Some youths who regard themselves as too ‘spiritual’, are shunning Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in the country. This was revealed when Blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission (BSHDC) conducted a monitoring and evaluation meeting with its Health and Development Committees (HDC) at Blantyre City Presbytery Offices on Thursday.
Speaking at the meeting, committee member for Youth Friendly Health Services (YFHS), one of the committees of HDC, Canon Chilungamo, said one of the challenges that they are facing when reaching out to the youths is constant resistance by some youths who regard themselves as too ‘spiritual’ to learn and attend SRH services.
“A majority of youths in churches pay a deaf ear to our messages because they think they are against their spiritual wellbeing. They regard themselves as too holy and saints and think SRH messages are demonic. This is posing as a challenge because they are the same youths who are at a high risk of SRH problems as revealed by the survey we did in Ndirande and Kachere,” said Chilungamo.
In his remarks, Church and Society Programme Coordinator for BSHDC, Gregory Mtemanyama, said it is very unfortunate that in this day and age some youths could be resisting such important messages which affect their day to day lives.
“Youths should tend to realise that when organizations are coming up with these kinds of programmes and interventions, they have their welfare at heart so it is important that they should take a leading part in the programmes,” he said.
He further advised the community workers to be working hand in hand with the youths’ resident priests so that they should eliminate this practice.
BSHDC has been implementing a Building Community Capacity to identify and Respond to their Health and Development Needs project in the Southern Region with funding from Inter Church Development Cooperation (ICCO).
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
To the 2011 Unima Graduate
Some of 2011 Unima Graduates who got distinctions: from left to right, Perry Kelvin Mkandawire, Mphatso Chisuwo Banda, and Solomon Madalitso Mlinda.Picture it. Graduation day, 12 October 2011. After four years of long hard slog, we would at last get to reap the fruits of our toil. You know pulling up to the library steps, the 77 steps goin to the cafe, druz for chairs,books, meals and blah blah blah, kuponda and all sorts of frustrations, may be loosing a parent along the college way like in my case.
Iam now beamed with excitement at the prospect of geting to don my cap and gown draped in a tussel-whether gold,green, red, orange, blue or yellow. Its not a party function, is it? The colour is neither here nor there. As for me, what am particulary worried in the back of my mind is the Master of Ceremonies pronounciation of my full name Marshal Kandodo Tembani Madise. Will he do it correctly? Because, because Iam now a graduate in waiting!
Not to mention that the past four yearz have been a blast. To put it simply, without shame, I slept luxuriously and studied sparingly but still more I managed to get a credit in my bag. Now thats wasap!
Of course, to be honest I still miss the fun that goes in college and there is stil that stress there. You know I am no longer a self envisioned big man on campus. Your room is no longer your room with all the fun that comes with that status-kutheletsa, exile and the like. You now have an extra set of eyes watchin what you do thruough out the summer. You know there isnt that freedom and independence you had at school. For me, this is more and more stressfull as we now out of college. You know its hard in many ways: letting go of that lifestyle, starting again, having to make decisions and be forced to look again and decide where to go next. Dealing with our own internal pressure as well as outside pressures (from family and friends may be) and also having to let go of so many ideals and dreams we might have made up while we were studyng, only to realize that we're now faced with a big close of reality thats come to bite us in the face once we've handed over all our hard work spent in the library to meet deadlines.mmmh or kulada. Sigh!
Whoa!!! Those years were awesome love of our lives and leaving it seemed impossible. But nevertheles, we've moved on and made headway. Some have got full tym jobs, some part tym, some just internship.some have decided to venture into businesses, some have progressed with school. Some are stil in the hunt for that coveted job in this economic meltdown.
Happy Graduation Fellow 2011 Unima Graduates!!!
A Toast To The New Lyf!!!
Engaging Male Motivators in Safe Motherhood
Speaking At the workshop--Damala (in striped shirt)Recognizing that lack of male involvement is one of the major barriers to families in accessing health services in Malawi, Blantyre Synod Health and Development Commission (BSHDC) since last year has been training male motivators to motivate fellow men to participate in safe motherhood both at household and community level.
