Malawi The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa. It is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Malawi has eleven ethnic groups; the official languages are English and Chichewa, with other regional dialects spoken.
Recovering from an oppressive single party political system that forced millions of its people to settle in neighbouring countries, Malawi faces serious challenges related to food insecurity, poverty and the impact of HIV and AIDS.
Malawi’s economy is based on small-scale farming. But unreliable weather -- too much or too little rainfall -- frequently threatens harvests, and as a result, millions of people face food shortages. More than half of Malawi’s population live in extreme poverty.
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| Children at Risk in Malawi
Crippling poverty, HIV and AIDS, child abuse and exploitation threaten the lives and future of Malawi’s children. Key concerns for children include:
• Child labour -- Nearly one third of children aged 5 – 14 provide cheap labour, mostly to tobacco and tea estates grown for export.
• Harmful traditional practices -- More than half of all girls will be forced into early marriage, some before their 15th birthday.
• Orphaned by AIDS -- More than half a million children have lost one or both parents to HIV and AIDS, and many live in families now headed by children.
• Threatened by food shortages –- Malnutrition puts children’s lives at risk, and thwarts growth and development for a healthy future
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The burden of AIDS Malawi has been hit hard by the AIDS pandemic. Close to one million people in Malawi are currently living with HIV and AIDS, including 91,000 children under fourteen; half a million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
Chronic food shortages, coupled with the longer-term burden of HIV and AIDS, has placed millions of Malawi's people in need of urgent aid. World Vision in Malawi World Vision began working in Malawi in 1982 with community infrastructure projects including schools and water systems. education, water systems and other community services. By 1992, World Vision had established longer-term community-based area development programmes, and is now helping close to one million people.
Currently, World Vision is working with communities in 26 districts through 44 long-term Area Development Programmes (ADPs) and projects that are: • teaching farmers to use improved farming methods (providing fertiliser and improved variety seeds) and introducing and managing community grain banks that ensure families have enough food.
• helping children get better educations -– and improving their chances in life -– by building and improving school facilities, helping needy families to pay school fees and buy uniforms, and providing exercise books and other school materials.
• making health services more accessible by building and stocking rural health facilities, and training traditional birth attendants (known as barefoot midwives).
• advocating for more HIV and AIDS Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres (VCTs) and life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to people who are HIV-positive.
• challenging cultural traditions like circumcision (where a single blade is used on many initiates) and polygamy.
• training local people to better understand disaster warnings and to reduce the impact of disasters.
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