orphans

One of the major activities of the LEFAM Project was to establish an Income Generating Activity for the Community in several communities where the Project was implementing its activities. This initiative would generate the funds required to support the other interventions like Home Based Care (HBC) and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) care.

Since these are very much vulnerable , it was determined that the HBC Clients and OVCs would need material items like food, clothes, soap, drugs, school uniforms and other needs once in a while. But at the same time it was also determined that ADRA could not provide these items all the time as the Project had a time frame and the budget would not allow it. The IGA would, therefore, generate the funds that would be used to procure these needed items even beyond the Project time. This would empower the Community to support the needy.

At M’biza, the community chose egg production as thier business and they were provided with 200 chickens which started laying eggs at the end of December, 2009.

The Committee that is running the IGA was initially supported by ADRA which provided the required feeds and other materials. This support was withdrawn in January and the Committee has since been using funds generated from the sale of the eggs to support its operations.

At the end of March, 2010, the Committee decided to make a start in fulfilling its obligations of, among other things, supporting the needy. They agreed to start with orphans and they bought 3 bags of maize which was shared among 12 orphans from 5 villages of Sulumba, Misuli, Chakuuma, Chipwaila and M’biza. Each received 12.5 kgs which, although not lasting too long, gave an indication of things to come as the business progresses.

It is very exciting to see Community Based Organizations that formally partnered with ADRA being able to stand on it’s on and fulfilling their mission to contribute to the development of their community.

Reported by: Stanley Mpasa, District Coordinator, Mulanje.

How a Mill Can Send a Child to School

Life is easier in this community,” says Luka Khuliwa, community chairman. “We are learning that every small change makes life easier.” Malawi is a country where families grow their own food using simple hand tools. Driving through the south of the country, you will not see tractors or even oxen-pulled ploughs working the fields. All work is done by hand, and mostly by women. Maize is the food of choice. Without maize at a meal, most individuals feel that they have not eaten. While ADRA agricultural projects in the country encourage the growing of tomatoes, cassava, pigeon peas, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, most everyone grows maize. Hand milling, or pounding the maize by hand, is an energy intensive and time-consuming daily activity. Done by women and girls, this keeps them from other needed activities. It even keeps girls from attending school. “There was a maize mill near our community; however, it was a long, long walk, and to go there meant you did nothing else that day,” states Irene. “Those who were lucky enough to have a bicycle could ride there with their maize in two hours. My family did not go often.”

The Mphonde community is in the Phalombe district of Malawi. In this remote area along the Mozambique border, villagers struggle hard simply to exist. ADRA is working in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), distributing commodities and creating food assets here, including the building of large fishponds and poultry production. It was clear that building a maize mill in this community would further alleviate the extreme poverty. A community maize mill would not only free up individuals’ time, but it would also allow them to spend less funds on getting maize ground. It would create a small community industry with jobs, and it would provide a small stream of income for the community.

The community council identified a parcel of land along the dirt road and voted that this would be the property for the maize mill. With ADRA donating the building materials, the community built the mill building out of brick and concrete. ADRA donated the diesel-run machinery and trained three individuals on the operation and maintenance of the mill itself. The mill operator and his assistant are grateful for the income that working at the mill provides.

The mill is open five days a week, and the community has assigned each family a day and time to come to the mill each week. This scheduling means that no one has to wait in long lines, and everyone has a chance to have their maize ground into flour. “We usually see 25 people a day, and they come in groups of five,” says Bonwell, one of the mill operators. “By scheduling people in groups, I do not have to keep starting and stopping the mill. We save on diesel this way.”

The community pays the mill operators 2,000 kwacha (US$14) a month. After three years in operation, the community has 70,000 kwacha in the bank. “We are using the interest in the account to send the orphans in our community to school,” Luka Khuliwa proudly exclaims. “Without this money, they would not be able to receive an education. Thank you, ADRA, for helping us provide for every child!”

