After receiving a two-day training in basic business and financial management facilitated by Canadian volunteer Yanara Marks, and opening their group bank accounts with Opportunity Bank, the women gathered on a Friday morning to receive their start-up capital in the form of checks made out to each of the women business groups: RORUPAU, LALAM, EMERDA, AGBEES, and Green Apple.
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The Hand in Hand Project which enables 25 women to open small business ventures to increase economic empowerment and independence, arranged for the women to open group bank accounts with Opportunity Bank. Friday, March 20th, the women met at the WOFAD office to open their own accounts. Women were also able to open personal bank accounts at Opportunity Bank at low costs, as well as savings accounts for their children. The 5 women groups posing with their bank certificates: (from left to right) LALAM Women's Group, AGBEES Women's Group, RORUPAU Women's Group, EMERDA Women's Group, and Green Apple Women's Group, followed by a group photo in front of the WOFAD office.
We had a great turn-out on saturday for our Malawi Dzuka - One Billion Rising event in Blantyre city. Thank you everyone for coming out and supporting this very important cause! Check out pictures from the event below!! WOFAD, in collaboration with Girls’ Empowerment Network (GENET), Malawi Girl Guides, members of the Police, and Rebecca Raymond, a peace corps volunteer, is organizing a campaign called One Billion Rising Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women. One Billion Rising is a world wide event which has been organized in over 200 countries. It takes place every year, on Valentines Day, and this year’s theme is “Revolution”. Participants come from all walks of life, with one common goal – Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. Those who have taken part in the event are civil society organizations, women, men, girls and boys, government representatives, and individuals simply supporting a cause which they believe in. The event is usually comprised of music, dance, speeches creating awareness about gender-based violence, and unique ways of creating an impact. Check out the the video below to see how other countries have risen to end violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6guRQb9Plkk Violence Against Women and Girls in Malawi In Malawi, women and girls are disproportionately affected by poverty. Issues of lacking access to education and heath care, limited rights over productive resources, and inequality in terms of employment, justice, and decision-making are the main challenges hindering women and girls in Malawi. In addition, women and girls are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS with their sexual and reproductive health rights being violated and abused. Violence plays a crucial part undermining women and girls. A woman exposed to violence is unable to live life to her fullest potential; she is stripped of her basic human rights and condemned to a life in poverty. At WOFAD, we want to break this cycle and ensure every person, whether female or male, HIV positive or negative, can reach their fullest potential without being exposed to any form of violence; physical, psychological, or economical.
This year, our network has decided to take part in One Billion Rising and put an end to violence against women and girls in Malawi! MALAWI DZUKA (meaning Malawi Rise) will be advocated on Saturday, February 14th 2015! Anyone can join us in the fight to end violence in Malawi. Let’s come together and rise!!! When: Saturday, February 14th, 2015 Where: Blantyre City (exact location to be announced) Time: 10am – 12pm Please wear white!!! This way everyone supporting the cause can easily be identified and we can make a big impact! There will be media coverage, music, speeches, and lots of dancing!!! http://www.onebillionrising.org *If you scroll down to the bottom of the page and select Events – Find Events – Select Africa – Select Malawi, you will find our event registered: Malawi Dzuka!!! WOFAD is offering FREE and CONFIDENTIAL HIV testing for 3 days only!!! We are located in Chirimba, Blantyre behind Rose Garden Schools Dates: October 1st – October 3rd, 2014 Time: 9am – 2pm We are offering free and confidential testing by a qualified, professional laboratory technician. A qualified and professional counselor is also available on sight. In addition, come and collect free useful information brochures (written in Chichewa) about HIV transmission, prevention and counseling. Free male and female condoms are also available.
World University Service of Canada (WUSC) has donated another bicycle ambulance to one of WOFAD’s project communities. The community has shown exemplary efforts and commitment to the promotion and protection of the SRHR of women and girls living with HIV and AIDS through the We Have Rights Too! Project. WOFAD was proud to be able to make this donation in the name of WUSC as this bicycle ambulance will give the community more mobility and access to better health care facilities. While this donation was received with open arms and many smiling faces, many other communities are in dying need of support in accessing adequate health care facilities. As reported in one of our previous posts, many Malawians die of preventable diseases each year. Diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and cholera are widely spread in Malawi, however, preventable and treatable. In addition, HIV/AIDS is a major challenge in the country and claims millions of lives every year due to lack of testing, medication, and proper monitoring of CD4 counts. The challenge of transportation has largely contributed to the high mortality rates. Transportation to and from rural communities is scarce and challenging. Road conditions are often so bad that vehicles are unable to reach the communities. There is a lack of public transport, and traveling times by foot are long and often dangerous. This has prevented many people from seeking treatment in the early stages of their illness. By the time treatment is sought it is often too late. Another huge challenge voiced by community members is the challenge of transporting pregnant women to hospitals, especially HIV positive mothers who require extensive monitoring throughout their pregnancy in order to ensure the health of their newborn babies. As a result of lack of transportation, many women choose or are forced to give birth at home with the help of traditional birth attendants instead of being admitted to hospitals. According to World Bank data from 2013, 510 maternal deaths occur in every 100,000 live births, while infant mortality rates are as high as 46 deaths per 1,000 live births. Thank you to WUSC for getting this community one step closer to better health!!
