Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chiukepo Mwenechanya

It is a sad reality in my country that young girls get married at a very young age. My community is no different. With a patrilineal system, girls and women are mostly considered as housewives. School is like a waiting place for most of these girls for marriage. Puberty sounds like a sign of readiness for marriage in my community. Most of the girls enter marriage before even reaching the age of 18, with little education. These girls mostly rely on their spouses to provide for their basic needs. Another sad thing about this is the abusive marriages these girls end up in.

This is a story of Miss Jane (not her real name) who was married at the age of 16 to a polygamous and abusive husband. After nine years of enduring a very physically and emotionally abusive marriage she decided to call it quits and returned home to her family with her only child. Getting back to her family was not easy since she had to assume the responsibility of looking after her child by herself without looking for handouts or support from her parents or siblings since they too had responsibilities of their own. In 2011, she was about to give up on life to the point of thinking of committing suicide when her brother in South Africa decided to give her a fresh start in South Africa. She managed to secure a job there as a maid of which she saved all her earnings and returned home after a year and half.

After much reflection, Jane decided to venture into business as a way of empowering herself economically since securing a job in such a small and local community seemed to be an impossible task. After all, she did not go far with her education to land her a decent job. After weeks of doing farm jobs, she secured funds and with her savings from South Africa she decided to start a baking business, a skill she learnt from an acquaintance years back when she went to visit a relative in Mzuzu. 

A few months after venturing into this business the gamble paid off. She is now a popular business lady in my site and making profits from her business. She bakes Mandasi (local scones) and on a good day she sells up to $40 worth of the baked goods. She also bakes bread and in December, a time of peak for community ceremonies like Christmas, she can sell over 250 loaves of bread in a week. The booming business keeps her occupied and able to take care of herself and her kid with no support from relatives. She currently has a savings account, which has over $700, which she intends to use to expand her business by upgrading her equipment to meet her ever-increasing demand for her goods.

After dropping out of school and suffering at the hands of an abusive husband, she chose not to stay down but rose from her ashes and created her new future. She inspires her community to the point that most women in the area come to her to learn about her sacred secret to success.

Yes, “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” -Napoleon Hill

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Angella Chizimba

The past four months have been incredible. I met Nyamsuku (not her real name); founder of Takondwa club, a local club for people living with disabilities. Nyamsuku suffered from polio at a young age and has used walking aids ever since. Growing up, Nyamsuku did not think of herself as disabled, she taught herself to reframe challenges and not see them as obstacles. Despite her disability, Nyamsuku is a self-motivated person and so passionate about inclusivity.  For over ten years she has been teaching people in adult literacy despite being paid so little. She did several small income-generating activities which sustained her and her family. She noticed how most people living with disabilities (PWD) were being left behind in most activities and the PWD never felt motivated to work for themselves. 

In 2018, Nyamsuku was made the chairperson and a representative of PWD under the Area Development Committee. She aimed at finding scholarships for children living with disabilities especially the deaf and by 2019, she saw about five children in Bandawe school of the deaf in Malawi through sponsorships. She talks about these achievements with pride. This motivated her to start a group called Takondwa club. The club is comprised of people living with disabilities and/or have children with disabilities. This group was formed to motivate its members to see good in everything and to be limitless in their thoughts. As a group they were able to work towards food security by making organic fertilizers that boosted their harvest. 

In realizing that PWD need skills to engage in livelihood activities, with help from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the group received funds to go through a tailoring training as one way to ensure self-employment to the members. As we believe in small investment and bigger impacts, this group aims to find a reliable source of income for their families through tailoring and other income-generating activities to come. As it is an enterprise; oneness, willingness and hard work will bear more fruit.

"There is dignity in work. It contributes to an individual's self-worth and self-respect and offers a sense of purpose and accomplishment", one group member commented during a tailoring training session. This opportunity is a big step for them and a step towards achieving sustainable development for persons with disabilities. Nyamsuku is happy to see people with disabilities work for themselves, "We will set an example to other people living with disabilities," she commented. 

