Water to Malamulo

Malamulo Adventist Mission Hospital is experiencing critical water shortage. The campus consists of the Hospital, a Medical School, a primary school, a boarding secondary school. Total numbers of water users at the campus is at the moment at 22,000 year with this including over 18,000 patients. The existing three boreholes are not adequate to supply water throughout the day. Coupled with other problems like the dam which was found to contain harmful chemicals and old pipe lines with frequent breakdowns. ADRA was requested to assist with this problem wish was possible due to the financial support of from the ADRA International office (http://www.adra.org/).
The first stage of ADRA’s intervention in Malamulo Hospital was completed after geophysical surveys were conducted and two sites for drilling were identified. Two borehole were drilled on the 19th and 20th to 21st November, 2008.
Next stages of intervention will include the installation of pumps, possible upgrading of the water storage or provision of a generator and replacement of the piping system conducting the water to the distribution at the mission site.
ADRA is furthermore assisting the Hospital by providing 104 mechanical beds with mattresses hopping to contribute to improved services provided to the patients.

Updated from Report by W. Chilonga – ADRA Malawi Water Expert

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

Enabling ADRA to authentically represent

ADRA Malawi and ADRA international recently launched a massive needs assessment initiative in two districts in Southern Malawi. The assessment involved collaborating with TANGO, a technical assistance consulting firm that works with NGOs. TANGO provided extensive tools to conduct a thorough needs assessment and determine the vulnerability of people in these areas.

ADRA’s team was composed of staff from both the ADRA Malawi and International offices consisting of Emanuel, Jennifer, Martine, Hastings, Chris, Thoko, Moses along with many other staff and team members of a team of more than 40 people. The assessment was two-prong involving a wide-ranging survey that was conducted with hundreds of individuals in their homes, and numerous interviews with eight village groups and leaders.

This exercise was rigorous, but an excellent opportunity for building the capacity of all involved. Even more importantly, it was an opportunity to connect with persons in the two districts enabling ADRA to authentically represent them by hearing their voices, their real needs, and understanding their potential, their dreams, and their reality.

Barbara Stuart - Planning, ADRA International

Gulewamkule dancing against AIDS

I love Malawi. Traveling in the country and experience the beautiful nature and the smiling people and relaxed atmosphere is something I enjoy every time I have visited the country. Of course there is also a lot of suffering and poverty and many challenges but still I am looking forward for every visit. It is encouraging to follow the good work ADRA Malawi is doing and the heavy impact it has had on especially people’s openness to the problems concerning HIV/AIDS. In ADRA Denmark we often use ADRA Malawi as an excellent example on how to get people involved in both problems and solutions through a lot of activities, especially using both radio and TV.

Last time I was visiting we had a quite scary experience meeting the gulewamkule dancers. We had heard about them and was curious to see them live, and we certainly did so in a small village near Mchinji. We were told just to wait under the shadows of a big tree and suddenly the drums started on a wild drum session and two strange looking figures came out from the back of a hut. They were very aggressive in their dancing and I could certainly understand why people are scared when they see them – especially if there are many and when you know that they are not scared of killing if they have to.

Michael Usi told me the story on how they had changed their focus from terror to talking about AIDS and warning people about the danger. Some of the women that are joining would sing questions like: “What is happening? Why are the young men and women dying from us?” And the gulewamkule dancers would answer with their strange animal like voices: “It is AIDS, the disease is real, it is among us and we have to fight against it.” They are Malawis secret weapon in the fight against aids – and secret it is since nobody are allowed to know the identity of the dancers or refer to a certain person being one of these dancers. It is a real big thing that they have been changing their focus and are now being helpful in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

No doubt in my heart that the good Lord is blessing the work that ADRA Malawi is doing. The devil is working hard as well we all know, but the good impact of ADRA Malawis efforts is there for all to see.

Looking forward hopefully to another visit
My best regards to all the staff at ADRA Malawi

From: Bjorn Kroll, PR coordinator, ADRA Denmark

ADRA assistance reaches HIV/AIDS-affected communities

In Malawi, where HIV/AIDS prevalence ranks eighth in the world, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is assisting 4,200 low-income families through a three-year community-based health and food security project in the southern districts of Mwanza and Mulanje.

Targeting communities in rural areas, ADRA is helping HIV/AIDS-affected families access high quality and nutritious foods through initiatives that teach beneficiaries better ways to produce food using more effective farming methods. As part of this project, beneficiaries are also learning to grow drought resistant crops, and protect stored food from pests, spoilage, and other hazards. Additionally, ADRA is promoting the planting of community gardens as a tool to increase food accessibility among villagers.

"One of the most important parts of achieving long-term success in the project is to strengthen the capacities of the communities, as well as the capacities of individual people," said Michael Usi, director for programs at ADRA Malawi.

Included in the nutrition component of this project, participants attend classes to learn to improve the overall health of their families through appropriate food selection, nutritional diversification, and meal preparation. This approach has had a lasting effect on beneficiaries, as they are better able to retain crucial food nutrients, ultimately improving their health and immunity to disease.

