By Robert Kumwenda

As over three million Malawians are at risk of facing hunger, one of the country’s renowned relief aid organization Malawi Relief Fund UK says it will continue helping those that are in need of relief aid.

Country Coordinator for the organization Yakub Adam Valli said their goal is to empower those that are poor to be self-reliant.

He said they have already started distributing food packs to those that have been affected by hunger in Zomba, Mangochi, Namwera, Chiradzulu, Salima, Nkhota-kota, Kasungu and Thyolo just to mention a few.

Valii said since when over fifteen districts were affected by floods in the year 2015 they organization has built 1,200 houses in different areas under the shelter project.

“We want to eliminate poverty for the country to develop and we are also providing TALHA scholarships to needy Malawians to a tune of 900 million kwacha through Islamic Zakat Fund (IZF). We are also running a vocational Training Centre in Maone as well as sponsoring 100 teachers at Maryam Girls Teachet Training College in Mangochi from poor families for 400 pounds per annum,” he said.

The Malawi Relief Fund UK Country Coordinator said they also distribute bicycles to the less privileged as one way of easing mobility challenges especially in the rural areas adding that they also dill boreholes to make access to safe drinking water and provide sewing machines to empower those that are poor.

“Our team has continued to develop innovative programmes responding to the local needs and striving to alleviate poverty. We have also sustained our capital development programmes building new homes, water wells and community hubs to support local communities,” he said.

He said with limited resources it is difficult to reach out to all those who are affected and in need of immediate help and relief.

Valli further said their objective is improve access to education, healthcare, clean water and improving living conditions and to relieve poverty by building capacity to improve livelihood opportunities and sustainability.

The organization started as Shukran orphanage in Zomba in 2009 under their flagship project providing caring and supporting living environment for children where it was closed down until Malawi Relief Fund UK took over and started working in all regions up to date.

He said that they are striving to relive poverty among the rural households so as to make sure that they become self-reliant.

The organization is a charity organization registered both in Malawi through the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Board CONGOMA and as well as in UK.

Malawi still remains one of the poorest countries ranking 173^rd out of 182 countries, with 80% living in rural areas and relying on small scale household farming.75% of Malawians live on less than one dollar per day. Only 9% of the population have access to electricity; one in every five children die before they reach the age of five.

This looks like a hole to you, but ask people who passes near Lilongwe Bridge you will be surprised to learn that this hole is home for people.  Eye witness said people staying in this hole; cook and sleep in. Faceofmalawi will give you more information after we finish our research.

I write to inform you that you have been such a loyal friend, often uninvited guest to my fates. Your love is unexplainable in time of destitution, hunger, disease you stay by my side.

Staying by my side, it does not mean you help, but you only watch me suffer and chase away everyone who comes to give me support. Therefore, I have no friends but you.

Poverty my friend, why you chase people around me? Oh I guess you are jealous of them, they could come with shelter, clothes and foods for me while you always with nothing.

I remember my mum used to hate you, every advice she gave me was to work hard in class so that I might overcome you.

“Education my son is the key to success,” mum used to say.

Are you an opposite of Success? Sorry for asking you some foolish questions is just today I try to be frank with you. I fail most of time to recall when we met, but I guess is through my parents or rather my country. It’s just I do not know you much despite being my best friend.

Yes it’s through my parent; my mum gave up on me as she admitted not to afford to pay school fees. The school fees she claimed to be a ‘key to success. Therefore, she left me with no key to success. As my father did not even try as the failure was his nature. Then bursaries and charities worked for my education until I got Bachelor’s degree, the claimed key.

Well, sometimes I think you were introduced into my life through my beloved country. Yes born in this country is again a curse, your grandmother.  Poor governance, corruption, nepotism and irresponsible leaders are just forming a cloud that gives evil rain which showers unceasingly on me.

As ‘ikakuwona litsiro sikata’ this evil rain has really seen the heap of my impurities, dirties and infirmities, it has indeed seen you by my side.

I wish my mum could be alive now, I could definitely challenge her that the ‘claimed key’ is no more working in this country to overcome you, it seems you have become resistant to it. Leaders are just toasting up and down with this claimed key, playing with it as if it’s their pocket zip, they zip up and down when they want to do any selfish move. It’s really useless now.

Poverty my friend, with your jealous heart, you have put me in this awkward situation. No employer no me personally so that I cannot be employed.  You then have made the ‘claimed key to be useless as incompetent labours are the ones getting health position in companies. Therefore, the country continues to be on low developing pace.

Therefore, poverty my friend, may you leave me alone, this country too so that I may think peacefully of another key to overcome you, to honour a soul of my mum.

Your best friend, poor man.

Chisomo Children Club a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) which deals with issues of street children will conduct a numeration exercise in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe in order to know the actual number of children found in the streets.

