Tamala July 3, 2009

Tamala

Originally uploaded by wellsforzoe

Liam Writes from Lusangazi:

Tamala

Daniel and I met the District Health Officers at Mzuzu Clinic today.
The purpose of the meeting was to arrange assistance, and primarily ambulance transport, for those who attend the Birthing Centre at Lusangazi. As it stands a woman who attends in labour is treated in the centre, and if complications arise she must somehow walk about 3km to the main road, wait for a car to come, and then get a lift to the clinic another 8km away. At the meeting was the Health Surveillance Assistant for the Lusangazi area, the Head of Community Nursing, the District Health Officer and his support staff.

The District Health Staff are delighted at the developments in Lusangazi. They would like to use the clinic as an outstation for their services.

We also came to a good compromise on the original issue. We will provide a telephone and extension lead for an existing telephone line so that calls can be received in the Maternity Department. Should an emergency arise the birth attendant can call the telephone number of the district health office, and at night this will be answered by the midwife on duty. She will then immediately dispatch the next available ambulance.

As it stands if somebody needs an ambulance in Mzuzu (the third largest city) they must get someone else to walk, cycle or hitch to the hospital or nearest health centre, notify a nurse to dispatch or request an ambulance by radio, and then escort it back to the patient.

This line means that not only will our birth attendant have access to an ambulance in an emergency, anybody can now ring the hospital to get one day or night 24/7.

Picture shows Tamala (left), the Health Surveillance Assistant for Lusangazi, consulting with a client outside the Health Centre. All medical services in Lusangazi had been suspended due to lack of facilities but Tamala was so excited with the development of the clinic that she started providing her services before it was even opened. Last week she vaccinated 30 children under 5, and dipped over 200 mosquito nets in insecticide. Malaria had been the cause of the death of a young girl opposite the clinic last year, so the community is very much aware of the need to dip nets.

Meeting at Luvuwu July 3, 2009

Meeting at Luvuwu

Originally uploaded by wellsforzoe

The man in the suit is the school principal and until recently, when we replaced the roofing material, he had a thatched roof which leaked!!
The man in the foreground contacted HIV 20 years ago from a blood transfusion his wife got. As a couple they are open about their condition which is a great help to others in the community as they are in very good health using ARV drugs.
The community support group idea is simple. The community support each other and we support the group.

Liam writes:

We had a meeting with the Women and the HIV Support group in Luvovo today. Over 50 women and about 10 men were in attendance.

The meeting was to discuss the possibility of starting a micro-credit scheme for small-scale business in the village. The village chief had met the idea with an enthusiastic reception when we approached him and called his people to attend today.

The people eagerly welcomed the idea of assistance with business, and immediately went to work discussing options among each other, facilitated by community leaders and the school teachers.

After the meeting a lady came forward with a bag of oranges. She was wanting to give a gift as she wanted to get involved with the HIV support group. Another man came up to inform me that his brother, Venji, had died. Venji had been one of the two people who were suffering heavily from HIV when we first visited, to the extent that it severely hampered his ability to leave the house and his mood. He died on 10th December, but since then his brother has become even more involved in the support group and is eager to get more men to come forward and join.

Mzuzu tobacco auction floors shut down June 30, 2009

Nyasa Times
Published: June 30, 2009

Tobacco farmers in the northern region forced the closure of the Mzuzu Auction Floor after protesting against low prices offered by buyers.

“The Auction Floor has been closed indefinitely,” said Paul Mwambaki head of the tobacco market.

He said the farmers made their distress at the low tobacco prices and they decided to close the market.

Mwambaki said the stakeholders will meet and the buyers to negotiate for better prices for the leaf

President Bingu wa Mutharika who announced fixed minimum prices for buyers has continued to fight for the plight of farmers and has threatened to send packing buyers if they don’t offer better prices on the auction floors.

He accused them of running a cartel and fixing prices.

Tobacco remains Malawi main foreign exchange earner.

An Update June 28, 2009

Lucan Newsletter: June 28, 2009

A woman said to me this morning: ye don’t seem to be doing anything in Malawi these days!!.

Having convinced her to the contrary, I decided to write a little note.

