Posts Tagged ‘Malawi’
Love Rejoices with the Truth
Combatting Harmful Beliefs
This is a story about a small village in Mzimba, a northern district in the Southern African country of Malawi. It is a story about love and the relentless pursuit of the truth—a truth that has set the village of Jenda free and paved the way for love to flourish.
Five years ago, the Ngoni people never could have imagined the transformation their district was about to experience. Though amongst some of the poorest people in the world, the Ngoni are a proud people, rooted in age-old traditions, closed to outsiders and cautious of change.
Before World Relief began working in Mzimba, life was dictated by tribal traditions that oftentimes perpetuated, or worsened, the cycle of poverty and suffering in the community.
The Ngoni people lived their day-to-day lives believing that:
- A malnourished child meant there was infidelity within the marriage.
- Girls were valuable solely for their bride price and should not attend school.
- Upon puberty, girls foreheads should be cut and scarred to reveal their readiness for marriage.
- If women did not bear sons, men may continue to marry as many women as they like. (Polygamy was commonplace.)
- Upon the death of their husband, widows must walk on their knees to the closest river without food or water.
- Pregnant women must not breastfeed or eat eggs.
- Witchdoctors were the only solution to sickness and challenges.
In many cases, these beliefs lead to chronic malnutrition, child abuse or gender injustices that could often mean the difference between life and death. Yet, this way of life went unchallenged for the Ngoni people, who had no expectations or hope of a different way — no opportunity to act on their natural instinct to love, and no relief for the suffering they endured.
Change Takes Root
In 2012, when local World Relief staff first arrived in the village of Jenda, villagers were guarded. They sent local pastors and leaders to meet with the outsiders, doubting the significance of the gathering, in some cases even fearing it was a scam. Little did they know, this meeting would be the beginning of a vibrant transformation. One that revealed life-altering truth, rooted in love and that would lead to the renewal of their lives, their people and their entire community.
As leaders around Jenda came together with World Relief staff in vision-casting seminars, community-based needs assessments and cross-denominational conversations, a wave of excitement and optimism began to spread. Like wildfire, 15 churches soon became 22, spanning 10 denominations and multiple villages across Mzimba as community leaders realized that a different life, and future, for their people was possible.
“We began to understand God’s vision for our community. A truth that had been obscured from us due to age-old cultural practices and mindsets. We learned God had a desire to see us and our community working together in unity to serve one another, love one another and to lift up our community. We learned to work together, to realize our part in helping the most vulnerable, to become self-reliant and to shed harmful beliefs that were hindering us.” — Church Network Committee Chairman
As community leaders and increasingly, community members, began coming together in conversation around these new truths, the tide began to shift.
“We began to understand poverty in a deeper way. We came to realize the power of knowledge, and of self-reliance. And we realized some of our practices must change if we were to lead better lives. — Modesta, Jenda Savings Group Participant
A Flourishing Community
As the people of Jenda gathered to discuss the needs of their village and their vision for the future, the community began adopting changes that gradually gave way to community-wide flourishing.
New cash crops were planted to include soya beans and groundnuts, yielding added household income. With the pooled profits, seedlings were planted to regrow trees that had been lost to deforestation, hundreds of thousands of bricks were molded for the construction of a new school and homes for teachers, a clean-water well was dug, and savings and agricultural groups were formed.
As each new need was identified, the community gathered together to raise money and invest back into their collective vision for their lives and the lives of their children.
But the changes were not just physical. Love and appreciation for the children of the village was instilled as community members began to understand the meaning of Imago Dei—each child created in the image of God and possessing inherent worth.
The value of the girl child and the importance of education for both boys and girls began to take root. Community members began looking out for their friends and neighbors, and families began to repair once broken relationships, thriving in a growing love, care and respect for one another.
Little by little with each passing year, leaders and community members alike began speaking out against harmful practices of polygamy, rites of passage, child brides and witch doctors.
Mothers groups were formed to keep children in school and protect the rights of children, especially girls.
Leaders from other districts began to visit Jenda to witness what, why and how such positive transformation was taking place. And Jenda’s influence was so great that even local government Village Development Committees took note—putting in place by-laws that forbade marriage under the age of 18 and required mothers to give birth in health-centers or local hospitals so as to ensure proper care.
A Flourishing Future
Today, the village of Jenda is unrecognizable. As you enter the center of the village, you pass a deep-water well, three primary school blocks, five well-constructed teachers’ homes, three large enclosed cultivation plots, two brick-molding kilns and a large field of newly planted trees.
The church, which sits as the center of the community with two classrooms, continues to be a place of planning and dreaming toward a flourishing future. Community members plan to build more schools and child care centers, a library and a recreation hall. They want to ensure all girls attend school and every disabled child has access to wheelchair and wheelchair accessible classrooms. And so much more.