Speaking at the end of a three day training workshop at Lunzu ATC, BSHDC Programme Officer Cydric Damala said the training is aimed at equipping men with knowledge and skills of motivating other men in the community to actively take part in the welfare of their families during pregnancy, labour delivery and in their day to day lives.
“These male motivators will become role models in health issues in their respective communities. We identify active men from selected committees in communities and equip them with peer education and lobbying skills to carry out their duties,” Damala said.
Damala said the idea behind is to identify factors that refrain men from actively participating in health activities and also discuss the role of men in health and the role of their participation.
The project is being implemented with funding from Inter Church Development Cooperation (ICCO).
13 Year Old Rescued from the Jaws of Child Labour
Damala: flanked by Chitsulo(left) and Madise(right)
A thirteen year old boy from Frank Village in T/A Maseya in Chikhwawa has been rescued from the pangs of child labour thanks to Blantyre Synod’s Church and Society Programme (BSCSP) project funded by the Democracy Consolidation Programme (DCP).
The boy, Alex Sabata, who was found caring for cattle for a businessman in Namalindi village, was being paid a monthly K800 salary at the expense of his school. However through the implementation of a ‘Right to Development’ project in the area, it came to the attention of the Community Based Educator (CBE) for that area, Esmie Chitsulo, who took the matter to the chief for the area for intervention.
The chief together with BSCSP’s District Paralegal Officer for Chikhwawa, Fraser Chinkhande, confronted the businessman and enlightened him on the rights of the child and his exploitation to which he accepted. The child was later sent back to his parents and enrolled at a primary school.
Blantyre Synod Church and Society Programme through the implementation of a three-year ‘Right to Development’ project in the district, has been mobilising communities to do away with evils that impede on the development endeavour in the district.
According to BSCS Programme Officer Cydric Damala, Right to Development is a project that looks at multiple factors that have been derailing the development in the district.
“Within the project, we seek to protect the interests of small business farmers, education and health challenges and, of course, child labour,” says Damala.
He explains why BSCSP included on the project child labour on the problems to be dealt with.
“Lower shire has high illiteracy rates, sugarcane plantations and ownership of very big herds of cattle and this leaves the children in the two districts vulnerable to cheap labour.
“Most owners would employ children to pay them less and we find this to be a great stumbling block to the attainment of literacy in the area.”
“To this end, BSCSP trained about 40 Community Based Educators (CBEs) in Chikhwawa and some parts of Nsanje on the same so that they deal with the problem with a thorough understanding of the vice,” he said.
“We also have 150 Village Rights Committees (VRCs) in all the eleven T/As in Chikhwawa district who work with all the traditional leaders in extirpating child labour,” adds Damala.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Civil Society and Government: Rivals or Partners?
Recent media reports pointing to the sour relationship between the government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the country are very disheartening. Disheartening in the sense that almost 18 years after we attained democracy, it seems some quarters do not still understand the role of the civil society in any democratic country. From what is awash in the media, one gets fallacious statement like this: “we are aware that civil society organizations would like to start a war on 14 March this year.” That is the accusation that was made in the August House by one Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Member of Parliament for Chikhwawa East, Ragson Kamunda Chirwa which was echoed by DPP’s Rumphi North MP Tasokwa Msiska. Perhaps these two MPs drew solace from President Bingu wa Mutharika’s remarks when he opened the 43rd session of parliament that activists are conniving with external forces to bring about regime change in the country. Quite regrettable! Reason? Simple.
The success of development and reforms of any state depends on both a robust state and an active civil society. The civil society is there to provide checks and balances, which demand keeping the government on its toes on every duty executed. Apart from this, there are also supposed to civic educate the masses on human rights, law and development. No problem with this. But in Malawi, the relationship between civil society organizations and government has always been that of a cat-and-mouse one, with the government assuming the cat’s role. This is no further from the truth.
Time and again, civil society activists have been beaten by thugs purported to have been sent by the powers that be after being not pleased with some of the ideas advanced by the activists. Of even more great concern is the fact that several activists have been arrested without rhyme or reason. To add insult to injury, we gather that the government is pondering on introducing legislative clauses which will guide the operations of the civil society in the country. Surely, the impression that one has now is that the government just wants to silence dissenting views and critics. Very unfortunate indeed.
