ICS Malawi

Week 5 started with another tree planting exercise at Msiki in the area of Group Village Headman Chibambo on Monday. With us we brought 450 pine tree seedlings that were to be planted on the woodlot surrounding the unfinished Msiki Community Multipurpose Hall, an addition to the 535 trees planted in week 2.

The Village Headman, Chairlady of the Community’s Aids Support Group (Msiki ASG) and some members of the ASG were amongst the 8 from the community that came and helped the team on that sunny day.

I arrived well in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sunday 8 February together with other in-country ICS volunteers from Botswana, Zambia, Togo, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, and started the training on Monday. We firstly had an orientation about global platforms and what it is all about and what our expectations were for the training. We also had introductions from in-country volunteers  from the different organisation’s delivering ICS, such as VSO, Progressio, Tearfund, Balloon, Raleigh, just to mention a few.

During week four we planned to visit secondary schools to carry out several awareness campaigns. We decided to base them on the theme of Valentine’s Day. The idea was that we could talk about peer pressure surrounding relationships and how to practice safe sex.

On 14 January the President of Malawi, Prof. Arthur Peter Munthalika, declared that 15 out of the country’s 28 Districts were registered disaster zones, due to extreme weather conditions causing substantial and devastating flooding. To take action, ICS volunteers working with the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM) and in conjunction with the Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT) took the initiative to help out some of the victims.

On the 2 February every year the world commemorates World Wetlands Day. In celebration of this day, WESM along with the ICS volunteers conducted an awareness campaign at Mulanje Mission School, educating the students on wetlands and their importance within local communities.

ICS volunteers, Mphatso Mkundika and Fiona Bushfield, did a presentation on wetlands to an audience of 337 students in the school hall, of which 127 were boys and 110 were girls.

On Thursday, 5 February, ICS volunteers held an orientation session on the advantages of using clay cook stoves and how to make clay cook stoves at Kamilaphete CBCC in the community of village headman Jamu Mtete, in Mathambo Village.

The aim of the meeting was to discourage the use of charcoal in the community and promote the use of clay cook stoves and briquettes as a way of conserving the environment.

Our team name CATSEYE originates from the different thematic areas we are working on. The “C” for Child Protection, “A” for AIDS and HIV awareness, “T” for Target climate change, “S” for Security of food and water, “E” for Encourage youth development, “Y” for Youth Training and “E” for Empower women. 

In week three, for the “A”, we decided to have not one but two sensitisation sessions on HIV and AIDS.

In life there are many stigmas held against people. One of the largest stigmatised groups of people are those suffering with HIV and AIDS. Across all cultures in all corners of the earth, people can find themselves ostracised for having a virus that is out of anyone’s control. On the outside they’re exactly the same as anyone else. You can’t even tell if someone’s HIV+, but as soon as it becomes known that someone is positive the HIV negative person becomes just that: Negative. They start to draw away, often with one thought on their mind “I hope I didn’t catch AIDS”.

This week we delivered our first awareness campaigns for – World Cancer Day! Due to our work with COWHLA, we decided to focus on cervical cancer because of its link with those living with HIV and AIDS. People living with HIV and AIDS can be more at risk of contracting the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).   

We prepared a presentation about how cervical cancer affects the body and explained about the importance of going for screening. We also stressed the importance of recognizing the symptoms of cervical cancer and how they are treated if caught early. 

First blog for team COWHLA Walero (COWLHA of today) this cycle! After spending our first week in Lilongwe for culture and language orientation, we have now started our placement in Chikhwawa. We moved in with our host families, and although sometimes challenging, being in a host home has allowed us to experience a wider knowledge of Malawian culture. Our families have been extremely welcoming and seem very happy to be hosting us for the next eight weeks. We have also practiced using basic Chichewa (the local language) with our host families and in-country volunteers.