Our main focus is still on the provision of clean drinking water and to this end we are making pumps in our temporary factory since October at a rate of about 10 per week. They cost about 30 euro and can supply clean water, to a village of about 150 people. We hope to begin building the permanent factory next week, now that we have finally got planning permission. We have just begun a programme of replacing in excess of 200 failed and broken pumps installed by others over the years. New wells are dug at the end of the dry season in October.
Our programme of dam building and irrigation continues as the villagers teach each other to build the most rudimentary, but effective of structures, adding fish ponds as they go.
Our six acre model garden is booming (and blooming). The idea was to research appropriate, open pollinated, vegetable seeds from globally appropriate areas, to see when and how they would grow and encourage local farmers to adopt them. The type and variety varies, but last time I counted, we had 79 varieties of plant. These are all grown using green manure and compost and we control pests with brews of local plants including tobacco!! researching as we go. We don’t use any artificial fertilizer or chemical pesticides.
All work is carried out by 12 men and women employees, few of whom have any formal education. It’s not easy, but it’s the only way and what they have achieved in a year and a half is staggering.
Another part of the programme involves the production of improved variety fruit tree seedlings by budding and grafting, including pears and apples from Seed Savers in Scariff, Co Clare.
Now that we have something to show, we offer farmers an opportunity to come and stay in our new hostel, learn how we do things, cook and eat what’s available and bring seeds and seedlings home. We are excited that Malawians can teach their neighbours.
Our school programme is developing; we have finished our seventh primary classroom, done some teacher training and provided loads of books and equipment, donated by schools here.
Whereas our initial focus was narrow we now find ourselves involved in meeting the needs of the people we work with.
In February we opened a two classroom facility for orphan day care in the most deprived area of Mzuzu. We now have up to 250 little ones attending where we provide one meal daily which may be the only food most of them get. Our Malawian partners had agreed to run it, but without money we were left to fill the gap. Mary took on 8 employees in May, did three week’s training and Árus Kate is flying.
Our latest venture is a remote, rural birthing centre. In one of our areas we found a midwife with about 10 clients per month, bringing life into the world in a building which would be demolished by even the most moderate animal rights activist. A leaking thatched roof, a concrete bed, no light, no water, no painkillers, no gloves, no aprons…..
You couldn’t imagine how horrific this is; our cattle are treated better, and you thought hospital trolleys were bad!
These are amazing women, illiterate but intelligent, proud and hard working, capable but deprived. They don’t want our handouts, which have robbed them of their dignity but they do need our help.
We are in the process of constructing a new building, which will be approved by Mzuzu Central Hospital, who have agreed to send an ambulance for emergency cases.

Last year we hit up a relationship with DIT, when 10 students came out to volunteer at Easter for two weeks. They were real volunteers, paid their own way and worked hard and made a little financial contribution to the projects. What we ask all our volunteers is to work with the people, journey with them, but always try to Inspire, Educate and Challenge, something they certainly did. The seventeen who came this Easter followed the amazing example and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Our young people are so confident, competent, loving, generous and observant. As Business students, we asked them to be analytical and critical and we have learned so much from them. The real plus is that we have a third year Business and Accounting student, Liam Stewart, from Cavan, doing his 6 month placement, from DIT, out in Mzuzu at the moment and he is a revelation.

We have also been adopted by the Blackrock College Outreach programme for the second year. This year the number has gone to 76 and they come in two groups for two weeks each to work with the poorest rural villagers. Last year they were truly amazing, they were straight into action once they arrived and as young men were a true inspiration to the youths of their own age who had never seen white people doing manual work before. Young people who give up two weeks of holiday time after their LC results, when most of their counterparts are enjoying the pleasures on the med are to be loudly applauded.
Having spent 8 weeks in Malawi so far this year, we leave on July 21, for 8 more and will finish with another month in November.

