Tag Archives: Malawi

From the Field: Sharing the Burden

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This weekly post shines a light on a handful of stories from Heifer.org’s “From the Field”From the Field section.

Granny and Narek

Granny Siranush and grandson Narek at their home in Chinar, Armenia. Photo by Aram Petrosyan, Program Coordinator, Heifer Armenia

Springtime often evokes thoughts of baby animals, beautiful flowers and warm sunshine. But for the Voskanyan family of Chinar, Armenia, it is the most dangerous season. Cultivating their fields is dangerous work because Azeri snipers may at any moment break the cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Daily routines, like taking their children to school, are also done with fearful hearts. In 2011, the family became Heifer International participants and received a pregnant heifer through Passing on the Gift®. The cow has lightened the family’s burden by providing milk to make butter and sour cream.

Philippine dairy farmers must have passion, patience and perseverance to succeed, because poor nutrition and disease can easily rob farmers of their prized cows. More than 100 potential partner families of Heifer Southern Philippines recently visited successful dairy farms to learn about the industry. These learning opportunities activated participants with the knowledge to become businessmen and women of great potential. They quickly realized that, “There is daily money in milk.”

Africa Presidential Initiative Launch

Heifer Malawi participated in the Presidential Initiative Launch on April 4, 2013. Photo courtesy of Heifer Malawi

Heifer continually works with partners to mobilize projects that will positively impact participants like the Voskanyan family and smallholder farmers. On April 4, 2013, Heifer Malawi showcased Heifer’s work in the Dairy Value Chain Project at the Presidential Initiative Launch in Africa. The event launched two projects, Two Crops per Year and One Cow per Family, which aim to strengthen irrigation and engage farmers in dairy production. Heifer Malawi Country Director Petronella Halwiindi said it was an excellent opportunity to share Heifer’s role and represent all its major players.

 Learn how you can impact families worldwide

 

It’s That Time Again

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When the newest edition of World Ark will be appearing in mailboxes around the country. Our special Holiday issue includes three country features in addition to Heifer’s Most Important Gift Catalog in the World.

Women’s empowerment is highlighted in two stories this issue. Puja Singh, Heifer Nepal’s communications and networking officer, takes a look at how projects in Bangladesh are helping women find opportunities that were once denied to them. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also weighs in on why women are key to successful development work in an expanded Asked and Answered interview.

Our Managing Editor, Donna Stokes, also writes about the USAID | Yaajeende project in Senegal, where participants received sheep as part of what will become Heifer’s largest animal distribution ever. Photographer Olivier Asselin illustrates the essay with gorgeous photos from “The Day the Sheep Came.”

The third feature story in the issue addresses habitat conservation in Malawi. Austin Bailey traveled to the project near Kasungu National Park to see a Heifer project that provides families with sustainable sources of animal protein, fuel and savings, so that they no longer need to illegally hunt in the park for food.

And if any of our faithful readers remember Ryan Bell from last year’s Holiday issue, well, he’s back. After a wildly successful campaign in which he raised $8,000 for Heifer, Ryan has launched a new effort to raise $25,000 for us. Ryan recently underwent a few surgeries to help lengthen his jaw bone and was so inspired by his own physical transformations that he wants to give his own “Gift of Transformation” to those in need, no matter how long it takes for him to raise the money.

So get out and check your mail, or check back soon at www.heifer.org/worldark for the online edition of the magazine. Happy reading!

International Day of the Girl Child: Little Soldier Girl

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Vanessa Chakhala, almost 2, snores away as her mother holds her.

Most of the children streaming over the packed-dirt roads and dusty orange paths of Malawi’s Mchinji region have no shoes to wear, although a few scuff around in ragged flip-flops. Shoes are a coveted commodity here, especially when the summer sun burns into the ground. Children who have only one shoe will wear it.

Vanessa has shoes to wear, making her one of the luckier children in her village.

