by Pilirani Semu-Banda
- Malawi -

The very survival of women and children in Africa may depend on the newly-launched Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA). According to latest estimates by the African Union (AU), over the next ten years there will be 2.5 million maternal deaths, another 2.5 million child deaths and 49 million maternal disabilities in Africa alone if urgent actions are not taken.

Around the world, a woman dies every minute from pregnancy-related causes. Globally, there are more than 500,000 maternal deaths per year, the majority of which are in Africa where in many places the maternal mortality rate (MMR) is as high as 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births. And these death threats are only increasing: one in every 16 African women faces the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy and delivery-related complications, particularly those from marginalized communities and those living in poverty.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
- Malawi -

Twenty-seven year-old Lima Wochi from Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, looks dejected. She ventured into prostitution at the tender age of 12. She says she is tired of sex work and is looking for a way out of it.

Prostitution is deemed unacceptable in Malawi but the sex trade continues to thrive. Large numbers of women, especially young ones, are seen loitering around street corners, near hotels, bars and other entertainment places.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
- Malawi -

No political meeting happens in Malawi without song and dance. Clad in colorful political party regalia, women and girls are the traditional singers and dancers for the country’s political parties. They sing adoring songs of praise for the political leaders they support and mock those who represent political interests different from their own. The majority of Malawi’s politicians are men.

As the country’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections draw closer, the women of Malawi want to move away from being mere singers and dancers; 425 women have mobilized to contest for the country’s 193 parliamentary positions in next May’s elections.

An aspiring MP Margret Nyakondowe says she is contesting because she understands the challenges facing people, especially women and children, better than any man.

"I am a mother and I know the needs of mothers in this country. I would like to see an end to those challenges and I will advocate for them in Parliament," says Nyakondowe.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
- Malawi -

Sixty-three year old Gladys Kasito, in Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe, only has one wish – to die peacefully, preferably in her sleep. Kasito says she feels trapped and threatened in her own country. Her community, including her own family, has disowned her. She says everyone is baying for her blood. Kasito has been labeled a witch.

Her face is heavily scarred, she walks with a limp, and has no front teeth. Kasito is recovering from the wounds she sustained when her neighbors demolished her house early one February morning and beat her up. A few passers-by rescued her and took her to hospital.

“All I want is to die, but peacefully. I no longer want to go through the mental and physical ordeal that I was subjected to. They call me a witch just because I am old and no longer pretty,” worries Kasito.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
- Malawi -

Veronica Yakobe has been living a nightmare for more than two decades. Twenty-three years ago, during a prolonged labor when giving birth to her fifth child, the unborn baby was pressed so tightly in her birth canal that blood flow was cut off and the surrounding tissues died. Then a hole or fistula broke through the vaginal walls between the bladder and rectum. Obstetric fistula is serious medical condition which usually occurs during home births or in poorly equipped local clinics when access to emergency obstetric care is not available. Unfortunately, that was the case for Veronica. She has been unable to control her bodily functions since, and leaks urine and feces uncontrollably. In a bitter irony, after all that struggle, her baby was still-born.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

• A tea estate in Malawi.
Photograph by Steve Evans. •

But both the tobacco and tea industries in Malawi thrive on the cheap labor of children ages five to seventeen.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

The American people provide over $35 million (USD) to Malawi every year in the form of development aid through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This money is used to promote rural economic development, foster governance, reinforce basic education and to improve the health of people in this poor nation.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

Over 65 percent of Malawi's 12 million people live below the poverty line

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

In Nkombanyama, a village in Malawi’s northern district of Chitipa, a 14-year-old girl was saved by a traditional chief as she was about to be married off to a successful farmer. Sadly, her father was using her as currency to settle a debt with the farmer.

The girl’s father, identified only as Hannock, reportedly made a habit of borrowing money from the farmer, using his daughter as collateral. He eventually ordered her to sleep with the farmer after he failed to settle the loan.

The issue only came to light in March of this year after the girl fell pregnant having “settled” her father’s debts for some time.

The culture of using female children to settle outstanding debts has existed in this part of Malawi since time immemorial among the people in Chitipa and other surrounding districts.

The custom, locally known as Kupimbira, has forced children as young as five years old into sexual relationships with men as old as 70. The children are swapped for material goods such as soap, sugar, bread and cattle or as settlement for outstanding debts.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

The on-going adoption process of a one-year old Malawian orphan, David Banda, by Pop Star Madonna has highlighted the plight of orphans in Malawi.

A million children are orphaned in Malawi, of which half were AIDS-related illnesses affecting one or both parents, most of whom are cared for by relatives who are already experiencing severe economic hardship. About 8 million of Malawi’s 12 million people live below the national poverty line of $1-a-day. Child-headed households are becoming increasingly common, where many households have been discovered to be run by children as young as 12 years old.

One of the orphanages benefiting from Madonna’s financial assistance is the Consol Homes in Malawi’s Central region. When Madonna visited this orphanage with David on Thursday, April 19, she urged the multitude of orphans and the poor who gathered to see her to help themselves.

"This is a partnership, it's not only for me to do everything, but we need to work together and you have to help yourselves," Madonna said.

But the orphans have already been doing what Madonna is urging them to do.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

In recent months, Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, has embarked on a series of whistle-stop tours during week days. Consequently, female teachers feel compelled to dance for him for fear of reprisals from authorities. In Malawi there is a lot of hero-worshipping for politicians, which started during the 30-year dictatorial rule from 1964 to 1994.

Malawians, especially women, sing and dance to songs in praise of politicians they support and conversely castigate those they do not. The president, however, uses civil servants for these demonstrations, including teachers.

A spokesperson for the country’s most influential opposition party, Sam Mpasu, describes this tendency by the president as detrimental to the country’s education standards, which are already grim.

Malawi’s education standards started declining as soon as the country attained democracy in 1994 and abolished school fees for primary education; this resulted in an increase in enrollment from 1.9 million pupils to 3.2 million.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

A 15 month-old baby had gone missing in Malawi’s high density township in the country’s commercial capital Blantyre last month, only to be found dead five days later in a pit latrine not very far away from her parents’ house. One would have easily thought that she had accidentally fallen into the dug-out toilet if it had not been that her teeth, nose, and lips were missing and half of her head shaven when her body was hauled out.

Three weeks after the incident in Blantyre, a 28-year-old man cut off his wife’s private parts while she was lying in bed with him. Police investigations revealed that prior to the incident, the man had asked his wife for a piece of her private parts to mix with some traditional medicine, to then prepare charms to help him get rich, but that the wife refused.

by Pilirani Semu-Banda
Malawi

Last Christmas Eve, just days before Hilary Clinton announced her intentions to run for the US presidency, a woman parliamentarian in Malawi, Loveness Gondwe, also indicated her intentions to run in the 2009 presidential elections in her small southern African country.