So we haven’t given up yet!!
Our website, usually updated daily is: www.wellsforzoe.org

Mzuzu University students riot June 20, 2009

Mzuzu University students riot
By Nyasa Times
Published: June 19, 2009

Students at Mzuzu University protest over unpaid allowances
Malawi’s Mzuzu University students on Friday evening rioted and blocked roads to the institution’s campus demanding payment of their allowances.
Lectures had been blocked from leaving their offices and some escaped from the campus.
The students are claiming that they have not received their allowances for nine weeks and demand immediate payment.
“This is what we call peaceful standstill,” said one student Cedrick Kwelani.
“We want our stationary allowance,” he said.
Speaking before students chanting solidarity songs denouncing management and Government over the strike,, Kwelani said authorities in the finance department at the University were behaving in a suspicious manner for holding on their allowances describing them as “tricksters”.
“Today when we checked our bank account we found out there is no money. The Director of Finance has refused to give our money,” said Kwelani as some students shouted names which cannot be printed.
“We asked them to deposit our allowance before banks were closed but they did not heed our call. We need our money today,” said Kwelani speaking on behalf of the rioting student.
He said the matter has been discussed for longer time but the authorities were adamant not to honour the payment.
“As students we believe in diplomacy we tried all means of dialogue including sending students union leaders but they have refused to address us,” he said.
Police said they would remain there overnight to ensure no violence was poured onto the streets.
Vice Chancellor Prof Landson Mhango and Register Reginald Mushani were not immediately available for comment.
Mzuzu University was established by an Act of Parliament in 1997 as Malawi’s second national (public) university in Malawi. The first students were admitted in January 1999.
In July 1994, former President Bakili Muluzi, decided that a new University should be established and that it should be located in the Northern Region after the government had studied the problems inherent in the delivery of tertiary education in the country.

It seems to be that time of year again; student unrest.
When one thinks of student riots, one thinks of concerned principled young people striking a blow against tyrannical regimes for the rights of others. Not so in Malawi. It always seems to be the most privileged looking for more.
In one of the poorest countries in the world, which is seriously dependant on foreign aid, at a time where this aid might be drying up, this group of the elite, want more and the want it now. (and maybe there are reasons). I’m sure there are excellent young people involved, but they really are the privileged in getting third level education free.
Many of them will leave the country, when they graduate, and from what I see, give little back to the country which spends so much scarce resources on them.
All my comments are based on my experience, of working in remote rural areas: Primary education is almost non existant, with poor buildings and facilities and poorly trained teachers. Secondary education is distant, often poor quality and expensive. BUT third level education is free. AND finally a large number of these graduates leave the country and give nothing back. It makes me sad to be questioning education, having been a teacher with a firm belief in the potential of education all my life, and having seen what it has done for IRELAND in a post famine context.
Of course our primary education was, from the beginning, of a very high standard and delivered by very driven and well trained individuals who were respected and valued by the community, our second level schools were provided by religious, who may have had their failings but they were also driven.
Third level education was expensive and also for the few, when we were at Malawi’s stage of development.
My advice to them is to get back to work, take a bit of pain in solidarity with your disadvantaged neighbors, stay in Malawi when you graduate and make a contribution.

Another View May 26, 2009

I found this on Graham’s blog today:
Katie was just as enthusiastic, energetic and caring as her letter suggests.

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2009
These days are more than we’d ever hoped for
I think we’re going back to Malawi in June so Katie wrote a letter she’s going to use for sponsorship.

Maybe she can put a different perspective of what we got up to.

Dear Family,

I am all too aware that this letter is long. Probably too long! But please, I assure you that the read is worthwhile and it will perhaps give you an insight into something that I am now passionate about, whether you have before now agreed with it or not. Thanking you in advance!

As you may or may not know from the 26th of January to the 9th February myself and seven of my fellow Griffith College classmates embarked on a journey, The longest, and hardest journey we had experienced in our sheltered lives so far. A journey from which we knew not what to expect. Truth be told, my expectations could never have lived up to the reality.

We spent two weeks in the Mzuzu area of Northern Malawi, working with an amazing charity Wells for Zoe, run personally and entirely by Mary and John Coyne, a retired couple, and two of the most hilarious, inspiring and amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Mary and John’s primary work in Malawi is the spread of clean water and they have successfully developed a unique, cheaper and more efficient way of doing so with their pumps that are now installed in a number of locations around Malawi. They have accomplished great things, including crop growing, schools, bee hives, chicken farms and now thanks to the help of my friends and myself, an orphan daycare centre. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for them and their aspirations.