This development was revealed on Wednesday at a stakeholders meeting which the Club organised in Blantyre.

According to the Executive Director for Chisomo Children Club, Charles Gwengwe, the number of street kids is increasing therefore need for interventions.

We conducted a stakeholders meeting involving those people who are involved with children who live and work in the streets with the purpose of coming up with better intervention to deal with the increasing number of street kids.

“You may be interested to know that the government developed a strategic plan to guide the intervention for street connected kids, but the actual number of kids was not there so it has been problematic to come up proper intervention,” Gwengwe said.

Previously exercises to remove children from the streets have proved futile because there was lack of coordination among stakeholders.

“In the past we have tried to sweep the street kids off the streets but it has not helped. That’s why we have decided to involve all the stakeholders so that we may work together.

“This is the time we have to deal with the problem once and for all before it gets worse. It is sad to know that when the innocent child is on the street for a long time he becomes dangerous, “said Gwengwe.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it is preparing to assist thousands of Malawians due to the poor harvests in the country and high food prices.

“The situation is very serious – our field staff have observed that households in parts of the country have harvested almost nothing,” said WFP Country Director Abdoulaye Diop. “Our first priority will be to make sure that vulnerable people have enough food to sustain themselves through this lean season. At the same time, we must invest in more long-term solutions to build resilience and break the cycle of hunger.”

According to a recent report jointly produced by the Government, UN agencies, and academic and non-governmental organizations, more than 1.6 million people will need food assistance in the coming months, a substantial increase from earlier this year when 202,000 people were in need of food assistance.

While the lean season in Malawi is usually between December and March, a late onset of rain and prolonged dry spells resulted in a decrease of maize production by as much as 40 per cent in some areas. The effects will be felt the most in the southern part of the country.

In addition, the recent devaluation of the national currency by 49 per cent, coupled with soaring inflation at 17.3 per cent, has produced sharp increases in the prices of basic goods and services, pushing the cost of living to unsustainable levels for many Malawians.

Retail maize prices have already increased by 50 per cent compared to the same time last year, and are expected to increase in the lean season.

WFP, along with the Government and other partners, will distribute locally produced maize, pulses and blended food. Cash transfers may also be made available to the most vulnerable to enable them to buy food in areas where market conditions allow.

The agency is urging donors to provide rapid funding support to assist more than one million people starting from August, covering the period until March 2013.

In a news release WFP said its emergency intervention will be implemented in tandem with medium- and longer-term assistance, including school meals, programmes to boost the nutrition of malnourished children and mothers, and resilience-building activities to address chronic food insecurity and disaster risk reduction.

The management of Presscane Limited is coming under intense pressure from the public to address air pollution that poses a health hazard to communities in Chikhwawa.

The contaminated environment is reported to be causing skin related diseases among communities surrounding the company’s dumping site.

Mkazi wa malemu Professor Bingu wa Muthalika ‘Calista’ wati iye, sakukayika konse kuti ana amalemu Bingu, anabisa ‘Will’ yomwe mkuluyu analemba atakwatirana naye.

Calista wati, akukhulupilira zoti m’mene ankakondanirana ndi mwamuna wake, sangamusiye osamuyika pa will koma kuti achina Duwa ndiwomwe anataya will yi mwadala ndicholinga chofuna kumukhawulitsa.

Mayiyu wati, akamang’ala ku bwalo lamilandu kuti will yomwe ilipo panopayi, ikhale yopanda ntchito ndipo kuti, chuma cha Bingu, iyenso apeze nawo gawo ngati mkazi wake.

They say research is formalized curiosity, to poke and to pry with a purpose. When Dr. Indi Trehan noticed something odd in two of his Malawian patients, he began to poke and to pry for an explanation. His work has led to novel insights that our health and nutritional well-being is truly more than what we eat.

In 2007, Dr. Trehan, a pediatrician from St. Louis, traveled to Malawi to help treat malnourished children. Although Trehan had already seen many malnutrition cases in Malawi, he was surprised when he was asked to treat a set of genetically identical twins that suffered from very different malnutrition conditions. One child had marasmus, a condition characterized by energy deficiency from which the child appeared emaciated, while the other suffered from kwashiorkor, a condition where fluids leak from blood vessels and the ability to reabsorb nutrients is compromised. After consulting with colleagues as to why genetically identical twins exposed to the same diet and living conditions would develop different malnutrition conditions, Trehan hypothesized that perhaps a disparity in the gut microbes of these twins was responsible. Dr. Jeff Gordon, a colleague of Dr. Trehan and an expert in microbiota, had conducted experiments that demonstrated how the microbial profile of the gut correlated with the body mass of the host. When he transplanted gut microbes from obese mice into lean ones, the lean mice began to extract more energy from their food and put on weight. The team surmised that if there was a link between gut microbes and obesity, then there could potentially be a link between gut microbes and malnutrition.