Ten years ago, these plans were not even a thought, let alone an aspiration for the Ngoni people in Jenda. Yet today, they stand before us, proclaiming the gospel and the truths that have opened their minds, encouraged love and instilled a bright and bold vision for their future. It is a truth we can all rejoice in.
*At World Relief, our goal is to see local churches continue to serve the most vulnerable long after World Relief transitions out of the area. We do not seek to establish a long-term, ongoing presence in the areas we serve, but instead build capacity among local leaders to sustain the progress they themselves initiated. Once a community is able to meet their target goals, World Relief begins the process of graduating the community, which includes a time of reflecting and celebrating together. The Jenda community is currently set to graduate in 2023! Join us in celebrating and praying for this continuous transformation.
Francesca Albano currently serves as Director of Branded Content at World Relief. With a background in Cultural Anthropology and a graduate degree in Strategic Marketing Communications, she connects her interests in societal studies and global cultures with her training in brand strategy and storytelling. Francesca is especially passionate about grassroots community development and the treatment and advancement of women and girls around the world.
World Relief Malawi’s New Country Director is a Role Model for Girls
On an early morning in April, World Relief Malawi staff gathered together in Lilongwe for a socially distanced outdoor ceremony. Staff from abroad called in virtually. There was prayer, there were speeches, there was commissioning. The purpose? To welcome Matilda Matitha as the new World Relief Malawi Country Director.
Matilda is one of three women who have been promoted to Country Director in their respective countries over the last year. I recently connected with Matilda over Zoom where we talked about gardening, our favorite places to go for walks and her passion to empower women and girls throughout Malawi.
“Looking around Malawi, you will find that there are very few women in leadership positions,” Matilda said. “So when this message came to me — Matilda apply! Matilda apply! — I thought, ‘I have to so that I can be a mouthpiece for women. I can be an inspiration to young girls who are struggling out there in the village.’”
I am excited to share part of our conversation with you today, and I hope you are as inspired as I was by Matilda’s vision for addressing extreme poverty, child development and gender issues while also being a role model for girls in Malawi and beyond.
Thanks for being here today, Matilda. I’m excited to chat with you today.
Yes, thank you.
First, how long have you been working at World Relief, and what did you do before you became Country Director?
I joined World Relief in January 2017 as a project manager for the scaling up nutrition project. Before joining World Relief I worked with different international organizations coordinating and managing nutrition projects — both in emergency contexts where we distribute food to malnourished children as well as in development contexts where we roll out health education and promotional health messages. I have always enjoyed working with children in nutrition work.
What prompted you to take on the leadership role of Country Director?
First and foremost I applied to this position is because I felt God was calling me to lead this organization. To be frank, I never dreamt to be here — to be a country director. When the job was first posted, I did not apply. But then I got encouragement from a lot of people. They said, Matilda, I think you would be a good leader, you should apply. So I said, I think God wants me to do more than just be a Manager. So, it was more of answering his call.
But then I also felt it was time, because looking around Malawi, you will find that there are very few women in leadership positions. Because of social norms in Malawi, already parents prefer a boy to go to school and a girl to marry. Especially when resources are minimal, parents think that after a girl marries, the husband will also be able to take care of them. So girls are already disadvantaged at a very young stage.
Recent studies have shown that only 3% of young Malawian women have a degree. So out of that, it means that there are very few women in leadership positions. So when this message came to me — Matilda apply! Matilda apply! I thought I have to so that I can be a mouthpiece for women. I can be an inspiration to young girls who are struggling out there in the village. I can also encourage women. So I said, “Let me take the challenge!”
What are some of the goals and dreams you have for the communities we serve in Malawi?
I want to have a strong church. I would really like to strengthen our Integral Mission work so that we have a church that is able to respond to God’s call. God wants the church to help people who are marginalized, people who are sick and the poor. That is the role of the church so if we can strengthen the church and help the church understand its role, then whatever we are doing we will find that a strong church is our foundation — that is my dream, to expand what we are doing.
What are one or two of the biggest challenges you hope to address in Malawi?
In Malawi, there is a lot of poverty. If we could do more sustainable economic empowerment, we would be able to get our communities out of deep poverty. If we are able to move them even just a little bit, most of the issues that we are struggling with, we can find solutions — like issues of education, health, nutrition. These issues occur because people are living entirely in poverty.
The other issue is, since I was in college, I have had a passion for the girl child. As an undergraduate, I went on a project where we were mobilizing girls to go back to school. So now I would love to incorporate gender ministry into whatever we are doing. I would also like to see more gender ministry within the staff and the churches so that issues of gender-based violence that are very rampant in Malawi would be reduced.
How are World Relief’s programs addressing these challenges?
Some of our programs, like Families for Life, are already addressing these issues. If we have a strong family, most of the issues we are struggling with in terms of gender can also be resolved. Programs like FFL need to be scaled up, as do programs like child development where boys and girls are empowered and taught about what is right. Sometimes things are happening to girls because the girls don’t know that what’s happening to them isn’t right. So, growing our child development program would be very good. In terms of economic empowerment, we can look at the Savings for Life program. We need to scale up these projects because we have seen a lot of success and heard a lot of good stories. But we need more resources to be able to scale these innovations.
