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A Request for Help
Foreword by Marcia Braundy |
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December, 2002
Dear
All,
My
deepest thanks to you all for all the help
and good will you have given me and those I
feel concerned about. I do not take this for
granted…
My
coming home was the most uneventful trip I
have made in a long time. Naturally, with the
added security measures at airports, I expected
a much more stressful experience. It, however,
turned out to be “business as usual.” But,
of course, one can always find something to
complain about. My complaint is about the use
of the Euro as legal tender in Amsterdam where
I had a four hour wait for my next flight to
Nairobi. I have used Amsterdam before as a
gateway to Africa and never had to convert
US$ into local currency in order to buy food,
papers, et cetera. |
This
time, one has to, including paying bank charges for
the transaction. I wished I had bought the Euros
before I left Vancouver. This is really a small matter
compared to my experience at France’s Charles
de Gaul Airport in 1998 where I was treated as a
criminal and sent back to Johannesburg because I
did not have a transit visa to allow me to change
terminals in order to catch my plane to London!
The
food situation is expected to get worse by February.
The current food supplies from the World Food Program
(WFP) have been meager. Identifying the MOST needy
has been next to impossible. Everybody in the villages
is needy because of our extended family system–those
who have more have an obligation to provide for those
who have far less. This becomes an extra strain during
times as these when many families are losing productive
members of their families to AIDS and other natural
causes such as the famine. Many extended families
have far fewer productive adults to provide for the
rest of their dependent members.
There
have also been delays in the distribution of the
available food supplies because of the controversy
over the safety of genetically modified corn. A recent
conference of food experts from the Southern and
Eastern African region held here during the December
14/15 weekend stated that there is evidence that
heat transforms the protein in GM corn into a (protein)
substance that is harmful to humans when ingested.
There are also stories that some families have been
planting the corn that they had received for food.
This poses a real possibility for local corn varieties
to become contaminated by pollen from the GM varieties.
The conference concluded that this is tragic since “genetic
contamination can never be recalled.” “Malawi
should have followed the Zambian example and refused
the GM corn,” we have been told.
While
Zambia has been given money by the European Union
to buy GM-free corn from wherever they can find it,
the Malawi government intends to source money to
mill the corn. This will include de-husking and removal
of the germ. That way, no more GM corn which could
be used as seed will be distributed, and the flour
that will be distributed will have very little protein
content. Meanwhile, people continue to wait for any
assistance they can get while working in their fields.
The flour from the GM corn is likely to go to institutions
such as hospitals and prisons that are also facing
severe food shortages.
There
is still insufficient rain in many areas but in my
area, people are happy with what they have. Our crops
are doing very well. Some vegetables are ready and
can be used as soup or stew to go with the corn porridge
which is our staple. They have not, however, had
any corn given to them by the WFP. The few who have
had food assistance got it from the kind of sources
such as the one we are organizing. I will therefore
be supplementing the efforts of others who have already
been here before me.
 |
| orphaned children waiting for
delivery of food |
On
New Year’s day, I will accompany some University
students, including my daughter, to give food packages
and to assess the situation of (AIDS) orphans who
are under our local hospital’s (St Luke’s
Hospital) orphan care program. Given our limited
resources, at least 70 children will get school supplies
and be down for regular food supply for the next
four-five months. The hospital’s coordinator
and I will work with their guardians in identifying
viable projects that could help them to become self-sufficient
in their food needs after the worst of this famine
is over. I will also take with me the school supplies
and clothes which some of you donated. Unfortunately,
KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) refused to assist in transportation.
I therefore had to leave quite a few things behind.
My
big challenge now is local transportation. A member
of our Church (St George’s Church) has offered
me the use of her Toyota one ton truck for the New
Year’s day visit to St Luke’s Hospital.
The Church Warden at St George is negotiating for
a longer use of a vehicle, possibly a 4x4 which can
handle our muddy and slippery roads during this time
of the year. Once everything is in place, I should
be able to find time to get back to my studies and
data collection.
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| delivering food in pick-up truck |
January 6, 2003
New
Year's day visit to St Luke's Hospital was an emotional
one. We arrived at 10 am and were told that some
of the children had been waiting for us from as early
as 7 am. Some, however, never made it because of
the rains. We shared food and drinks with those who
had made it and distributed the clothes that Mrs.
Cottle and Stephanie and her friends had collected.
We also had 5 kg maize flour packages for them to
take away. We hope to be able to deliver the larger
amounts to their homes when the transportation problem
is sorted out. I explained that the idea is to help
them get back on their feet again after their many
losses. The coordinator of the orphan care program
explained that there were more than seven thousand
orphans registered with the hospital's orphan care
program. More than four thousand of these have no
living parent and either live in child-headed households
or are looked after by their aged grandparents and
other relatives. About three thousand have at least
one living parent who is either very sick or does
not have enough resources to look after them.
