Over the years WOW donors have supported the Njewa community and have seen many positive changes in individuals lives.  "The widow's heart is now singing" says Theresa Malila, head of Somebody Cares, WOW strategic partner working with the Njewa Community.  Upon a recent visit, Rita Prins, Executive Director of WOW, met Matilda, a young widow struggling to raise four children.  Because of donors like you, there is hope for Matilda and her children.  They have a safe and secure home, the children are attending school and Matilda is receiving small business training.  This young family is currently receiving emergency food packs until Matilda is ready to begin her small business and support her family herself.  Please watch the video below and meet these beautiful people.

The Njewa Shed has received a face lift…bringing a new look to it by repainting and plastering it. The Shed has been given a new coat of peach paint on the inside and out, the roof has also been repaired and the floor given a chalkboard checkered floor painting. In addition to this the children have each received sticks of chalk and dusters. For the first time, they are all able to write on the floor, mimicking their teacher as she teachers them the basics of the alphabet and number.

The children in Njewa are full of excitement at the new look some said, “We will learn in a good school and will be able to write using chalk just like our teacher”, said one little girl. Jane Meja, the class head teacher, could not hide her excitement and thanks to Somebody Cares Ministries and its partners. “The shed is looking beautiful, more than before. And my chalkboard has been enlarged as well. Also, I was just wondering what was going on, with the floor but now I see it! It is awesome and has increased the quality of learning for my children. It is amazing. Somebody out there really cares for the people. Who can do all this for someone they don’t know?”

What a joy it is to see children given the opportunity to write and learn. With the chalk floor, Jane Meja and her assisting caregivers are able to improve the quality of education given to the little ones. This will give them an advantage as they go from the feeding centre to standard 1. The name given to the children that are cared for through Somebody Cares is ‘Children of Promise” and they surely are. God’s promise. With all that they face, these little ones can smile while they draw and learn and are fed. Even though the little ones cannot say it, we say it…thank you for your love and support.

Loveness is her namesake; a young lady with such vibrancy that she is immediately noticed, when she comes into a room. She has six siblings, 4 boys and 2 girls. Loveness’s father is a committed Pastor in Mtandire, within the community of Njewa, the area in which Somebody Cares Ministries is working in partnership with WOW Canada, executing different activities, like Home Based Care, youth ministry, widows and Pastoral meetings and trainings.

Love’s father fell ill and found that he could not use his legs. He failed to make it to church and so could no longer pastor. This meant that his income (the only one supporting the family) was no longer available. Love’s mother tried to find work but with such a large family, money became very scarce and times extremely hard. But the Nkhosa’s remained together, struggling from day to day.

Loveness then took on the task of caring for her entire family through odd jobs and later through selling items. As a result her school work suffered and she continued do worse. Eventually the strain was too much…school was put on the burner. She was out of school for close to two years but she was later given an opportunity to go back through the scholarships provided through SC and WOW. All of Love’s brothers and sisters are were given an opportunity to return to school, which has taken a huge burden off of her. Even though primary education is free, there are things like, uniforms and school supplies, and sometimes schools ask for money for something and when you don’t pay, the children are sent home until they do. Furthermore children that live in homes where food is a struggle also struggle in their desire for school, attention in school etc…So the change in adopting all the children into the school program changed so much for this family. And although Love remains responsible for the family in many ways, she rejoices at the fact that her family has seen the hand of God.

Love is a very active young lady who, looking at their situation at home, did not sit back and give up but stood up for her brothers and sisters by venturing into a small scale business of selling slippers, wraps and girls items knowing that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

She was and is able to contribute towards the family by providing them with basic needs. SC introduced a revolving fund which Loveness became one of the beneficiary and she applied for MK 15,000 ($106CAD) to top up her business so that she can become financially empowered and also be able to save more for her business.

As a strong believer, Love is also the leader of the youth ministry in Mtandile. She quotes her community as being “full of so much that can sway a young person. There is so much drinking and immoral living. So many young people are taken up with that. That is why I fight for the youth…to do something that has lasting results, for the good. And as to what God has done for me…it is just a miracle, what is happening to my family.”

