In Malawi, child rape is a tough case

Jan 23 2012 under malawi | Leave a comment

A version of this article was originally published at Canada’s Toronto Star website on December 19, 2011.

Dr. Neil Kennedy recently told me he sees an average of 20-25 cases of child sexual abuse a month referred to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, Malawi.

I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly.

“Yes, that many,” he confirmed. “I was working a shift last month when I saw three in one day.”

Our conversation was part of a discussion on sexual violence in Malawi. Kennedy, head of pediatrics and child health at the University of Malawi’s College of Medicine, proceeded to dispel any doubts about the scale of this problem.

He called attention to a report titled “Suffering at School: Results of the Malawi Gender-Based Violence in Schools Survey,” which was published in October 2005 and based on interviews with more than 4,400 youth from various segments of society.

“Almost one in four children have been forced to have sex against their will,” the document states. “Repeat victimization is common.”

Indicating that little has changed in the six years since that report was published, Malawi’s Daily Times newspaper recently reported that it carried 16 stories covering 22 cases of child sexual abuse for the months of August and September 2011 alone.

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Chronic fuel shortages keep Malawians talking

Dec 19 2011 under malawi | Leave a comment

This article was originally published at Journalists for Human Rights website on December 19, 2011.

One theme runs through conversations in Malawi more than any other: the topic of fuel – and a lack thereof.

No one’s discovered oil underneath Malawi, the government has all but exasperated the foreign currency reserves it needs to buy petrol and diesel from sources outside the country, and no monetary institution trusts President Bingu wa Mutharika enough to give the government the loans it could use to import fuel on a regular basis.

The result is an erratic pattern of supply that often leaves tanks empty.

Here’s a look back at how the fuel crisis has played out over the last couple of months, and a snapshot of day-to-day chatter on the matter in Malawi.

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Malawi: Changing climate compounds environmental degradation

Nov 28 2011 under malawi | Leave a comment

This is an excerpt from a feature article that was originally published at Inter Press Service on November 28, 2011. It was coauthored with Archibald Kasakura.

As Daniel Chakunkha and Mussa Abu talk on the side of a dirt path in Makunje village, Malawi, a steady stream of bicycles loaded with charcoal passes by. The men stand at the halfway mark between Mwanza, a small city in the country’s southwest, and Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial hub.

The 50-kilometre-long road joining the two is a figurative energy highway; a constant stream of bicycles heavily laden with oversized bags of charcoal.

“We are forced to walk this distance,” Chakunkha said. “It’s not like we chose to go to (Mwanza) village, but it is the only place where some trees are left.” Informal charcoal makers like Chakunkha and Abu travel to Mwanza because of the easy availability of trees there. They use the trees to produce charcoal and then transport it back to Blantyre for sale.

Chakunkha and Abu have both worked as charcoal producers since the 1970s. They recounted how the industry has steadily consumed trees and pushed production sites further away from densely-populated urban areas.

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Gay in Malawi: 14 years for the “supposed crime of loving each other”

Nov 4 2011 under malawi | Leave a comment

This is an excerpt from a feature article that was originally published in Canada’s Toronto Star on October 17, 2011.

In Malawi, revealing that you are gay is a very brave thing to do. David Chibwana recounted the day he told a carefully selected few.

“My older brother by four years, he said that whatever happens, he will support me,” whispered Chibwana. “But others said that they do not want to be close to me. That they were afraid that other people would associate them with what I am; that I am gay. So they shun me.”

Since then, Chibwana (not his real name) has suffered through worse circumstances than simply being ignored.

“One evening, I was walking home and somebody shouted, “We do not want you here,” he said. “And then a group threw stones at me. I had to run away so fast.”

In the southern African nation often touted as one of the continent’s most-peaceful, gays, lesbians and transgender citizens face up to 14 years in prison for, in the words of the editorial board of the Guardian, “the supposed crime of loving each other.”

