By Kondwani Magombo

Lilongwe, February 27, Mana: High up in the mountain of Chinamwali in Zomba, a smoke is spotted billowing into the sky. The first thought one has is that some fanatic of environmental degradation is in the process of making charcoal.

But casting one’s eyes wider and beyond, one is hit hard by shocking realization: some residents have built houses up the mountain to heights that leave them prone to disaster.

Among these residents is 66-year-old Dickson Kadwala, married, with 6 children.

To get to Kadwala’s house, which is made from unburnt bricks and mud, one does not only need to be athletic, but they should also possess the determination of a mountain hiker.

A range of houses line up in a terrace-like fashion, one “above” the other.

When one finally reaches Kadwala’s house, panting and exhausted, the panorama of Chinamwali residential location and the surrounding areas below compensates the hassle — but, perhaps, not enough to justify Kadwala's decision to build there.

The risky actions of the likes of Kadwala up the slopes of Chinamwali Mountain does not sit well with Disaster Risk Management Committee (DRMC) for Chinamwali Ward and, as a result, the committee has sprung to action.

“We find these actions very unacceptable, with what Tropical Cyclone Freddy taught us, as a nation, in March last year,” explains the ward's DRMC chair Andreck Tito. “So we’ve embarked on a door-to-door sensitization, urging those people in such disaster-prone areas to move to safer grounds.”

According to Tito, his committee is making headway and most of the disaster-prone residents are ready to relocate. The challenge, however, is that they don’t know where to relocate to, let alone how to make it there.

Sitting comfortably at the verandah of his house, Kadwala looks less disturbed by the danger that looms around him.

Just a few feet below Kadwala's house, his neighbour, a youthful man probably in his early 30s, is busy rebuilding a wall of his house that might have collapsed a couple of days before.

Kadwala concedes that his life, and that of his wife and children are at risk, with those huge rocks surrounding his house on the slopes of the mountain. But, according to the father of 6, this place is all that he and his family have, and they have nowhere to go.

“I’ve had enough warnings from these people,” he gestures at the DRMC members, “And I've always agreed that this place is prone to disaster. But I do not have anywhere to go.

“If I can be assisted with the relocation process, such as acquiring land and all the necessary logistics, including transport and construction of a house at the new place, I'm ready to move even tomorrow,” adds Kadwala, who claims to have bought the risky land from one of the chiefs in the area.

The scramble for land on the slopes of Chinamwali mountains was done behind the back of the authorities, according to Councilor Munira Abdullah Bakali, Vice Mayor for Zomba City.

As such, the chiefs and their subjects living on the slopes of the Chinamwali mountains are residing in an area that is not just unplanned, but not recognized by the city council.

However, the city's authorities have not taken the matter with arms folded: the establishment of the DRMC to conduct sensitization meetings with the chiefs and the residents to relocate is just one of the approaches that the city authorities have employed.

As the residents like Kadwala are looking up to city authorities to facilitate the relocation process, Zomba City's major challenge is that it has no adequate land, despite the city's fast growth.

“The city does not have land,” explains Clr. Bakali via a questionnaire. “Besides, these are residents that have their home villages and most of them came in to venture into business.

“These families have also been considered to be beneficiaries of the cash transfers to help them build their capitals to enable them boost their business and be able to relocate.”

Zomba continues to grow fast with a lot of people coming in to search for job opportunities, or venture into small businesses.

The authorities admit that the fast growth of the city has led to housing problems, unemployment, development of slums, water and sanitation problems, poor health and spread of diseases.

According to the Vice Mayor, up to 60 percent of Zomba City is unplanned and this leaves the control and management of most of the city's land into the hands of chiefs.

Consequently, the urban poor like Kadwala are driven to such living conditions due to the city's poor functioning land and housing markets, as well as lack of planning for urban development and growth.

The authorities in Zomba believe that the existing housing problem could be solved by extending the boundaries of the city; increasing staff under District Risk Management; and increasing funding allocation for the city.

The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) describes Zomba City's approach of engaging residents in disaster prone areas through DRMC as “a path in the right direction” where reducing disaster risks is concerned.

DoDMA’s spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula says the efforts of Chinamwali Ward DRMC are worth emulating across the country to reduce disaster risks among the citizenry.