What has been your favorite thing about working at World Relief so far?
The spiritual component has benefited me quite a lot as a person. When I first joined World Relief, I was a Christian. But some things I would not do as a Christian. But now being in World Relief, there is a component of spiritual formation where we share the word of God, we have prayer and fasting. That has helped me grow in my spirituality. I have been able to exercise some of the spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting.
Another thing is in the past, I was not able to share the word of God. Every time someone would say, “Matilda share the word of God,” I would shy away. But now at World Relief, we share the word of God every day. I’m able to share it with my children and my husband. Every night at eight o’clock we sit and read the Bible and share the word of God. And also in terms of giving. I do a lot of giving and charity work — things that I could not do before World Relief. I pay school fees for two girls. So these are all fruit of being a member of the World Relief staff.
What advice would you give to other women who are leading in the community development areas?
We need to raise the banner for gender equity high, and very high. We need to be advocates for others, to share our story. We now have an opportunity to influence the environment. In some institutions, they don’t have policies in gender equality, while in other organizations policies are there, but they are not reinforced. As women working in development, we have a role to ensure that the working environment is enabling for women and girls who are fighting to get better, to be involved in what’s happening.
We also need to do more in terms of sensitizing the community at large. The government can create an enabling environment, but services are sometimes not accessible because of social norms. We need to sensitize parents that girls are not for marriage. Girls should also be encouraged to use their God-given skills and talents.
And also… the women and girls should be empowered to fight for their goals and their dreams. Like for myself. It was not easy to get here. I had to fight for my goals and fight for my skills. Women and girls should not just give in to social pressure. Social pressure will always be there, but we need to speak out and encourage these women, and as role models, we just need to be there for them and share our stories with them so they will continue to fight and know that it is possible to win.
Sometimes when you are doing something that is opposite to what society is expecting, you are seen as abnormal. We need to continue to show both men and women that we can work together and make our country, Malawi, a better place.
Can you share one story from your work that has encouraged you?
I remember this mother who had twins. We were working to strengthen referrals between community members and health facilities, to ensure that mothers were able to go to the health center in a timely manner.
We created Care Groups and they were trained on how to screen children for childhood illnesses and when they might need a referral. Often, people in Malawi don’t believe malnutrition is due to lack of food. They still think it’s some taboos — like maybe it’s because the husband is promiscuous. That’s the belief out there and one of the things we need to address.
When I met this mother, one of her children, at 16 months, could not attain milestones such as crawling because she was underweight. The malnutrition may have been worse because there were twins, so maybe she was struggling to feed both of them. We referred them to the health facility where the child received Plumpy’Nut for a month. After that, they came back to the community and we continued counseling the mother on how to feed both of her babies. We also assisted her with livestock so that she could raise chickens and take the eggs to feed the babies. And we encouraged them to have a backyard garden so they could use the vegetables to feed the babies.
This past February, we followed up with these kids. They are four years old now, and it is very exciting to see them. When I look at that baby, it brings a lot of joy inside me. If it hadn’t been for World Relief, I don’t think she would have been alive. Many children in Malawi don’t reach their 5th birthday, and the reasons they are dying are preventable. Our volunteers are doing a very good job identifying these women and encouraging them to go to the health facility for assistance. That’s one thing I like about doing nutrition projects — when your programming is good you can immediately see results, saving the lives of children.
We are so grateful for Matilda and all of our Country and U.S. Office Directors. Please join us by praying for them — that God would give them wisdom as they lead and for continued strength and unity among their teams. And pray that God would bring their vision for community transformation to fruition.
Rachel Clair serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. With a background in creative writing and children’s ministry, she is passionate about helping people of all ages think creatively and love God with their hearts, souls and minds.
Leveraging Relationships to Serve the Most Vulnerable
A Critical Moment
We are facing a critical moment in the global COVID-19 crisis. While many parts of the U.S. are reopening, the crisis continues to unfold in Africa and other parts of the developing world. While official case numbers remain modest in many countries (due, in part, to limited testing capacity) the severe effects of the pandemic are being felt.
Our international staff are reporting growing signs of economic strain and increasing poverty. Economically, local currencies are losing value, bread and other staples are becoming scarce commodities, and many of those living day-by-day on a day’s wages are going without food because they’ve been unable to make sales in local market places. In many parts of the world, families live on less than $2 a day and children struggle with malnutrition.
In April, Oxfam predicted that the pandemic “could push half a billion more people into poverty” in these regions, “[setting] back the fight against poverty by a decade.” Similarly, the World Food Program has forecasted famine of biblical proportion with the potential for the number of people facing life-threatening food insecurity doubling.