After establishing their hypothesis, Trehan and Gordon formed a team to conduct an experiment that would later establish a connection between the microbiota of Malawian twins and kwashiorkor. The team recruited 317 pairs of twins and collected their stool samples regularly until the age of 3. Greater emphasis was put on 22 pairs of same-gender twins out of which nine pairs remained healthy, while in the other 13, one child developed kwashiorkor and the other did not. Trehan stated that, “you have children living in the same village, eating the same food, having the same exposure to infections, and facing the same cycle of food insecurity […] from the outside, these kids look the same, but only some of them get kwashiorkor.”

The starving children were given a malnutrition treatment called, “ready-to-use therapeutic food,” (RUTF). There was an observable change in their gut microbes when they were given RUTF, and also when they stopped treatment. Lastly, the team extracted gut bacteria from three sets of twins and transplanted them into mice that lacked their own gut microbes. The mice became severely underweight, indicating that the symptoms of kwashiorkor.

The scientists are still working to address many confounding variables that need to be investigated. Trehan asserted that, “it’s a chicken and egg problem, but at least we’re in the right section of the grocery store!”

Jose Mujica, the President of Uruguay. has made the news recently because of reports of his humble and basic style of life.

Jose Mujica is the president of Uruguay,  and the poorest president in the world. He’s made the news recently because of reports of his humble and basic style of life. Some people consider that this is nothing else but a smart marketing campaign to endear Mujica to Uruguay’s low-income voters. Others, perhaps the majority, have Mujica on a pedestal because of his austere lifestyle. Apparently, none of them are correct, as even Jose Mujica declares himself neither a saint nor an opportunist.

A President’s farm

President Mujica lives with his wife, Lucía Topolansky, in a rural area in the outskirts of Montevideo. They never wanted to move to the presidential mansion in Montevideo. Their small farm, actually a land parcel with a rural adobe house, is the same one they bought many years ago with the intention to be farmers. When Mujica was elected deputy and later senator, the job consumed almost all his time and he could not take care of the house and farm maintenance.

The flowers and vegetable growing continues, but Mujica no longer can dedicate himself to the agricultural tasks that he carried out until recently. Mujica and his wife gave part of their land to several families, so that they could live there forever as they had no resources at all. He did make some improvements to the house, most notably replacing the old straw ceiling. Perhaps, the most significant change is the appearance of security cameras, the new road that connects the farm to the road, and the few guards who take care of the presidential security. The rest remains more or less the same… including Manuela, their ancient three-legged dog of undetermined pedigree.

Jose Mujica, the President of Uruguay, has made the news recently because of reports of his humble and basic style of life. (VOXXI)

Jose Mujica’s humble manner

Jose Mujica, the President of Uruguay. has made the news recently because of reports of his humble and basic style of life. (VOXXI)

Those who know him affirm that Jose Mujica always was as he is now: humble, austere and self-sacrificing. Perhaps the vicissitudes of armed warfare and later, years of jail, fostered in him an appreciation of simple things.

In 1995 he was elected deputy and five years later senator. At that time he already began to stand out among his people because of his humble lifestyle and popularity. Soon that curiosity he provoked in others changed to admiration. In 2005, Mujica obtained the greatest amount of votes of any candidate in Uruguay’s political history and returned to be senator for a second term.

For three years Mujica was minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fishing, but soon returned to his senate position. Throughout all those years Mujica did not change: and slowly, Uruguayans began to take notice of this simple farmer starting to influence policy.

They say that sometimes he appeared in the Senate with his still dirty boots after having been farming at his place; he just didn’t consider the idea of changing clothes. Others remember him happily driving his little motorbike from his farm to the ministry or pronouncing eloquent, humanitarian speeches with the logic and love of a father to his son. In 2009, José Mujica was elected president of Uruguay.

Today, Mujica donates part of his salary as president to social aid. In their income declaration of this year, the public can see that the couple do not have bank accounts and that their only properties are the small farm, two old 1987 cars, three tractors and agricultural work tools. That’s to say the total Mujica’s patrimony is now of 215,538.46 US$, including all his properties and savings -which he hasn’t.
Mujica has been criticized for his lack of professional political experience, his simple clothes, his gawky walk and his use of popular slang. Yet Mujica was and is a humble person, without a doubt. His austerity, so different from the lifestyle and wealthy status of other international leaders, positions him as the humblest and poorest president in the world. He has demonstrated that his simplicity is not a gimmick for political marketing, but as natural as the flowers and vegetables he has cultivated in his garden for decades.

About 57 in every 100 Malawians live in grass thatched houses some 49 years after independence, a study has revealed.

This statistic does not reveal what percentage of these houses leak, which is is the major concern apart from the fact the grass house structures tend to be temporary requiring rethatching every few years.