Vanessa Chakhala, though, is luckier than most. A sturdy 22-month-old, her chubby feet are jammed into new blue jelly shoes even though her feet rarely touch the ground. The youngest in the family and the only girl, Vanessa gets heaps of special treatment. Her satiny peach-colored dress is torn but clean, and her hair is styled in short braids that match her mother’s. Mother Patricia, age 32, carries her daughter in her arms or on her back much of the time. When it’s time to nap, Vanessa snores away in Patricia’s lap.

The special treatment certainly hasn’t made Vanessa soft, though, and her mother is delighted by her only daughter’s sturdy build and stubborn personality. Patricia wants Vanessa to become a soldier so that she can be in charge of her own destiny. Unlike herself, Patricia said her daughter will have an education that extends beyond 8thgrade and a chance to shape her own future. Money for Vanessa’s education and the education of her three brothers will come from the meat goats Heifer provided. The family is also hoping that being able to add meat to their diet occasionally will make them stronger and better able to stave off malaria, diarrhea and malnourishment.

Baby Vanessa refuses to smile, which only makes her cuter.

Snapping cute photos of Chionko Village’s little princess Vanessa was no problem when she was sleeping, but the shoot shut down as soon as she woke up. Vanessa does what she wants, and she does not want to be in pictures. Her mother and the other women in her village danced for her, made faces, sang songs. But Vanessa wasn’t going to cooperate and refused to smile or pose.

It’s unlikely that a little girl in Malawi would be so fawned over or her obstinacy so celebrated 20 years ago. But today a woman is president here, and even in rural areas many girls are getting sent to school. It’s real progress.

But women and girls in Malawi are still expected to handle the majority of water fetching, cooking, gardening and tending children. These never-ending obligations cut into time girls could spend studying, and often smother their opportunity to live lives different from their mothers and grandmothers.

Today is the United Nations International Day of the Girl Child, a time to recognize the challenges girls in many developing countries face and to find ways to help them reach their potential. Gender equity is one of Heifer’s Cornerstones for Just and Sustainable Development, and encouraging women and girls to learn, cooperate and use their gifts is part of every project.

To learn more about International Day of the Girl Child, go here.

Nope. Still not going to smile.

Photos by Russell Powell

Cows in Malawi are a Daughter’s Piggy Bank

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Belia Mzukani, 21 years old, (left) her husband Baptista Mzukani, 21, and their 9-month-old baby Esnart in Gomani Folotiya Village, Malawi. Photo by Russell Powell

Baptista and Belia Mzukani have big plans for their daughter, Esnart. At 9 months old the baby is sharp and healthy, and her parents are laying the groundwork for her to stay that way.

The parents each grew up with seven siblings, meaning money, food and other resources were tight. Neither of them made it past 7th grade. That won’t be the case for Esnart, Belia said. She and Baptista plan to have only one more child, an unusual choice in Gomani Folotiya Village in central Malawi, where seven or eight children per family is the norm.

The family has two Heifer cows: Tiyamike, whose name means “Giving Thanks,” and the calf Madalitso, whose name means “Blessings.” Tiyamike’s milk is pulling in enough money that Esnart already has a savings account earmarked for education expenses. “I don’t want her to be denied what she needs,” Baptista said.

Belia and Esnart gather fodder for their Heifer cows. Photo by Russell Powell

Solving Energy Problems in Malawi

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Through the Kasungu Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Project, Heifer Malawi initiated the construction of energy-saving stoves using locally available materials in Kasungu district to address problems with accessing fuel wood for household use, such as cooking and heating, and contribute to the conservation of natural resources in the area surrounding the national park.

Energy-Saving Stove in MalawiIn Mphamba Village, Clara Phiri’s family has benefited from this initiative. Kasungu is a tobacco growing district and, as such, has used a lot of trees in the tobacco curing process, leading to a widespread fuel wood shortage. Local communities have long been engaged in the business of burning charcoal, further exacerbating the problem of tree cutting in and around the national park. An additional contributor to the fuel wood shortage is a traditional cooking method that uses three stones.