On August 1st, 2014 another bicycle ambulance was donated by the Global Healthy Fellowship through WOFAD and World University Service of Canada (WUSC). In 2013, visitors from the University of Virginia traveled to Khombwe community and were touched by the warm welcome they received. After speaking WOFAD and members of the community they found out that one of the biggest challenges they faced was transporting their sick patients from this rural community about 35km outside of Blantyre, to a properly equipped hospital or clinic.
Many Malawians die of preventable diseases each year. Diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and cholera are widely spread in Malawi, however, preventable and treatable. In addition, HIV/AIDS is a major challenge in the country and claims millions of lives every year due to lack of testing, medication, and proper monitoring of CD4 counts. The challenge of transportation has largely contributed to the high mortality rates. Transportation to and from rural communities is scarce and challenging. Road conditions are often so bad that vehicles are unable to reach the communities. There is a lack of public transport, and traveling times by foot are long and often dangerous. This has prevented many people from seeking treatment in the early stages of their illness. By the time treatment is sought it is often too late. Another huge challenge voiced by community members is the challenge of transporting pregnant women to hospitals, especially HIV positive mothers who require extensive monitoring throughout their pregnancy in order to ensure the health of their newborn babies. As a result of lack of transportation, many women choose or are forced to give birth at home with the help of traditional birth attendants instead of being admitted to hospitals. According to World Bank data from 2013, 510 maternal deaths occur in every 100,000 live births, while infant mortality rates are as high as 46 deaths per 1,000 live births. When the visitors returned home, they decided to make a donation to this community in the form of a bicycle ambulance, knowing that the challenge of transportation is a large contributor to the lack of health care and high mortality. In the past, bicycle ambulances have served as an efficient and sustainable mode of transportation for sick patients and pregnant women. WOFAD would therefore like to extend a very special thanks to the Global Healthy Fellowship for donating this important piece of equipment to Khombwe community!! On July 29th, 2014 WOFAD conducted one of its monitoring visits for the We Have Rights Too! Project in the Traditional Authority (T/A) of Machinjiri, Group Village Headman (GVH) Mwamadi. About 25 members of the community attended the meeting, the local CBO director, chiefs of the community, as well as a member of the school board.
Women had a chance to discuss their experiences with the We Have Rights Too! project and explain some of the changes they have observed since implementation. Some of the activities of the project included training of peer educators, health care workers, CBOs and community members on SRHR, couples counseling called stepping stone, and the distribution of brochures capturing legislature and policies geared towards protecting WLHIV translated into Chichewa. At the end of the meeting, a donation was made by Sophie Belanger on behalf on a Canadian initiative supporting development in Malawi. School supplies, note books, shoes, stuffed animals and soccer balls were donated to the local school and child care center. On September 26th, Women for Fair Development and the World University Service of Canada delivered a training session to 43 health care workers (HCW) from 19 different health facilities. The HCW came from the three Traditional Authorities where WOFAD is currently implementing the We Have Rights Too! Project – T/As Kuntaja, Kunthembwe and Machinjiri. The training was held at Mkango Lodge and included facilitators from the Women’s Legal Resource Centre (WOLREC) and the Kamuzu College of Nursing. The purpose of the workshop was to develop and enhance the professional capacity of HCW in the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services to patients, with an emphasis on Women Living with HIV (WLHIV). During the first part of the day, an overview of the We Have Rights Too! Project, findings from the baseline survey on SRHR, patients rights and responsibilities, key SRHR concepts, Malawian laws and policies relevant to SRHR were all covered. In the afternoon, participants engaged in group work to discuss the changes that could be made, as an individual and at the level of the health centre, to ensure that the SRHR of WLHIV are promoted and protected at their health facility. Following this, a lecturer from the Kamuzu College delivered a powerful presentation on patient-centred approaches, ethics and serving patients with HIV and AIDS. Overall, the training proved to be a major success and participants left committing themselves to protecting the SRHR of WLHIV in their roles as HCW.
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April 2015
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