This is according to the Welfare Monitoring Survey 2011 conducted between September 2011 and February 2012 by the Agriculture Statistics Division of the National Statistical Office (NSO).

This is despite the country registering five years of robust economic growth averaging above seven percent between 2005 to 2010 a development that forced the previous regime to change the national flag to a full sun arguing that the country had been transformed beyond recognition.

The study, whose results were released in September 2012, was based on a random sample that covered 14,000 households drawn from all the districts of the country.

Housing and shelter, according to the report, are important indicators when it comes to assessing living conditions of a population.

“The most common material used by households for roofing their dwellings was grass, 57 percent, 42 percent of the households used iron sheets as roofing material.

“Further, 62 percent of households in the rural areas used grass for thatching, and eight percent of the households in urban areas used similar material. In addition, 90 percent of the urban households used iron sheets for roofing, and 37 percent of the rural households used the same material for roofing their dwellings,” read results of the survey.

In terms of floor material, the study showed that 64 percent of the main dwelling units were of smoothed mud and 34 percent were of smooth cement.

“Three quarters of urban households were made of smoothed cement and a third of the rural households were made of the same. Further, 68 percent of rural households were made of smoothed mud and 18 percent of urban households were made of similar material,” read the results.

It further said mud bricks and burned bricks were the most common materials used for walls by households, 28 percent and 54 percent respectively.

“Compacted earth was used by 12 percent of the households and one percent used grass. Urban households more often used burnt bricks as building material (61 percent) compared to rural households (54 percent),” reads the report.

The study further showed that 17 percent of households have no access to improved drinking water sources.

The improved drinking water sources, according to NSO, refer to piped water, tube well/borehole, a protected dug well, or protected spring.

Delegates to the conference jointly organised by The Malawi Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of Malawi and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on November 2 and 3, 2012 observed that high levels of growth since the mid-2000s have had little impact on the overall poverty rate in the country.

They observed that although poverty has fallen significantly in urban areas, it has risen in the rural areas where most of the population lives.

Commissioner of Statistics Charles Machinjili says the WMS 2011 is the sixth of a series that started in 2005 and is part of the concerted effort by NSO to provide relevant information for monitoring the welfare status of the people of Malawi.

“The survey is designed to collect the minimum amount of information necessary for the identification and classification of vulnerable groups of households within the society.

“It is the latest in a series of instruments that have been developed to provide policy-makers with household and community level information for policy formulation and evaluation,” said Machinjili.

Melisa Timosi an 18 year old sex-worker in Neno southern Malawi uses all tactics to attract masculine attention when she is at a drinking joint. At her age she was supposed to be at school either in college or at high school; however circumstances beyond her control have forced her into prostitution.

The reasons that are forcing many girls into prostitution in Malawi are complex. However while many experts have shed different opinions on what has made the present day generation to be sexaholic, recent revelations in Malawi indicate that poverty is the sole culprit in the process.

Speaking in a recent interview, Russel Msiska District Manager for Youth Net and Counseling (YONECO) in Ntcheu said that reasons that are driving young girls into sex-work which is in most cases trans-generational, are poorly understood, but he said that poverty was the sore perpetuator of the problem.

Msiska said that many young girls were going into sex-work because they want to meet the current fashion trends that can not be met by their parents’ purse.

In Timosi’s case above, she recalls of a time when she used to lead a decent morally up right life, but her fathers death changed the whole situation.

“My father was well to do and he offered us every thing, however after his death his brothers grabbed all the property we had and life became so unbearable such that I was forced to go into domestic work while my mother struggled to assist my two younger sisters,” said Melisa in an interview.

She said that while working as a domestic servant, she was raped on several occasions by her male employer and this made her to feel that she could user her body better by going into sex-work.
She however said her only worry was the scare of an HIV infection as most of her clients are older men who can afford to pay better for the service and they usually demand sex without protection.
Melisa said that although she had to fear the HIV infection, she had no option but face the reality of catching HIV than live a miserable life in poverty.

“We could at times go without food at home and desperately my mother had to use all means to get us food it pained me to see my mother in such a situation, this changed when I ventured into prostitution “she said.

However while poverty has forced many Malawian girls into prostitution, some young girls are going into prostitution merely because of the fun of it.

Rita Kumpakiza, a 19 year old secondary school going lady in Malawi’s commercial city Blantyre said while poverty has been forcing many girls into prostitution, the present generation was sexually more active because of what it gets from the entertainment media.

She said many young people are now exposed to entertainment on the internet and on satellite television and these mediums portray sex out of marriage as a normal thing.

“When these youngsters see all the recent fashion trends on Television and internet and how sexuality is being promoted they look at sexual promiscuity as normal and they cant even value their virginity, “she said.