Before receiving an energy saving cookstove, Clara went through one head-load of firewood every three days to cook in her open three-stone fireplace. Now, with the more efficient cookstove, the same amount of wood lasts for eight days. This efficiency cuts down on the frequency of Clara’s trips to fetch firewood with her children 8 km away. The brick stove doesn’t require much firewood because, with two fire chambers working at the same time, Clara can use a few well-dried sticks and cook many things at once. Maize cores, twigs, branches, bamboo are often used as alternative sources of fuel wood. With heat being captured and conserved within the fire chambers of the new stove, there is less potential for accidents, and it is also a more hygienic method of cooking, as the ashes are contained and not blown about by the wind. Furthermore, the improved stove produces less smoke, which has resulted in improvements to human health. In the past, when using wet fuel wood in open fireplaces, the smoke caused many people to suffer from eye infections.

Heifer Malawi’s experience with improved cookstoves proves that this technology is not expensive because all resources used are locally sourced, quick and easily to build with only 26 standard bricks, and durable. With so many communities demanding these stoves, there is an opportunity for local artisans, who are being trained by Heifer Malawi, to earn a regular income by building and selling them.

Heifer Works in 8 out of 10 Countries Most At Risk To Climate Change

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Heifer participant in Sierra Leone.

Haiti, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Cambodia, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and the Philippines. According to a report by the British risk analysis firm, Maplecroft, these 10 countries are at the most extreme risk for impacts caused by climate change.

According to a post on EarthSky:

Maplecroft analyzed the vulnerability of 193 countries to climate change impacts. They first evaluated the degree to which countries will be exposed to extreme weather events and other climate-related natural disasters. Next, the company assessed the ability of countries to cope with climate change impacts by evaluating factors such as governmental effectiveness, infrastructure capacity and the availability of natural resources.

The report makes it clear that it is mostly the poorest sections of society that will bear the brunt of climate change impacts. 

Of the 10 countries listed, Heifer works in all but two (Madagascar and DRC). Improving communities’ resilience to climate change and disaster is integrated into many of our projects, particularly those in high risk areas. Last month I posted about a project of ours in the Philippines that was in the midst of Community-Managed Disaster Risk Reduction training when torrential rains caused damaging floods, further stressing the importance of the training.

By working with small farmers to find the most environmentally sensitive and beneficial approaches to agriculture, we are doing our part to curb climate change while reducing the risks faced by our project communities. In fact, Heifer International’s East Africa Dairy Development Initiative was mentioned in a report titled “Achieving Food Security in the Face of Climate Change” as an example of how programs can address food security in the context of climate change.

If you’re interested in funding work in a country from this top-10 high-risk list, check out the Integrated Livestock Development Project in Sierra Leone, which focuses on a region of Sierra Leone facing rapid population growth, a high incidence of communicable diseases, and increased pressure on natural resources and physical infrastructure. By providing participants with opportunities to build livelihoods using sustainable farming practices, this project will strengthen the communities and the environment at the same time.

Heifer Project Brings Prosperity and Peace to Malawi

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While preparing to receive dairy cattle, Heifer project participants were made fun of by doubting neighbors. Two years later, these successful farmers foster peace and share knowledge with those who mocked them.

Heifer Malawi: Innovative Pest Management

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The Malawi Smallholder Dairy Development Project, a three-year project funded by Heifer International and USAID, is trying a unique approach to pest management called the “push-pull technology.” Push-pull, first used in the late 1980s, uses certain plants to attract and trap insects, and other plants to repel them. In the Malawi project, corn is the main crop, which farmers interplant with Napier grass and desmodium. Napier grass is an effective “pull” plant, physically trapping larvae in its sticky secretion. Desmodium is the “push,” emitting chemicals that repel plants. Both crops can also be used as livestock feed.
Seven farmers from the project are experimenting with the push-pull technology. According to a quarterly report from Heifer Malawi, they have reported less insect damage to their crops.