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ADRA International

Baking

Supported by WFP, ADRA Malawi identified and trained, a total of 150 people, in baking, in the last year in the Phalombe district. A total of 17 bakery shelters with 23 ovens have been constructed in 13 GVH. On their part beneficiaries provided some locally available construction materials such as sand for plastering, flooring, and labor such as collection of bricks and sourced funds to pay for the builders.

The bakeries are managed by a community committee, and the profit realized by the bakeries is supporting in average 24 orphans or vulnerable children, per bakery and within the community.

The ADRA Country Director, Emanuel da Costa comments: "These interventions allow us to avoid short term solutions, empowering communities to respond to the needs they identify in their communities. We are thankful for the partnership we have established with these community elected committees, not only in Phalombe district, but through out the country."

Partially based on Project report from: Hastings Lacha Project manager

Goat Rearing (Pass on strategy)

As, United Nations - World Food Program funded, Sustainable Livelihood Intervention, in the Phalombe District, is coming to an end, it is now time to look at what has been achieved and learned. One of the successfully implemented interventions was the Goat Rearing - Pass on strategy.

ADRA employed a pass-on strategy in order to improve goat production, and increase household income, from goat sales by providing targeted vulnerable households with hybrid goats. A total of 300 households beneficiaries were reached under this activity, upon producing offspring the parent stock would be passed on to next beneficiary after a period of 4 months reaching another 300 households.

To date a total of 22 goats have been passed on to 10 additional villages. As the project is winding up, there are 168 pregnant goats and 114 new kids have been produced by 105 goats (refer to appendix 1: tables showing goat reproduction and beneficiary list)

20 groups comprising of 15 beneficiary households were formed and trained in the initial stages of the project to manage the pass on project. The idea behind the pass-on strategy was that in each circle, several members would be given initial inputs and as they start generating returns, they would pass these on to other circle members so that after a period, the whole group will have benefited. Once all original circle members have benefited they would be encouraged to pass-on to other HIV/AIDS targeted villages to generate new circles. The circle members would discuss the criteria to be used in identifying initial members to benefit from the initial inputs.

At GVH level, a project committee was put in place to manage the project activities with the support from government extension workers, CBOs and VDCs.
The Ministry of Agriculture extension workers and the District Social Welfare Office in collaboration with ADRA Malawi trained the targeted households in leadership, business management and group management skills.

The first group of beneficiaries is keeping the goats together with the off springs (kids) waiting for them to reach a stage when they can survive independently. The second group of beneficiaries is preparing the kraals for the goats to be passed on to them.

Based on final report prepared by: Hastings Lacha - Project Manager.

Chisitu ushered in a lot more than just a new year

The beginning of January, 2010, at Chisitu ushered in a lot more than just a new year; it saw the birth of the site’s first calf which was born on 2nd January. Chisitu is one of the many locations in Mulanje District, Southern part of Malawi, where ADRA Malawi is implementing one of its projects fighting against HIV/AIDS. As part of community empowerment especially for households infected and affected with HIV/AIDS, the project distributed grants in kind for Income Generating Activities (IGA). In Mulanje the community choose milk production which has seen the birth of a calf there of. This perfect start to the year was made sweeter by the fact that the calf is a female and is very healthy. Out of the two cows, the remaining one should be giving birth before the end of the month if all goes well.

A sample of the milk was sent to the selling point five days after the birth of the calf for assessment and it has been found to be of acceptable quality. This means that milking and selling starts on 10th January. As the project draws to an end, January end, the early birth of the calf, just before the end, will give the office a chance to assess production levels and have an idea of expected performance.

It was very encouraging to see how enthusiastic the Committee is and how the whole Community is taking part in the care of the animals when I visited the khola yesterday. The community is really keen to see the project succeed and, hopefully, there may be a second khola put up by this time next year!

Reported by: Stanley Mpasa, District Coordinator.