I look back on my time in Malawi with mixed emotions of delight, sadness, frustration, rage, joy, appreciation of my life and the opportunities it has afforded me, gratitude for the freedom that the hard work of my parents and has given me, freedom to do and give to others, And the freedom that the hand that I have so luckily been dealt has given me and which I am now hell bent on giving back. This is why, in June of this year, with a group made up of old friends from the last trip, and new ones not knowing what to expect, I am planning on going back. I hope the rest of this letter will give you an idea why.

One result of my trip was that I got my first taste of urban poverty in Malawi. The most serious depravation, starvation, serious male alcoholism, and all the abuse that goes with it. People dying and not knowing why, Women and few men working from dawn till dusk desperately trying to stay afloat. Children either working or aimlessly roaming the streets every day, Not being able to afford the tiny sum required for an education, scantily clad, hungry and thirsty, with no hope for the future, never having known a life any different.

In relation to the project we worked on, three amazing strong women from the community of Sailsbury line decided something had to be done for these vulnerable children. They had begun this project in 2005. Their building was awful, their hearts were big, their dreams were in Technicolor, they were doing something, and they needed a hand – a helping hand and not a handout. We decided, as a group, to give it a go. In the weeks we were there we worked against all the odds; the rainy season, an unhelpful, and most times intoxicated chief, an indifferent and obstructive male population, dire poverty, a wet, low lying site, unhelpful neighbours and official bureaucracy who couldn’t care less. We laboured, painted, dug foundations, carried materials even did brick laying anything possible to get the daycare centre ready for opening day.

Unlike Ireland today, and the majority of the people living in poverty in it who scrounge off the generosity of the wealthy and the taxes they are forced to pay because of their hard work, the Malawian women, children and few good men are so generous and in awe of the little help we were able to give them which I think alot of people do not realise. These people do not want to be spoon fed. They want a hand up, not a hand out, and they want to make a better life for themselves to ensure their future.

I found the children’s behaviour the most shockingly beautiful and humbling part of my stay. They regarded every wave, every smile, hug, kiss, tickle or tidbit of your time and affection as a dozen Christmases put together. These children’s parents have no time for affection and sometimes just do not know how to give it. You would truly have to see it to believe it. One older boy, aged 12, named Mateyo who went to school and had simple English came up to me at the end of every day, took my hands in his firmly, looked into my eyes, and said; “Thank you for coming here, you make us very, very happy in here,” and he reached down to press his hand on his little brother’s heart. That was it. Malawi had irrevocably stolen mine.

These children are starving. Not the kind of starving we get from missing lunch, or being in too much of a hurry to have breakfast, but the literal sense. They have a constant ache in the pit of their stomachs that they have become accustomed to. So accustomed to not having food that when one day, as a treat from our group to the children, we gave each child a half a bread roll and a minuscule sweet banana. Three out of five children got sick afterwards. Their bodies rejected the unfamiliar. Food. I cried that day.

The day care centre we built is a 1700 sq ft wonder and a place of refuge for so many children. 260 little ones will be cared for and fed here every morning from 7.30 till 11. The one meal of porridge made from maize flour, soya, ground nuts with a little salt and a lot of sugar, will make a serious impact on their lives. Later in the year the sweetener will be honey from Wells for Zoe’s 330 hives in the forest, the maize, soya and groundnuts will come from Wells for Zoe’s land in Lusangazi and the vitamins from dried moringa leaves.

A characteristic that the children of Sailsbury line possess in far greater amounts than I could even fathom, is patience. These children as I have pointed out are starving. When it came to introducing this new porridge scheme they would politely sit, waiting for us to get around with food to them all. This could take up to an hour. They did not push or shove or grab from other children, just waited. But it was their reaction when the food was handed to them that made me want to reach out. There eyes bulged, a startled expression crossed their gaunt faces and there hands shook with shock at receiving food, then as the realisation hit, a smile spread. Their reactions remained the same. Every day.

One day, I remember, after the other children had finished choking down the scalding, tasteless substance, I noticed a little boy. His plate full. I went over to see why he had not eaten. He looked up with me with a devastated expression and looked down. Then, the penny dropped. I had not given him a spoon. So he had not eaten. This beautiful child had stayed hungry, even with food on offer. Because of me. Because he feared my reaction at his ‘impoliteness’. I was heartbroken.