She disclosed that most of her peers have had at a point exchanged sex for a monetary favor and some of them have ended into prostitution.

“Sex-Work wherever institutionalized or part time is very rampant in rural areas where combined with poverty, knowledge gaps on sexual reproductive health and the wish to be recognized by their peers the young girls go into sex relationships to get the money that would make them access the trendy attire, “she said.

Cecelia Kumwembe Magombo program officer for women and young girls at YONECO said it is very sad that many young girls are given little options to achieve their goals in life because of poverty.
“Our organization has been training the young girls that are in sex-work in vocational skills so that they can lead productive lives than the sex work that can negatively affect their health, “she said.
However Gift Mwale a sex-worker interviewed at Ntcheu said that many girls that end into prostitution are victims of violence targeted at women and children.

She said her experience as a sex-worker has made her meet many tales of how they started leading miserable lives after their parents families broke up and they were taken care of by their poor mothers.
“I have met many friend that have told me that they went into town to do domestic work, were sexually abused at their work and eventually they found that their virginity did not matter and they went into prostitution in the end, “she said.

A recent meeting for chiefs and religious leaders held recently in Lilongwe observed that many Malawian women were forced into prostitution because they were still experiencing various forms of gender based violence.

The meeting observed that women in Malawi were still being denied chance to economic development making them resort into sex-work as the last resolve in their quest to material gains.
Principal Secretary for Gender and Community Development in Malawi, Dr Mary Shawa recently challenged Religious and traditional leaders to be champions of HIV and Gender if Malawi is to make strides to achieve zero new infections in HIV.

Speaking in Lilongwe at a day long meeting for the religious and traditional leaders organized by the Southern Africa AIDS Dissemination service (SafAIDS) Shawa said HIV and AIDS continued to be a challenge in Malawi because of gender imbalances that controlled Malawian economics.

Speaking in an interview Shawa said that while Malawi had achieved much in the response to HIV and AIDS the epidemic continued to have a woman’s face as many of the new infections were in women and children.

“Socially women have always been as inferiors in our society giving them little economic options thereby making them more vulnerable to HIV infection,” Said Shawa.

Shawa said that 57 percent of the one million people positively living with HIV in Malawi were women, while 11 percent were children which she said was an indicator that the country needed to do more to put gender on the HIV/AIDS agenda.

“If we are to change our cultural perspectives on gender we are going to prevent new HIV infections that are taking place in our society because of the culture of silence, “She said.

Dorothy Nyasulu United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Assistant Representative said traditional and religious leaders play a big role in shaping societal attitudes towards culture and challenged chiefs to take a leading role in mainstreaming gender in HIV and AIDS interventions within their areas.

She said because of the various gender disparities women in Malawi were not opening up on HIV and AIDS.

Said Nyasulu: “As custodians of traditional values chiefs can play an important role in ensuring that people understand the inter linkages between gender and HIV”.

Dominica Dhakwa SafAIDS Country Representative to Malawi said that her organization had targeted the traditional and religious leaders as they shape the discourse of society.

She said the conference would equip the traditional leaders with knowledge that will make them understand the inter linkages between HIV/AIDS and Gender based Domestic violence.

A sizeable devaluation of Malawi’s currency, aimed at reinvigorating the economy and wooing back international donors, has triggered steep increases in the price of basic goods and pushed many Malawians deeper into poverty.

Facing the devaluation aftermath

Mutharika’s refusal to meet the IMF’s demands – and concerns about his increasingly autocratic style of governance – resulted in a significant loss of donor support that had, at one time, accounted for 40% of the country’s budget. This helped to push Malawi towards financial collapse.

Malawi’s new president, Joyce Banda, has moved quickly to restore relations with donors, in part by meeting the IMF’s conditions for a support package. On 7 May, she devalued the kwacha by nearly 50% and untied the currency from the dollar.

In a Reserve Bank of Malawi statement on the same day, governor Charles Chuka said the move was intended not only to improve the availability of forex and unlock donor flows, but also to reduce demand for imported consumer goods in favour of domestically produced goods. He noted that, since the prices of most commodities already reflected the parallel market exchange rate, devaluation was not expected to trigger further price increases.

However, the prices of many basic items have gone up by as much as 50% and fuel prices have risen by 30%, pushing up the cost of public transport by about 40%.

“The impression I had was that things will come out much better [after the devaluation], but prices for every commodity are going up now,” said Rhoderick Limula, an informal trader from Blantyre, the country’s commercial capital. Economic survival has become more uncertain than ever, he said, adding that with the new prices he could no longer keep his business going and would have to give it up.

The chief executive of the Consumer Association of Malawi, John Kapito, pointed out the country is landlocked and therefore heavily dependent on imports; any weakness in the kwacha was bound to have negative consequences for consumers, but devaluation was a necessary evil, he argued.