PWD need skills to engage in livelihood activities. Their families and communities may assume that they are unable to engage in such activities. They often lack access to basic education, making them unqualified to join skills training courses. These disadvantages frequently result in a lack of skills, as well as low confidence, expectations and achievement. As the trainings continue, I personally look forward to seeing the team grow in confidence and boost their skills, which will help them to improve their livelihoods.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Dorothy Mapira

When I moved in my community, I was shown a house where I would live during my time serving in the community. During the orientation with the landlady, I was shown a grass made structure that was meant to be my bathroom. I looked at the bathroom, and in my heart I thought, how could they make this to be a bathroom. It had no roof, just nearby there is a mango tree and it was a mango season which entailed that kids would be spending most of their time in the tree with a clear view inside my bathroom. Inside the bathroom there were bricks laid as the floor with some grass growing in it. I politely told my landlord and my host that I will not be comfortable to use the bathroom. They told me to use their bathroom as I was waiting for mine to be fixed.

After some days I thought of what I could do with the bathroom. I told them not to fix it again. I had thought of making a kitchen garden. They looked surprised as my landlady told me that the place was small for a garden and she sounded doubtful that I would yield anything from the garden. I never wanted her doubts to overcome my thinking. One early morning I borrowed a hoe and started preparing the place for my garden. No one believed what I was doing, they thought I was just wasting time. They came near to ask what I was doing and all they could say was don't waste your time. They did not know that they were wasting their time by telling me to stop doing what I was doing.

I made my permaculture kitchen garden, there was a mixture of every vegetable my mind could think of. People still thought I was wasting my time; they did not see what I was seeing. Goats, pigs and chickens broke into my garden several times destroying my plants but I did not quit. I would start all over again and plant new ones. Little by little my garden blossomed, all who thought I was wasting my time started coming to ask for some vegetables. Some decided to start their own kitchen gardens. My garden has all the vegetables I need. I have pumpkin leaves, beans, rape, mustard, okra, sweet potato leaves, Irish potatoes, maize, tomato and onion. I saved myself from spending extra cash. My little garden has become my friend. When I am stressed up with work in the community and need time for myself, I spend time working in my garden. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Margaret Chavula

The world has been hit by a pandemic that has disrupted what was considered the normal way of living. Covid-19 has affected the social lives of people as interactions are limited and controlled as well as the economic status as businesses and trade have been controlled. When our neighboring countries registered positive cases of Covid-19, most people in my community believed that the disease does not affect black people. They felt safe and immune to the disease. However, when our country, Malawi, registered its first positive case of Covid-19, people in my community began to worry and stress about whether they will survive the pandemic or not considering the rise in deaths due to Covid-19 around the world. Schools were closed, travel controlled, borders closed and businesses negatively affected. People in my community began to stress about how best they can avoid contracting the disease while at the same time find ways of engaging in their daily activities and routines for survival. Life had to go on amidst the pandemic.

Because most people in the community have limited access to correct information, as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer I took part in sharing information on Covid-19, such as signs and symptoms of Covid-19 and where they should report or the hotline they should use if one is showing or experiencing Covid-19 signs and symptoms. I also shared preventative measures that people were to follow to protect themselves from contracting the disease, such as observing social distance, frequently washing hands with soap, and wearing masks as they carry out their daily activities.

To complement the messages on preventative measures, CorpsAfrica, with funding from Mastercard Foundation, gave me an opportunity as a volunteer to work with my community and provide resources and materials that the community can utilize in protecting themselves from Covid-19. The materials provided were masks, tap buckets and soap for washing hands in places where people frequently meet such as churches, mosques and market places. I have been very impressed with the people's efforts in utilizing these materials and following the preventative measures because life has to go on, but as it does, they have to be protected.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Margaret Magombo

The road has been very long to the young ones in our societies. Those who have been living and believing that they can turn around their lives by the power of ink and paper have had their hopes and dreams twisted and almost laid waste. The closure of schools and the uncertainty that followed the reopening has done a damage whose magnitude is beyond quantification. Mastercard Foundation and CorpsAfrica’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Zomba-Nsondole has done a commendable job of resurrecting dreams of learners from Nsondole CDSS, which were hastening into a deep slumber. 

