VSO stories of change - Malawi

7/31/2019 VSO stories of change - Malawi

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Stories of Change


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Malawi

Stories of Change

Chipita

Rumphi

Karonga

Mzuzu

Lilongwe

Ntcheu

Mwanza Zomba

Blantyre

Thyolo

100 km

60 mil

Mzimba

Mchinji Salima

Mozambique

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe


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Introducing VSO

Leer from VSO Malawi country director

Health

Life-saving microbiology taken closer to TB suerers

Empowering health workers to improve paents lives

Educaon

Building classrooms and futures in Salima districtChild-friendly schools get learners back in the classroom

Using art, dance and drama to educate young people about HIV and AIDS

HIV and AIDS

Developing skills to improve the impact on the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS

Catch Them Young: Bringing vulnerable children and orphans back into the classroom

Secure livelihoods

Sharing business skills helps community livelihoods to ourish

Farmers learn to maximise on irrigaon and improve food security

Invesng in milk to improve a naons nutrion

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

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Contents

Stories of Change


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Stories of Change

Introducing VSO

VSO is dierent from most

organisaons that ght poverty,

because we know that it is only

through the power of people that

real change can happen. Since our

foundaon in 1958, we have been

bringing people together to share

skills and knowledge. In doing so,

we create lasng change.

Our volunteers work in whatever

elds are necessary to ght the

forces that keep people in poverty

from educaon and health through

to helping people learn the skills to

make a living. They invest in local

people, so the impact they make

endures long aer their placement

ends. Were also focused on gender

equality and, increasingly, climate

change. And we help poor people to

get their messages heard, gathering

public support and advisinginuenal decision-makers.

Since VSO Malawi opened its doors

in 1959, we have been placing

volunteers from around the world

with local partners with the aim of

making a dierence in the lives of

poor and marginalised people. Our

work in Malawi has progressed from

oering purely technical support in

the shape of teachers and clinical

lecturers in the 1960s, to providing

a much wider range of support

in 2012.

Every year, around 50 volunteers

specialising in areas like midwifery,

HIV and AIDS, agriculture,

fundraising, IT and in educaonal,

business and nancial management

are placed with local NGOs and

various levels of government.

Our volunteers live and work in

communies for one to three years,

allowing them to gain a deeper

understanding of the local

issues, work with others to

confront challenges, and have

a lasng impact.

The collecon of stories in this

booklet oers an insight into thelife-changing work our volunteers

are carrying out across Malawi.

They are working with local

counterparts and communies to

improve the lives of vulnerable

and marginalised people through

programmes focused on health,

educaon, HIV and AIDS and

creang secure livelihoods.

In the area of health, Kenyan

microbiologist Antonio trains

laboratory technicians in remote

locaons to diagnose TB, while

Dutch medical doctor Klaas shares

his knowledge with colleagues in

detecng and treang the life-

threatening condion pellagra.

Improving access to educaon,

Child-Friendly Schools advisers

Mariska from the Netherlands and

Sue from the UK work with teachers

and local communies to build new

classrooms and reduce the number

of children dropping out of school.

Kenyan volunteer Caleb works with

young people to nd creave ways

of educang others about HIV

and AIDS.

Focusing on issues surrounding

HIV and AIDS, volunteer Emmanuelfrom Uganda shares his skills with

members of community-based

organisaons in home-based care

and wring funding proposals.

Kenyan volunteer Humphrey works

with educaon organisaon Catch

Them Young to get vulnerable

children and orphans back into

school and educate young people

about HIV and AIDS.

Our world is rich enough for everyone to live free frompoverty. Yet vast inequality remains much of it basedsimply on where someone lives. In 2009, more than 1.4billion people survived on US$ 1.25 or less a day, and risingfood and energy costs have le a further 2 billion peopleliving perilously close to the poverty line.


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Letter romVSO Malawicountry director

Stories of Change

Working to create sustainable livelihoods, Kenyan

volunteers Jonathan and Denis are based at opposite

ends of the country where they help cooperaves

improve yields and diversify crops. Belgian volunteer

Wouter shares his markeng knowledge with Supa

Cream Milk with the aim of improving peoples

nutrion by providing aordable milk.

These 10 volunteers, along with the many others in

Malawi, form part of our global movement to ght

poverty. So far, more than 40,000 VSO volunteers of

94 naonalies have brought about lasng change by

sharing their skills in over 90 countries. Collecvely,

we have helped to transform the lives of more than

26 million people.

VSO has played a vital role in the

Malawi health sector. The lives of

many Malawians have been saved byVSO volunteers who lled the gaps in

crical professional services in many

hospitals and improved the quality of

training in the training instuons. The

VSO volunteers also helped to maintain

the health system and the public

condence in it

Lista Amon, Programme Manager, Results and EvaluaonTeam, UK Department for Internaonal Development

These stories of change reect the culminaon of many

years of VSOs programming in Malawi. Demonstrang

our core values and strengths as an organisaon, the

programmes featured in these stories illustrate how our

change-focused boom-up approach has a sustainable

impact on the communies in which we work.

We want to take this opportunity to reiterate our

commitment to working in Malawi in close collaboraonand partnership with the local communies, the

Government of Malawi and other development partners

to bring long-lasng changes in the lives of the most

vulnerable people in Malawi. These are the people

who constantly inspire us with their courage and

determinaon in ghng extreme poverty, despite the

many constraints and challenges that they face every

single day.

As a document, the collaon of the stories of change

is in line with our strategic priories as an impact-

oriented, partnership-focused learning organisaon.

We are determined to ensure that the tradionally

voiceless have a forum for sharing their experiences. We

are also serious and commied about learning, not just

from our successes, some of which are recorded here,

but also from our failures.

We hope that these real-life accounts of how our

work has posively supported the development of

communies and individuals will act as a source

of inspiraon and movaon for the VSO teamincluding our sta and volunteers, as well as for other

development partners.

I hope you enjoy reading them.

