Sometimes It is All About the Women ...

Friday, 3 September 2010

It is Friday. Our agenda includes a visit to Mpala Village where a major donor is going to improve and expand an existing primary school. Also there is a stop at one of the clubs which is part of our youth activities program, and then another presentation ceremony at Nsona Village Center. It turns out to be a very full, non-stop day, starting at 8:00 AM and not returning to our lodge until 4:00 or so (where we finally have lunch).

The Nsona ceremony was in many ways similar to that of Duswa Village. We are heartily greeted, sung in, given seats of honor for the presentation. The surrounding crowd is easily as large as the previous. There is, as with every gathering - large and small - that we have attended, an opening prayer in Chichewa. There is the introduction and greeting, again, as with each and every gathering we have attended, we are invited to "Feel Welcome and Feel at Home". They are happy that we have come all the way to Malawi to see them. It should also be mentioned that in this male-dominated culture, our emcee is a woman. There is more drumming and dancing. And HIV AIDS support group does a song in which they sing "We should hold each others hands while we fight this disease," as they hold each other’s hands in a circle and raise those joined hands to the sky. They finish their song with "Let them talk about use. We went to the hospital and we have been treated. Let them talk about us." There is still a lot of stigma around people who are HIV+. It is a courageous thing not only to be tested, but to be willing to let your status be known.

There is testimony from an HIV+ man who tells his story: That in 2008 he was tested and was found to have HIV in his blood. He was disappointed, and considering ending his life. He was very sick. But then he got on ARV’s and is feeling much better. He entreated everyone to get tested. He said that in ARV’s there is strength. He has more "fire" (energy).

There is testimony from a guardian - an elderly grandmother who cares for the orphans left when her daughter died of AIDS. She has no husband and must care for the children by herself. She recalled that before GAIA came she had no clothes to dress her orphans. Now they have dresses and area able to attend school.

And, again, there was the joyous dance of the caregivers ... and the intrepid Azungus. We are considering taking our show on the road when we return to the US. We think you might be almost as entertained as were the villagers.

Finally, as with every gathering in Malawi, we closed the ceremony with a brief prayer. Amen.

Our previous stop had been at a carpentry training club where currently 8 teenaged boys and 1 girl (what a wonderful thing!) were learning to build furniture so that they had a way to support themselves. They apprentice together for 6 months, and then "graduate". They had already sold many of the things they had made - tables, chairs, and a beautiful hutch (which they called "a display"). A very enthusiastic and well-spoken 20 year old Victor - after his greeting of Feel Welcome and Feel at Home - introduced each of his fellow club mates and explained that when they sell something, the funds are then used for additional materials and supplies and for the training of the new young people that come into the club. He said that this carpentry club was helping them to reach their goal of becoming productive youth of Malawi.

Our day started with a meeting at Mpala Village with four of the chiefs (all men), the head of the Primary School (a man), several of the teachers (all men), the head of the school management committee (a man), the PTA chair (a woman - at last!) and the school groundsman (a man). There was one other woman present, who was somehow involved in school management, but she did not introduce herself. And here we were - 9 white women, 2 Malawian woman (our program managers), one white man and one Malawian man (our country director). The majority of our presentation to them was delivered by a 32 year old woman who’s family foundation will be doing the lion’s share of the funding for this project. She did an outstanding job of presenting the plan, all the while carefully including and inviting village participation in every decision and, with the help of our Country Director, ensuring buy-in by the village to promote a successful project.

We decided later that the local assembly may have been a bit flummoxed at not only all of the women present and the positions that each of us holds, but also at the fact of a young woman having such a leadership role. This proliferation of powerful women is not, to say the least, the Malawian way.