St
Luke's Hospital is a private hospital run by the
Anglican Church in my diocese. It started the orphan
care program with some private funding about five
years ago. Once those funds were exhausted, they
have relied on small donations such as ours which
have not been regular and are often not enough to
meet the needs of all the children registered with
them. Meanwhile, the number of children keeps growing
as more people hear about the program. The hospital
authorities asked the local community around the
hospital (Friends of the Hospital) to form an executive
committee to be responsible for determining how best
to deal with the growing number of orphans. The committee
visited all the villages where the children were
reported to be coming from and met with the village
leaders. They formed twelve support groups within
the St Luke's Hospital catchment area–an area
that covers between nine and sixteen square miles.
The executive committee meets with the support group
leaders frequently to find out how they are doing
or, in this case, to tell them about available assistance
and how it can be utilized in their areas.
The
children who came to meet us (myself and five students
from the university) were between three and eighteen
years old. Many had the obvious signs of poverty,
sickness and poor nutrition. One girl had to receive
medical help immediately because she was pretty bad.
I told them that it would be easier on everyone concerned
if they came up with the kind of projects that they,
too, could help with rather than expecting their
guardians to do all the work. I explained that if
they decided to keep chickens they would be expected
to help with the feeding and cleaning of the chicken
houses; or if they decided to grow crops after the
usual rains, they would be expected to help with
the watering and the weeding. This proposal was well
received as making sense but it was noted that the
small children could not really be expected to do
much to help.
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| excecutive committee responsible
for orphaned children |
The
chairperson of the executive committee suggested
that when they meet with the support group leaders
to explain our visit and our suggestion, they will
ask the leaders to divide the orphans they will have
selected to benefit from our project into two groups:
one where the children are old enough to manage their
own income generating activities; and another where
the community will be responsible for the projects
because the children involved are too young to help.
Vegetable growing and raising chickens were the two
projects that the children felt they could manage
much more easily but I suspect there will be other
alternatives once the support group leaders have
had a chance to examine the proposal.
Meanwhile,
I have applied to the grain marketing board (through
the church) for a permit to buy the amount of corn
I need for the project. If I do get it, I will be
able to pay $20/50kg bag, but if I don't get the
permit (usually because they think you want to resell
the grain), I will have to get it from local business
people whose prices are much higher. Currently, there
is talk about an impeding devaluation of our currency
against the US$ sometime this month. If this happens,
it would give me a lot more money in local currency
to buy the grain. I do not expect the government
to adjust the grain prices to reflect the devaluation
because that would simply make matters much worse
than they are now. It could have been easier if the
World Food Program grain was being distributed in
other areas. But that is on hold due to the GM controversy.
My suggestion, therefore, is for you to delay sending
the money you have until the devaluation is announced.
Meanwhile, I have enough money to buy the amount
of grain I need for this month. I also need to find
out if you have to ask the bank to convert the Canadian
currency into US$. Malawi only accepts US$, the British
pound, South African Rand, and the Euro but that
may not apply to electronic transfers.
I
was granted this email connection from home but just
realized that the electricity supply will be a much
bigger challenge. Power outages are not unusual but
this time it is worse because the heavy rains which
we have been having from January 1st have destroyed
many power lines and washed a lot of soil and debris
into the dam where our power station is. They say
these heavy rains have been caused by a tropical
cyclone called Delfina. It was still raining on January
3 when I was leaving home for my upcountry trip.
I did not pay much attention to the weather forecast–I
don't think I would have stayed home even if I had
known about it. On my way back from an almost five
hundred mile trip, we spent the night at a bridge
which had been submerged by running rainwater. In
the morning, we were told that a big portion of the
road had been washed away although the bridge was
still intact. We had to go back to find another road
to take us to the capital where we were also told
that we had to take another diversion because the
direct road between the capital and my town also
had one of the bridges washed away. By the time I
got home I had done an extra two hundred miles and
there was no power at home!
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| flooded land as a river overflows
its banks |
We
are having intermittent power supply now. Unfortunately,
they do not seem to have worked out a predictable
rationing schedule. We sometimes have no power in
the morning when we need to prepare breakfast or
no power in the evening when we need to prepare our
dinner. Of course, no power during the day means
very little business and office work done. That is
real life for me now.
I
hope this time I will stay connected much more easily
now in spite of the electricity problems.
January 14, 2003
I am always surprised
how much I find things to have changed every time
I come back home which is usually after 8-12 months.
Malawi has never had a civil war as has been the
case in other countries in Africa such as Mozambique,
Uganda, Liberia or Sierra Leone. And yet we seem
to be experiencing just as many problems as people
dealing with devastating effects of war. We have
been victims of natural disasters and difficult governance
for many years and now we are facing the consequences.
