2011 - Malawi- Dalitso Mbewe

June 2011
Dear Supporter,

My name is Dalitso Mbewe and I am happy to tell you how your support of ActionAid and The Next Step in Malawi has changed my life.

I am 31 years old and I live with my five children in the Mbwetu area of Lilongwe [Capital city of Malawi]. My husband left for South Africa in 2008 in search of greener pastures and I have not heard from him since.

When my husband was around, I depended on him to provide for our family. We never struggled to earn a living, but when he left the realities of life hit me. He left me just 500 Kwacha [£2]. I used this money to start selling doughnuts to try and earn a living. But business was not good. I tried selling groundnuts then later on resorted to selling pork fat. But to no avail. My children had to stop going to school because I could not afford to feed them in the morning or buy their books and uniforms.

I did not know what else to do. I had no qualifications to get a job and no collateral to get a bank loan to start a proper business.
But then I heard about a government initiative to promote adult education. I went to a literacy class, and this is where I met staff from the Lilongwe Urban Women's Forum, a partner of ActionAid.
Meeting them transformed my life. They gave me a loan of 7,000 Kwacha [£30] to start my own business. I decided to make and sell decorated clocks, which are popular here in Malawi. I use maize and bean seeds to decorate the clocks.

I make and sell about five to seven clocks a week and make a profit of about 5,500 Kwacha [£23] a week. I no longer struggle to look after my family. I can now send my children to school again and we all eat three meals a day.

I really appreciate the support that ActionAid is giving poor women like me. Plans are underway to train more women,
including myself, in other craft skills like candle and vase making, so that we can produce high quality products that can be sold for a good price. ActionAid is also supporting the construction of a craft centre to give women somewhere to sell their products.

The support from ActionAid and Lilongwe Urban Women's Forum has changed my life. I can now face the future with confidence.
Thank you!

Best wishes
Dalitso Mbwe

P.S. Enclosed is a photo of me holding one of my decorated clocks. I hope you like it.

2010 - Malawi - Nelliepe Mtete

October 2009

Dear friend,
I am grateful for your support of The Next Step; ActionAid’s Hunger Free Campaign has changed my life! 

My name is Nelliepe Mtete, 45, and I live in Mnganya village, northern Malawi. I am proud to be a successful farmer, and I have a wonderful story to share with you. Hanna Chimangire from ActionAid has helped me write to you today.

I got married to Chief Nerbert Katumbi in 1973 and we were blessed with six children, four boys; Noel, Chalero, Shane and Lyacha and two girls; Timale and Charity. I was happily married until he died in 2003 after battling with a long illness.

We were farmers, and grew a variety of crops such as maize, groundnuts, and beans and we also reared goats and chickens. 2003 was the saddest year in my life!

I never thought I would suffer property grabbing as many women in my area do, but my in-laws grabbed our land. I was helpless with my children but life had to go on. My produce dropped and it was difficult to make ends meet.

ActionAid’s Hunger Free Campaign rescued me! The campaign aimed at turning Malawi into a hunger free nation. In my area the campaign identified property grabbing as a serious cause of hunger and poverty. 

ActionAid brought women together, and I was one of them. We were trained on our rights and legal provisions to fight property grabbing. It was clear that we could not win the battle as individuals, so we formed a network called the Coalition of Women Farmers (COWFA) . As an active member I was elected the first chairperson for the group. It has 10 executive members, and a total membership of over 500.

We took my case to court, and ActionAid supported us through mediations with police and settling of financial costs. 

Thank heavens I won the case. The court ordered my in-laws to give me back the land and property. I received a loan from the Malawi Rural Finance Company which helped me to buy fertilisers, which has helped me to improve my maize production.

I am now able to send my children to good schools; Shane is pursuing a course in Education, and Charity is going for an accountancy course in October this year. I miss my husband, but at least I am able to provide for my family.

As a chairperson of the COWFA, I am a role model and assist fellow women to increase their crop production. 200 women are being assisted with irrigation on communal farms and are able to produce maize, beans and vegetables twice a year. It is my dream to see them scale up and find better markets for their produce.

As a coalition we are planning to request the government to support us with a good rural road to help transport our produce to markets!
Once again thank you for your support of the next Step, and I hope you enjoyed reading my story.

Yours sincerely,
Nelliepe

P.S. I have enclosed a couple of photos of me happily growing vegetables.

2009 - Malawi - Caroline Uko

May 2009

Dear friend,

My dream of becoming a lawyer could now be a reality, thanks to your support of ActionAid and The Next Step in Malawi.