“This was an economic reform that Malawi could have introduced some time back, but we decided to hold out and dictate an exchange rate that did not reflect our economic performance,” he said. “I believe this decision was going to be made by anyone in government if we wished well for Malawi in the medium and long term.”

Kapito added that the government needed to implement mechanisms such as salary increases rapidly to cushion vulnerable Malawians from the short-term effects of devaluation. “The state needs also to take into consideration the many Malawians that are not working,” he said. “I believe that the state needs to come very quickly and address the many challenges that Malawians are facing because of this devaluation.”

The government has yet to announce any such measures, but donors have responded with renewed pledges of support. World Bank country representative Sandra Bloemenkamp said the bank was working on a package to help the country’s poor cope with the effects of devaluation.

Britain has agreed to unlock aid frozen last year following a diplomatic spat with Mutharika. The UK’s Department for International Development pledged to release an initial £30m ($47.3m) tranche of urgent funding, £10m ($15.8m) of which will be used to support Malawi’s ailing healthcare system. The remainder will go towards stabilising the economy.

But until aid money starts flowing again and the economy settles down, ordinary Malawians will have to absorb increases in the cost of living.

Leading health and humanitarian organization PCI (Project Concern International) distributed 20kg of emergency food aid (pinto beans and corn/soy blend) each to over 3000 rural households in one day, working toward a goal of reaching particularly vulnerable 8000 households/month in the rural areas of Balaka and Machinga. Each ration is enough food to last three months and help hungry families survive yet another lost maize harvest due to devastating drought. These struggling regions are also adversely affected by the foreign exchange situation, fuel and electricity shortages, the uncertain future of the current fertilizer subsidy, and a turbulent political scene.

The food distributions followed community outreach events which included a resource fair staffed by PCI Malawi staff, offering information and education in the areas of agriculture, maternal and child health and nutrition, and disaster risk reduction. Program staff relayed strategic messages through theme-based song, poetry and drama. Ongoing events are planned this month in nearby districts.

PCI began operations in Malawi in 2007 to promote sustainable income opportunities among small-scale fish farmers in the southern Zomba River basin region. PCI is creating a sustainable foundation that helps people obtain the education, skills, and access to capital they need to decrease their vulnerability, strengthen their own livelihoods, and improve the health and well-being of their families and communities. Since then, PCI’s portfolio in Malawi has expanded to include integrated food security and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programming.

In partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in 2009, PCI initiated the integrated Wellness and Agriculture for Life Advancement (WALA) program in Southern Malawi’s Balaka and Machinga Districts, which is designed to improve maternal and child health, nutritional status and food security for over 200,000 vulnerable households. The five-year program is providing farmers with the training and tools they need to grow family gardens, increase crop yields through access to high quality seeds, agronomy, as well as soil and water conservation and irrigation. Additionally, PCI is providing training to help people start and manage savings and loan groups. By providing the members of the savings and loan groups with skills in reading, writing, and basic financial literacy, community members can financially support each other with personal and business start-up loans.

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. Malawi is among the world’s least-developed countries. The economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population estimated at more than 15 million. According to the Population Reference Bureau, Malawi has a life expectancy of only 54 years, an infant mortality rate of 58 per 1,000 live births, and 90% of the population live on less than US $ 2.00/day.

Adding to the turmoil is the sudden death of Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, on April 5, 2012, His previously ousted vice president, Joyce Banda, was sworn in April 7 to complete Mutharika’s second term, which ends in 2014, becoming Malawi’s first woman president, the second in Africa. Banda has a history of fighting poverty and helping women, including founding the National Association of Business Women in 1989 to give startup cash to women entrepreneurs.

“PCI is proud to help these Malawian communities get through this terrible time of drought and failed harvests. We are committed to strengthening these communities, helping them increase their resiliency, find practical solutions, and build toward a better future,“ commented Janine Schooley, Sr. VP of Programs for PCI.

Funding partners include the United States Agency for International Development; US Department of Defense, HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP); Catholic Relief Services, The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and various private donors.To learn more about PCI and its impact of global health and humanitarian work, please visit http://www.PCIglobal.org or contact Annette Gregg, Senior Director of Marketing & Communications, at (858)279-9690.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011, PCI (Project Concern International) is an international health, development and humanitarian assistance organization, operating in 16 countries worldwide. PCI is dedicated to saving lives and building healthy communities around the globe, benefitting over 6.7 million people annually in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Funded by federal grants and private support, PCI’s current annual budget is nearly $ 50 million and the organization has 600 employees worldwide. PCI’s headquarters are located in San Diego, CA and also has an office in Washington, DC and a Seattle, WA representative.