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Blantyre Market rebuilds with bricks (and a note on negativity)

Oct 16 2011 under malawi | Leave a comment

Hammers banged overhead as Blantyre Market merchants described ongoing reconstruction efforts. A fire gutted the commercial district on September 19 and three weeks later, shopkeepers continued the struggle to rebuild the foundation of their livelihoods.

“As you may see, most of us are now using brick material to reconstruct the shop buildings because we agreed that this may reduce the speed at which possible fires can spread,” said Raphael Nameta, the owner of an electronics shop. “But not all merchants can afford concrete – some are again using wood, and some have still not found the resources to rebuild their shops due to economic hardships.”

Nameta explained that some merchants are assisting one another by pooling money for shared walls and the like in an effort to move forward from this devastating event. But there was no centralized decision to rebuild the market with materials stronger (and more expensive) than wood, he noted. Cooperative efforts materialized naturally.

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This week in Malawi: Markets torched and protests cancelled

Sep 21 2011 under malawi | 1 Comment

Portions of this article were first published at Inter Press Service on September 21, 2011.

Soot and ash filled the air the day after a fire gutted Malawi’s Blantyre Market. Touring the rubble on September 20, it stung the eyes and was felt with each breath.

Solemn faces mixed with desperate action as men and women shovelled piles of debris from the site. Dozens of merchants lost everything in the blaze. They now worked carefully, taking effort to avoid thick puddles of foul black slime.

Many told us that businesses they had spent years building were totally destroyed.

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The story behind Malawi Vice President Joyce Banda’s dedication to women’s empowerment

Sep 19 2011 under malawi | Comments Off

This article was originally published at Journalists for Human Rights website on September 18, 2011.

It’s often fascinating to hear from where an activist found their dedication to a cause.

I’ve interviewed a young victim of molestation who openly shared her story in the hopes of letting abused children know that they are not alone. There was a bereaved mother who founded an experimental drug rehabilitation centre after her son overdosed while backpacking in Thailand. And I’ve met plenty of convicted criminals who now work to prevent youth from making the same mistakes that they did.

More recently, in Malawi, several women carrying the HIV/AIDS virus bravely broke cultural taboos and let their names and stories be publicized in order to spread awareness of the disease.

Another favourite inspirational story I’ve enjoyed since arriving in southern Africa is that of Malawi’s vice president, Joyce Banda.

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Malawi: Activists’ homes burn as unrest continues

Sep 14 2011 under malawi | Leave a comment

This article was originally published at Africa Report on September 13, 2011.

When Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika warned activists, “I will follow you to your hiding place and smoke you out,” the public was startled. But few took their leader’s threats literally.

That was before two lead organisers of July 20 demonstrations saw their properties burn in obvious acts of arson (bringing the total for the year to three). Now, people are asking, is Mutharika making good on his threat?

Shortly after midnight on August 11, a “petrol bomb” sailed through the window of Rev. MacDonald Sembereka’s home. Thankfully, no one was hurt. But the house was gutted by the blaze.

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Malawians protest a nation in decline

Sep 6 2011 under malawi | Leave a comment

This is an excerpt from a feature article that was originally published in Canada’s Toronto Star on September 6, 2011. It was coauthored with Archibald Kasakura.

By Travis Lupick and Archibald Kasakura

BLANTYRE, MALAWI—A silent line of cars and buses rolls down a hill leading out of Blantyre, Malawi. It’s an eerie thing. So quiet, save for the faint sound of rubber rolling over asphalt. Every vehicle’s engine is turned off — their drivers, desperate to save every drop of fuel.

There are much louder signs that this southern African country is missing out on the continent’s slow climb from poverty. On July 20, demonstrations caught the world’s attention, when protests turned to riots that left 19 dead.

Since then, a shaky UN-brokered dialogue between civil society leaders and President Bingu wa Mutharika has begun. But a second round of nationwide demonstrations is scheduled for Sept. 21, and the anxiety surrounding that date is palpable.

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