“Engaging communities on the dangers of living in disaster prone areas is in line with our efforts aimed at relocating communities (living in disaster prone areas) to safer places,” explains Khamula.

According to Khamula, currently, DoDMA has relocated over 3,600 households in Makhanga area, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mlolo, Nsanje, to safer places within the same T/A.

But, perhaps, as they await authorities-facilitated relocation, residents like Kadwala, who managed to acquire land in disaster prone areas and constructed houses, ought to reflect on their individual responsibility on their own safety — a point the Vice Mayor also raises in the questionnaire.

“City has done a lot in educating its residents on issues of disaster risk knowledge,” she says, and adds, “It’s time that residents take ownership of their [own] safety.”

By Wellington Sibale

Neno, February 27, Mana: Partners in Health (PIH), popularly known as Abwezi Pa Zaumoyo, has encouraged youths in Neno district to utilize vocational skills and start their own businesses.

PIH Director of Community Health, Jimmy Harare, made the remarks on Tuesday during a graduation ceremony of 12 male youths who underwent vocational skills in tailoring, plumbing, brick laying, motor vehicle and motorcycle mechanic.

PIH gave the youth start-up tools, such as plumbing equipment, sewing machines, rolls of cloths, thread and motor cycle and vehicle tools boxes worth K24 million.

Harare said the youths were trained under the project called 'Programme on Social Economic Rights' (Poser) to ensure the adolescents’ economic empowerment through their enrolment in vocational skills.

“Empowering these youths economically through the vocational skills will give them a sound financial standing,” he said, adding that the programmme was introduced to compliment government efforts in empowering young people as government alone cannot manage.

In his remarks, Neno District Council Director of Planning and Development (DPD), Charles Lomoni, hailed PIH for the initiative, saying the council alone cannot manage to reach out to the youths in many areas in the district with vocational skills.

"We would like to appreciate the effort that Partners in Health have rendered to us because on our own as a council we cannot manage due to inadequate resources and insufficient budget," said Lomoni.

One of the youths, Reuben Baluwa, expressed gratitude following his graduation, saying he acquired mechanical skills that will help him to be economically independent.

“I didn't expect that I can be a mechanic.  From today I will be a mechanic in my area and l will help my parents financially and will also repair people's vehicles,” said Baluwa.

By Amos Phiri Chigwa

Mchinji, February 27, Mana: Community members from Senior Group Village Head Diti, Traditional Authority Dambe in Mchinji have breathed a sigh of relief after receiving iron sheets for a classroom from a humanitarian, Anthony Masamba.

Masamba will also foot the cost of roofing the classroom, which has stayed for three years without a roof, giving learners a more conducive place for studies than under trees which they used due to lack of classrooms.

Speaking in an interview over the weekend after the gesture, Masamba expressed his concern about challenges faced by schools in Mchinji North East Constituency as a whole.

"Schools are facing numerous challenges in this constituency, children are learning under the trees, lack of enough infrastructure and enough teachers are forcing children into early marriages. We cannot keep on watching our community fall like this, we need to do something,” said Masamba.

Masamba called for support from community members, saying it will lead to improvement in the development of this community.

"Our community is trailing in terms of development; we cannot wait for someone somewhere to do something for us. We need to start supporting ourselves wherever we can if we are to live a better life. We should not depend on government to do everything for us but rather we should try to help the government in achieving its development goals,” he said.

Masamba said he is targeting five schools with the development of infrastructures, desks, and many other assorted items as this will give a chance to the youth to play an active role in achieving the Malawi 2063 agenda.

Headmaster of Diti Primary School, Rowlings Mbendera, who also happens to have taught Masamba, hailed his former student for his efforts of trying to improve the education standards of the community.

"This is the spirit that the nation needs if we are to achieve Malawi Vision 2063. Masamba has shown how passionate he is to improve the wellbeing of his community.

“At this school we are suffering a lot, we do not have desks, and we have few classroom blocks. Coming in of the Iron sheets for the school block will help us to solve the problems of learning under trees, and mixing classes when rains come,” said Mbendera.

Senior Group Village Head Diti congratulated Masamba for the donation.

"We have suffered for a long time as a community; we built this school block on our own as community members three years ago, and throughout the period we have been hunting for the iron sheets but to no avail to the extent that we decided to thatch it with grass," said the chief.