Manoj KumarCountry Director

VSO Internaonal, MalawiJuly 2012

VSO/SarahOxley


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Stories of Change


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Health

Life-saving microbiology takencloser to TB suerers

Empowering health workers toimprove paents lives

Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley


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Stories of Change

ChallengeNtcheu District Hospital is one of

many hospitals in Malawi where

sta are overburdened and there

is not enough equipment. The

hospital serves a local populaon

of approximately 472,000 and

addional paents who cross

the border from neighbouring

Mozambique to receive healthcare.

In the past, people in Ntcheu district

suering from tuberculosis (TB)

and other deadly infecons faced

an uncertain future because the

hospital didnt have the means to

eecvely diagnose and treat these

infecons. Parcularly at risk were

those living with HIV and AIDS, as

many AIDS-related deaths result

from catching TB.

Aer their trip to the hospital in

Ntcheu, paents with suspected TBwould have to travel over 100km to

either Lilongwe or Blantyre hospital.

As TB devastates the body with

fague and fever, infected paents

in the Ntcheu area were oen

unable to make the long journeyfor treatment, reducing their chance

of survival.

The hospital didnt have the funds

it desperately needed to develop

its laboratory services to include

microbiology. Funding priority

allocaon goes to other services

perceived to be an immediate

concern for the districts health, like

ambulatory services and medical

drugs, explains VSO volunteer

Antonio Memusi. And so, thousands

of people in Ntcheu were unable to

receive the care they needed to live.

Catalyst

An inadequate budget was not the

only problem microbiology specialist

Antonio faced on his arrival at the

hospital. There was also a lack of

sta with the necessary skills in

this area.

Antonio shared his specialist

microbiology knowledge with

his colleagues, training three

health service assistants (HSAs) to

diagnose TB and other infecons.He also took his skills to colleagues

based in ve remote healthcare

centres in Kasinje, Bilira, Tsangano,

Katsekera and Matanda: I trained

ve TB microscopists and ve

malaria microscopists, thereby

decentralising lab services to the

community populaon, he says.

With a small grant from VSO, the

hospital was able to buy three

microscopes, allowing a quicker

and more accurate diagnosis of TB

than had previously been possible.

Paents are no longer le waing

for a diagnosis that was not even

guaranteed to be accurate.

Before services were brought to

remote locaons, samples were

collected unl there were enough to

make a delivery to Ntcheu District

Hospital. Referrals for simplehaemoglobin, malaria and TB tests

are now undertaken at the health

centres, says Antonio.

VSO volunteer Antonio Memusi spent two years at NtcheuDistrict Hospital in Malawis Central Region using hismicrobiology knowledge to set up specialised laboratoryservices, share his skills with others and, ulmately,save lives.

Lie-saving microbiology taken closer to TB suerers


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Stories of Change

Results

With the addion of the microbiology department and

newly trained HSAs to run it, diagnoses for meningis,

sexually transmied diseases and intesnal infecons

are also now successfully completed at the laboratory.

Laboratory technician Chimango Limani says: Antonio

scaled up the microscopy at the hospital. He brought a

lot of change. He le us with knowledge in most areasof our work, and especially in microbiology.

Community diagnosis has been embraced at the

health centres, says Antonio. The decentralisaon of

microbiology diagnosis to remote health centres in the

district has been a success.

Alfred Elias, who was trained by Antonio in 2010,

commented on the changes that have taken place at the

hospital since Antonio arrived: The number of TB tests

being conducted at Ntcheu has reduced a lot. We used

to process about 2,000 samples a month, now its only

about 400 a month. This dramac decrease in tests

means that paents receive care closer to their homes,

and allows the laboratory sta to dedicate more me to

other life-saving work.

Former laboratory manager at Ntcheu District Hospital,

Sco Santhula, says: We are really grateful for VSOs

eorts; we now take pride that TB services can be

accessed at the village level. Previously paents had

to travel long distances to access these services. The

HSAs have also become more specialised in diagnoscservices through the training provided by Antonio.

They will be able to roll out the training to other health

centres in the district.

The skills Antonio shared with his colleagues connue

to save lives. His placement has had an enduring impact

on his laboratory colleagues and people living in Ntcheu

district who can now be tested and treated and cured of

various infecons much closer to home.

However, Antonio is cauous about his success: The

problem is not over yet. More needs to be done

to improve life for the helpless and disadvantaged

communies, wherever they are.

VSO connues to work with health partners in Malawito recruit highly skilled volunteers such as Antonio

so our work can transform the lives of people living

in poverty.

The skills Antonio shared with hiscolleagues connue to save lives

VSO/SarahOxley


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VSO volunteer Klaas Koop, a doctor and medical ocerfrom the Netherlands, was placed at the district hospitalin Thyolo in Malawis Southern Region. Working side-by-side with local clinicians, Klaas has been able to share hisknowledge, movang health workers and increasing theircondence to diagnose and save paents lives.

Challenge

There are only 1.6 doctors and 28.6 nurses to care for

every 100,000 people in Malawi. At the district hospital

in Thyolo, there is a chronic shortage of medical sta,

with only 350 beds and 30 clinicians to provide care for

the half a million people who live in the area.

In this desperately under-resourced environment,

it can be hard to access essenal equipment, drugs

and assistance. Health workers can struggle to stay

movated while being overworked and trying to cope

with the lack of basic resources.

This leads to paents suering unnecessarily, with

treatable illnesses le undiagnosed because of lack

of human resources and knowledge. One paent was

a 70-year-old farmer suering from skin wounds and

demena. Aer numerous visits to health centres

without a correct diagnosis, he came to the district

hospital in Thyolo in search of help.

Catalyst

A clinician asked Klaas to take a look at the paent and

he recognised the signs of pellagra.

Pellagra is caused by a limited diet containing

insucient amounts of vitamin B3, but prior to Klaass

arrival the illness had not been accurately diagnosed at

the hospital, and paents suered.

People who eat only maize are parcularly at risk of

developing this disease. It is a disease of poverty a

small improvement in diet would have prevented this.

Untreated, the course is fatal, says Klaas.

The paent received a treatment of vitamin B, and

within two weeks his skin wounds were healing and his

mental state was steadily improving.