Things are particularly bad because our economic
base is agricultural with tobacco as the main income
generator. We are also landlocked which makes our
imports and exports very expensive, and the intensity
of the anti-smoking campaign is making our economic
survival almost impossible.
The growing poverty is
giving rise to many criminal activities, especially
the fast-growing corruption "industry" and
armed robberies. We never had to employ someone to
watch over us (watchman) at night. Paul had to do
this last year for the first time. We also have had
to reinforce the door locks with extra metal bars
as an extra safety measure against break-ins. Some
shop owners even sell their commodities behind bars
to make sure thieves do not snatch their cash chests.
Yes, it is quite a shock for me to have to deal with
all this–things we only associated with countries
such as South Africa and Zimbabwe which have generally
had a higher crime rate than Malawi because they
are wealthier.
We will be distributing
more grain next week to the designated families.
I will also be getting their suggestions for income
generating activities. I may need to form my own
committee at St George's Church to help me assess
the viability of these projects and make modifications
where necessary.
Thanks for helping me
keep in touch. I still have to get a proper Internet
connection to be able to access the CSCI website.
What I have now only allows
me to do emails which is still something to be thankful
about We have had four days
of sunshine this week. This has made the roads drier
and less slippery. We should do some
grain distribution this weekend if it does not start
to rain so heavily
again. Bye for now.
 |
| People travelled up to 10
km to collect a bag of maize |
February
6, 2003
So
far, we have had been able to give a month's supply
of food to 74 families and will be giving them more
food for February /March. The currency has not been
devalued despite the IMF refusing to give us aid.
I am told the European Union, individual governments
and other donors seem to be making up for the shortfall
in the crucial areas. Stephen Lewis (one of the better
known Canadians when it comes to alleviating the
suffering of the world's poor) was in the country
and was moved to tears by the IMF
decision.
| It
is still raining hard, and due to serious deforestation–over
90 percent of the population still relies on
firewood for fuel which is contributing to the
heavy wash-away of top soil bringing debris into
our only hydro power dam. As a result, electricity
cuts are now due to cleaning exercises of the
dam. |
 |
| |
Maize delivered by hand to distribution point
because truck cannot navigate wet roads. |
It
is still raining hard, and due to serious deforestation–over
90 percent of the population still relies on firewood
for fuel which is contributing to the heavy wash-away
of top soil bringing debris into our only hydro power
dam. As a result, electricity cuts are now due to
cleaning exercises of the dam.
February 13, 2003
…I
am particularly grateful that you were able to do
as much as you could to help with fundraising for
the famine relief. My explaining about your
involvement has done a lot to motivate many people
in my community to get involved. We now see that
this is every bit our problem. You have inspired
many "comfortable" people in my community
to appreciate that our help is needed if the most
vulnerable members of our community are to find some
respite from their suffering. I now have as much
help as I need with the logistics for getting the
food to the people. I have also enough people who
are willing to follow-up on and supervise income
generating activities when the rains ease out. This
makes me feel good as that will be the time I will
be coming back. I will tell you more about this when
we have our first meeting to discuss how we will
be doing the rest of the work.
 |
| working in the rice fields |
Those
who had not planted their corn by the time I came
decided to work on their rice fields instead because
the rains are simply too heavy for corn. Others are
planting other crops such as yams, potatoes and cassava.
Have
a happy valentine's day.
Emma
- You've got Mail! (3 messages)
Dear
All,
I
am greatly touched by the continued efforts to help
out at a time when a whole nation feels desperate
to survive the food crisis. I suppose some of you
are continuing to follow on news about the food situation
in Southern Africa, and Malawi especially. The rains
are almost over after causing a lot of flooding and
mudslides in many areas which wiped out, in some
cases, or drastically reduced expected harvests.
My home area is no different and this is what makes
your efforts extremely valuable.
I
will soon be coming back to Vancouver. I have
friends here who like me, are ready to help
their less fortunate Malawians if given resources.
They express their gratitude for this continued
support because the families that have already
been sustained by your efforts will continue
to get help, especially the orphans. Your continued
efforts should also make it possible to include
more children who were left out previously
because of the limitations of resources.
Wishing
you all Peace and Love, always,
Emma
|
 |
Relief
food aid with a price
–
Newspaper Report from Malawi |
New water pumps & hoses for irrigation |
(Ed.
Note) Emma returned
to Canada on April 30, 2003.
About
the Author
Emma
Kishindo is from Malawi
and currently a doctoral student in the Centre
for the Study of Curriculum and Instruction at
the University of British Columbia Her main focus
is on learning and the factors that contribute
to children being able to attend school, and teachers
enjoying their work. For her thesis, she is conducting
a case study of a community in Malawi to learn
more about the specific contextual factors that
influence individuals' decisions about the amount
of education they think they need to function successfully
in their community.