Kalinde's golden eggs

One of the ADRA Malawi, project activities, within the Let's Fight Aids in Malawi project, is to assist the Communities in the impact areas establish an Income Generating Activity for the entire 10 villages. The income from this business will provide the financial support for the various beneficiaries of the projects, constituted by HIV/AIDS affected households, including orphans and other vulnerable children, and chronically ill. Although different civil society community groups, like the youths, the volunteers and others have already been given the skills to care for the most vulnerable, this would be nearly impossible without the finances to meet the various needs like fees and food for the orphans and drugs for the chronically ill. ADRA supports the establishement of IGA's as a way to generate funds to carry on social work at the community level.

A Main Committee of 10 members, one from each village, was selected as was an Advisory Committee of 5 influential and respected people in the Community. These Committees were given a 5 day training in Business Management facilitated by District Social Welfare and Community Development Officers. They were then asked to choose the business that they wanted in consultation with the Community leaders and other members. The Kalinde Community chose Egg Production and after satisfying conditions like drawing a constitution and a business plan, it was decided to buy 200 day old chicks. During the enquiries, however, it was discovered that besides the traditional day old chicks, 5 week and 18 week old birds were also available. The 18 week old birds were preferred as the waiting period before laying would only be two to three weeks .

Since there was no time for a chicken house (khola) to be put up, an already standing structure was identified and rented. It was then renovated before being inspected and passed as suitable by the area’s Vet Officer. The chickens and the required items like feed and water troughs, bags of feeds, drugs and egg trays were delivered late on 28^th August, to the delight of the Community. They could hardly believe that their dream had materialized so quickly. Seventeen days later, the first eggs were collected much to the delight of the Community. The ADRA Mulanje Office Staff visited the site on 18^th to see for themselves and to deliver some more feeds.

As at the end of August, the Group had collected K25000 which has been banked. The Group will shortly stand on their own feet after they are supplied with the last 5 bags of feed

It is very encouraging to report that demand, which the team was worried about, is so high that all eggs collected are sold out daily with many more customers having to go home empty handed. This is a clear indication that there is room for further expansion.

Reported by: Stanley Mpasa -District Coordinator.

Exchange visits benefit IGA teams

The implementation of Income Generating Activities (IGA) has seen tremendous response from communities. When the issue of IGAs was presented to the communities in the course of the project, there was some doubt from some communities because groups were not to be given cash, rather, they were to be given grants in kind (communities were to be given commodities, machinery or livestock depending on what the groups choose). There were a lot of questions on how this method would work, but time has said it all, the grants have been given, community members have been trained and the committees received their commodities in the form of machinery or livestock, on behalf of their communities.

As part of an urge to improve their IGA three groups in Mulanje District conducted exchange visits. The groups wanted to learn from each other since the success of running an IGA is a big challenge as there are different people brought together for one cause.
For instance, the Income Generating Activity (IGA) Committee at Thembe (a site in Mulanje) has been facing a lot of challenges in the implementation of their activities. The turn out at Committee meetings and work gatherings has been very low and there was even drop out of members. Community mobilization has also been a challenge as has been the link up with the Traditional Leaders in the area. This was in marked contrast with Chisitu (another site in Mulanje), which has a similar IGA with Thembe (milk production).

The challenges prompted ADRA district staff to discuss the problem with both communities and developing the idea of having a exchange visit with the Thembe team visiting Chisitu. The idea was to give the two Committees a chance to share their experiences in the hope that Thembe would learn and rectify their shortfalls while Chisitu would also learn from their colleagues’ mistakes and avoid them. The idea was welcomed by both Committees and was held on 21st October, 2009.

