By Madalitso Kateta, Equal Times For Costas Gondwe, a teacher at Nambamba Primary School in Dowa district, central Malawi, the worst impacts of the coronavirus haven’t been clinical but societal. Since the government closed all schools and colleges earlier this year as part of a nationwide lockdown, Gondwe says that she has seen a significant increase in underage pregnancies and marriages. In Dowa District alone, 234 girls and 23 boys have got married and 95 girls have become pregnant since the indefinite closure of schools was announced on 20 March. There has been another desperate outcome too – an increase in child labour. Nambamba Primary School is located in the Kabwinja zone of Dowa, a rural area where tobacco growing is one of the main economic activities, often at the hands of smallholder farmers who have contractual agreements with tobacco-buying companies. These farmers do not sell their tobacco directly to the companies; instead it goes through the auction floor where their earnings hinge on the quality determination of auctioneers. Although the Malawian government has taken some steps to tackle the worst forms of child labour by committing in 2015 to end child labour by 2025 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and by passing the 2018 Children’s Policy in 2019, implementation is still a major issue. As a result, it is not uncommon for tobacco farmers to make their children work to help their families meet their contractual obligations. “Due to the indefinite closure of schools, in the past six months children from the area have been forced to work on their parents farms because this is the way parents believe their children can be productive,” Gondwe tells Equal Times. Although primary education (Standard 1-8) is free in Malawi, achieving SDG 4 (quality education for all) by 2030 will be a hard row to hoe. Many students, particularly in rural areas, are faced with high student-to-teacher ratios and poor school facilities. Since the schools closed, Gondwe says that many children, both boys and girls, have been unable to study because they have been doing menial work. Boys tend to work on farms while girls are mostly in engaged in domestic work and care responsibilities. However, Gondwe says that girls have suffered the worse impacts as they suffer the double burden of child labour and underage marriage. “In our zone, the problem is very big. The performance of these students will be greatly affected when schools fully open. Frankly speaking, we have not done enough to help these children,” she laments. Fourteen-year-old Kumbukani Saulosi is in Standard Five at Nambamba Primary School. He says that since the schools closed due to the lockdown, some of his peers have been engaging in risky behaviour such as smoking and drinking. “It is like we have been on a long holiday. Many learners thought that the schools would never reopen and so they started working.” Globally, there have been 94 million fewer children involved in child labour since 2000, however, the coronavirus threatens to undo years of progress, according to a report issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF in June. “As poverty rises, schools close and the availability of social services decreases, more children are pushed into the workforce,” warned UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore. In Malawi, the threat is especially grave. According to statistics quoted in the US Department of Labor’s country report on the worst forms of child labour and forced labour in Malawi, 42.3 per cent of 5-14 year olds work, 89.9 per cent of 5-14 year olds attend school, while 45.4 per cent of 7-14 year olds combine work and school. Educators Against Child Labour UNESCO has warned that globally one-third of students will not return to the classroom when schools re-open. “In Malawi, the coronavirus has changed the way we live just as it has affected our education system,” says Pilirani Kamaliza, a project coordinator at the Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM). “Since schools closed in March, the numbers of children that have been forced into marriages as well as the world of work has steadily increased,” he says. Since 2019, TUM and the Private Schools Employees Union of Malawi (PSEUM) have been running a project called Educators Against Child Labour in the Kabwinja area. Supported by the global trade union federation Education International (EI), the Dutch education union AOb, the Dutch national centre Mondiaal FNV and the GEW Fair Childhood Foundation, the project aims to establish “child labour free zones” within communities and villages. Parents, teachers, trade unions, civil society, local government and employers all work together to root out all forms of child labour and to ensure that all children are in full-time education. The project initially targeted 400 learners, however, even before schools closed, it had reached 7,000 children from ten schools in the 99 villages within the 50 sq km Kabwinja education zone. It improved relationships between parents and teachers, and also managed to advance educational outcomes, says Kamaliza. “Before the schools closed there was an improvement in class attendance. We had managed to enrol 285 students that were previously involved in child labour, their performance had picked up and was at par with those students that had never dropped out of school,” he says. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 school closures have swept away these gains. “Some parents lost hope. Many assumed that the schools would never re-open,” says Kamaliza. Schools have now opened for examination classes in Malawi, but in Kabwinja zone alone, 28 learners (19 girls and nine boys) have failed to return to class. Teachers are currently tracing these learners to find out their exact reasons for dropping out of school and to try to convince them and their guardians to change their minds. Addressing the root causes of child labour and providing solutions On 12 June 2020, on the World Day Against Child Labour, the ILO launched the regional ‘Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa’ (ACCEL Africa) project in