The learners being out of school for over four months, most of them lost touch with their school work. The donation of mobile tablet phones to Nsondole CDSS by Mastercard Foundation cannot be appreciated enough by the learner community, specifically form four students. The donation came at the perfect time. Most of the learners have been indulging in unproductive practices in the absence of active teaching and learning. The reality that some girl learners have fallen pregnant and others have married cannot go without saying. Loaded with reading materials characterized by well-articulated assignments and exercises, the tablets have been providing an interactive platform to the learners.

How much the learners missed school was too evident to grasp on the day the donation was handed to the school and the days to follow. During the handover, the learner community did not hesitate to begin using the tablets to access the reading materials. Fueled with the excitement of interacting with the seemingly little computers, the students whom many of them have never had the chance to use one are being enchanted with the ICT experience being provided by the mobile phone tablets. From the day the form four learners began their study circles aided by the gadgets, the attendance to the same is ever increasing. The enthusiasm the learners are portraying in the recently begun study circles is speaking volumes.   

With the announcement of dates to effect the reopening of schools, the joy by the form four student community at Nsondole CDSS is too much to contain. To many the study circles that began recently facilitated by the mobile tablets has prepared them enough for the soon-to-begin active learning. To this class of learners who will have to sit for national exams that will decide their future in less than two months to come, their hopes, dreams and aspirations have been re-activated.

Perhaps how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected our education system should be a wakeup call to instrumental stakeholders and all concerned parties. It is time we began to look for innovative and sustainable means of delivering instruction to our young ones amidst troubling seasons. It's time, perhaps, to make risk-proof the system that keeps dreams intact and alive for the sake of our future generation, for when dreams die, life fades. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Margaret Chavula
 
Women have been very underrated in most societies but have capabilities that can transform their surroundings if only given a chance to utilize their full  potential. In most societies women are faced with what is known as the triple role of women; where they carry the reproductive role such as child caring, domestic work and caring for the sick, the productive role where they engage in activities that would earn them an income and the community role where they carry out community work such as attending to funerals and weddings. As much as women already have a lot of work to do on a daily basis in the triple role, women take up additional tasks that arise in their communities and perform exceptionally well. 

In my service  as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer, I have experienced and seen the triple role of women in practice, and I have been amazed at how eager and willing these women are to take part in community development work without expecting to receive any incentives in the process to motivate them to work. Whenever there's a community meeting,  one will observe that a majority of the attendees are women, ready and willing to take up any tasks that would improve their livelihoods. Apart from being in a majority of attendees, when given an opportunity to contribute to whatever is discussed women have been contributing brilliant ideas and suggestions, which would be left uncovered if women were not involved. 

I can confidently say that my service as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer has been made easier by women who take part in and show great support in my activities in the community. I have also realised that women have so much potential in taking the lead in activities to come up with a well-coordinated group.  For example there is a farmer's group in my community embarking on poultry farming which has a woman as their leader. Apart from being a trustworthy individual, this woman has been holding the group together to ensure that the group does not deviate from its primary goal of attaining improved livelihood through poultry farming.

​An empowered woman is a great asset. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Chifundo Chibaka

Months after working with the youth club in my community, I feel like we have together made tremendous efforts in increasing the role the youth can play in the development of the community. A few weeks ago, we had a training of trainers where all 22 members of the club were trained by a local nurse on the issues of COVID-19 and how we can relay this information to our respective villages. CorpsAfrica recently partnered with Mastercard Foundation and I as a Volunteer had an opportunity to tap into a generous grant to prepare my community in the face of the pandemic. As a youth club, we have managed to reach to over 11 (still counting) village heads and their subjects and sensitised them about the pandemic (story for another day).

As a club, we meet at the local health centre twice a week. But there was a problem. The health centre was on the verge of closure for the second time in just four months. The facility is just a year old and it was built with the support from Good Health and World Servants. It was recently handed over to the government and is still in transition to be receiving an annual monetary support from the government. As such, the health centre doesn’t have a paid ground labor to help in maintaining the hygiene around the premises. In addition to this, the health centre doesn’t have a water supply system as such villagers have a weekly roster for supplying water to the health centre.