The team from Thembe was accompanied by the Community Worker and the Veterinary Assistant from Ministry of Agriculture. The team from Chisitu outlined their strategy where by most of its committee members were Farm Club members (farms were initiated by ADRA), therefore, highly interested in farming and able to work as a group. The Committee also ensured the involvement of the Traditional Leaders and the Community right from the beginning. Another important point the team from Chisitu emphasized was on the importance of explaining to the community that the IGA was for the whole Community while the Committee just represented them. This was evidenced by the fact that they collected money to open their own bank account; Youths, Farmers, CFs and some Village members all contributed.The visiting team learnt the importance of involving the Leaders and the Community; it makes work easier and strengthens the sense of ownership.

The visitors were shown the Chisitu khola (kraal) and the field of elephant grass planted to feed the cows. The visiting group was impressed and is now determined to do their best to catch up. Even the Vet Assistant vowed to do all she can to turn things round.

Much as the other site, Mbiza, is rearing chickens, the ideas on how to run a business was of relevance to the group as well, hence the group from Chisitu visited their counterparts from Mbiza site.

In all these visitations the groups shared ideas on how to strengthen ties within the community and with community leaders. They also shared best practices on how to run business especially that they are working as a team of more than ten people.

At the end of the exchange members of both groups made a very positive balance of the activity. Visibly motivated the groups mentioned how important the activity had been and their plans to continue interacting and sharing information.

Author: Stanley Mpasa - Mulanje District Coordinator

Volunteering in Malawi (2/2)

During the month of August ADRA Malawi was proud to host two high-school students from the UK for a week of volunteer experience. They were exposed to many different aspects of development, from working in the head office to a visit to a community based youth group, who use theatre to influence their community and raise awareness of issues such as domestic violence and HIV/AIDS. The following stories reflect their experiences and what impacted them during their week in Malawi.

Kerryn Lodo: Volunteer Supervisor

Author: Lahna Mawee-Patel

Whilst in Chiradzulu, I was given the opportunity to visit a child-run home. We interviewed a young man, Mphatso*, 21, who, along with his two younger brothers, aged 10 and 14, was orphaned 5 years ago sadly to the loss of his mother and abandonment of his father.

I was confused to hear that after the mother died, the father soon re-married and went to live with his wife and therefore leaving his eldest son to look after his younger siblings. I later learned that this was part of some Malawian cultures and that this was sometimes a normal thing to happen due to a matrilineal structure. Unfortunately, due to the situation of poverty present in Malawi the father was, and still has been unable to provide for his current family, let alone the boys. This also applies to members of the maternal family; they are also poverty stricken and cannot afford to care for the boys as well. Additional to this, HIV has also been an issue which has affected the support provided from the maternal family to the boys. With so many people passing away, the traditional support systems which would have assisted the boys and taken care of them in this situation are disintegrating or non-existent.

This is why ADRA provide extra support to groups like an IGA group. This is an income generating activity group (IGA) which is designed especially for cases like this. The group is able to choose a small business which they can start up so that they can earn a small income from it and assist vulnerable households in the community, such as Mpatso. In this particular case that I saw, the group decided to raise goats to share between community members. The IGA group supplied them with two goats as a starter provided that they give the first two kids to the next family in need of IGA group support. After this they can do whatever they need to with goats in order to sustain a living for themselves.

It was touching and encouraging to find that the eldest boy was very keen on making sure that his two younger brothers obtained a good education and go on to lead successful lives and maybe even work with ADRA one day! With the IGA, the family has been able to sell two goats which can provide them with enough money for a 1 year school fee making it all the more possible for the two younger boys to lead any life they wish to.

* Real Name not used.

Harvesting fish in the mainland

On Thursday September 17, 2009, communities from VH Ngandanga, in Phalombe district harvested their fish from their community owned pond, created back in 2007, as part of ADRA’s intervention in the area, through a Food for Assets initiative implemented in partnership with WFP.

They managed to harvest a total of 62.5KGs of which the Community Management Committee agreed to sale at MK400.00/kg which will fetch not less than MK20,000.00. The cash realized will be used, by the Community Committee to support the orphans and vulnerable children and chronically ill within their community.