Pemphani is a 13 year orphan from Njewa who was diagnosed HIV positive in the year 2008. This was so as a result of being raped by her uncle.

Pemphani parents were Idesi and Mtenjela and the family lived in Bwanje, Ntcheu (250 km from Lilongwe). Pemphani lost her mother while very young, at the age of 3. Pemphani and her sister Ester (aged 6 at the time) were left in the care of their father. Things changed from bad to worse when Pemphani’s father remarried and the second wife did not like the idea of keeping the two children, insisted her husband get rid of them. Mtenjela agreed and as a result, Idesi’s sister took custody of the girls. In 2004 Ester left her aunt’s house and went to look for a job as a housemaid. Her decision to leave home was due to the fact that she was facing abuse in the home. From a very young age she and her sister were forced to travel a 10km distance in order to sell green maize (corn) for their aunt. The journey was gruesome for girls so young (especially on a daily basis) so first chance she got, Ester took off. This left Pemphani alone in her aunt’s home.

In April 2008, Pemphani was alone in the house, her aunt having gone to the garden to fetch firewood. Her uncle told Pemphani to go inside the house and get a packet of sugar from the bedroom.When Pemphani was inside the room, her uncle followed her and he raped her.He threatened her not to say this to anyone, especially her aunt. He told her if she reveals anything, he would kill her.Pemphani was really traumatised and afraid of telling anyone about this and she kept silent.

After a month, Pemphani went to visit her mother’s brother.When it was time to return, she refused to go back with her aunt and guardian. When her uncle questioned as to why she was refusing to go back to her aunt’s home, she broke down and reported all that had been happening.This ordeal shocked everyone; especially her aunt, not only because of the rape but because of the fact everyone knew Pemphani's uncles' status. They all knew he was HIV positive and he was on ARV’s. Even though they knew this, no one took Pemphani for an HIV test.

In 2009, Pemphani began to get sick. Her uncle broke the news to their grandmother who stays in Njewa (although he did not mention the rape). Gloria is a widow and one of most active widows on the WOW program. Gloria immediately went to Bwanje to get Pemphani and brought her back to stay with her. Pemphani improved and all was forgotten. After four months Pemphani’s legs started swelling and she was feeling a great deal of pain.Gloria took her to the hospital but the doctor did not find any problem after examining her. He just gave her painkillers.There was no improvement and instead she became more and more ill and had to be taken back to the hospital.This time the doctor suggested that an HIV test be undertaken. Gloria accepted counselling and testing was done and the results came back that she was positive. This is when Pemphani told her grandmother of the rape that had occurred the previous year. She had to start ARV’s immediately since her CD4 count was already very low. After starting treatment, her condition has improved; she can now stand on her own, walk and help out around the home.

During an interview with a home based care coordinator, through Somebody Cares, a WOW strategic partner in Malawi, Pemphani was asked how she feels now and what she thinks about her future. In response to this she said she is always afraid and she will never ever trust a man. She confessed that she her consolation is that she lives in a man-free environment, one where there is no male coming into the house. She said that she will never accept to stay in any relative’s house where there is a husband ever again.

It is heart-breaking to see so little a girl with such great wounds of the traumatic experience she has been through. It is almost unbelievable to note that even though her relatives knew that Pemphani's uncle was positive, no one took Pemphani for a test neither did anyone report the matter to the police. At present, the case of the rape has been reported but as to what will actually happen to the uncle, whether he will face any prosecution, no one knows.

We are so thankful for WOW donors who support communities like Njewa.  It is because of the support that Pemphani's grandmother is receiving through the activities of the widows group in Njewa, that Pemphani was able to be rescued and given a safe and secure place to live.  WOW is also partnering with Somebody Cares in building and running a Rape Crisis Centre near Njewa.  Somebody Cares has already completed the long process of purchasing the land and acquiring deeds to the title.  An architect has been hired and soon we will be breaking ground.  Home based care workers have already been sent down to South Africa for rape crisis counselling training and they are already sharing their knowledge with Pemphani and many other children like her.  It is because of donors like you that people like Pemphani have hope.  Thank you is never enough but hopefully as you read stories like these from the field, you will understand the incredible impact you have made not only in one persons life but the lives of many.  Thank you!

