October 2006

Update to the Global Board

Literacy Graduates

Epicenter strategy

During this third quarter 2006 THP-Malawi is working in four epicenters and one sub-epicenter that are in various stages of evolution within the four phases:

• One epicenters is in phase two, 
• Three epicenters is in phase three, and
• One epicenter is in phase four.

In these epicenters, THP-Malawi is covering a population estimated to be close to 60,000. THP-Malawi has continued to mobilize and organize the communities to achieve the end of hunger and poverty through a range of programs including access to health, education, safe drinking water, sanitation, empowering women, access to easy credit, and prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Food Security

Our partners in the four epicenters and one sub-epicenter have made considerable progress to achieve food security through their collective work in the communal lands and food banks, increasing and diversifying the food production, from maize to new varieties of wheat and vegetables. Their animal husbandry activities in particular have brought a significant amount of income for their families. The surplus production of maize, which was stored in the food banks of all the epicenters, was key in ensuring no one went hungry during the recent floods that engulfed Malawi. THP-Malawi continues to provide training in agricultural techniques including simple irrigation methods, the use of improved seeds and the cultivation of diversified crops so that our partners can work on their land the whole year (instead of just one season per year) and thereby produce enough different kinds of food to improve nutrition for entire families.

Vision, Commitment and Action Workshops: Animator Training

The VCA workshops are expanded to all the villages in the three epicenters and 1,000 animators, both women and men, trained by THP are now in the villages mobilizing and empowering the people to work together for the end of hunger and poverty.

Food Security

This year, our partners are focused mainly on increased production of food in our epicenters by using irrigation systems, expanding community gardens of staple food such as maize, rice and cowpeas to ensure that they have enough food available in the their household food banks as well as at the epicenter food banks at all times.  Their efforts this year to produce increased and diversified food production has been very successful due to the introduction of new improved and effective seeds and greater focus on goat and pig rearing and raising poultry.

Food Banks

This year, the good harvest of staple grains will enable all the epicenters to store a greater volume in their food banks. The epicenter committees will, as always, administer the food and every household will be able to have access to this food in case of emergency. The food banks have proved to be crucial for our partners as Malawi as a country is subject to a long dry season, often followed by devastating flooding. It is the household and epicenter food banks that keep the epicenter populations fed during the weather conditions that destroy crops.

Rural bank for Micro-finance - first recognized bank!

THP-Malawi has continued to disburse credit, especially through the existing revolving loan fund of AWFFI.  The repayment rate of the credit is improving: while men are trailing with a repayment rate of over 70%, women who have the bulk of the program are paying their loans at a rate close to 95%. The first government recognized rural bank was inaugurated this quarter at Nsondole Epicenter. We expect that two more rural banks in Jali and Nchalo epicenters will be recognized in December 2006.

Cutting the ribbon on the Nsondole bank

Education and Adult Literacy

In the last three quarters, THP-Malawi has increased the functional adult literacy (FAL) program for men and especially women in each epicenter and sub-epicenter. The literacy classes continue to train women to become literate with a focus on health, especially maternal heath care, and hygiene. This program has a tremendous impact on the confidence of the literate men and women, especially women who show great pride in their achievement to read and write information in their savings and credit books. Although the adult literacy program is designed for the education of both men and women, it seems that women, more than men, are the ones who participate in the classes.  THP-Malawi has acquired teaching materials from the government and created over 17 centers where nearly 2,100 people are taking classes.

The literacy classes are conducted by our own animators who are specially trained for this task. To date, over 200 teachers and animators are trained to teach in local languages. In addition to these literacy classes, THP-Malawi runs also a program of nursery school where an average of 50 children by epicenter, both boys and girls, are attending school every day. The children receive a nutritious daily meal in each epicenter composed of Soya porridge, milk and tea.

Health and Hygiene

Important health issues are addressed through the Health Clinic in each of the epicenters where a medical doctor and nurses are working full time which includes the training of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). THP-Malawi has already trained over 50 TBAs and plans to train 50 health officials to ensure adequate qualified health professionals in the epicenter areas.  These programs and initiatives ensure that the level of hygiene and health will be improved in these areas in the near future. The work of the midwives, the TBAs and Drug Revolving workers (mini-pharmacists) has resulted in the reduction of IMR in our villages.

In addition to this program, THP-Malawi, with the partnership of UNICEF, has embarked on a new activity to reduce malaria through the distribution of anti-malaria bed-nets to many villages. THP-Malawi provides loans to buy bed nets, which are then sold for a small profit. So far, several hundred bed-nets have been sold to the partners and this has dramatically reduced the incidences of malaria in several villages.

Another health program is the drug-revolving fund where our partners are trained by a government hospital to dispense medication to villages located far from the epicenters as part of a mobile pharmacy. This program is not as effective as THP-Malawi wants it to be because the government’s District Heath Office does not supply the needed drugs on a regular basis to replenish the drugs.

Reducing the Spread of HIV/AIDS Program

THP-Malawi’s program of distributing female condoms to women is very successful. This initiative started two years ago when the women demanded access to the female condom after seeing a demonstration in the “HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop.” To respond to the demand, THP-Malawi developed a dynamic partnership with UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) to provide condoms, especially the female condom, to people in the epicenters.  To date, over 10,000 female condoms have been acquired by the partners, and the stocks received at the epicenters are depleted as soon as they arrive.

As a result of this successful program, THP Malawi has now received a two-year grant from Novib, a Dutch funding agency, to expand THP’s HIV/AIDS program of reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS to many more villages. This is a clear recognition of the effectiveness of our methodology and the work of THP-Malawi in this area.

In our workshops today, more than 90% of both men and women are able to demonstrate the correct use of the male condoms. As a result, THP-Malawi reports, the prevailing mindset of “male condoms are men’s issue only” has now been eliminated in the epicenters and sub-epicenters. THP-Malawi is conducting workshops every month in all its epicenters and sub-epicenters.  In total, THP-Malawi will have soon 130 specialized trained animators with more than 50,000 people participating in the various workshops.

In addition, traditional practices harmful to women and girls have come to the surface in the discussions during the “HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop” thus creating the opportunity to seek solutions and alternatives.  THP-Malawi periodically brings a number of women together for a discussion on the dangers of the various harmful practices. As a result, most of the elderly women who were supporting these harmful practices have gradually abandoned their support of them.