Malawi has to convince couples to bear few children or risk continuing to struggle to achieve social economic development at all levels to reduce levels of poverty currently outweighing the majority of the country’s over 13 million population, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“Malawi is among the least developed countries with high fertility and rapidly growing population, high levels of unmet need for family planning. With an annual population growth rate of 2.8 percent, 5.7 children per woman, 139 people per square kilometer, Malawi has one of the highest growth rates and is amongst the most densely populated countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” said UNFPA Programme Manager for Population and Development in Malawi Thomas Munthali.

He was speaking recently during a Media Capacity Workshop on Population Dynamics and Climate Change in Malawi which was organized by Journalists Against AIDS (JournaAids) with support from UNFPA in the lakeshore district of Salima.

“As the population [in Malawi] grows, more pressure will be exerted on the country’s subsistence agricultural system as the family farm land is fragmented into smaller uneconomic units. Rural-urban migration will increase with negative social-economic implications on women, children and the elderly,” explained Munthali adding that several studies reveal that women will shoulder more burden than men due to the negative impacts of climate change.

“Women and girls bear most of the burden in activities that are most impacted by adverse climate change, because they are primary providers of a number of household essentials such as water, firewood for energy, food. In addition, the changing demographics, as a result of the impacts of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, have meant that women take up greater responsibilities, such as taking care of the sick and orphans,” said Munthali.

He however was quick to say that the good news is that Malawi Government has through a highly consultative process, come up with the Draft Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS11) which recognizes that efforts to slowing population growth are mutually reinforcing with those aimed at improving environmental protection, reducing poverty, and achieving economic progress.

“The blue print has hence for the first time, included population as a stand-alone sub-theme under social development. Additionally, the strategy clearly defines climate change, natural resources and environmental management as one of the key development priorities making it one of the nine priorities within priorities,” said Munthali.

JournaAIDS Chairperson Mabvuto Banda stressed that Malawi is losing USD 191 million a year translating into 5.3 percent in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to unsustainable use of natural resources.

“This is further worsened by the fact that we are having an annual population growth rate 2.8 percent while having 139 people per square kilometer,” said Banda adding that it was in recognition of the critical role the media can play in reporting issues linking population and climate change that JournaAIDS organized the recent training for journalists on the same with support from UNFPA.

“By looking at population trends [in Malawi] there is a need to join hands with our media colleagues to generate more evidence based information to raise awareness in the general population in local communities, UN agencies, Civil Society, Government Departments and all those key target groups to ensure that Malawi meets Millenium Development Goal (MDG) 7 on ensuring environmental sustainability,” he said.

Banda further explained that the recent journalists’ training is part of a new project called “Population Advocacy in Climate Change Response” in Malawi.

“After this workshop selected journalists will be involved in a media audit to tour some districts to document population and climate change issues from key stakeholders. In a small country with a high population growth more emphasis needs to be put on family planning to ensure that there is high access to concentration and family planning services countrywide to stem population growth,” he said.

A research by Malawi National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA) submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) shows that there has not been a link between population growth and climate change, and further neither has family planning been identified as part of the adaptation strategy-likely because of the fact that family planning falls under the remit of the Ministries of Agriculture and Health rather than Environment, who are responsible for the NAPA documents.

A report on political finance regulation has seen Malawi scoring the lowest grade in accounting for and transparency about the source of funds used to run political parties.

The Global Integrity report released Friday reveals that regardless of how weak or sophisticated their political financing regulations are, countries around the world are equally failing to effectively regulate the flow of money into politics.

The study which had 31 countries across continents as samples has given Malawi a zero grade because the country does not have political finance regulation for political parties and individual political candidates.

“Malawi scored 0 out of 100 as a direct result of the country’s complete lack of political finance regulation for political parties and individual political candidates. Disclosure of party and candidate political finance information to the public is non-existent (0 out of 100). The scores place the country as one of the lowest scoring ever on the Global Integrity Report,” it reads.

Often during rallies and campaign rallies of ruling parties, government department and parastatals are “forced” to provide transport to ferry people while in opposition parties funds are often believed to come from individuals and other business people.

“Government bureaucracy is considered an extension of the ruling party or is routinely utilised for partisan purposes. The boundaries between public resources and party activities remain blurry in most countries assessed,” observed the report a development which Global Integrity Executive Director, Nathaniel Heller says is a catalyst of corruption.

“We remain deeply concerned by the lack of progress globally on effectively regulating the flow of large sums of private money into the elections process in many countries. Political financing remains the number one corruption risk around the world, and absent meaningful reforms will continue to hinder many other open government and transparency initiatives,” said Heller.

Despite failing miserably, Malawi can take solace in the fact that out of the 31 countries used as samples; only Germany and Colombia have scored over 70 percent on a 100-point scale while the rest have scored below 60.