Born in 1968 in Chigoneka, Mtandire Township, Lilongwe, Alefa married Mashon  and were blessed with three children, all girls.

Mashon was a telephone operator at STANCOM, one of the leading tobacco companies in the country. He took good care for the family, as he was relatively well paid.  He set up a grocery business for his wife, which expanded very rapidly. ‘My children were attending a good nursery school and happiness seemed to be a constant companion in our home’, she said.

 With her husband’s good job and a booming business, Alefa and her husband enjoyed a stable lifestyle for nearly five years.  Then suddenly, Mashon started getting ill. He had frequent bouts of fever with very painful coughs. He was diagnosed with TB and after a while he was advised to go for HIV/AIDS test.

‘When my husband was found HIV positive, it was a foregone conclusion that I too was infected with the virus,’ she recalled, fighting to hold back her tears. And it was so. They were put on ARV drugs. In less than six months, on one October morning in 2004, Mashon suddenly passed away.

‘Things quickly turned for the worse for me. My late husband’s relatives took away everything including the groceries, leaving the shop completely empty. All of a sudden my children and I became destitute, overnight, having nowhere to turn for support,’ said Alefa.

This situation caused deterioration of her health and made her a frequent visitor to the nearby hospital. At one point Alefa was hospitalized for over two months. During this period her three kids were left virtually on their own, scavenging the neighbourhood for scraps of food.

Upon discharge from the hospital Alefa and her children were thrown out of their house because she could pay the rent. She had to move with her children into her 79 year old mother’s dilapidated house. The situation continued to worsen, as the family faced starvation; Alefa had additional responsibility of caring for her ageing mother. To support the family she had to work as domestic servant in the city. After 9 months Alefa was able to save some money to start a small business in vegetables. Though the business in the beginning fetched some relief to the family it was far from solving their problem; the little profit made provided one meal a day. This was soon exhausted and the family ended up using the capital, thereby bring the business to an end.

Alefa shifted from vegetable business to working as casual labourer on neighbour’s farms. In most communities casual labourers are paid in kind (mainly food commodities). So she had to work for whatever food items that were available.

It was during this time that she came in contact with the zone leader of Mtandile through coming to the WOW meetings. Agnes Kachinjika then registered her after hearing her story and verifying it.

She was immediately placed on WOW support.

‘There was an immediate u-turn in my life. I was not only receiving food, clothes and blankets but I was also receiving the Word of God through our Bible classes and the occasional pastoral program,’ she said. Alefa is now one of the participants at the WOW widows’ training in sewing. She is among the top four in her class.

‘I want to acquire all the necessary skills so that I will one day set up my own independent business; this is my main goal. As such I would not want to miss a single day of the entire training period,’ she said with a broad smile. Alefa has made bed sheets out of several pieces of cloth by nicely joining them together. She has also made several items such as shorts, shirts, skirts and blouses. Alefa is surely determined to achieve her goal. Looking at her, it is certain that God is with her and His hand has always been there to guide her through her desert experiences. In a time where so much suffering surrounds us, we look to the ray of light that radiates through the story of this lady. We look and we thank God for His mercies. We thank God because, with the giving of some, Alefa is able live.

"I was hesitant to visit your widow program because all the widows I have visited are always so sad and helpless and I feel miserable that I cannot fulfill their expectations.  However, after seeing the joy and hope of your widows and what they are able to do, I am overjoyed and amazed at what you are doing and have achieved, this is wonderful, you are truly making positive change and the Government is proud to partner with Somebody Cares”.

Mrs Anna Kachiko (MP) Minister of Women and Child Development, during a visit to Njewa WOW Program.

