Tag Archives: Malawi

 

Veronica Obed

Veronica Obed is 43 and lives in Chazuka Village T/A Tengani in Nsanje District. Veronica is married and has 7 children, 4 boys and 3 girls. Veronica participates in the DFID, Norwegian Government and Irish Aid funded DISCOVER project (Developing Innovative Solutions with Communities to Overcome Vulnerability through Enhanced Resilience) with GOAL.

Veronica spoke of how joining the Chitetezo Mbaula (energy efficient stove) group has reduced the need for firewood. Veronica notes that the reduced time spent travelling long distances for firewood has minimised the risk of gender based violence. “We had to travel long distances waking up at 4am…we would meet nasty men who would want to take advantage of us, at times we were caught in traps set for wild animals, which was risky and painful”. Veronica also spoke of the difference the Chitetezo Mbaula has made to her life.

“…using the Mbaula our firewood lasts for some time, for at least 2 weeks. With the Mbaula we can even use bean stalks to light the fire”.

The Mbaula has made a huge difference to Veronica and other women’s lives in that they no-longer have to frequently travel to the forest to fetch firewood. In addition Veronica says the Mbaula has impacted positively on the overall wellbeing of her and her family in terms of increasing income generating opportunities integral to women’s self-empowerment.

“We sell the Mbaula we make in the group and buy household stuff and we get that money and use for VSL” (Village savings and Loans).


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
 

Ruth Julius

Ruth Julius is 38, married with 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls. Ruth lives in Kamphata Village, T/A Chimombo, Nsanje District and participates in the DFID, Norwegian Government and Irish Aid funded DISCOVER (Developing Innovative Solutions with Communities to Overcome Vulnerability through Enhanced Resilience) project with GOAL. Ruth is a member of the VSL and Chitetezo Mbaula (energy efficient stove) initiative. She is also the chairperson of the Village Civil Protection Committee (VCPC).

Ruth recognizes the value of education to ensure a bright future for her children. She sites sending her children to school as the primary reason she joined the local Village Savings and Loans (VSL) scheme. Ruth highlights her improved purchasing power as a result of the scheme: “I have been able to buy a lot of things, iron sheets, a goat and food for the children. This time I am going to buy school uniform for all my children…this way they can’t be sent back from school”. The Chitetezo Mbaula and the VSL groups
have made a huge difference to her life: “I get money from selling the Mbaula, and I then save it with the group…this money helps us
a lot as a family…I am able to buy things with it…if I didn’t have this money I am afraid my girls could have chosen to get married because
as a parent I would have failed them”. Ruth notes that poverty often contributes to early marriage among young girls in her community.


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
 

Rose Simawo

Rose Simawo travelled on a canoe from T/A Nyachikadza, Mpambachulu village to Ndamera village to meet the GOAL team regarding the 16 days of Activism against Violence Campaign. The Nyachikadza area is well known for flooding. Rose is 32 years old, married and has three sons aged 15, 12 and 8.

Rose is most proud of: “my happy life, friends, family and my healthy life”. She continues, “for women and girls lives to improve they need not be stamped on”. Rose has attended GOAL Malawi’s training on early warning systems through the DipECHO III and Irish Aid funded programme and recounts what she learned at the training i.e. “that the red flag means danger and a green flag means things are ok…the training has taught us to prepare beforehand…a place where we can settle when floods hit, therefore we come to the camp”. The camp that Rose speaks of is Bitilinyu evacuation centre built by GOAL in Ndamera, Nsanje. She describes the camp as “… safe, we have separate toilets for men and women”.

She compares her present situation to the one before: “we would meet so many challenges, crocodiles…our property would be destroyed, other people would go to classrooms, and other people would be destitute”. Rose appreciates the safe space available for her community including women and girls during times of flood.


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
 

Olive Gunyais

Olive Gunyais is aged 15 and is from Malasa village in Nkhotakota District. She does not know her father. Her mother married another man and moved away from her children five years ago. Olive was raised in her grandparents’ home.

In 2013 Olive joined her mother and stepfather in Blantyre, where her step-brother was given preferential treatment. “My step brother is sent to a private school where school fees are K10,000 per term, while my sister and I go to a government school where there is no fee paid. My stepfather says that boys are more intelligent and can finish school but girls may get married and waste his money.” She adds: “My stepbrother does not do any house chores, he gets up in the morning, has a bath and eats breakfast and goes to school while us girls have to light fires, wash plates, fetch water from a public water tap and prepare breakfast for the family before going to school.”