Everybody has their favourites, and I had mine. His name is Precious. He is seven years old, and the size of the average 5year old. Although he is beautiful, this was not why I favoured him. We were singing songs with the children one day and I felt a grip and a pull on my arm, instead of just my hand, tighter and more urgent than any of the other children’s were. I looked down to see this fragile child in threadbare shorts and a soaking wet jacket that was three sizes too big. He was freezing. For the duration of that day, his grip never loosened.

From that day I looked out for him, and made sure that he got to the day care centre for his chance at simple education and his bowl of porridge. I went up to his house if that’s what it took. I met his family. His twin sister, younger brother, his three older sisters and his widowed mother. I have never seen a woman as happy as her when her son proudly presented me to her. I had taken a shine to him, and for that, she told me, she would be eternally grateful. I looked after him and cherished him for the duration of my stay.

She had chosen his name fittingly, not even knowing its meaning. Upon my arrival each day he ran and jumped into my arms hugging as tightly as his little body could muster. I favoured him, taught him the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year. Gave him drinks of clean water when the other children were not around and rubbed Vaseline into his cracked knees and elbows which were swollen and sore.

The most rewarding part of my relationship with Precious was the change I saw in him. At the start he was shy, would not speak when others were around and could barely look people in the eye. By the end, due to the affection he had been given and also in large part to the energy he now had in his body each day from the porridge, he was a happy, hyperactive child. Dancing, singing and laughing hysterically, playing with the others in the group and I even had him winking! He even proved to be quite the talented singer so we used to walk around singing on the top of our lungs, him repeating me!

On a whim one day at the local market, I thought of Precious. I bought him an Addidas tracksuit, three polo shirts and a pair of shorts. I went up to the house to present them to his mother. His family were delighted. His mother cried, his sister made him try everything on and precious was embarrassed. I then became frustrated. There was so much I wanted to say to his mother and so much she tried to say to me but it all got lost in translation. The language barrier was too much. So, she got up, went outside, rustled about for a while and came back inside, holding a live chicken upside down by the legs. This was my thank you. I must inform you now that chickens in Malawi are worth more than a week’s wages. They are worth 900kwacha. This, to us, is 4euro. I was touched, but politely declined.

That’s the thing about the wonderful people I met in Malawi, whatever you gave them, they were determined to give something back. Whether it was the chicken, a carving made from wood, a song they wanted to perform for you, or a handwritten letter. Or then there was the woman, who was HIV positive, had two twin daughters, a son and a deceased husband who were also HIV positive.

One day she was trying to light a fire to help cook the porridge for the orphanage children. I, without thinking, gave her my lighter, and told her to keep it. She then blessed herself. Actually blessed herself and for every day I spent at the orphanage from then on she would insist on fixing my hair in elaborate plaits, twists and braids. Everyday.

On the final morning, Mercy, one of the women, hugged me and apologised for all the hassle we encountered with various things. I then apologised for the hassle she has encountered everyday of her life due to the hand she was dealt, the circumstance she and so many others have been born into. She didn’t seem to understand and hugged me. It was enough.

The process is simple really; its just community at it’s best. Of course it’s not a million kids, it’s not a Madonna affair, it’s only each one of 260 beautiful creations, who may now be given a shot at life by the generosity of the people who care enough to give, from thousands of miles away.

Don’t get me wrong. I am by no means any Mother Teresa. Nor am I trying to be. I had an amazing time in Malawi, and I did not for a second think of it as work. Malawi has given as much to me, if not more than I have given to it. I loved it, truly loved it, I had a great time during the day working on the project and a great time each night, back at the lodge, making new friends and learning about different cultures from the many people staying there also. And learning that you don’t actually need electricity, or indoor showers, or any of the luxuries that we have become so accustomed to.

I have no idea what project we will be undertaking in June, or what it has in store for us. That’s down to Wells For Zoe who we are in talks with consistently. You may say, ye, been there done that why go back? It’s because now we know what it’s about, and the in’s and out’s to a certain extent. We know what to expect, and this time the first few days won’t be wasted ‘fannying’ around as John Coyne would say finding our feet! We can get straight in with our own personal goals and get our hands dirty.

