Concern Blogs

Concern Worldwide is investing in women farmers in Malawi like Ariema Benetala to improve nutrition of mothers and children during the 1,000 days from pregnancy to age 2. Photo: Kathyothyo, Malawi, Pieternella Pieterse for Concern Worldwide

By Anita McCabe, Country Director, Concern Worldwide Malawi

As the hot, dry breeze wafts through the lakeside district of Nkhotakota, Malawi, a group of women sing as they take turns to water their near-ripe crop of maize. Further downstream, another group is busy making seed beds in preparation for another crop.

Like many women in developing countries, these women face a particular set of responsibilities and vulnerabilities when it comes to providing food for their families. Not only are they the primary caregivers, they are also the producers of food and the income earners. Women farmers in rural areas of Malawi grow, buy, sell, and cook food in order to feed their children. In fact, in all the countries in which I’ve worked during my time with Concern Worldwide, I’ve seen how very hard women must work to ensure the survival of their families, and the burdens they bear. Read the rest of this entry »

Girls in Phombe Primary School, Nsanje District in Malawi, where Concern is supporting the community to encourage the education of girls. Photo: Malawi, Concern Worldwide

By Joseph Scott, former Communications Officer with Concern Worldwide in Malawi

For some years, daily life in the community of Mtumba village in Nsanje district was dictated by the darker side of local culture. Years of upholding traditional practices, such as girls leaving school to get married, produced a vicious cycle of illiteracy that has severely hampered the development of Mtumba as a community. Literacy levels in Mtumba  are very low. In a community of about 1,500 people, only three girls have completed their primary school education.

And, unfortunately, these are now married: “It’s disappointing to note that all girls in our village are rushing or are being forced into marriage,” says Lilian Kastomu, one of the girls who completed primary school but is now a mother of two, adding, “that’s why I decided to join the Mother Group to encourage girls in my village not to make the mistake I made.”

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By Joseph Scott, Communications Officer – Malawi

Kachigamba, a member of Concern's irrigation group in Chitukula, Malawi. Photo: Malawi, Concern Worldwide

The month of January is usually the busiest in Chitukula, an agricultural community situated in rural Lilongwe in central Malawi.  With the onset of the rains, most farmers in Chitukula are busy in their fields determined to make the most out of the heavy rainfall.

Contrary to the surrounding hub of activity, Wellington Kachigamba’s pace (46) has slowed. On this usually labor-intensive Wednesday morning, he sits with legs outstretched on his tobacco shed verandah whilst stringing together his first crop of tobacco into bunches for drying. He looks up at the hundred or so bunches perched on the trusses of the shed and smiles with satisfaction. Read the rest of this entry »

By Joseph Scott, Communications Officer, Malawi

Siverio and other group members harvesting honey. Photo: Malawi, Concern Worldwide

A few months ago, Siverio Kamera, 42, a member of Ngala Club in Dowa, Malawi, was getting disillusioned by the lack of progress in his newly found source of livelihood, beekeeping.

Having joined Ngala Club in 2006, Siverio was finding the going tough as the project was failing to make any meaningful head start.

“The bees were not producing enough honey to make any profitable business. And worse still, the harvesting was proving to be a risky business: We were being stung every day due to lack of protective clothing,” recalls Siverio. Read the rest of this entry »

Stefano and his wife pictured with one of their rabbits. Photo: Joseph Scott, Malawi, Concern Worldwide

As the rains pound mercilessly in the small village of Chikanga – Stefano and his neighbours hope that, this season, their crops will make it.

The rainfall pattern of the last two farming seasons has been unpredictable, with rains disappearing mid-season and leaving any crops to the mercy of the sun.

After two hours of thunderous downpours, Stefano, a father of five from Lilongwe, goes out to survey his rabbit kraal and chicken pen, dodging the children playing and shouting all around him.

Unlike the past years, Stefano has a sense of calm and security. Whether there are going to be floods, drought ,or normal rainfall, he is better positioned than ever before to withstand potential disaster.

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Phombe Primary School in Nsanje, Malawi where Concern is working to improve conditions for children. Photo: Malawi, Concern Worldwide

Martha is a shy yet intelligent twelve-year-old girl from Nsanje, in Malawi. This year, she was supposed to earn her primary school leaving certificate (PSLC).

Her teachers believed she would make it to high school, as she had been the best student in her class since the first grade. Last school term, she was also at the top of her class.

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Some 12 percent of all children in Malawi do not survive to celebrate their fifth birthday. Photo: Concern Worldwide

I have arrived in the Concern office in Lilongwe, capital of Malawi. The goal in the next week is to gather as much information on the current health situation of mothers and children in Malawi, and develop a program strategy about how to address the problems.

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Photo: Pieterella Pieterse, Malawi, Concern Worldwide

Last week the picturesque town of Zomba in Malawi was the destination point for 30 Concern education staff. The usually sleepy town was already buzzing with stories that Madonna was in town when our bus pulled into Annie’s Lodge carrying team members from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, US and Ireland.

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“These crops you see here during this dry season are the results of our club’s dedication and desire to see off poverty once and for all. We are now well equipped, thanks to Concern, to produce enough food – a thing which had eluded this village for many years.

In fact, we have given a ray of hope and confidence to many in this village who didn’t believe that with enough commitment and hard work, the beast called hunger can be defeated. We will not wait for Concern to come again to our rescue. They did their part and now we have a good foundation to tackle hunger.”

—Mr. Enock Mbeta, Treasurer, Mtisautsa Community Irrigation Club, Nkhotakota District, Malawi Read the rest of this entry »