Rejected and worried about her future, Olive returned to her grandmother’s home in Nkhotakota. There, her aunt introduced Olive to the Skillz Girl Initiative. The initiative uses fun interactive methods to provide life skills and gender education, through a partnership between Concern Worldwide and Grassroot Soccer. Olive attended a one-week camp where she learned about gender, sex, and HIV in a safe and welcoming environment.

“In a girls-only session I am able to freely discuss life issues unlike in school where girls were mixed with boys” Olive says.

 


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
 

Grace

Grace* is a 13 year-old girl from Blantyre district. She has four sisters and two brothers. The children were orphaned in 2008. After Grace and her younger sister were taken in by a family member, she was sexually assaulted by an adult cousin. Fearing that she would be blamed for the abuse, and worried what would happen to her younger sister if they were made to leave, Grace never spoke out. Finally, she was forced to reveal her secret after she became pregnant.

Grace was cast out of the home for bringing shame upon her family. With nowhere else to go Grace and her sister walked to the closest town, where her situation was discovered by the District Social Welfare office and referred to Concern Worldwide for support.

These agencies linked her with district support services; she and her sister were provided with food and care From the District Health Office until Grace delivered her baby. After several consultations between the social welfare office, Concern Worldwide, and a local organization supporting orphans and vulnerable children, the local CBO agreed to take on responsibility of caring for Grace, her baby, and her sister.

Social welfare guidelines call for placing her in the home of a relative, despite the risk Grace and her sister would face. At the moment, Grace’s situation is still uncertain. Her future is still unresolved. Her dreams are still waiting for better days.


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
  • Names and locations changed to protect identity
 

Mafulesi Matengambiri

Mafulesi Matengambiri is 62 years old and lives in Galafa village in Nsanje. She is the mother of three children, aged 20, 17, and 15. Mafulesi spent years married to a man who abused her both physically and emotionally, leaving her powerless in her own home. Her husband took total control of household decision making, using their joint earnings for his own personal enjoyment.

“I couldn’t participate in decision making, even if I earned my own money from piece work. If I contributed my own thoughts that would result in a beating” says Mafulesi.

In 2011 her husband abandoned her. She has since been solely responsible for the well-being of her household and children. To raise money or to get food to feed her children, she undertook ganyu work (manual labour), neglecting her own fields. “After working on other peoples farms I would feel tired and spent less time on my own farm.”

In November 2013, Mafulesi participated in Concern Worldwide’s Conservation Agriculture (CA) project. She was given a small amount of seed and fertilizer, and trained in techniques to improve her yields and prevent poor harvests in drought years. She was also provided with two goats; when these reproduced, she passed on the kids on to another vulnerable household. A major breakthrough came when she joined a Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) group, which enabled her to start up a small business selling tomatoes. Through her VS&L, she has already saved MK 16,200 which she plans to use to expand her business.


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
 

Katrina Shako

Katrina Shako is an ambitious girl who completed primary school in Blantyre. In 2014, she returned home to live with her parents in Nsanje where she is currently doing Standard 7. Her father Vito explains, “The moment I saw her, I told my wife that the time had come for Katrina to be married. She had grown into a beautiful young woman and I knew that we were going to be troubled with worries about her getting pregnant before marriage because of her looks.”

Girls who fall pregnant before marriage in Nsanje are subjected to a ritual known as ‘kupitadzwade’. The pregnant girl is forced to have sex with an older man during the course of her pregnancy or after giving birth. To avoid this, many families in Nsanje arrange marriages while their daughters are still young.

In 2014, Vito joined a Fathers’ Group launched by the organisation Friends in AIDS Support Trust (FAST) with support from Concern Worldwide. These groups advocate for and support children to stay in school. Radio broadcasts, developed and aired by Theatre for a Change, provide discussion topics at each meeting.

Vito has now reversed his decision about forcing his daughter into early marriage. He is an active member of his local Fathers’ Group, encouraging other parents to send their children to school. “He is on the top of the list of people who are encouraging girls in the
village to go to school and work hard at it,” says the local Village Headman Kalumbi. The family plans to send Katrina to attend secondary school.


  • This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
  • Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje