ICS Malawi

This week, being Gender Based Violence (GBV) awareness week, we’ve been working to promote the issue here in Malawi. I’m sickened by some of the facts I’ve found. It’s a global issue but the stats that show, how much women here suffer are shocking! From my short time here, being a ‘Mzungu’ in particular, I’ve experienced attacks on my personal space and a lot of verbal abuse and shouting from boys and men; many of which are drunks that can be found spilling out of the local bars at any time throughout the day.

A Malawian child found playing in the rain will certainly have a case to answer to that evening to their parents. This is contrary to my new brothers and sisters from the UK who have survived the hot Malawian summer and are now enjoying the beginnings of the rainy season. Aged 18 and above, their culture considers them adults, which made it strange to see them laughing and cheering whilst walking barefoot, like poor prisoners in the heavy rains, especially when the locals took to their heels to find shelter.

The art of not getting homesick is a much necessary requirement for any fully fledged traveller, astronaut, or ICS volunteer, right? Three months working abroad with complete strangers is a task only doable by the thrill seeking, wild spirited type, and anyone without these required attributes will be well and truly hopeless and firmly DECLINED from the programme.

Seven weeks in… time is going so quickly! As we are approaching the rainy season here, the days are getting muggy. We’re lucky enough to have a fan in our room, without which it would be very uncomfortable to sleep. The few days of rain we have had have been intense, with the dusty roads transforming into mudslides and children can be seen running through them bare foot. The power cuts are becoming more frequent, with a full day of uninterrupted power being a God’s gift; I blame the weather.

Leaving home was very daunting, it was full of what in hindsight really were quite selfish thoughts. I thought about how I had only just finished my A-Levels, how all my friends were only just leaving for University and how I was going to Malawi, a developing country, for three months. How I was going to live with a family that I didn’t know and on a project with a whole new group of people, half of which do not have English as there first language. Initially, some of my concerns were met, adjusting to life in what felt like a whole new world is not easy for anyone.

One of the most frustrating things that ICS volunteers go through is that, despite all the effort we put into delivering our projects, we don’t necessarily get to see the impact of our work. I have been in Malawi for almost six months. I have worked with numerous youth groups, schools, and with the community in general delivering information about Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), knowing that I might not see the end result of my work. 

For International World AIDS Day on 1 December, our ICS volunteers in Malawi have conducted three interviews within the communities that they are volunteering in showcasing strong individuals that are living with HIV. HIV is no longer a death sentence, with many people living with HIV all over the world leading a normal, healthy life. Here are their #storiesofstrength.

Zelina’s story

Zelina is 40 years old and lives in Malawi. She has been living with HIV since 2007.

Reaching puberty, having strange things happen to your body and generally growing into a teenager is challenging enough for most girls, but within the constraints of Malawian culture, teenagers here struggle with more challenging issues; with the arrival of their 13th birthday, comes the prospect of marriage.

Zenda is 19. She was born and lives in Ekwendeni, Malawi, with her mother. She is an inspirational girl and her story deserves telling!

This week we decided to get our team to help us for our blog. We asked everyone in Team Chinombo for their host home experience, here is what they said:

Jac’s host home experience

Being the UK Team Leader, I knew that I’d be housed alone out here. A fact that I didn’t really think about until a few days before we arrived in Rumphi when my anxious thoughts began to strike full force - Will I be lonely? What if I can’t communicate? What if they don’t like me? Etc.

As a youth, I had very little understanding on gender issues. And as it is per our Malawian culture, I had roles which I was supposed to follow and be doing as a boy at home and in the society. Because of this, I was a number one supporter and very good at defining the word gender as socially defined roles for men and women and that those things should be that way.