In the countries we serve, we are seeing concerning signs. Even though testing capacity is extremely limited, many countries are seeing sharp increases in the number of confirmed cases — some as high as 50% in a single week. And in countries where cases aren’t officially growing at high rates, other signs of virus spread — such as increased cases of pneumonia and other illnesses — continue to rise.
Learning from the Past
I saw firsthand the lasting effects of disease during the AIDS epidemic when children were left orphaned, and when World Relief served communities in DRC severely affected by Ebola. Without action, there is potential for similar devastation from COVID-19. But there is also hope — local churches, community health workers and local leaders are in the fight daily. Like AIDS and Ebola, this crisis is bigger than something each village can take on by itself. With effective global partnership, we can equip these men and women to help prevent exposure, recognize and treat the infected and mitigate the social and economic vulnerabilities associated with COVID-19.
Now is not the time to withdraw from our global responsibility to love our most vulnerable brothers and sisters abroad. Instead, it’s time to lean in with compassion and justice.
Leveraging Relationships
At World Relief, we are committed to serving and empowering the world’s most vulnerable. That commitment was true before the COVID-19 crisis, and it will continue to be true long after case numbers have declined. Our international teams have already taken steps that could greatly reduce the number of deaths worldwide. They’ve trained local churches and health workers, improved health facilities, provided lessons on proper handwashing and educated households about COVID-19 symptoms.
We believe education and awareness will continue to be our greatest ally in fighting the effects of COVID-19. As we’ve seen in the U.S., rumors spread easily, prompting FEMA to build an entire website dedicated entirely to coronavirus rumor control. Internationally, we’ve encountered superstitions in places like Cambodia where scarecrows have been erected in some communities to scare off the virus. In several countries, we’ve heard reports of individuals with respiratory illness fearful to seek treatment or testing because of stigma. As a result, ongoing efforts to saturate communities with accurate public health information through public awareness campaigns is imperative. Leveraging trusted community voices such as religious leaders is essential in overcoming rumors and stigma.
In the past, this approach has proven invaluable in containing disease. At the onset of the AIDS crisis in Africa, World Relief worked extensively with churches to help break stigmas associated with the virus. And in recent Ebola responses, local churches played a critical role in dispelling rumors, locating and protecting the most vulnerable, training medical personnel and educating the community. As we respond to COVID-19, we are continuing to leverage our relationships with over 3,000 local churches in Africa to share critical, accurate information about how the disease is spread and what should be done if someone suspects a case.
Respond With Compassion
While many countries in which we work continue to have a wide range of varying restrictions, our local network of volunteers and community leaders are using creative solutions to continue our existing life-saving and life-improving services, while also honoring social distancing requirements. The already vulnerable populations we serve are the most at risk of increased hunger, poverty and violence as a result of the social and economic effects of the pandemic. Continuing agriculture and food security programs, economic development activities and child protection activities are crucial.
As we move into this next phase of responding to the coronavirus, our local networks will continue to play a vital role in addressing the economic, health and food security concerns that the virus has brought on. Our commitment to empowering and equipping them in this fight remains steadfast, but we cannot do it without the continued prayer and support of our donors.
To learn more about how we’re responding to COVID, go to https://worldrelief.org/covid-19/, and be sure to follow our live updates here.
Myal Greene has a deep desire to see churches worldwide equipped, empowered, and engaged in meeting the needs of vulnerable families in their communities. In 2021, he became President and CEO after serving for fourteen years with the organization. While living in Rwanda for eight years, he developed World Relief’s innovative church-based programming model that is currently used in nine countries. He also spent six years in leadership roles within the international programs division. He has previous experience working with the U.S. Government. He holds B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Global Leadership. He and his wife Sharon and have three children.
Possibility in the Face of Complexity
Naomi’s Story
Naomi, her husband and three daughters were living in Mahowe, a small village in Malawi, when Naomi’s husband died. That day forever changed her life. Not only was her husband gone, but so too was her family’s source of income and daily security. Naomi and her daughters tried to rebuild their lives, but Naomi’s physical condition made things difficult. Partially blind in one eye, she struggled to earn enough money to send her oldest daughter to school, let alone meet basic needs for her and her daughters.
Sadly, Naomi’s story is not unique. In fact, more than 735 million people around the world — around 10% of the world’s population — live on less than $1.90 per day, making it difficult for them to earn a living, buy food, access health care or send their children to school. The consequences of such extreme poverty extend far beyond one generation, as uneducated children struggle to earn a living as adults, in turn making it difficult for them to send their children to school and ultimately trapping them in a vicious cycle of generational poverty.
Yet economic poverty isn’t the only kind of poverty that affects people around the world.
A Complex Problem
Hourt Rous is one of the 80% of Cambodians living in a rural area where women are taught that their sole role in life is to be a housewife and to raise children. Because of this belief, women like Hourt never have the opportunity to go to school or the chance to learn basic health practices and important lessons in child development. Hourt grew up in a home where she was taught health and nutrition were important only once children reached school age.
“I never knew nutritious food affected [a young] child’s development. In our culture, we are taught that our children’s physical appearance, health and food intake is [only] important when they reach school age.”
In Cambodia, much of rural childcare is based on cultural beliefs. Therefore, when Hourt became a mom, she began raising her children in the same way she had been raised, setting the stage for her children to do the same and continuing the cycle of poor health and education from generation to generation to generation.
These two stories have a great deal in common. Naomi, a physically disabled widow, was left as the sole caretaker for her girls, unable to provide basic needs for her family. Hourt, a female in rural Cambodia, wasn’t given the same access to education as the men in her community, which ultimately prohibited her from learning how to create a future for her children. Both these women were trapped in a multi-faceted cycle of poverty that is perpetuated by lack of access to education and healthcare and often determined by social status, age and gender, geography and ethnicity.
Complex but not Impossible
Solving poverty is complex. But complex does not mean impossible.
Understanding the full complexity of poverty is at the very core of our work at World Relief. In places most impacted by poverty, well-intentioned NGOs frequently struggle to create lasting change because they either fail to address the root causes of poverty — gender discrimination, conflict and inequitable access to education, to name a few — or fail to acknowledge that poverty is multifaceted.
Rarely is a community only struggling with physical poverty, economic poverty or geographical poverty. Rather, they are often struggling under the weight of more than one type of poverty. When organizations address poverty as a single issue and fail to acknowledge root causes, they create quick fixes and partial solutions that fail to produce holistic, long-term transformation.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. At World Relief, we believe God gave us a plan to save our broken world, and it begins with his church, and his people, leading the way.
As we engage in communities around the world, we harness and amplify the influence of the local church — the largest, most influential network on the planet — to model Jesus’ holistic method of addressing and alleviating poverty. By empowering pastors, local leaders and volunteers, the church moves as the hands and feet of Jesus. People are seen, loved and given opportunity for new life. Through him everything changes.
Jesus and Holistic Change
In Luke 4, Jesus begins his ministry by declaring,
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”
Luke’s gospel is filled with stories of Jesus seeking out the poor in body, in community and in spirit. He heals a man of leprosy and a woman from her issues of blood, invites a tax collector into his inner circle and gives life to a widow’s dead son. He even heals a Jewish oppressor’s beloved servant.
To the leper and woman with the issue of blood, Jesus brought physical healing; to the tax collector, Jesus provided acceptance; to the dead son Jesus gave life; to the Jewish oppressor an example that no one is outside the love and care of God.
Jesus saw the tax collector, men, women and children, the sick, the oppressed, the lonely. He came toward them and provided for their needs, bringing restoration to the whole person, reversing life circumstances and breaking cycles. Over and over again, the gospel of Luke reveals Jesus’ love and care for the poor and the outcast, those marginalized by their economic status, gender and/or ethnicity.
Breaking Free and Moving Forward
Naomi began to break the cycle of generational poverty when she joined a savings group sponsored by World Relief. Through the group, Naomi has been able to invest in her family’s future. A year later she says,
“I now have the opportunity to interact with my friends and to improve my life. I have also joined my colleagues in helping the vulnerable in our community through the group’s social fund, a weekly fee which goes to the community’s needy individuals.”
In the same way, Hourt changed her family’s story when she joined a women’s group through her church and learned about children’s health. She began to implement what she was learning, providing the nutritional support her children need as well as promoting and protecting their access to education.
“I know that if I want my children to be wise and have a good future, I have to play a role in supporting the process of development,” Hourt says.
Not only has she improved her children’s health, but Hourt is also sharing what she’s learned with others.
“I take health lessons to teach households and improve everyone’s health in my community,” she says.
Although Naomi couldn’t see a future where her family had resources for food or education, her local church did. Although Hourt didn’t understand the importance of proper nutrition during early childhood, her church did. And, although both women felt unseen, unnoticed and forgotten, they weren’t.
Following Jesus’ examples, the church came as the hands and feet of Jesus with love, care and provision for Naomi and Hourt’s needs. The church came to lift them up and bring the restoration of Christ. It is in this restoration that Naomi, Hourt and thousands of others have been empowered to reverse their circumstances and break the cycles of poverty.
Now, they are one of the thousands around the world, coming with love, care and provision for others in need, breaking the cycle of poverty and propelling change that lasts.
Dana North serves as the Marketing Manager at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
Neema’s Plight
In an area known as Mile 46 in the Kajiado District of Kenya, the Elangata Wuas Primary School sits beside a grove of trees. On a seemingly ordinary Friday in July, the whole school — boys and girls, teachers and the headmaster — leave their lessons and gather to welcome visitors outside in the schoolyard. The students, dressed in blue uniforms, fill rows of wooden chairs; girls on the left, and boys on the right.
After a warm welcome and a short introduction, the students stand in groups to present short speeches, dances and poems they had prepared for the visitors. A group of girls perform a traditional dance, some students sing a song, and then Ann Wanjiku stands to present an original poem.
Her words are powerful, her cry sincere. May her voice ring in your ears and move your heart. May you, like me, be changed.
Neema’s Plight
by Ann Wanjiku
In front of you is Ann Wanjiku,
ready to present a poem entitled, Neema’s Plight.
Sit back, relax and enjoy
Birth of a baby, must be a blessing event,
But hers was nothing short of a curse,
Culture, gender, count them all.
A girl is not as welcome as a baby boy,
at thirteen she has to face the worst.
A knife cut across her genital,
a midwife circumcised and stitched her,
she now has a black scar.
Why is it this kind of pain?
This pain of primitive culture?
Dear mankind!
wherever you are!
is she not a human being? (sobs)
As if that is not enough
“14 years is perfect real wife,”
her father said,
As he expected cold cash,
from a 40-year old man,
Killing her dreams, education and childhood,
But marriage was done,
the dowry was paid,
Injecting the title of wife into her bloodstream.
Dear mankind!
wherever you are!
is she not a human being? (sobs)
Thank you.
Today, in honor of International Day of the Girl Child, we celebrate millions of girls like Ann, boldly speaking up and advocating for a future where they have the agency and opportunity to reach their God given potential.
Will you join with us and stand for the rights of girls around the world today? Together, we can help build bright futures for girls for generations to come.
$35 Sends a displaced girl in South Sudan to school.
$80 Teaches five girls how to protect themselves from human trafficking in Cambodia.
$150 Provides a safe place for a refugee girl in Jordan to receive basic education, process trauma and experience Christ’s love through the local church.
$250 Reduces early marriage of young girls in Malawi through weekly clubs that teach girls about their worth and promote future success through education.
Dana North serves as the Marketing Manager at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
World Relief Responds to Cyclone Idai
Photo Credit: FH
Nearly a week has passed since Cyclone Idai devastated three of the most vulnerable countries in Southern Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and the full extent of the disaster and the needs are still growing. In Malawi alone, nearly one million people have been impacted by the flooding caused by Cyclone Idai.
The situation in Malawi is extremely challenging. A huge number of houses have collapsed, fields flooded, entire bridges washed away and roads made completely impassable, making access a challenge. There has also been significant destruction of crops and animals, which is likely to have a long-term impact on food availability in the affected areas.
Reflecting on the disaster, World Relief’s Country Director for Malawi, Gibson Nkanaunena, wrote:
“I am deeply touched and shocked by the devastation. The situation is extremely challenging, and people need our support. There’s been loss of lives, injuries, homes, food, household items, crops and livestock. Many have loved ones still missing. The trauma is great. The humanitarian need is great. People are in extreme need.
But I have also seen genuine compassion from neighbours, churches, government agencies, NGOs, companies, politicians and others. It seems most people want to offer help. And it has been encouraging to see the response of the local church to the needs of those in the affected regions.
Our local churches in Malawi are responding to serve the needs of the most vulnerable in the regions impacted by the floods and rain…”
Right now, World Relief Malawi is mobilizing to support communities affected by the severe flooding in two districts in the southern region of Malawi. In Machinga district, we are providing emergency assistance in the form of food support, bed-nets, blankets, water, sanitation and temporary shelter. And in Chikwawa district, one of the worst affected areas, we are working alongside local partner Evangelical Association of Malawi to address both immediate lifesaving needs, and reducing negative long-term impacts through enhancing livelihoods and building risk reduction capabilities to ensure resilience in the face of future disasters.
World Relief has had an operational presence in Malawi since 1989, with current programs spanning 10 districts in the central and northern regions of the country. World Relief’s core programs are focused on empowering local churches, maternal and child health, child and youth development, agriculture and livelihoods and disaster response. Our work has helped over 4 million people in the last 3 years.
Frontline Report: International Day of the Girl Child
Frontline Reports is a series written entirely by program experts and local staff on the ground where World Relief works – updating on the countries, contexts, and situations, as they evolve.
I grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where at the time, my parents were serving as missionaries. My best friends were girls from local families. We sang in the church choir, had sleepovers, played soccer, and did our homework together. It was a sweet and simple time, where the different color of our skin and cultural backgrounds was forgotten. In those moments, we were just kids playing games and growing up together.
As we grew older, however, things began to change. At age 13, I continued with school, while my girlfriends began staying home to take care of their siblings, and cook and clean the house. Now considered mature adults at the tender age of 13, they were expected to shoulder the majority of household responsibilities. If their parents could not afford to pay their school fees, or if there was too much to do at home, they would miss school.
Then, at eighteen, when I was preparing to move to the US for college, one of my friends looked at me and said, “You are lucky. You can do anything you want. Please, don’t forget about us.” It was in that moment that it dawned on me that while I was looking ahead to a bright future with countless opportunities; most of my friends would stay behind, lucky if they could afford to complete secondary school in a war-torn, poverty-stricken country.
The Challenge
Today, there are over 1.1 billion girls in the world—girls with hopes, goals and dreams for their future. And while every girl deserves equal opportunity to build her future, there are still significant challenges and barriers that stand in the way for girls all over the world. Conflict, poverty, access to education, cultural and religious norms, and social conditions are all factors that today limit girls’ access to equal opportunity.
A recent report by UNESCO found there are 31 million girls of primary school age who are not in school [1], and adolescent girls in conflict zones and 90% more likely to drop out of school as compared to girls in conflict-free countries [2], which has significant impacts for their futures. Additionally, as families are displaced, the risk of sexual violence against girls and women increases drastically and families are forced to rely on negative coping mechanisms like early marriage and child labor.
Poverty is also a significant barrier for girls, as their educational future is often dictated by the economic position of the family. When families cannot afford to send both children to school, they will almost always choose to send the male child, as girls are seen as less valuable than boys. This also leaves girls at increased risk for early child marriage. Many cultures today still believe that a girl is ready for marriage upon reaching puberty, meaning girls are dropping out of school to get married. Each year, over 12 million girls are married before they reach 18 years old, compromising their future prospects for both work and financial security. Oftentimes, girls are married off to older men so that the bride price can support her family. Isolated and with limited freedom, these girls are deprived of their rights to health, education and safety.
The Opportunity
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27, NIV).
At World Relief, we believe that girls and women are made in the image of God. By working alongside local churches and community members, we work to empower girls around the world as they strive to build bolder, brighter futures. Here are some of the ways in which we are responding:
In Malawi, a girl is 50 times more likely to be married before age 18 than to enter university by age 18. 42% of girls have experience physical violence in childhood, and 22% of girls have experienced sexual violence in childhood [3]. Since 2016, World Relief has implemented girl’s groups reaching over 4,000 adolescent girls and young women in Malawi. In partnership with UNICEF, we’ve formed groups for adolescent mothers to learn more about early childhood development, nutrition, protection from HIV/AIDS and other relevant subjects. In an effort to prevent school dropout, we also bring together additional groups of girls aged 13-17 years old who provide support and encouragement to one another as they learn essential life skills during a 10-month curriculum.
In South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, millions struggle as a result of extreme poverty and poor access to food and health care. Civil war and escalating rates of violence have caused many humanitarian organizations to withdraw from the fledgling nation. Here, World Relief is reaching children whose schooling has been interrupted by conflict through our Education in Emergencies programming. This program supports primary schools to reopen, as well as providing child friendly spaces that offer primary school lessons in the absence of formal schools. Children receive school supplies to support their lessons, and teachers receive capacity-building and professional development training. To date, World Relief has enrolled 23,605 children, about 37% of whom are girls, and supported 315 teachers.
In Jordan,World Relief has developed a gender equality through sports program, using soccer as a tool to empower women and girls in vulnerable communities. In more traditional areas of Jordan, girls have very limited opportunities to exercise or play sports. Our sports program has fostered self-esteem, empowerment and self-advocacy for girls from all backgrounds by challenging harmful gender norms and providing opportunities for leadership. The program has also brought both Jordanians and Syrian refugees together and provided an avenue for dialogue and violence prevention. Since 2016, nearly 300 girls have been reached through the soccer program. The change has been incredible. Teachers have transformed into coaches, students have transformed into athletes, and loosely held hopes have transformed into bold and vibrant dreams.
Call to Action
Today, on International Day of the Girl Child, I am reminded of the words of Malala Yousfzai (Pakistani education activist) who said, “We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.” So let us strive forward and continue to be advocates and champions for girls. Let us bring gender injustice and inequality to light so that girls may be protected, celebrated for their gifts and talents, and given equal opportunities to pursue their dreams. And let us imagine the impact across nations when we invest in young girls, realizing their unique value as girls who have been beautifully and wonderfully made in the image of God.
[1] UNESCO: Girls’ education – the facts, October 2013
[2] Education for All Global Monitoring Report, 2015
[3] Together for girls: Malawi
Laura Mouanoutoua joined World Relief in 2015 and currently serves as Program Officer for Disaster Response and Middle East programs. Laura grew up in the DR Congo, where her parents served as missionaries, and has witnessed first-hand the difficulties that internally displaced peoples and refugees face. Laura is passionate about engaging against social injustices, with a strong spiritual conviction and desire to work with the church at large for the support and success of refugee and conflict-affected populations.
Empower a Hero: Mary in Malawi
Mary Molo’s greatest joy comes from educating the children of her rural community. But she doesn’t keep this joy to herself. She invites as many others as possible to be a part of her influential work in Malawi. Through her community-based childcare center, Mary brings her neighbors together to serve vulnerable children, many of whom come from HIV-affected families. When people from across the village pool their unique gifts and talents, they can offer children a wider range of physical, emotional and spiritual care. “My advice to everyone is that let us get united towards supporting early childhood education,” Mary said.
The government of Malawi depends on communities to provide their own preschool services, which prepare children for primary and elementary school. When Mary founded her center 11 years ago, she had been widowed and raising her six children on her own. But there was still room in her heart. When the Swaswa Childcare Center opened, Mary soon had even more children to love.
Then six years ago, World Relief Malawi began supporting Mary’s initiative. Her capacity to serve and teach the children of her community grew even more.
World Relief trains church volunteers to become closely-linked supporters of childcare centers. Across Malawi, 34 churches are caring for the children in their communities. Volunteers use their own resources to serve vulnerable children by cultivating gardens outside the centers and using the crops to prepare nutritious meals. This is essential because many children in Malawi are malnourished. Healthy diets support the development of young children and prepare their growing minds for future educational success.
The volunteers have great capacity to love. As they provide emotional and social support, the children develop self-esteem and confidence. In one year, 7,998 children in Malawi were served by World Relief staff, volunteers, churches and leaders like Mary. At the Swaswa Childcare Center, she’s giving the most vulnerable children the strong start they need to become the future leaders of Malawi.
To empower heroes like Mary, join us at empowerahero.org.
Hope Is in the Details: A Story from Malawi
Ntchisi, a district located in the heart of Malawi, is among the most vulnerable places where World Relief works. Forty percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day. Most people make their living as farmers, but the difficult conditions they work against make for poor harvests and profits. Preventable diseases like malaria and diarrhea are common here, but healthcare facilities and doctors are extremely few and far between. Some say Ntchisi is a place to drive through – but not to linger in for a visit.
But this is precisely what World Relief Malawi intern Stephen Blazs did. Once he was able to take a closer look at a village in Ntchisi, he noticed small signs of transformation despite the deep injustices that existed.
Much of his role over the summer was to develop new ways to monitor the progress of World Relief programs. But one day, he set out from the office in the capital city to visit a “model village” in Ntchisi. Here, World Relief volunteers and staff worked to improve the health of mothers, orphans and vulnerable children younger than five. Because of his studies in public health at Johns Hopkins University, Blazs understood the magnitude of the vulnerabilities of the region, but he could also see the signs of hope and progress that the untrained eye overlooks.
In this village, children wore shoes and socks hung from clotheslines – displaying the purchasing power families had built from joining savings groups. Clean pots and pans sat out to dry, preventing germs from spreading at the next meal. Yards were dotted with latrines and hand-washing stations, protecting the entire village from water-borne illness – and reducing the chance of having to travel to a distant health clinic.
“It was encouraging to see an example where community development was working,” Blazs said upon his return to the US. Thanks to the commitment of volunteers who share life-saving health lessons with their neighbors, lasting changes were taking root in this village and many others in three other districts across Malawi.
Interested in learning and standing with the vulnerable through a hands-on internship? Check out World Relief’s domestic and international opportunities today!
Stephen Blazs is completing a Master of Science in Public Health degree through Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. As a World Relief intern, he developed monitoring and evaluation tools for various health and social development programs in Malawi and Mozambique.
‘Tis the Season of Giving
Every day injustice pours out of news headlines, and we’re inundated with figures that tell a story of a broken world. These statistics of war, modern-day slavery, disease and persecution can seem overwhelming. And we wonder where to even begin to address these issues.
But since the Church stands on the powerful hope of Jesus Christ, we don’t have to be overwhelmed. We can take a step back and realize that those overcoming these hardships are like us, broken people created by God with purpose and potential, and then we start to understand that we can unite with them to change the world.
In this, Pastor Andy Stanley reminds us that we have the ability to, “Do for one what we wish we could do for everyone.” Building relationships that last over time and difficulty, growing fruit of lasting transformation and doing justice together are all a part of this “doing for one” love that doesn’t wear out.
When the Deeper Life Bible Church in Malawi joined the fight against HIV/AIDS, the country had one of the highest HIV rates. But they didn’t aim to develop a cure. Instead, the ministry team made a plan based on their gifts: they gave their time and their resources to care for neighbors isolated by HIV. That’s where they met Consolata, a woman suffering from both the social and physical side-effects of the disease.
“No one was concerned with my life and my condition until the ministry team heard my story,” Consolata said.
Then, her neighbors began to serve through word and deed. They fed her. They clothed her. They visited her and included her in an HIV support group. Over time, Consolata’s physical condition improved – and she put her faith in Jesus Christ.
Today, as we commemorate World AIDS Day, we can report that Consolata has joined the same team that first cared so deeply for her. Now, she’ll be the one reaching out to others who are sick and neglected – passing on the gifts she received.
So, who is your “one”? And how will you begin to stand with them this Christmas season? For more information on how you can partner with World Relief and local churches throughout the world to empower the most vulnerable, visit worldrelief.org/donate.
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith.” – Galatians 6:9