I realise by me going back again and actually being there I get the good part. People buy the Smarties and I just get to hand them out! I am aware of that but I think that this cause is an amazing one. €50 euro is 10,000 Kwacha. €5,000 Euro is 1,000,000 Kwacha. Imagine that?

Any donation is greatly appreciated. And if your generosity gets the better of you and you want to donate.. If you think you can lend a hand, I assure you, you can!

You know my address. Cheques can be made out to: Wells For Zoe GCD.

Thank you for reading my stupidly long, babbling letter and thank you for any help you can give.

Lots of love

Katie is really set on going but it makes me question why I want to go again. It’s going to be a month this time and I dunno if I’d able to handle it for that long. I’d be missing the Betrayed show, aswell as the Have Heart & Shipwreck AD show. And I havn’t really got the 900 quid to shell out for the flights aswell as a months worth of food unfortunately. It sucks when money especially when its not in vast amount holds people back from doing some cool things.

Timeline Malawi May 15, 2009

Timeline: Malawi BBC News
A chronology of key events:

1st century AD – Bantu-speaking tribes invade the region inhabited by Twa and Fulani tribes.

13-15th centuries – Further migrations of Bantu-speaking people to the area. New settlers work with iron and dominate earlier inhabitants who are considered to be “stone-age”.

1480 – Bantu tribes unite several smaller political states to form the Maravi Confederacy which at its height includes large parts of present-day Zambia and Mozambique plus the modern state of Malawi.

17th century – Portuguese explorers arrive from the east coast of present-day Mozambique.

1790-1860 – Slave trade increases dramatically.

1850 – Scottish missionary David Livingstone’s exploration of the region paves the way for missionaries, European adventurers, traders.

1878 – Livingstonia Central African Mission Company from Scotland begins work to develop a river route into Central Africa to enable trade.

1891 – Britain establishes the Nyasaland and District Protectorate.

1893 – Name is changed to the British Central African Protectorate. White European settlers are offered land for coffee plantations at very low prices. Tax incentives force Africans to work on these plantations for several months a year, often in difficult conditions.

1907 – British Central African Protectorate becomes Nyasaland.

1915 – Reverend John Chilembwe leads a revolt against British rule, killing the white managers of a particularly brutal estate and displaying the head of one outside his church. He is shot dead by police within days.

1944 – Nationalists establish the Nyasaland African Congress.

1953 23 October – Despite strong opposition from the Nyasaland African Congress and white liberal activists, Britain combines Nyasaland with the Federation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe respectively).

1958 – Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, “the black messiah”, denounces the federation and returns from the US and the UK, where he has been studying, to lead the Nyasaland African Congress.

1959 – Violent clashes between the Congress supporters and the colonial authorities lead to the banning of the organisation. Many leaders, including Banda, are arrested and a state of emergency is declared.

Malawi Congress Party is founded as a successor to the Nyasaland African Congress.

1960 – Banda is released from Gwelo prison and attends talks in London with the British government on constitutional reform.

1961 – Elections held for a new Legislative Assembly. Banda’s Malawi Congress Party wins 94% of the vote.

1963 – Territory is granted self-government as Nyasaland and Banda is appointed prime minister.

Independence

1964 6 July – Nyasaland declares independence as Malawi.

1966 6 July – Banda becomes president of the Republic of Malawi. The constitution establishes a one-party state. Opposition movements are suppressed and their leaders are detained. Foreign governments and organisations raise concerns about human rights.

1971 – Banda is voted president-for-life.

1975 – Lilongwe replaces Zomba as capital.

1978 – First elections since independence. All potential candidates must belong to the Malawi Congress Party and be approved by Banda. He excludes many of them by submitting them to an English test.

1980s – Several ministers and politicians are killed or charged with treason. Banda reshuffles his ministers regularly, preventing the emergence of a political rival.

1992 – Catholic bishops publicly condemn Banda, sparking demonstrations. Many donor countries suspend aid over Malawi’s human rights record.

1993 – President Banda becomes seriously ill.

Voters in a referendum reject the one-party state, paving the way for members of parties other than the Malawi Congress Party to hold office.