A few weeks ago, after the health authorities toured the health centre, they recommended that the health centre's premises, including a filled up incinerator, be cleaned up or have the facility temporarily closed since it was no longer conducive to serve its purpose. As a club, we decided to take up this task to clean the premises and save the day.

We partnered with the health centre authorities who supplied us with gloves, aprons, masks and other working materials. We volunteered to clean up the premises as a token of appreciation for their continued gesture to allow us use their facilities.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Margaret Magombo

I vividly remember how nervous and anxious I was when I arrived in my community for the first time. I had no idea of what my life and work was going to be like in this new environment. No friends, but flawless smiles on people's faces; faces which were to be turned into colleagues and companions. The smiles convinced me beyond reasonable doubt that I had to come out of my comfort zone to embrace the noble challenge that was before me; to serve and sacrifice for my community, a community I barely knew.

It was not long after my arrival that I was invited by Nsondole CDSS to teach. I was excited at the same time nervous by the offer. Working with the youth energized my spirit. The school environment made me realize how much impact I desired to bring to my community. I was so thrilled when I met the Area Development and Village Development Committees. Their contact, helped me to be well known in the area. Before I realized how the community prized my presence, groups and organizations found in the area were at my doorstep. I was awakened to the challenge of their expectations; a battle which has characterize my stay in Zomba-Nsondole.

My visits to meetings of different groups and organizations in the area were greeted with unspoken enthusiasm and vigor. It has been a tough and a seemingly lost battle to conquer the attitude of the members in my community. Whenever I am around them, I am seen as the one with keys to lock away their miseries forever. They view me as someone who has solutions and the resources to turn around their lives. My explanations about who really I am and my role in their community most often seems to fall on deaf ears. It has taken energy to make my community members see and understand that they are the ones pregnant with the ability to change their lives - it’s them alone.

When time came for me to write a proposal to implement some projects in my area, I became more nervous. I was engulfed with fear when we were discussing possible projects. It was very difficult to make some of the community members understand that not all funding proposals meet favorable consideration. The waiting for a response almost made me conceal myself in my room running away from questions from community members. Making a resolve to continue meeting groups and organizations in the area while waiting for a response from funding agencies.

CorpsAfrica, World Connect, Friends of Malawi, and Mastercard Foundation were beyond the courage I have known in my life. Since my arrival I have made it my sole purpose to live in service for my community. Presently am cherishing the idea of living one’s life in service to others. The funding of my proposals has affirmed my desire to impact my community. I am more than convinced now that even if my project proposals were not to meet the favorable response I was to continue being there for my community, stirring their imaginations, efforts and drives to do anything within their capacity to turn around for the better their lives. My time is never precious if I am not living for the benefit of my community. 

Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Ms. Bertha Mukhuna
 
Eight months deep into 2020 and a lot of people are of the view that it is so far one of the worst years in history and almost everyone cannot wait for the 31st December to finally exit the year. Granted there have been really devastating events in the year, Australia fires, Beirut explosion, new strain of ebola and the paramount, of which is the Covid-19 global  pandemic. 

It looks like this year will justifiably be remembered for all the bad things that happened. But as Kevin Ansbro once said, "Focus on an ocean of positives, not a puddle of negatives." Here are therefore, some ways in which this pandemic era has changed our way of living for good:

1. It has helped in building and rebuilding relationships
Life sure gets busy and somewhere in between busy schedules and trying to make ends meet, we miss out on quality time with our family and friends. Limitations in movement and social distancing have reminded us of how much our loved ones mean to us. We have stayed connected both virtually and physically to check on each other to see if we are doing okay. Even globally there has been enhanced interaction.

2. Lifestyle changes to practice better hygiene
Times have changed. Sanitizing, covering mouths when coughing and washing hands regularly have now become the new normal. People are more aware of how important it is to practice good hygiene, which in turn combats a lot of other diseases such as tuberculosis, common cold and flu .I am sure that if this is practiced long enough it will turn into a habit and just like that, we will all adopt a new life style change for good.

3. Strength in our communities
There have been thousands of volunteers all over the world who have helped in fighting against Covid-19 in various communities through sharing information, providing services and food stuff, among other things. I am so glad to be one of the volunteers to take part in this fight.

Stay physically distant but socially connected. Until next time, be safe!