Although this village is in an area vulnerable to both floods and droughts, the creation of such community diversification and income generating activities empowers communities to become resilient to disasters and be able to support its most vulnerable members.

Other community assets created with ADRA support include: irrigation schemes, poultry production, maize mills, amongst many other.

Author: Hastings Lacha

Towards a Better Future

In as much as many organizations and nations have tried to diminish the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa, it still remains one of the most serious public health and development challenges. Malawi is one of the countries HIV/AIDS has been affected tremendously. The AIDS epidemic is responsible for eight deaths every hour in Malawi[1]. Out of a population of nearly 14 million, almost one million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007, with numbers infected increasing[2]. Not only does HIV/AIDS worsen poverty but it also renders a women and children vulnerable, as there are nearly one million orphans today in Malawi with women relatives being those most likely to become caregivers and providers, stretching already severely limited resources.

Yankho Konyani, ADRA M&E Assistant with the Tiyambe IGA Group

This is where ADRA Malawi, through Lets Fight AIDS in Malawi (LEFAM) project, decided to provide support. The project aims to empower Malawians both living with HIV/AIDS as well as the caretakers, orphans and the elderly to have access to their human rights such as education, food security and non-discrimination. In view of this the project introduced an initiative of Income generating activities (IGAs) early this year to financially empower communities to care for those impacted by HIV. As of now IGA group committees have been elected and trained in the targeted sites with business beginning this month.

Upon visiting one of the sites, Ntaja, we spent time with one IGA group, called Tiyambe IGA committee, who had chosen to do business selling cooking oil and flour for baking cakes and doughnuts. It is quite a vibrant group and optimistic that the business will thrive tremendously as the chairman Mr. Samuel Banda said “anthu kuno amadya kwambiri zithu zokanzinga mafuta” meaning that a lot of people use cooking oil in preparing their food in the area.

The group is very happy with the initiative because they have already planned that 40% of their profit will go to the orphans, the elderly, the chronically ill and the poor. Their vision is to see vulnerable groups benefit through having enough food, medicine, good education, clothes, soap and shelter. They are convinced their community will no longer be the same and this is all thanks to ADRA for providing not just the capital and tools for the business, but hope and empowerment to provide assistance in their own community. This marks the beginning of a vibrant business and a better life for the community with more updates as progress arises from the business.

By Yankho Konyani and Kerryn Lodo

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[1] UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS epidemic. Retrieved on the 29/7/2009 from http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2008/

[2] Ministry of Health and Population, Malawi (2004), ‘Treatment of AIDS, the two year plan to scale up antiretroviral therapy in Malawi’. Retrieved on 28/7/2009 from http://www.avert.org/aids-malawi.htm

The Kalumba Food Security Project Impact

By Dyson MBENGO

Recently, on a visit to the Kalumba Food Security Project in Lilongwe I had a chance of learning more about the project. The project area is located in the Central Region of Malawi in Lilongwe District.

It has been running now for the past 3 years, with funding from ADRA Canada, and will be coming to an end on 31^st July 2009. It targets a total of about 231 villages under the Kalumba Traditional Authority with a total over 600 households. The aim of the project is to mitigate the effects of hunger in this hunger prone area.

Various interventions were carried out in order to mitigate the effects of hunger which was a chronic problem in the area. The first step was to establish farmers clubs through which the various activities would be implemented. Thus a total of 21 farmers clubs were formed which are active up to this day. The other core interventions included actual Food Distribution, Dissemination of knowledge on new Farming Techniques, giving out of Farm Inputs and Implements, teaching the community about Nutrition, digging of Water Wells and finally the installation of a Maize Mill.

During the visit several focus group discussions were held to get a feel of how the project has impacted the area as well as how the Maize Mill is being managed and what benefits the community is realizing from it. From the discussions the community is benefiting as follows:

- Maize mill:

• They have a mill nearby as compared to earlier times when they had to travel/walk long distances (over 12 kilometers) to get to one.
• Those to whom the maize mill is still too far, have an alternative facility when there’s a power black out.
• Other’s have obtained employment from the mill
• The mill is slowly increasing economic activity at the small trading centre which was earlier less patronized by the community.