By Vincent Khonje

Mchinji, February 27, Mana: The water and soil conservation interventions that are being done under the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CSEPWP) have given hope to restoring the environment and rehabilitating degraded soil in Mchinji, thereby enhancing high yields.

CSEPWP is a component under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Programme (SSRLP), which aims at, among others, rehabilitating the degraded environment, strengthening households’ resilience to shocks and increasing households’ income.

In an interview with beneficiaries in the safety net CSEPWP, they said there is hope that the degraded land can be healed and households can be able to harvest more.

Susan Phiri from Kamphoro catchment in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kapunula said water runoff from Nkhukwa Hill was causing havoc on the fields downhill, and this affected yield.

“The interventions like stone bands and semi-secular bands have helped to reduce water runoff thereby helping the field downhill to be protected and the soil is no longer being washed away, giving us high yield,” said Phiri.

Chairperson for Nathyola Catchment in T/A Mlonyeni, Andsen Mvula, said the land is filled with gullies but the check dams they have constructed are helping to fill up the gullies.

“The big gullies were eating up farming land but we have made sure that they are filled up by using check dams that check the speed of the water. We are observing that the gullies are slowly filling up with soil which later will be used for farming,” said Mvula.

Desk officer for Gumba Catchment, Jeremiah Chafukira, said they have set up interventions uphill which have helped in catching water which later is able to infiltrate into the soil, and they have also helped reduce siltation in rivers.

“The most important thing about these soil and water conservation initiatives is that, there will be enough groundwater, crops will not be washed away, and rivers are protected,” said Chafukira.

CSEPWP is benefiting 19,362 participants in Mchinji who get K28,800 in wages after working in the catchments to restore the environment.

Senior Land Resource Conservation Officer Rhoda Njikho said in the next cycle, the number of beneficiaries is likely to be increased.

“There will be additional 3,783 beneficiaries in the next cycle which will be added on top of the 19,362,” said Njikho.

Other interventions include the construction of swales, contour marker ridging, caring for naturally regenerating trees, afforestation, and river bank protection.

CSEPWP is implemented through the National Local Government Finance Committee and funded by the World Bank and the Social Protection Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

Fostina Mkandawire

Salima, February 27, Mana: Marist Brothers in Malawi on Monday rolled out a goat pass-on programme targeting young people from underprivileged families.

Speaking after a symbolic presentation of the goats at the headquarters of Traditional Authority (T/A) Maganga in Salima district, the National Provincial Councilor for the Marist Brothers in Malawi, Brother Francis Jumbe, said the programme seeks to empower youths.

He said the programme is in line with their philosophy of making a difference in the world by showing young people that they are loved, safe and cared for.

“Today, we are distributing 50 goats to the first line beneficiaries who are expected to pass on the benefits to the second line of beneficiaries. We expect that the goats will help the targeted youths to generate income for investment in other entrepreneurial opportunities,” said Jumbe.

He assured the beneficiaries that they will be offered expertise on how to take care of the livestock by linking them with the district agricultural office.

He then pleaded with the beneficiaries to look after the goats well and jealously guard them against theft.

One of the beneficiaries, a 24-year-old Christina Phiri, from Umodzi Business Ladies, commended the brothers for the initiative, saying the programme will play a crucial role in transforming her life.

She said as a single mother, she lacks resources to take care of her child, hence she is hopeful that through the pass on programme, she will establish herself businesswise to be able to take care of her child.

“I have been struggling to afford a decent life for me and my child; this is a gateway to a better future. I pledge to raise the goats very well and ensure that we pass on to the next line of beneficiaries,” assured Phiri.

In his remarks, District Commissioner for Salima, James Mwenda, described the livestock pass-on scheme as a pathway out of poverty for the young people in Salima.

Mwenda assured the Marist Brothers in Malawi of the government's commitment to partnering with the religious brothers in improving lives of the underprivileged in the society.

"We would appreciate if this initiative would be scaled up to other areas in the district so that more youths should benefit and improve their lives," he said.

The livestock pass-on scheme is a component of the Girls Education Project, the religious brothers are implementing with financial support from an Irish charity called Misean Cara.

Apart from Salima, the project is being implemented in four other districts of Lilongwe, Balaka, Zomba and Dedza.