Two years ago my dreams were shattered when I found out I was HIV positive. But with ActionAid's help my dream has returned.

My name is Caroline Uko. I'm thirteen years old and I live with my elder sister and her family on the outskirts of Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. With the help of Leo Magombo from ActionAid, I'm happy to tell you my story.

I live with my sister because my mother died of malaria when I was seven. I don't know where my father is; he divorced my mother when I was two.

When I was eleven I had a horrible skin rash. Then my eyes started to hurt and I got malaria and diarrhoea. My health was deteriorating rapidly. I went to the local Mission Hospital where I was advised to take an HIV test. I was very scared but I took the test. I was HIV positive. It was at this time that my family realised my mother had been HIV positive and I had caught the virus when she was pregnant with me.

I thought my life was over. But I was encouraged to take antiretroviral drugs and after one month, I started to feel better. I gained a kilogramme in weight and started feeling well enough to go back to school.

But I didn't see the point in going back to school. Surely my journey to become a lawyer was ended. Surely I would die soon! This was when ActionAid arrived in my life and gave me hope.

ActionAid works with a youth group called 'Tin Pamodzi', which means We Are Together. The group offers support and counselling to children like me who are HIV positive. There are 31 of us aged between five and 17. We meet together regularly and with the support of our counsellors we share our experiences and challenges and encourage each other to live our lives fully.

Joining this group turned my life around. Our counsellors and guest speakers give us talks on nutrition, healthy and positive living, first aid, discrimination and fighting stigma. I've learnt about the importance of nutrition to improve my immunity and I've learnt how to make nutritious meals from local foods like Soya and milk.

When we meet we are given a nutritious meal and afterwards we play games like football or netball to keep us physically fit. We are also given two kg of Multivitamin meal every week to boost our immunity.

Recently, we had a brilliant talk about career development and the importance of continuing our education by Mrs Mpinganjira, my favourite counsellor. She restored my hopes and dreams of becoming a renowned lawyer.

I'm now healthy and happy and no longer scared of the future. I'm studying in grade seven at Mvunguti Primary School and hope to pass my exams next year and continue my studies at Mlanda Girl's Secondary School and then University.

I am grateful for your tremendous support of ActionAid and The Next Step. It has changed my life and renewed my dreams. I now have a life to live. Thank you!

Best wishes Caroline Uko

PS. I have sent you two photos of me to show you how healthy and happy I am. I hope you like them.

2009 - Malawi - Margaret Masese

 

Mulibwanji [Greetings] from Malawi. My name is Margaret Masese. I am 47 years old and live with my husband and seven children in Thambani village in the Mwanza district of Malawi. I have been asked by Richard Chimwendo of ActionAid to tell you how your support of The Next Step has changed my life.

My husband owns an acre of land which I used to grow food to feed our family. Each year, I managed to harvest 750kg of maize, which was hardly enough to feed my family for seven months. For the other five months I would travel 20km, over the border into Mozambique, to find work as a daily farm labourer. My wages alone weren't enough, so I was forced to take my three eldest children to work with me. This meant that each year they lost five months of their education.

It was frustrating not being able to produce enough food and having to migrate with my children to find work. But I faced many challenges growing food; not enough land or rainfall, and a lack of seeds and fertilisers. Fertiliser is one of the biggest expenses and is getting more expensive all the time. Four months ago, one bag cost 5,695 Kwacha [£25] but now it costs 10,685 Kwacha [£47].

Other women in this area were facing the same challenges, and one day some of us decided that we needed to work together to overcome our problems. We had heard on the radio about irrigation farming and decided that was what we needed to do. To achieve this we needed to work together on a large plot of land, rather than individually farming small plots. We formed ourselves into a farming group and called ourselves the Namitembo Irrigation Scheme. We started off with 24 members but now we have over 100. We approached the village headman to ask him for a large plot of land to start our scheme. He gave us 10 hectares.

Together we cleared the land ready for planting and dug channels to allow water to flow from the hills 1km away. This would be our irrigation system. Without wasting any time, I started preparing my share of the land, two acres, and planted maize and vegetables. In that first year, I managed to harvest 1,350kg of maize, almost double my previous yields. However, this was mainly due to having more land. I still faced challenges with water and fertiliser. Although we had channelled water down from the hills, I still had to carry it from the channels to my crops, which was time consuming. I also still had the problem of the ever increasing cost of fertiliser.

At this time, ActionAid started working in our area and were impressed with our efforts to increase food production. They offered to help us overcome our challenges. They provided pipes, cement and a pump to allow water to be pumped to the whole plot of land. They also provided fertiliser. I received four bags, which was a great help to me. To reduce our reliance on fertilisers and to reduce our farming costs they taught us how to make manure from natural waste.

Their help made a huge difference. My next harvest was 2,500kg of maize. I kept 1,500kg to feed my family, which I managed to do for the whole year. The rest I was able to sell to buy clothes for my children, school fees for my two children at secondary school and other food items and household necessities. I have even managed to install a solar panel system on my house. We now have electricity, which means my children can do their homework even when it's dark.

It is your support of ActionAid and The Next Step that has enabled women like me to feed their families all year round. Thanks to you I no longer have to migrate to find work or stop my children from going to school.

Warm regards Margaret Masese

 

PS. I have sent you two photos. One is of me helping to lay irrigation pipes, and the other is of me tending my crops. I hope you like them.

2008 - Malawi - Estere Mapepe

Here are some photos from Malawi - unfortunately the accompanying letter got lost.

This is - Estere Mapepe

Here is Estere with her Grandmother, her aunt, and a recently purchased goat. Action Aid often buys livestock for distribution locally in country. The recipients tend the livestock, sell the produce and can sometimes even breed the animals to increase their numbers.

2008 - Malawi - Esnart William

October 2007
Dear Friend
Hello! I am Esnart William. I live in Chinsapo slum settlement, about two kilometres from Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. I have been asked by Ngabaghila Chatata from ActionAid to tell you how your support of The Next Step has given my family hope for a secure future.

First, let me tell you a bit about my family and how we came to live in Chinsapo. I am married to Joseph William and we have four • sons and five daughters aged between four and twenty-seven.

Joseph and I originally lived in Makanjira-Mangochi, a village in the south of Malawi. We were small-scale farmers growing cassava and maize. But we could barely grow enough to feed ourselves, let alone any surplus to sell to buy groceries and clothes. Life was hard and getting harder. In 1981 we decided to move to Lilongwe as we had heard there were better opportunities to earn a living there.

We bought some land in Chinsapo from a traditional chief, built a small house and settled there. My husband trained in tailoring and now earns a living mending torn and worn out clothes for 189 kwachas [£0.66] a day. We thought we were on our way to a better life, but this was not to be.

Everyday, families arrive from the countryside to find a better life in the city. There are 120 households crammed into the small area where we live. We share an open-pit latrine with five other households, even passers-by, exposing my family to diseases.

There is one water point for 120 families that is only open between 6am and 9am. A bucket of water costs 43 kwachas [£0.15] and I can only afford to buy enough water to drink. For cooking and washing, I walk three kilometres to collect water from the Lilongwe River.

Because so many people try to collect fresh water from the water point every morning, there are often fights and confrontations. One day, two women started fighting each other. They broke one of the water taps and hurt one of my children.

The water department called a meeting to settle the water disputes. This is when I learned that we did not legally own our land. The official from the water department told us that the government had introduced a new land policy. They had plans to redevelop the area around Chinsapo and had taken over ownership of the land from the chief we had bought the land from. We had not been given a title deed from the chief and we did not know we needed one. Without it, I had no legal claim to the land my home sits on and faced eviction by the government.

I was very fearful when I heard this news. Although our living conditions are far from ideal - overcrowding, poor sanitation, dilapidated housing that leaks when it rains - it has been our home for 26 years and we had nowhere else to go.

The threat of eviction brought our community together. We decided to fight this forced eviction, but we did not know how. This was when I first came into contact with ActionAid. With their support, we met with staff from the local government, who explained their plans to upgrade Chinsapo from a slum to a legal settlement and improve the services, such as water, sanitation and electricity. This would involve pulling down our houses to build more permanent structures - They told us if we re-built the houses ourselves and paid a fee of 9,750 kwachas [£34] , we would receive our title deeds and avoid eviction. We are poor and struggle to survive on daily wages. How could we afford this expense?

ActionAid, in partnership with the Centre for Community Organisation and Development (CCODE) and the Malawi Homeless People's Federation (MHPF) came to our rescue. They offered us low interest loans to rebuild our houses. I never thought I would ever be able to access credit to make improvements to our living conditions. But with ActionAid's help, I could afford a loan of 9,750 kwachas [£34]. The construction will start in January and once completed I will receive my title deeds.

I am excited and relieved that my family no longer faces eviction. We can look forward to a secure future in a legal settlement, with proper services provided by the government. This is all thanks to your support of ActionAid and The Next Step. Bless you for your kindness -

Yours sincerely

PS: I have sent you some photographs to show where we live