Author: Admin Leyman
From Street Kid to Pilot: How Malawian Prophet Bushiri Changed Anthony’s Story
By Sifiso Mabunda, ECG News Ten years ago, Antony Kaombe, now 25, was a hopeless orphan, a street kid; but, today, he is a qualified pilot, about to fly people to every corner of the world. His story of birth, though, doesn’t begin with pain and poverty. His father, a Malawian, and mother, a Zimbabwean, weren’t poor. “My mother was a police officer and my father a military soldier. I didn’t have a troubled childhood,” he says. But trouble befell him when, by 2011, he had lost both parents. Everything around him changed for the worst. “I was still young. I ended up going to Children homes to seek help but I wasn’t assisted the way I wanted,” he explains. Young, hungry and frail, the little Anthony hoped from one place to another searching for a hand of help. He only found that hand in a friend, his age mate, and, united by a shared pain, they started a home. It wasn’t really a home for they had, in their tenderness of age, to look for a meal, a clothing, a bath and just everything. Tired and hopeless, Anthony resorted to suicide. Caught in the act, Anthony got arrested and was locked up. Interestingly though, in his attempt to take away his life, Anthony found a new life—a fresh beginning. He explains: “The lady at the Victim Support Unit asked me to go to Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s church to be delivered from the spirit of suicide.” Anthony trudged on and, in September 2011, he hoped to Prophet Bushiri’s church in Lilongwe and met the man of God. He met the Prophet and, after a deliverance prayer during the service, Anthony recalls a feeling of freedom all over his body. That moment, he tells me, was a breakpoint for him—but, still, a second meeting with Prophet Bushiri in 2012 was phenomenal. He explains: “In 2012, the prophet located me and told me about my future. I remember him telling me that I am a Star. I didn’t know what that meant because, from the pain I experienced, I couldn’t understand if there anything good for me.” Anthony reveals that, few months later, the He moved into the Prophet’s house, got trained in ministry work and, with days, his life started to take a positive a direction. The beauty of being close to Prophet Bushiri, according to Anthony, is that he always energises you with words of encouragement, constantly telling you he sees greatness in you. “I started aviation with Mach1 Aviation School in South Africa and he told me I should not get worried with anything for I have his full support. I am currently with Airline Transportation Pilot License (ATPL) and it’s the Prophet supporting everything,” he says. Reflecting on his story, Anthony says there is no going back, he wants to continue working hard and to prove to the world that, amidst pain, there is still love and hope out there. He adds that he has learnt a lot from Prophet Bushiri, adding that if he were to write a book, it would be something worth millions of pages. “He is an amazing father, someone who sees a seed in you and waters it. A man who is willing to invest in the future of every child he sees, a mentor whose love is immense—loving everyone just as his own children,” he explains. Anthony further remembers that, as a human being, he has failed Prophet Bushiri several times but, surprisingly, the ECG founder never gave up on him. To the youths out there who, today, might be going through what he went through, Anthony has a message: “Part of Joseph’s journey to being the prime minister of Egypt was being a good slave. So don’t give up. You are only passing a stage,” he says. Anthony also advises people who have to always render a hand to those who don’t have. “Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will reward you. The world can be a better place if we can show the love of God.”
Chewa Chief Gawa Undi Calls for Tolerance Among Malawians
By Grace Kapatuka The Paramount Chief for Chewas in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, Kalonga Gawa Undi has asked Malawians to exercise tolerance for peace to prevail in the country. Speaking Saturday through one of his Ndunas at Mkaika Headquarters during the 2019 Kulamba ceremony in Zambia, Kalonga Gawa Undi said he was concerned with the political unrest the country is currently experiencing since the May 21 polls. The Chewa chief called upon political leaders in Malawi to ensure they find a long lasting solution to the political unrest so as to develop the country. “We cannot solve problems with demonstrations and violence. May I call upon the political leaders to come together and reach a consensus that will see the country moving forward,” Undi said. He said post-election violence derails development. “When challenges and disagreements arise from an election, let us sit down together and discuss so that we find solutions to our problems without inciting violence,” he said. On a different note, the Chewa chief urged governments in the three countries to ensure they have sufficient strategic food reserves for their people. He said the three countries were facing hunger due to floods and other disasters that struck this year. Finance Minister of Zambia Bwalya Ng’andu said the Kulamba ceremony is important as it demonstrates oneness of the Chewa from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Ng’andu said such traditional ceremonies need to be encouraged if culture is to be preserved and promoted. “The ceremony is significant as it sends a powerful message of the shared values, customs and traditions in binding people together without regard to boundaries or borders, which ordinarily serve to divide people,” Ng’andu said. Kulamba is a Chewa traditional ceremony in which chiefs pay homage to their King, Kalonga Gawa Undi. The event is celebrated yearly at Mkaika, Katete District in Zambia.-MANA