WIDOWS UPDATE

Food Security

Food security project for widows was one of the main activities during the month. Forty-six widows from Njewa were organized into a club to cultivate three acres of land provided for them. The widows prepared the land and were given 30 kilograms of seed maize. This they will use to produce their own food and be released from being dependent on food hand-outs.  This is the approach  WOW and Somebody Cares Ministry (SCM), a WOW strategic partner in Malawi, has adopted and will future be replicated in the other zones where WOW operates, after the pilot project in Njewa. In addition to maize, the widows will also be provided fertilizer for their garden once the crop is two weeks old.

The idea of helping the widows grow their own food is one of the ways of ensuring sustainability of the program.

The Njewa widows were joyful with the prospect of having to produce their own food.  ‘Come next season, these women will have enough food to feed themselves’, commented Ellen Mkwangwi, the zone leader.

While the widows want to farm together, land is a limiting factor in their drive to cultivate large areas. For instance, Mgona has very little land for farming which cannot support large group farming. The Njewa farmers are cultivating land that would soon be put to other uses; this means it will only be used for one season, thereafter they have to look for other land.

Food security pilot project had a few hitches – widows in the other zones wanted to be part of pilot project but the resources were not enough to accommodate everyone on board. The toughest time of year is when the answer ‘no we cannot’ is spoken so often, to people in such dire need. Nonetheless, the world is changed, one life at a time. As we help one widow after another, we believe that the world is changing.

Loan Payments

Final payment of loan taken by widows of Njewa and Mtandire was completed during the month. A hundred percent recovery rate was achieved in both zones with one exception. Six months ago 10 widows each from Mtandire and Njewa were given MK5, 000.00 apiece to enable them conduct small businesses. All but one paid off their loan; the one, Joyce, was robbed the night she received the money. That night thieves broke into her home and took away all her belongings including the money.

 Evaluation of the pilot project showed that the widows were left with reasonable amounts of money to continue with their businesses. One widow was able to pay school fees for her grandchild who started secondary school education. Another opened a bank account at Opportunity Bank International, Lilongwe branch. According to them the loan scheme had impacted positively on their lives; they could provide food and other necessities for their households. 

SC provided each widow with a certificate to celebrate their faithfulness and good business sense. Each widow proudly took her certificate, joyful that they had all made their payments.

All the widows who participated in the loan scheme said it was a very good idea, as it has helped them a great deal. They were able to keep the profit which they now use to continue the business. They all agreed on the positive impact the scheme has had on their lives. They could now feed their families better.

The loan scheme has proved to be very successful and is a dignified way of giving these women a sense of worth and pride (the good type) in working to care for their families.

Many more widows were asking to be considered for the next allocation of the loan. As money allocated for the loan fell far short of the number of people who qualified for it, selection posed huge challenge for the program.

Bibles

Twenty-five Bibles were distributed to 25 widows in Njewa. These Bibles could not have come at a better time than this; the widows used to borrow Bibles from neighbours or from friends in the nearby villages. Those that are illiterate sent their grandchildren to borrow and read for them. With this distribution the recipients are now able to access the Holy Book at their own time.

One of the recipients was LUCY, who is 65 years old.  Her husband passed away six years ago leaving her with nine children. Presently she has five children only, because the other four died within four years after her husband’s death. “The last one to die was working and was so helpful to me in bringing up the other children”, lamented Lucy. “He was found lying dead by the roadside one morning, and I felt the world was against me since there was nothing left for me. To this day, I do not know what happened to him. People came to console me with the word of God from the bible but they always went back with their bibles. Sometime later, I managed to find a New Testament, which is what I have always had until today when Somebody Cares has given me the complete bible”. Now I shall be able to read the Psalms which I have always heard read in church, from where I was able to memorise Psalm: 3 vs. 5 “I LAY DOWN AND SLEPT; I AWOKE, FOR THE LORD SUSTAINED ME. I don’t feel like a widow, desolate, the way I did before because from HIS word, I know the LORD sustains me.  May GOD bless Amai for this bible and the other bibles that my fellow widows have also received today”, concluded LUCY with tears of joy and disbelief in her eyes.

GLORIA is also 65 years of age.  Her husband died in the year 2005. Her only child had died earlier in the year 2000.  This aged lady takes care of four grand children.   