Klaas used the successful diagnosis and treatment of

his paent as an example in a training session for fellow

hospital sta.

Stories of Change

Empowering health workers to improve patients lives


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Not long aer that, two clinicians

came to me, saying I think I have

found a paent with pellagra.

We discovered that the disease

is much more prevalent than

we knew before. But the most

important thing to me was that

these clinicians were visibly proud

of their discovery: they had been

able to apply their recently acquired

knowledge in real life. The pride and

sasfacon this brings was clear

from their faces, says Klaas.

Results

Klaass VSO placement has helped

to improve the quality of healthcare

for people in Thyolo. With moreaccurate diagnoses of illnesses

such as pellagra, along with safer

pracces for the delivery of babies

and fewer unnecessary caesarean

secons for mothers, Klaas has been

able to improve healthcare in the

hospital and save lives. By training

others, who will in turn share their

knowledge, Klaas has ensured his

impact will connue to be felt long

aer he leaves.

Whyson Mkandawire is one young

clinician who has beneted from

Klaass instrucon over the past year

at the hospital. Whyson wants to

become a doctor in order to help

people and work to reduce the

paent-to-doctor rao.

Ive found Klaas to be very

passionate, hardworking, and he has

been great for the hospital. Above

all, he has a passion for helping both

paents and colleagues. I wouldnt

have the skill set I have now without

Klaas. Its important to share

knowledge, so we can train more

people in health and increase the

number of doctors, Whyson says.

In district hospitals across Malawi,

volunteers like Klaas are treang

paents and spreading their

knowledge of medicine so that a

high level of paent care becomes

the accepted norm among all

domesc health workers, with morepeople receiving quality care.

Stories of Change

VSO/MikkelAllison


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Stories of Change


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Education

Building classrooms and futuresin Salima district

Child-friendly schools get learnersback in the classroom

Using art, dance and drama toeducate young people aboutHIV and AIDS

Stories of Change

VSO/MariskaWestdijk


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ChallengeChenjerani Junior Primary School in Salima district

opened its doors in 2000. At its incepon the school

had one classroom block for more than 100 learners

from standards one to three. Students in standard three

learnt in a makeshi classroom, sing in the sand under

a tree all year round.

With no classes for standard four students, pupils were

forced to walk long distances to the neighbouring

school in Yambe to connue their educaon aer

standard three.

The physical school environment wasnt the only

barrier to pupils learning. The teaching methods used

for children to learn to read stressed memorisaon of

whole words. This proved to be ineecve, and the

school had been recording low levels of literacy

among its pupils.

Schools across Malawi face similar problems. Lackof resources and facilies and under-qualied teachers

have a negave impact on pupils learning, somemes

leading them to repeat a standard or drop out of

school altogether.

Catalyst

Volunteer Mariska Westdijks role as an ocer for VSO

and UNICEFs Child-Friendly Schools iniave involves

her supporng the needs of 10 schools in Yambe zone,

Salima district.

An experienced primary and secondary school

teacher and educaon adviser in the Netherlands,

Mariska focuses on integrang the ve key elements

of the Child-Friendly Schools iniave into educaonal

management in Salima district. She works with head

teachers, school management commiees (SMCs)

and parentteacher associaons (PTAs) to improve

the school environment across ve areas: inclusivity

and childrens rights; academic eecveness;

safety and protecon; gender equality; and

school/community linkages.

As part of the Child-Friendly Schools iniave, members

of Chenjerani Junior Primary Schools PTA and SMC

aended a two-day workshop facilitated by Mariska.

They discussed their roles and responsibilies, the Child-

Friendly Schools iniave and the Malawian Primary

Curriculum and Assessment Reform (PCAR). They also

observed a literacy lesson and idened the strengths

and challenges of their school, then priorised the list

of challenges. The outcome of this workshop was the

Stories of Change

VSO/MariskaWestdijk

VSO volunteer Mariska Westdijk is a Child-FriendlySchools ocer based in Salima district in Malawis CentralRegion. Training teachers and communies, local peoplehave come together to make their schools prosper inmore ways than one.

Building classrooms and utures in Salima district


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Inspired by what theycan accomplish whenthey work together,the community wantsto connue buildingon its school

standard one learners, he says.

Mariska has trained teachers like

Synoden across 10 schools within

Salima district on how to use

phonics to make words from sounds.

She has also introduced a print-

rich environment in the classroom.

Teachers now use locally availableresources to decorate the classroom

walls with eye-catching, educaonal

posters that have improved

students ability to learn.

Results

Chenjerani School has doubled its

enrolment in recent years. With

Mariskas help and the Child-Friendly

Schools iniave, the school now

has two classroom blocks, has

added standard four, and aims to

expand into a full primary school up

to standard eight by 2014.

Inspired by what they can

accomplish when they work

together, the community wants

to connue building on its school.

Mariska recently helped the school

to write another proposal to the

Friends of Malawi Associaon for

nancial help to buy cement andpaint for the next construcon

phase. With the planned expansion,

learners will no longer need to walk

another ve kilometres to aend

standards ve to eight.

Thanks to Mariskas training in

phonecs, early literacy rates

in schools have improved, with

learners in standards one and two

showing great progress in their

ability to read and write. Before

VSO, the way we used to teach

made it dicult for students to

learn. Now with this project fromMariska our students can read and

write, says Synoden.

But there is sll room for

improvement. With Mariska, head

teachers from schools across Salima

district are compiling a report

detailing shortages of teachers

guides and learners books in Yambe

zone. This will soon be discussed

with the coordinang primary

educaon adviser to see what can

be done to address the problem.

decision to plan the building of

an addional school block: The

construcon of the new school

block was a community project.

People in the community took the

iniave aer aending a VSO

training in which they wrote an

acon plan for the construcon

of a new block, explains Mariska.

The whole community took part

in building the new school block:

They moulded thousands of

bricks, collected river sand, dug the

foundaons together and raised

funds to hire a skilled person to

do the labour.

The children no longer have to

sit outside to learn, which has

improved the learning environment.

However, its to VSOs iniavesinside the classroom that Chenjerani

Junior Primary Schools Head

Teacher, Synoden Wame, largely

aributes his students progress.

With Mariska, weve beneted

from all things, like our methods of

teaching and improved literacy for

Stories of Change

VSO/MariskaWestdijk


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Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley

Child-riendly schools get

learners back in the classroom

Rered primary school teacher and VSOvolunteer Sue Mitchell spent two yearsworking as a Child-Friendly Schoolsocer in the district of Thyolo in theSouthern Region of Malawi. Sharingher skills with communies and schoolsta, Sue has worked in 21 schoolsacross the district to make them morechild-friendly.

Challenge

Malawi has a high rate of primary school enrolment, but

many of the students drop out and only 25% move on to

secondary school.

There are a number of reasons why learners drop out

of school. These include early marriage and pregnancy;

caring for younger siblings in child-headed households;

and schools lack of facilies and resources such as

toilets, seang, textbooks and wring materials. Some

children only have one meal a day, which makes it

hard for them to concentrate. With such compeng

pressures, young learners can fail to see the immediate

importance of compleng their educaon.

Even with lots of young people missing school, there

was no sense of communal responsibility for learners

absenteeism: The community were doing their ownthing they wouldnt queson if learners were at the

market during school me, says Biston Gama, Primary

School Educaon Advisor for Nansato zone.

Mercy Limited, a pupil at Nansato Primary School, is one

of the many learners who dropped out of school early.

An orphan since she was one week old, Mercy lives with

her elder sisters. She had to look aer their children

while they worked. Mercy couldnt aord a uniform or

the pens and books she needed to go to school.


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Teachers feel morecondent in theirrelaonships withlearners and employ themethods they learnedfrom Sue

Catalyst

Sue and Biston worked with the local

community, including parents, head

boys and girls and the village head,

to pinpoint the issues surrounding

educaon in 10 schools in Nansato

district. Issues such as absenteeism,

a lack of resources and seang,

and learners not having enough to

eat were brought to the forefront

and began to be addressed.

Parents used to look at the

infrastructure as the only challenge,

says Biston.

Aer the consultaon, Sue worked

with Biston and the community

to tackle some of the problems

facing learners.

Teachers at Nansato Primary School

parcipated in Sue and Bistons

training which included looking at

case studies and the UN Convenon

on Human Rights and learning about

Results

At Nansato Primary School where

Sue has volunteered since 2010,

student enrolments are now at an

all-me high. During her placement

the school has increased its

enrolment by 402 students, and

more than half of those enrolled

are girls.

Teachers feel more condent

in their relaonships with

learners and employ the methods

they learned from Sue. Pupils

now feel comfortable in the

school environment.

We are connuing because we

have the knowledge now, and

learners are more eager, says

Biston. Before, there was a lack

of community linkage.

As for Mercy, shes now back at

school. Sue says: Though it is

dicult for her to study at night

caring for the children and having no

electricity she is doing very well at

school and is catching up with the

other learners in her class.

Im sure [Mercy] will do beer,because theres encouragement,

says Thomson, condent in her

ability to succeed now.

I enjoy school now. I like maths

and English as well as reading,

says Mercy.

Mercys sisters work at the tea

estates. When they rst went to

work they told Mercy that she

would not be fed if she connued at

school and didnt care for the three

children, says Sue.

the Malawi constuon, on which

sta hadnt previously received

any direcon. Together they

discussed ways to discipline

children and how to improve

the teacherpupil relaonship.

Encouraged by Sues training,

teacher Thomson Mwale who hadtaught Mercy before she stopped

aending school went to Mercys

house to discuss her absenteeism

with her sisters. Mercy was a hard

worker, but shed stopped coming to

school, he explains. He discovered

that Mercy could not aord her

school books and uniform and so

she was afraid to come and learn.

He decided to help Mercy buy some

books and wring materials, and

other members of the community

donated clothes to Mercy to wear

to school.

Across Malawi, Child-Friendly

Schools ocers are training

teachers, implemenng acon

plans and introducing eecve

management and leadership skills

into schools. They are sharing the

knowledge and enthusiasm needed

for people to make a dierence intheir own communies.

Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley


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VSO volunteer Caleb Muchungu is currently

on a three-year placement working as an

audiovisual producon ocer with the

Malawi Instute of Educaon in Domasi in

Malawis Southern Region. In his spare me,

Caleb set up a youth group to oer support,

combat sgma and share learning on HIV

and AIDS. Two and a half years on, the group

is having a district-wide impact in educang

others about HIV and AIDS.

Challenge

Over 10% of people in Malawi are living with HIV and

AIDS, and the number is increasing. Young people are

parcularly at risk; more than half the populaon of

Malawi is under the age of 24, and approximately half

of the new HIV infecons reported each year occur

in people aged 15 to 24. HIV is twice as prevalent in

the Southern Region of Malawi as in the central and

northern regions, meaning the youth of Domasi, where

VSO volunteer Caleb is placed, are at extreme risk.

The sgma surrounding HIV and AIDS means that

people just dont talk about it. Schools dont dedicate

resources to teaching on the issue, so young people

remain uninformed and vulnerable to infecon.

Twenty-one-year-old Issac Lawrence lives in Domasi.He says: Many of the youth here dont know the facts

about HIV. With VSO volunteer Calebs help, Issac

has been working with young people in the area to

inspire and educate others about the virus through his

involvement with youth group Domasi Youth Alive!

Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley

Using art, dance and drama

to educate young people

about HIV and AIDS


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We try to raiseawareness in youthabout HIV: its nota crime, not a sin;you can sll livefor the future, andcontribute to thedevelopment ofour country. Wereproud of thechange in atudeof youth here

Catalyst

During Calebs volunteer placement

producing educaonal lms and

training future lmmakers he saw

how important it was to engage

local young people in a dialogue

about HIV to start combang the

discriminaon and sgma associated

with the virus.

Caleb set up the HIV outreach

programme Domasi Youth Alive!,

a group that has grown from an

inial seven members to an acve

core of 20 young people that holds

events once or twice a month.

Through song, dance, drama and

art intervenons, the group inspires

people from the surrounding

communies to parcipate andlearn. The intervenons aim to

educate people about HIV, to ght

the sgma that stops them from

being tested and to encourage

them to seek counselling and

receive treatment.

A talent show organised by the

group aracted an audience

of over 500 people to a venue

provided by the Malawi Instute of

Educaon (MIE) in Zomba. The show

incorporated a performance about

the risks and routes of HIV infecon

and raised awareness and educated

the audience about its prevenon.

Under Calebs supervision, Domasi

Youth Alive! has learnt to use theaudiovisual labs camera and eding

equipment to spread its message

further. Weve shown our lm to

our friends. Theyre proud of what

were doing, says Issac.

Results

The success of Domasi Youth Alive!s

intervenons in raising awareness

and tackling discriminaon against

people living with HIV and AIDS is

clear. Members of the group are

frequently stopped in the street

by young people who want to

know more. They come to ask us

quesons [about HIV] because they

know were part of the group. This

project has helped a lot. We try

to raise awareness in youth about

HIV: its not a crime, not a sin; you

can sll live for the future, and

contribute to the development of

our country. Were proud of thechange in atude of youth here,

says Issac.

Another member of Domasi Youth

Alive!, 22-year-old Dyson Msewu,

says: Theres a high HIV prevalence

in our area, so VSO coming here

helps change lives. Tesng has

become acceptable within the group

everyone knows what the benets

are. Weve learnt about how to care

for people with HIV, how to prevent

it, how to help others.

The group has recently expanded

its focus: Weve begun prevenve

work with primary schools in the

area, to get younger pupils involved

before their sexual debut, Calebexplains. Domasi Youth Alive! is

currently working on an HIV-themed

adversing compeon, running

sessions with local schoolchildren

who are designing posters

illustrang their thoughts on HIV.

The entries will be exhibited and

celebrated at an awards event.

Theres sll much work to do to raise

awareness of, and change atudes

towards, HIV in Malawi. However,

Calebs work shows the huge impact

that one volunteer can have on the

lives of people living with or aected

by HIV and AIDS.

Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley


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21/3619

HIV and AIDS

Developing skills to improve theimpact on the lives of people livingwith HIV and AIDS

Catch Them Young: Bringingvulnerable children and orphans

back into the classroom

Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley


22/3620

Challenge

Ntcheu district has a populaon of

over 400,000, of whom more than

20,000 are living with HIV and AIDS.

Over 140 community-based

organisaons (CBOs) in Ntcheu

district are working within their

communies to raise awareness

of HIV and AIDS, combat

discriminaon, encourage tesng

and educate people about how to

care for those living with HIV and

AIDS. CBOs are accessible sources

of help and informaon for those

who need it most. However, they

may lack nancial and organisaonal

management skills, along with

knowledge of how to access funding,

which makes it hard for them to

reach their full potenal.

Chitungu, a CBO based in Ntcheu

district, is one organisaon that

needed support to achieve its goals.

Chitungu aims to raise awareness

of HIV, combat sgmasaon and

improve the quality of life in the

Ntcheus District AIDS Coordinaon

Commiee (DACC) works to support

and represent HIV-and-AIDS-

focused CBOs. This it strives to do as

eecvely as possible, though faced

with a lack of resources and gaps in

its IT knowledge and management.

community. The groups priority is

to help orphaned and vulnerable

children to complete school, and

to see that elderly and disabled

people and people living with HIV

and AIDS receive home-based care.

Group members generate funds by

acvies such as growing and selling

maize, building houses for lease to

the public and poultry farming. This

creates jobs for young people. But

the group needed to improve both

their income-generang business

model and its HIV outreach work to

ensure they reached the people in

the community who most needed

their help.

Catalyst

Originally from Uganda, Emmanuel

Osillo wanted to volunteer and putto use the nancial management

and organisaonal leadership

knowledge he gained during

his career at The AIDS Support

Organisaon (TASO). I wanted to

share my skills elsewhere, and gain

new skills myself, he says.

Stories of Change

VSO/SarahOxley

VSO/SarahOxley

VSO placed volunteer Emmanuel Osillo at Ntcheu DistrictCouncil Oce in Malawis Central Region. Workingalongside his counterpart, the district AIDS coordinator,Emmanuel shares his nancial and managementknowledge with community-based organisaons toimprove their impact on the lives of people living with HIVand AIDS in the district.

Developing skills to improve the impact on the lives o

people living with HIV and AIDS


23/3621

Results

Thanks to Emmanuels training, CBO sta around

Ntcheu district have gained the condence and ability

to submit their own funding proposals. Thirty-two out

of 40 proposals have been successful, amounng to

MWK 9 million (GBP 21,000) worth of funding for the

region to help raise awareness and educate people

about HIV and AIDS.

John Kathewela, representave for all CBOs in Ntcheus

DACC, worked alongside the VSO volunteer and says:

Ive beneted a lot from the capacity building that

Emmanuel has provided, especially in proposal wring,

but also in HIV research and assessment work.

Peter is equally glad of Emmanuels support: His

presence is posive, hes doing a lot hes trained me

on Microso Oce and taught me other technical skills.

He also assists me in planning acvies. His input is

very important.

Chairperson for Chitungu, Dorothy Chatuluka, says: We

appreciate VSOs support. Through their training and

sharing of knowledge weve been able to improve our

services to the community. With connued support,

Dorothy and the group hope they will soon be able

to register Chitungu as a local non-governmental

organisaon (NGO).

Over the next year and a half, Emmanuel will work with

Peter to train members of each of Ntcheu districts

140 CBOs. Some of these are in hard places to reach,up to six hours drive from the district oce. Lacking

the relevant knowledge and resources, these remote

communies are parcularly vulnerable to HIV and

AIDS, and so need access to assistance and informaon

the most.

Working with his local counterpart, District AIDS

Coordinator Peter Munthali, Emmanuel coordinates

the provision of HIV services to people in Ntcheu. They

work to improve the ow of informaon, representaon

and resources between the community and the district

government. Sta of CBOs like Chitungu are also trained

as community care providers to relieve shortages in the

health sector.

CBO members receive training on two main themes:

life skills and home-based care for people living with

HIV and AIDS. The training consists of group work and

discussions around issues to raise awareness and nd

soluons as a group, says Emmanuel. The training is

followed up with mentoring to oer connued support

to CBO sta. This allows Emmanuel and Peter to assess

how eecve the training was.

So far Emmanuel and Peter have delivered four life-skills

training and six home-based care training sessions in

selected areas where help is most needed. Theyve also

helped CBOs to develop their proposal-wring skills.

Emmanuel also trains CBO members in improved

nancial management and organisaonal leadership

to ensure that funds are accounted for properly and

allocated to those who most need them. For example,

he worked with Chitungu to support the organisaons

income-generang business model and its HIV outreach

work so that it now oers an improved service to

local people.

On average, 18 people from each CBO parcipate in

the training oered by Emmanuel. They go on to train

others in their local communies, each reaching another

50 people living with or aected by HIV and AIDS in the

community. They then share their new knowledge with

their families and neighbours.

Stories of Change


24/3622

VSO volunteer Humphrey Imbisi, social worker and health,disability and HIV manager, is working with Catch ThemYoung, a VSO partner organisaon based in Rumphi districtin the Northern Region of Malawi. The organisaon aimsto educate young people about HIV and AIDS and helps getchildren who cannot aord school back into the classroom.

Challenge

More than one in ten Malawians are

living with HIV and AIDS, an illness

that is largely responsible for the

country having more than 1 million

orphaned and vulnerable children.

William Banda is a soly spoken,

strong-willed 15-year-old who

enjoys science, maths and poetry

classes and lives in Rumphi district.

When he was seven-years old,

his parents died of AIDS-related

illnesses and he and his sister

became orphans. Le with no

nancial support to pay for school

fees, books and uniform, William

and his sisters future was unsure.

With so many children le in this

vulnerable situaon in Malawi,

nancial support, social welfare andeducaon about HIV and AIDS are

badly needed to prevent the next

generaon from experiencing the

same problems.

Catalyst

VSO partner Catch Them Young

(CTY) works with the Department

for Social Welfare to idenfy young

individuals who need nancial help,

in the form of government bursaries,

to get them back to school.

Volunteer Humphrey Imbisi, trained

in social work, assists the district

AIDS coordinator. He explains:

William had dropped out of school

due to the fees. He was part of

the CTY out-of-school programme.

It was through this that we (the

teachers and CTY secretariat)

idened him as an individual

who could benet from connuing

his schooling.

CTY also works with teachers in

schools across Rumphi district to

nd children both in and out ofschool to be peer educators in

CTYs programme. They then teach,

advise and counsel learners on

issues related to sexual reproducve

Stories of Change

health (SRH), HIV and their schooling

in general.

As an NGO, CTY cant connue its

intervenons without funding. This

is where Humphrey has played a

vital role. His Masters in Social

Work and experience in mid-level

management in health, disability and

HIV for civil society organisaons

assisted CTY in compleng a

successful funding proposal. He

trained three sta members at CTY

to complete a fundraising proposal,

and the organisaon now has a

greater capacity to raise funds.

The funding that Humphrey helped

to secure for CTY has been invested

in training teachers, and inuenal

members of the community such

as chiefs, religious leaders andrespected seniors. This has assisted

a change in the communitys

behaviour towards issues relang

to SRH and HIV.

Catch Them Young: Bringing vulnerable children and orphans

back into the classroom


25/3623

Stories of Change

William is now back at school,and the government bursary hereceived will allow him to nish

secondary school

With CTY we hope to nurture afuture generaon free from HIV

Catch Them Young patron Sydney Mbunge says: We

wish to thank VSO Malawi. We cannot take for granted

this support. We thank you for your vision in Rumphi

and leadership capabilies in direcng and for thinking

about the future of the youth. We will have a bright

and strong generaon if we prevent the youth from

contracng HIV by parcipang and taking part in

the ght against HIV and AIDS. Informaon equals

behaviour change.

Humphrey concludes: William will make it with the

support he is geng. Its sad that talking about sexual

reproducve health and HIV should be a taboo. There is

inadequate knowledge and misconcepons about this

issue. With CTY we hope to nurture a future generaon

free from HIV. Its with this hope that we remainopmisc that the future generaons will not have HIV

orphans like William.

Results

Thanks to CTYs help in idenfying his need, William

is now back at school, and the government bursary

he received will allow him to nish secondary school.

He is eager to stay in the classroom and to eventually

become a teacher so he can give children the

opportunity to learn and lead a beer life.

CTYs successful funding proposal on which

Humphrey advised has allowed the programmeto grow. It is now able to provide an educaon

to vulnerable and orphaned children like William

throughout Rumphi district.

VSO/BenLangdon


26/3624

Stories of Change


27/3625

Secure livelihoods

Sharing business skills helpscommunity livelihoods to ourish

Farmers learn to maximise onirrigaon and improve food security

Invesng in milk to improvea naons nutrion

Stories of Change

VSO/MikkelAllison


28/3626

Stories of Change

Challenge

Approximately 90% of the

Malawian labour force works in the

agricultural sector, with the majority

of people living in rural areas

engaged in subsistence farming.

There is a need to increase food

security and Malawian farmers

income, with an emphasis on the

most vulnerable people in Malawi,

such as female-headed households

and small-acreage farmers.

As the primary breadwinner in her

household of six, Elina Mwenitete

who lives in Kameme, Chipa,

struggled for years to feed her

family with what she grew on her

acre of farmland. When she joined

the Hanga Sunower Cooperave,

her life began to change. Alongwith other subsistence farmers who

decided to organise their informal

businesses together, Elina dedicated

her me and eort to invest in

her community.

The Hanga Sunower Cooperaves

10 members worked to produce

enough to sell and make money

at the market, but lacked

the investment and nancial

knowledge to advance their

business any further.

Chipa districts Ministry of

Agriculture wasnt able to oer any

support to local cooperaves that

were working together to bring

themselves out of poverty. Since

volunteer Denis Latebo began

his three-year placement at the

ministry, this has all changed.

Catalyst

Drawing on the transferable skills

he has gained from managing a

farm in Kenya, Denis has trainedcooperave members across the

district, including those from the

Hanga Sunower Cooperave.

Members have gained skills in

markeng, communicaon,

leadership, nancial management,

crop diversicaon and producon,

as well as HIV and AIDS awareness.

Denis has also introduced the

concept of revolving funds to

the ministry. It gives a small loan

to local cooperaves to invest

in their livelihoods, for example

to buy a mobile phone to

coordinate business.

With the Hanga Sunower

Cooperave, Denis has helped to

establish a revolving fund to which

each member contributes a

monthly fee. The fund is used

to develop other small-business

enterprises, to purchase inputs

like seeds and equipment,

and to support families in the

community with money for school

fees, especially for orphans and

vulnerable children.

I work with members of

cooperaves to help them to

develop their own ideas in their

context, Denis says. By sharing skills

and having the chance to discuss

their ideas openly, cooperaves

have the opportunity to improve

the work they do together.

VSO volunteer Denis Latebo, an agricultural manager fromKenya, is on placement as an agribusiness ocer at theChipa district Ministry of Agriculture in the NorthernRegion of Malawi. Thanks to his work, members ofcooperaves throughout the district have learnt new skillsto enable them to improve their businesses and bringthemselves out of poverty.

Sharing business skills helps community livelihoods to fourish


29/3627

Stories of Change

Results

So far members of nine cooperaves in Chipa district

have developed their business skills thanks to training

provided by Denis and his counterpart at the Ministry of

Agriculture who will connue to train cooperaves aer

Deniss departure. On average, 50 members are trained

from each cooperave, and the development of their

skills will in turn have a posive impact on the lives of

another 450 people.

Working closely with his colleagues at the Ministry of

Agriculture, Denis has seen a change in the way they

work, too: Theyve learnt training and facilitaon skills.

My counterpart has really improved at conducng

meengs. I feel Ive brought fresh ideas which allow

people to open their minds, he says.

Now vice-secretary of the Hanga Sunower Cooperave

in Kameme, Elina is doing well. The cooperave has

grown from 10 to 42 members as more people have

seen its potenal. Ive beneted a lot from the

business management training Denis provided,

she says.

With Deniss assistance, the Hanga Sunower

Cooperave members acon plan has improved their

income and nutrion, with increased sunower oil

yields, greater food producon and o-season crops

that command a higher price in the market.

Oscar Sinkutwa, Chairperson of Hanga Sunower

Cooperave, says: We are trying to implement whatwe learn through the training we have received to

improve our quality of life. Our growth in just a year

gives us hope and condence that we can improve the

community. I dont know how things would be today

without VSO. This is a very poor area, but we are very

thankful to VSO because we need to grow.

The benets are felt and seen throughout the

community. Incomes have improved both for the

cooperave members and for the people they

have employed. With increased income and crop

diversicaon, Hanga members do not struggle to

feed their families throughout the year. Perhaps one

of the most sustainable aspects of Deniss help is

the entrepreneurial mindset that now exists in the

members of the cooperave.

Our growth in just a year gives us

hope and condence that we canimprove the community

VSO/MikkelAllison


30/3628

Challenge

Only 30% of arable land in Malawi

is irrigated. This lack of irrigaon

causes various problems for those

whose livelihoods depend on

successful harvests.

In the past, farmer Henry Bamusi

could only harvest maize once a

year, with lile le over to sell for

income. During the dry season, he

was forced to leave his children

behind and move to neighbouring

Mozambique in order to nd work

to feed his growing family. Like most

subsistence farmers in rural areas

of Malawi, Henry depended on the

rain to grow his crops; when it didnt

rain, there wasnt enough food to

To assist the farmers group in

using the new source of irrigaon

to its full potenal, VSO placed

irrigaon specialist and volunteer

Jonathan Mwania. Jonathan

works closely with the farmers to

ensure they make the most of the

increased access to water and the

small grant received from Gorta to

establish a revolving fund for seeds,

maintenance, and repair costs.

Since 2007 Jonathan and four

of his colleagues have trained

1,200 farmers. When he leaves,

his colleagues will connue to

share the learning gained during

his placement.

last the year. In an eort to gain the

greatest possible yield from his farm

during the rainy season, Henrys

children had to work on the farm,

rather than go to school, to ensure

that the family had enough to eat.

Catalyst

The Chikoleka Farmers Group, of

which Henry is treasurer, is the

beneciary of a joint project of VSO

and Irish NGO Gorta. The project

provides farmers in Mwanza district

with a viable water source from

which to grow crops. Water tanks

and distribuon boxes now channel

water from a freshwater stream

roughly a kilometre from the groups

collecve 25 hectares of farmland.

VSO volunteer Jonathan Mwania, an irrigaon agronomist

from Kenya, works closely with the Chikoleka Farmers

Group in Mwanza district in Malawis Southern Region to

help them make the most out of increased access to water

and investments.

Farmers learn to maximise on irrigation and improve food security

Stories of Change


31/3629

Results

The reliable source of irrigaon and a new Farmer Field

School in the area mean that local farmers can diversify

their crop producon and increase the number of

harvests to three or four a year.

Since Jonathan iniated new irrigaon methods in 2007,

maize yields per farmer in Mwanza have increased

250%. The acreage of land for farmers who take part

in the irrigaon scheme has increased 274%, creang a

larger income and food security for farmers like Henry

and their families.

Today Henry grows tomatoes, onions, cabbages, maize

and bananas. The increase in income and food security

has enabled him to send his children back to school,

and his oldest daughter recently graduated fromsecondary school. Understanding the value of

educaon, the farmers group decided to divert spare

water from the scheme to a nearby primary school to

improve sanitaon for the learners.

The next big step is to introduce a drip irrigaon

method to distribute water more eciently among

the members and further increase yields. The group

hopes to expand membership, culvate more elds

and develop into a formal cooperave with access

to larger markets.

Jonathan is posive about the impact hes had: I feel

Ive been able to really help people.

Were very grateful to VSO for the training received.Jonathan taught us how to use organic methods and

the ability to advise others, says Henry.

Since Jonathan iniated newirrigaon methods in 2007, maizeyields per farmer in Mwanza have

increased 250%

VSO/MikkelAllison

Stories of Change


32/3630

VSO volunteer Wouter Verelst from Belgium works asa dairy adviser with Supa Cream Milk in Blantyre inMalawis Southern Region. He shares his skills with his localcounterpart Simeon Danger. The pair have successfullytransformed the milk-producing venture into a protablebusiness that helps to improve the livelihoods oflocal farmers.

Challenge

The World Health Organizaon

recommends that a person drink

200 litres of milk per year. Malawi

has the lowest milk consumpon

per capita in the world, at only ve

litres per year. This contributes

to chronic malnourishment in the

populaon, and underweight and

stunted children.

Aware of the problems related

to low milk intake, businessman

Simeon Danger started Supa Cream

Milk with the goal of selling high-

quality, aordable milk to the poor

in southern Malawi. Supa Cream is

the business arm of Shire Highlands

Milk Producers Associaon (SHMPA)

and is operated as a social franchise.

Like any business, Supa Cream Milk

aspires to expand and make a prot.

Simeon chose to run his business in

a way that also allows smallholder

dairy farmers to parcipate in the

commercial market and thereby

improve their quality of life. Lacking

investment, Simeon began by

selling his product from home to

minimise expenses. He used to sell

200 litres a day and struggled to

expand his market.

Catalyst

VSO volunteer Wouter Verelst, a

markeng adviser from Belgium,

was placed in Blantyre to work with

Simeon. Together they began work

to ensure that Supa Cream Milk

reaches its full potenal.

Wouter works closely with Simeon,

Supa Cream sta and SHMPA to

share his knowledge on markeng

and business planning, taking a

hands-on approach with the milk

sales agents and ocers through

parcipatory training.

Wouter encouraged Simeon to take

on an entrepreneurial mindset,

do market research, and share

knowledge among fellow small-scale

milk producers. I tried to make it

more like a business and less like an

organisaon waing for money,

he says.

Im learning so many things from

Wouter, says Simeon.

I have a very good relaonship

with my counterpart. We built

the organisaon together, seng

it up as a business operaon and

thinking as a business, not a donor-

dependent organisaon,

says Wouter.

In 2012 Simeon won VSOs Making

Markets Work for the Poor project

entrepreneurship award. This was

another boost for Supa Cream Milk,

and the prize money went towards

a fridge and generator along with

publicity materials.

VSO/MikkelAllison

Investing in milk to improve a nations nutrition

Stories of Change


33/3631

Results

The company has grown remarkably

over the last few years, with a new

store located in downtown Blantyre

where milk is processed and

packaged for delivery. Sales now

reach over 2,000 litres a day, and

Simeons sales agents provide more

than 3,000 households with fresh

milk each week.

In 2008 there were six milk

sales agents in place and a salessupervisor. Nowadays Supa Cream

Milk counts a shop manager, three

sales supervisors, two milk drivers,

a markeng ocer, and 26 sales

agents, says Wouter.

Were just helping the poor

customers to buy and farmers

to sell milk at an aordable price,

says Simeon. And they are doing

this with great success.

As a result of the improvement in

Supa Cream Milks markeng and

business planning, SHMPA has been

able to scale up producon. It now

has access to a market beyond the

relavely expensive formal channels,

such as supermarkets, that sell

milk at prices beyond the means

of poorer families. Supa Cream has

seen a tenfold increase in sales overthe past year the demand for fresh

milk has skyrocketed.

Wouters posive impact on Supa

Cream Milk is clear, and with his

colleagues having learnt through

his training, the knowledge he has

shared during his placement will

have long-lasng eects. I think

they will be okay without me. Once

Ive gone, there is an accountancy

plan in place theres sll a lot to

improve, though, he says.

Along with the successes of the

last year, Simeon and Wouter

have faced challenges. Produconwas suspended for a period to

accommodate an examinaon by

the Malawi Bureau of Standards,

which is unaccustomed to

regulang unpasteurised milk. They

are now lobbying the government

to adapt the current milk law to

standards that are more tailored

to Malawian realies.

Supa Cream has seen atenfold increase in salesover the past year

VSO/MikkelAllison

Stories of Change


34/3632

Conclusion

This cross secon of VSO volunteers work illustrates how one persons

skills shared at a local level have an important impact in the ght against

poverty. Our volunteers work with individuals and communies so they

become beer equipped to meet the challenges they face. And the skills

our volunteers share connue to be used and shared more widely even

aer theyve le.

Looking to the future, VSO Malawi has developed a new strategy for

2012-15: Innovaon, inuence and impact. Taking inspiraon from VSOsglobal vision of a world without poverty, we envision a Malawi without

poverty, and an improved quality of life for the most vulnerable and

marginalised people. Well connue to work with local partners, placing

volunteers where they are most needed. Well be focusing on gender

equality and improving the lives of children and young people in 10

targeted districts in Malawi.

VSOs global network is not just its volunteers. Its our donors and

supporters too and the people from the worlds poorest

communies themselves.

By supporng VSO, you can support the work of our volunteer nurses,

doctors, health professionals, teachers, experienced managers,

IT specialists and more.

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Acknowledgements

VSO Malawi would like to thank the following

people and organisaons for their connued

support and assistance in making these stories

of change a reality:

VSO Malawi and VSO Internaonal sta, our

volunteers, our partners and our donors DFID,

CIDA, UNICEF, Irish Aid, and Accenture. With

special thanks to Mikkel Allison and Sarah Oxley

for producing this document.

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VSO Malawi

Private Bag B300

Lilongwe, Malawi

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Plot 13/20

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Malawi

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Email: [email protected]

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ISBN 978-1-903697-36-8

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VSO stories of change - Malawi