- Modern farming methods. They have learnt new methods of farming which are helping them to harvest more than before e.g. Sasakawa method of planting, manure making, seed selection, food storage techniques, ridge spacing.

- Actual food distribution. At a time when the food crisis had reached a peak, maize, beans and ground nuts were distributed to the community to mitigate the effects of hunger.

- Goat rearing. This they said has benefited them a lot as up to now more than 50% of households in the area still have the goats.

- Potable water. A total of 21 wells have been dug from which they are drawing better quality potable water than was the case before.

- Health & Nutrition. The community has also acquired knowledge on various aspects of health especially about the HIV/AIDS pandemic as well as on nutrition. They have also learnt how to produce vegetables from the dambos and kitchen gardens.

- Farm implements and inputs. They received farm implements (e.g.hoes) and other inputs (e.g. maize, g/nuts and vegetable seeds) to help them in their farming work.

- Community spirit enhanced. The community feels the project activities have improved their oneness.

- Reforestation. Almost every household in the area has cassia trees which have been planted under the project. These are fast growing trees which are providing shelter and are a source of wood and timber.

However despite all the benefits obtained from the project, there were some problems which were observed. Some of them are :

- Weak Business Management knowledge. It was observed that the level of Business Management knowledge was low. There’s need to give the committee and other key leaders more training in this area.

- Potable water. Although 21 wells have been dug through the project, it would be better if several proper boreholes were provided to the area to further improve the quality of water.

In conclusion:

On the whole, the area has benefited significantly from the project and the community is concerned that ADRA is leaving; however understanding that all projects come to an end, the community members said that ADRA should still visit them once in a while just to check on them and give them encouragement.

The promise of continued visits from ADRA was made and will be kept as the relation that ADRA Malawi develops with the communities is more than a work related partnership but rather a partnership based on accountability, trust and friendship that prevails long after the project ends. As an example of a continued concern, even as the project relationship is phasing out, further efforts to respond to the 2 main problems identified has been initiated. In collaboration with the donor of the project that is phasing out, ADRA Canada, it was possible to respond positively to the water problem and two boreholes will be drilled in the area.

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.

A step towards a better future: The case of one orphan in Neno district

Agnes Mc Donald dropped out of school in standard 4 when she became orphaned and had no support to continue with her education. Her ambition was to become a medical doctor but her fate saw this dream slowly slip down the drain.

Born fifth in a family of six children in Joliji Village, T/A Chekucheku Neno, Agnes’s story is like just like may others’ in the district and the country at large. Some of Agnes’s older siblings have moved elsewhere to earn a living, leaving her with the responsibility to fend for food and other basic necessities. She is still holding on to her dream of getting educated and having a productive life although she does not have an immediate solution to her problem.
The ADRA IHFS project, with funding from Danida came in to assist young people like Agnes with their problem by training them in vocational skills so that they can have better means of generating income for their households and their education. A total of 65 child household heads and orphans have been trained for four months in skills like tinsmith, tailoring, carpentry and joinery and bricklaying in Mulanje and Neno districts. The beneficiaries also received training in entrepreneurship and small scale business management.

In order not to kill the dream that Agnes and many other children in her situation may have of becoming future leaders and professionals, the project established links with government department of youth as well as department of social welfare for these children to be supported and encouraged to go back to school. Today Agnes is a fully trained and certified tailor by the national certification body. She planned to back to school and make items to sell in her free time instead of spending all her time looking for piece work in people’s garden. It is the hope of ADRA Malawi that the skills imparted in these young boys and girls will sooner or later prove vital in their lives and that they will be able to develop their own lives as well as their communities.

Author: Thoko Mwapasa