“I am grateful for the bible” she said,  “I always borrowed a bible from the neighbours, but today I have my own which I will read every day. People have mocked me since my husband’s demise. When he was alive we used to do well and after he died i fell on hard times. Some people gloried in that fact, that I was going through hard times. In the process, I developed hatred and anger for people and my anger extended as far as my grandchildren.”   “I have been crying all these years but with time I repented and asked the LORD to be merciful to me is when I discovered that it is only in the word of the LORD that I can truly find refuge. Because of this I have learned to love even those that mock me. Therefore, I am so thankful  to Somebody Cares for this bible. May god continue blessing Amai. My favourite verse, that I have memorised is Psalm 6 verse 2...Be merciful to me LORD for I am faint: O LORD heal me for my bones are in agony”

EVILESI is 55.  Both her two sons passed away three years ago. But five years before that, her husband just dumped her one morning  and went away with another woman.  EVILESI does not read but loves to hear the word of GOD.  The five children she looks after at the house are the ones that read to her from borrowed bibles. “My problem is solved now, having received this bible” She said.

The widows of Njewa have much to be thankful about.  They are praising God for their new found skills and the joy that they feel continually shows in their faces.  Please enjoy the comments from several of the widows in Njewa.

Gertrude is the Chairlady fo the WOW Njewa Group and she says, "I have seen the real light!  I use to sit and watch the sun come up and the sun go down.  Look at me now, I produce soap.  I thought soap could only be produced in a factory.  I have an income.  When my husband was alive I neer had money of my own.  I believed you needed a man to have money.  Now as a widow I have my own money.  I can take care of my children and grandchildren.  Thank God for WOW!"

Jane the leader in the Njewa women's bible study group shares, "Since we received bibles, everyone is growing spiritually in our bible club.  Yes, we knew there was a God who took care of us, but now we have seen His mighty hand.  Look around you, this is a dream come true.  We realize God is our source - we thank God for this program. We learned this according to Hebrews 10:25 in one of our bible studies - Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.   We give thanks for the Bibles."

Makulata says, "I am overjoyed - I am singing a different song to the Lord these days - I give thanks for He is a God that answers.  I make clothes, I could not even sew before.  I now make clothes, use a sewing machine and I generate an income through this.  What more can I say but once more thanks.  I could have been a prostitute because I had become desperate.  But God answered through this project, I have regained my dignity."

Mercy says, "I have never in my life imagined that this is what I would be doing, making beautiful bracelets and necklaces.  I feel empowered, no more begging!  I cannot believe it, but it is real.  I am earning an income.  I am even able to train others.  Just imagine, an illiterate like me being a trainer to others!  This program is amazing."

Elina shares, "I make doughnuts and sell it around the community.  Even the visitors who come buy my doughnuts, so they must be very good for a Mzungu (a visitor) to eat them!   Before I never earned a single kwacha. I was dependent on my husband and when he died, everything else came to a halt.  But now I have much hope, I make 1,000 MWK a week (approximately $9.00 CAD).  Can you believe it, 1,000 MWK?  I could not before come by 100 MWK a week! Thank you for renewing our faith in God."

Lastly Jeliva shares, "I have come a long way - from a beggar to a business woman. Yes, you should believe that. I used to beg house to house.  Now everyone sees me going to the main road and around the community on my bike selling soap.  I make 900 MWK (approximately $ 8.00 CAD) from one lot of soap making.  I can now hande kwacha notes, when I went begging I handled coins.  My life has purpose - thanks."

It is an incredible blessing to meet with these widows and share in their joy.  They carry themselves with dignity and dance with all their hearts in thanks to God.  It has only been a bit more than a year since funding for this community began in significant amounts and the changes in Njewa have been overwhelming.  The widows in this community are now sharing their time and talents with widows in other commuities - that's a new way of tithing!!  Thank you to all the WOW donors who have so faithfully given and prayed for the people of this community.