"This section of the project has been very beneficial," said Usi. "Before, the elders of the community would say, 'all that matters is that your stomach is full.'"

As part of this three-year project, supported by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) and ADRA Denmark, ADRA is also training community volunteer health workers to provide health, child-care, and nutrition counseling, and teach improved personal hygiene and sanitation. In addition, participants learn about sanitation and essential life skills to promote disease prevention.

In Nseula Village, located in Neno District, one of the most remote areas of Malawi, ADRA built a gravity-fed water supply system that is providing drinking water to approximately 1,085 people for the first time. This addition has made a significant difference in this village. ADRA is also constructing 130 wells, boreholes, and protected springs to improve water access in other communities.

"The value of access to safe water is immeasurable," said Usi. "Instead of spending time walking to get water, a chore which, for some, takes up to an hour, women are able to spend more time taking care of their children. In addition, if the water that you are bringing home is not clean, there is a much higher risk of spreading diseases. That is why ADRA makes it a priority to provide clean water in the communities in which we work."

ADRA is also providing livelihood training to child-headed households, enabling them to make a living and provide for their families. This initiative has been particularly important in Malawi where the AIDS pandemic has left thousands of orphans, resulting in an increasing number of children having to become the primary breadwinners. To date, more than 120 children and young adults between the ages of 12 to 24 have received vocational and life skills training, such as tailoring, tinsmithing, baking, brick laying, welding and carpentry. ADRA has also partnered with Malawi's Department of Social Welfare to encourage younger children to return to school, a plan that will allow them to only work for part of the day, and still support their families.

To ensure project sustainability, ADRA is increasing the capacity of the targeted communities through initiatives that establish village support groups, which can manage the resources once the project ends. ADRA is also training community leaders on issues such as organization, management, leadership, and planning, and educating communities on the importance of the rights of women, children, and other vulnerable groups.

"Beneficiaries have told us that they appreciate the impact of the project, due to the knowledge and skills that they have acquired," said Usi. "The project has definitely been a success. No doubt about it."

The three-year project is scheduled to close at the end of October. However, a second phase will begin in February of 2009.

ADRA has been active in Malawi since 1982, working primarily 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.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org. 

Author: Nadia McGill (ADRA International)

Source: www.adra.org, www.reliefweb.int

Food Security series - IHFS

The main objective of this ADRAProject,  is to address food and nutrition insecurity among vulnerable households affected by HIV/AIDS. This is achieved through promotion of improved crop varieties, particularly drought resistant crops and modern farming methods such as soil and water conservation, manure making and improved crop storage. In addition, households are trained in improved food preparation skills that are efficient and help retain the nutritional value of the various promoted foods. In addition the project promotes hygiene and sanitation among the targted households. The targeted households are organized into Village Support Groups (VSGs) which recieve trainings and are supported to establish individual as well as communal gardens.  The VSGs are linked to other community structures, particularly Village Development Committees (VDCs) which coordinate all development activities under the government decentralization structures.

The Integrated Health and Food Security for Vulnerable Groups Due to AIDS Project (IHFS), is supported by DANIDA/ADRA Denmark, works in Mulanje and Neno Districts.

Accurate information reduces HIV incidences

The battle against HIV/AIDS and its devastating impact is an increasing concern to ADRA Malawi. As a social issue HIV/AIDS has in so many ways retarded development at individual, family, community as well as national level. While on the other hand, young people are among the most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 

Good communication and accurate information on HIV/AIDS can allow young people and the nation as a whole to revise the myths, cultural practices and stigmas and discrimination that accelerate transmission in order to prevent the virus from further spread.

One of the ideal tools that ADRA Malawi has used is the media oriented programs.

These programs, which include radio talk shows, Lets Talk, and drama series, Tikuferanji (radio and television) and community video shows, have enhanced the dissemination of accurate and relevant information on HIV/AIDS. 

The programs promote access to comprehensive and reliable information in quest of behavioral changes with the special emphasis on life changing strategies.

These media program, Lets Talk and Tikuferanji? (which literally means why are we dying?) have offered a way for Malawians to find facts resulting in  eradication the myths and cultural practices that have far been contributing to the spread of the virus and reducing stigma and discrimination at national level.

Since these programs are aired to the whole nation, ADRA has to be sure that the messages are accurate and depict issues related to Malawi so that they change the nation for the better.

Having the programs also means that access to information on issues dwelling on HIV/AIDS, human rights, food security and other relevant issues is possible and easy.

For many years the radio and print media have been to major sources of information. However, since ADRA started the drama series on Television, it has proven that TV is also very powerful because of its visual aspect.

Tikuferanji TV program is one of the most watched programs on Television Malawi, so much that when it is not beamed there is always public outcry for the program.

Without a doubt the media oriented programs have changed the lives of so many people and have delivered accurate and important information to the nation.

Evidence exists that Communities have changed the way they view issues because of the information that they heard from ADRA Malawi media programs.

Authors: Ruth Simika/ Chikondi Madikiza-Madumuse