The report which is a result of an assessment the effectiveness of laws regulating individual and corporate donations to political parties, as well as the auditing of those donations and campaign expenditures also observed that anti- corruption agencies are heavily politicised which makes them fail to make inroads investigations in cases involving people in government.

“Government monitoring agencies tasked with enforcing such laws typically lack investigative power and often have little to no authority to impose sanctions.

“Anti-corruption agencies often fail to fulfil expectations. Many anti-corruption agencies assessed in 2011 are heavily politicised and are not independent from the governments they are ostensibly tasked with monitoring,” it reads.

Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has been facing criticism from the public for failing to finish investigations on cases involving government top brass.

ACB spokesperson Egritta Ndala maintained the independence of the body arguing that some cases take long to investigate because of their complexity.

“The Anti-Corruption Bureau operates independently without any political influence. This is entrenched under Section 4 (3) of the Corrupt Practices Act which states that ‘the Bureau shall exercise its functions and powers independent of the Direction or interference of any other person or authority’.

“The Anti-Corruption Bureau investigates alleged corrupt practices without looking at whether those involved are politicians or not. Each investigation is different from the other in terms of complexity. Complex cases take long to conclude because they are complex not because they involve politicians. Some cases take long to conclude prosecution because those suspected to have engaged in corrupt practices sometimes use the legal system to challenge the prosecution process thereby delaying the matters,” she said.

Abrupt demands and an impromptu go-slow staged on Monday by some employees at Escom Power House in Blantyre have surprised management of the power utility company.

Escom spokesperson Kitty Chingota told The Daily Times that confusion was triggered by some “misguided people who have no understanding of the operations of institution.”

“There is no strike at Escom; the Union has not declared a strike,” said Chingota.

She dismissed some of the claims by the disgruntled employees such as disparities on salaries increments in government and parastatals; and accessibility of emergency and school fees loans as unfounded.

Chingota indicated that the staff needed to understand that there is a difference between government institutions like the courts and Statutory Corporations.

She explained that such being the case conditions of service might not be the same.

She also disputed that management was not committing itself to discussing issues with their staff.

“Management have never dodged to address staff. They are in constant communication with union leaders. As said above, there is no strike at Escom,” she said.

Her comments came after some employees downed their tools on Monday at the institution’s Power House.

The strike, which the members said had been joined by all of them except those working in the national power control section for the sake of the customers, is aimed at forcing their management to address their grievances.

A visit to the premises yesterday showed that entrance to the premises was restricted and some customers were denied entry and were asked to come back later.

Most of the striking employees were seen basking in the sun, just in front of their main entrance, waiting to hear from the leadership of their union.

Random interviews conducted with some of the workers indicated that the bone of contention was management’s alleged failure to improve on the terms of conditions of the staff.

“Escom is no longer the same which was associated with better salaries and conditions of service.

“They [management] have scrapped off the money they used to help us with during bereavement except for transport. We no longer have loan facilities and some of us have outstanding arrears on overtime allowances accumulation over a period of three years now,” said one employee who refused to be named for fear of repercussions.

Another employee further said the employees were also saddened by the five percent annual salary increments, which he said is almost negligible.

“Look, with the ever-rising cost of living, what difference can a mere five percent increment do? With how many percentages has the price of bread been raised? Can five percent cushion us,” queried the employee.

He further said the employees expected that workers in all government institutions would be given the uniform increments rather different ones.

Efforts to speak to the union leadership proved futile as they were reportedly engaging management on issue.

Who can resist children’s art, so enthusiastically free and simultaneously self-possessed? A fundraiser from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. today on the South Side offers a chance to buy framed paintings and drawings by children who are residents of the Trinitas House, an orphanage in Malawi, Africa. The event will also include food and beverages and entertainment by the Young Lions African Drummers Dancers from Sankofa Village of the Arts.

It’s being held at the studio of artist Elizabeth Castonguay, Creation Art Studio/Gallery, in the Riverwalk Corporate Center on Terminal Street. The orphanage was co-founded by Bill Soisson, a Connellsville native and father of Pittsburgh arts patron Laura Horner.

Ms. Horner and her siblings spent their youth in Malawi, where her parents were missionaries, and a slide show at the event will show images of those years. A few years ago, Mr. Soisson returned to the orphanage.

Ms. Castonguay, who has exhibited extensively, including in Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Annuals, has volunteered with at-risk inner-city teenage boys for two decades.

The orphanage in Zomba serves a core group of about 400 children and up to 2,000, most under 6 years old. The organization’s primary focus is to provide proper nutrition, achieved with a porridge of maize, beans and other local grains known as Likuni Phala that was formulated by a sister of the Our Lady of Africa order in the 1960s. The cost of feeding a child one serving daily for a year is $11.

The orphanage tries to find homes for the children with family members or friends, a task made harder by the large number of HIV-related deaths that left them without parents. All proceeds benefit the orphans.