Somebody Cares through the WOW program is currently providing educational support to over seventy children in both primary and secondary schools. This story covers only three of them as follows:

Memory 17, lost her father ten years ago. Her illiterate and unemployed mother struggled to provide care and education for her and younger sibling. This meant working in neighbours’ gardens for food and little cash amid frequent bouts of various sicknesses. She finally succumbed to HIV/AIDS in 2004, leaving her two daughters. Memory at that time became head of their household taking care of their late parents’ home. They received virtually no support from their other relatives. Their situation became very serious in 2006, at which time Somebody Cares adopted them and started providing assistance. Memory’s education cost has since been met by the organization. She is very hard working in school, always coming in the first top ten of her class. Memory will be finishing her secondary school education next year. If this momentum of hard work continues, she will be expected to go to university in two years time.

 Maria was born 14 years ago in Dedza District, some 80 kilometers east of Lilongwe. With the death of her father in 1999, Maria’s mother moved to Mgona slum near Lilongwe City, where she got married and had two other children. She finally passed away in 2005, leaving Maria and her very young siblings with their seventy-year-old poverty-stricken grandmother. Since primary education is free, Maria finished her primary education quickly and was selected to secondary school but could not go further than that due to lack of money. She stayed at home helping her granny care for her siblings for about a year. One day her case came to the attention of Somebody Cares through the zone coordinator of Mgona zone. She and her siblings were adopted and are now receiving support. Maria is now in her second year in secondary school. She is not only hard working but also very intelligent, most times coming on top of her class. Maria’s main goal is to have university education so she can help her half brother and sister. Maria’s prayer is that God should prolong her seventy-year-old grandmother’s life so that she would be able to comfort her one day.

 Dorothy now 13 years old, terminated her primary education at the age of ten to give care to her sick mother at home. Dorothy’s HIV/AIDS positive mother at the time became very sick. Her situation got worse when her husband abandoned her and 3 children. She suffered from a very devastating stroke which left her completely paralyzed. Dorothy being the eldest child had no other alternative but to drop out of school to take up the mantle of caring for her mother. The family went through gruesome experience; access to food and clothing was virtually impossibile, the family had to rely on food handouts from neighbours, something uncertain and irregular in coming. When WOW adopted this family they were not only provided with spiritual and material support but also relieved Dorothy to go back to school. In her absence Somebody Cares volunteers in the zone take turn to do all the cleaning and other household chores for the family. Dorothy is now happily attending a private school paid for by WOW. 

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Patricia became a widow as a teenager when her husband, Samson, died when she was nineteen years of age.

Now at 23, instead of her life beginning she is a widow with three children. Patricia relates how she was forced into early marriage by her parents at a tender age of fifteen. Patricia’s dream of getting a good education came to an abrupt end when her parents decided to give her up to marriage, citing poverty as their main reason for their decision. Coming from a Muslim background, her plea to her parents against this unfortunate decision fell on deaf ears. Patricia had no choice but to accept Samson who was also a Muslim.

The family lived on Samson’s meager income from his work as a security guard. Though things were not too rosy they had something to live on until Samson left his job when he became seriously ill with TB. He was later diagnosed HIV positive. His sickness deteriorated and he died within a year. With their three children (all boys) to care for alone, Patricia was faced with an uphill task when both her parents and her late husband’s relatives disowned her and her children for converting to Christianity. They lived on handouts which were irregular and inadequate from a few Christian neighbours. The family slept on bare (un-cemented) floor; the only local mat they had got worn out completely. But these difficulties did not deter young Patricia to abandon her new faith; rather she continued her church work with more vigor.

She came into contact with one of our volunteers who brought her case to Somebody Cares field staff. The organization immediately registered her and provided initial assistance including mats, blankets and food. Patricia is HIV positive but her sons including, the youngest that is two years old, are all negative. She has been put on the WOW program and is eager to learn many skills that will enable her to support her children. ‘I am so grateful to Somebody Cares and the WOW program for this life changing assistance they are rendering to me and my children. I want to learn these skills with all seriousness and it is my prayer that I should live to give my children a good education before I die, something I couldn’t achieve on my own.’