At a time when the country is facing serious economic challenges one would have thought that the government should have lent a listening ear to dissent and constructive criticism from all stakeholders, the opposition parties and civil society inclusive—in order to come up with practical solutions to the problems.
When American President Barack Obama won the 2008 elections, one of the moving phrases which struck me when he was making his victory speech to an emotional crowd in Chicago was: “I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.” These were surely wise words from a wise leader.
Indeed, why would one engage with an audience only wanting to hear good things or neutral things? If one wants to build better products or deliver better services and build a long term sustainable development, one has to listen to constructive criticism as well. Furthermore, one has to talk to the people who bring the issues to ones attention either about fixing them or explaining why things they are the way they are. That’s a true facet of democracy.
Henry Chingaipe, one governance consultant argues that “in a democratic politics, CSOs are a legitimate party to governance. They aggregate the interests of the people and bring them to attention of those with government mandate...They need to do this because very often constitutional bodies that have lawful mandate to champion the interests of the ordinary people suffer from elite capture and either become too weak to be effective or pursue an agenda contrary to the felt and voiced aspirations of citizens.” This is true.
“Rather than being preoccupied with schemes to curtail their scope, government should be looking for ways for positive engagement with CSOs in order to create a coalition that will deliver both democracy and socioeconomic development simultaneously,” he sums up his argument. Surely it’s high time the relationship between civil society organisations and government moved from rivalry to partnership if we are to make any meaningful development and live by our billing that we are a democratic country.
The author works for Blantyre Synod Church and Society Programme but writes in his own personal capacity.
The success of development and reforms of any state depends on both a robust state and an active civil society. The civil society is there to provide checks and balances, which demand keeping the government on its toes on every duty executed. Apart from this, there are also supposed to civic educate the masses on human rights, law and development. No problem with this. But in Malawi, the relationship between civil society organizations and government has always been that of a cat-and-mouse one, with the government assuming the cat’s role. This is no further from the truth.
Time and again, civil society activists have been beaten by thugs purported to have been sent by the powers that be after being not pleased with some of the ideas advanced by the activists. Of even more great concern is the fact that several activists have been arrested without rhyme or reason. To add insult to injury, we gather that the government is pondering on introducing legislative clauses which will guide the operations of the civil society in the country. Surely, the impression that one has now is that the government just wants to silence dissenting views and critics. Very unfortunate indeed.
At a time when the country is facing serious economic challenges one would have thought that the government should have lent a listening ear to dissent and constructive criticism from all stakeholders, the opposition parties and civil society inclusive—in order to come up with practical solutions to the problems.
When American President Barack Obama won the 2008 elections, one of the moving phrases which struck me when he was making his victory speech to an emotional crowd in Chicago was: “I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.” These were surely wise words from a wise leader.
Indeed, why would one engage with an audience only wanting to hear good things or neutral things? If one wants to build better products or deliver better services and build a long term sustainable development, one has to listen to constructive criticism as well. Furthermore, one has to talk to the people who bring the issues to ones attention either about fixing them or explaining why things they are the way they are. That’s a true facet of democracy.
Henry Chingaipe, one governance consultant argues that “in a democratic politics, CSOs are a legitimate party to governance. They aggregate the interests of the people and bring them to attention of those with government mandate...They need to do this because very often constitutional bodies that have lawful mandate to champion the interests of the ordinary people suffer from elite capture and either become too weak to be effective or pursue an agenda contrary to the felt and voiced aspirations of citizens.” This is true.
“Rather than being preoccupied with schemes to curtail their scope, government should be looking for ways for positive engagement with CSOs in order to create a coalition that will deliver both democracy and socioeconomic development simultaneously,” he sums up his argument. Surely it’s high time the relationship between civil society organisations and government moved from rivalry to partnership if we are to make any meaningful development and live by our billing that we are a democratic country.
The author works for Blantyre Synod Church and Society Programme but writes in his own personal capacity.
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