Muluzi elected

1994 – Presidential and municipal elections: Bakili Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front, is elected president. He immediately frees political prisoners and re-establishes freedom of speech.

Banda announces his retirement from politics.

1997 – Banda dies in hospital in South Africa where he is being treated for pneumonia.

1999 – President Muluzi is re-elected for a second and final five-year term.

2000 – World Bank says it will cancel 50% of Malawi’s foreign debt.

2002 – Drought causes crops to fail across southern Africa. Government is accused of worsening crisis through mismanagement and corruption, including selling off national grain reserves before drought struck.

2002 September – Railway line linking central Malawi and Mozambican port of Nacala reopens after almost 20 years, giving access to Indian Ocean.

2004 May – Government says it will provide free anti-viral drugs to Aids sufferers.

Bingu wa Mutharika, ruling United Democratic Party (UDF) candidate, declared presidential election winner. Observers, opposition criticise poll.

2005 January – Three UDF officials are charged with treason after carrying guns to a meeting with President Mutharika. The president later pardons the trio.

Mutharika’s struggles

2005 February – President Mutharika resigns from the UDF over what he says is its hostility to his anti-corruption campaign. He forms the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

2005 June – President Mutharika survives an impeachment motion backed by the UDF. The speaker of parliament dies after collapsing during angry exchanges over the motion.

2005 November – Agriculture minister says five million people need food aid as Malawi bears the brunt of failed crops and a regional drought.
2006 April – Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha is arrested and charged with treason.

2006 July – Ex-president Bakili Muluzi is arrested on corruption charges.

2006 October – Controversy as American singer Madonna is given temporary rights to adopt a Malawian baby.

2007 May – Malawi begins exporting 400,000 tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe, after producing a surplus in 2006.

2007 July-August – Political row over defecting MPs delays approval of new budget in parliament.

2008 January – Malawi ends diplomatic relations with Taiwan, switching allegiance to China.

2008 May – Several opposition figures and ex-security chiefs are arrested after President Mutharika accuses his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi, of plotting to depose him.

2008 October – President Mutharika is endorsed as his party’s candidate in presidential elections scheduled for May 2009.

Volunteering with Elaine May 12, 2009

Lusangazi

My thanks to Deirdre for sending a copy of TOAST, the DITSU magazine

Malawi trip

Wells for Zoe is an Irish charity organisation which was set up in 2005 by Mary and John Coyne. Wells for Zoë concentrates on low cost, small scale, appropriate and sustainable water technology. It has been worked out that a single euro can provide water for life to an individual. Water is the source of life, it is the Wells for Zoe belief that clean safe drinking water is the most important starting point for all development. Firstly, it is a basic need of any healthy community. Secondly, its local availability will mean that the women and children will not have to get up before dawn to search for and carry water for miles. A local water supply will benefit the community as the children can attend school and the women will have more time to tend and irrigate the much-needed crops, along with all their many other tasks.
Since its introduction, it has also moved into other areas of importance such as schools, farming, orphan centres and more. They help the people of Malawi by giving hand up’s, not hand out’s. Meaning they can learn how to help themselves and not be so dependent on aid from others.

Malawi itself is a small country bordering Zambia and Mozambique, with a population of just over 13million. Life expectancy here is about 41 years. HIV/Aids infection rate according to the government is said to be about 14%, whereas hospitals would suggest 40 – 60%. The area in which Wells for Zoe concentrates is Mzuzu in Northern Malawi. I will be travelling out there on April 5th for the third time along with a group of 15 others from DIT. The work done over there is incredible and there is nothing like the feeling of going out to work in the villages. Last March, 10 students including myself travelled over to do three simple things: Inspire, Educate and Challenge. Our major task was to complete a three-classroom school in a village called Luvuvwe in a timeframe of two weeks….and the mission was miraculously complete. We did very little but it went a long way, we provided the materials necessary and gave guidance and motivation to achieve. The local people did everything else. The spirit of community was truly amazing, everyone helped, from children aged as young as four to adults as old as sixty. Women carried bricks on their heads, the men plastered, laid bricks, the children did all they could to give a hand and be a part of the project. They themselves could not believe the work they got done in two weeks. Along with the school, a garden was created, a youth group was formed and a HIV group. This shows the huge impact that you can have on a single village. I cannot describe the fulfilment one gets from being involved with a community that wants to help themselves. The people are so friendly and are constantly smiling, regardless of the troubled lives a lot of them live.

The newly built orphan day care centre will be the main focus of our trip this year. The centre provides a good meal and care for more than 420 orphans each day. For a lot of these children, the meal they receive here is their only one of the day. We will be bringing large quantities of clothes, toys and materials for the children so as they have something to take from our visit over. I am counting down the days to set off again and I’m sure it will not be my last visit.

To return to the same villages each trip and be greeted by welcoming smiles, handshakes and hugs make all the organising, long flights and injections worthwhile.
It is truly a lifetime experience, one with both enjoyment and fulfilment.

The one question asked over and over to me by friends and family when I returned was ‘Is it sad?’. But my simple reply was ‘It is not sad unless you make it that way’. You can stand back and pity the poor or you can get so involved that you don’t even notice the difference in your lives.

Another View April 1, 2009

Various Artists “WELLS FOR ZOE: WATER FOR LIFE” (Compass, 2009)
There are some things that many of us take for granted that others — literally — would die for. Little things, like clean water, water that won’t give your kids diseases, water that you can bathe in and raise crops and drink without fear. Having clean water is a big step towards solving other problems; once you can survive you can succeed elsewhere and prosper, but without it, life is untenable. That was the keystone of the efforts by the Irish-led nonprofit, Wells For Zoe, which helps build sustainable farming and other development in the tiny country of Malawi, an East African nation with shockingly high infant mortality rates and little economic infrastructure. This benefit album features many major talents, mostly drawn from the Irish pop and folk scene, with contributions from likeminded artists from across the globe. There’s something delicious hearing the transition between Scottish singer Karine Polwart’s “Well For Zoe” into Sinead O’Connor singing the wry “Baby, Let Me Buy You A Drink” — here are two classic Celtic voices singing beautifully on the same theme, with equally rewarding results (either song will echo in your mind all day long…) Also on board are Celt-folk legends Dougie MacLean and Paul Brady, as well as guitarist John Doyle and Heidi Talbot, and bluegrassers such as Alison Brown and Tim O’Brien. It’s a nice album — only a couple of tracks seemed untenable (…a crossover-folk cover of “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves”? No, thank you.) But several tracks are lovely, and the cause is certainly good. If you’re interested in downloads, here are some options:

Buy it is the answer! April 1, 2009

Rating: ****
Genre: Folk
Release Date: 01/13/2009

Musically speaking, this type of project is fraught with danger. Whenever an album is put together in the service of a cause — especially one as urgently important as a well-creation program in Malawi — two things are almost inevitable: first, musical quality will take a back seat to the emotional appeal (because after all, what’s musical quality when compared to a life-and-death struggle for water?), and second, at least half of the contributing artists will somehow end up singing mawkishly about themselves and their own global sensitivity (remember “We Are the World”?). Wells for Zoë — Water for Life manages to avoid both pitfalls by a couple of ingenious stratagems. The first is by being mostly a compilation of previously released material bound together by themes related to water and wells: thus, flutist Michael McGoldrick contributes a recording of his original composition “Watermans,” Crooked Still contributes a song called “Wading Deep Waters,” and Eamonn Coyne and Kris Drever bring the “Lakeside Barndances” set from their Honk Toot Suite album. The new recordings featured here avoid bathos by employing sly humor: Maura O’Connell and the Duhks team up on a roof-raising version of “Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves,” and the Sinéad O’Connor/Liam Ó Maonlaí collaboration “Baby, Let Me Buy You a Drink” (though much less energetic) is also cute — though it must be said that O’Connor’s voice has seen better days. Heidi Talbot’s rendition of the gorgeous Boo Hewerdine song “Muddy Water” is perhaps the album’s high point, though the Alison Brown Quartet’s joyously swinging “Wonderful Sea Voyage (Of Holy St. Brendan)” is a gem as well. Overall, this ends up being an album that is worthy on its own merits as well as being a worthy contribution to an important cause.

~Rick Anderson, All Music Guide