A Life Well Lived, A Story Worth Telling

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

I remember it was in 1994 when I first watched the movie ‘Sarafina!’ and found myself in tears after watching the part where young students were killed at a school by police during the apartheid regime in South Africa, for simply demanding for a quality education.  As the six caskets were ready for burial, the pastor who led the service made a powerful statement: “They fear you because you are young.  They fear you because you are the generation of a free nation…”  Yes, I cried.

It was just a movie, but it depicted the reality of how South Africa had gone through during the apartheid regime.  A regime that used brutality against the true sons and daughters of the African soil; punishing them from being black, and killing them for seeking justice.

This was a generation of people filled with hatred, people filled with the desire to avenge what they had gone through: losing their fathers, losing their brothers, losing their children, losing their lovers, and losing their best friends.  It was a generation of people who wanted to take justice into their own hands, just waiting for the right time to zoom in on the target and strike.  But you said no Madiba, you said it wasn’t worth it.

This was a generation of people who hailed you, who saw you as their hero, their idol, their role model, their saviour.  People who were demanding for your release from the life imprisonment that was handed to you years before they were even born.  They wanted to see you walk out of that jail call, join them in the fight, and crush the enemy together.  But you said no Madiba, you said it wasn’t worth it.

It was a generation of people with bitterness, people whose eyes were filled with anger as they remembered how one of their own icons, Steve Biko, was killed in the hands of police because of demanding for equal rights.  They wanted to avenge his death, wanted all those who caused it to die, wanted to do it with their own hands, and with your help.  But you said no Madiba, you said it just wasn’t worth it.

This was a generation that had experienced massive segregation, a generation that was not allowed to live as normal human beings, a generation that faced restrictions from an administration that did not formerly belong there, a generation that wanted to claim back their land, their glory, their pride and their strength.  But you said no Madiba, you said it wasn’t quite worth it.

You said no to the quarrels, you said no to the hatred, you said no to the bitterness, you said no to the revenge.  You said yes to forgiveness, you said yes to peace, you said yes to unity, and you said yes to freedom.  You were the icon for the rainbow nation, and you taught all of us – Blacks and Whites, Christians and Muslims, Jews and Gentiles, Believers and Non-Believers, Old and Young – you taught us that the hatred, the vengeance and the bitterness were just not worth it.

Now you have gone, gone back home to our Father who sent you to us, and I don’t want to shed a tear.  I don’t want to shed a tear because of your departure, because you have managed to fulfil the duty that the Father sent you to do.  I don’t want to shed a tear over your departure because you have managed to see a nation that you envisioned.  I don’t want to shed a tear, because yours is a life well lived, and a story worth telling.  Oh no, I will not cry.

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Somebody please intervene in the CAR

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

The United Nations Humanitarian Affairs office has warned that there are “seeds” of genocide being planted in the Central African Republic (CAR).  The Director, John Ging, made the remark while being interviewed by CNN during the Amanpour program, and he expressed his concern on what was currently going on in the country.

Ging’s concerns are due to the fact that the ongoing clashes in the heart of Africa are sectarian, creating more tension between the Christian and the Muslim societies.  Quite a big number of people have already been killed and thousands others are fleeing their homes, fearing for their lives.

The UN Official has one specific plea: The UN Security Council should allow a special peace force to intervene, taking into consideration the reality that the CAR is incapable of offering security, neither is its military nor the police force.  The issue will be addressed to the Security Council very soon, and Ging hopes that the resolution will be passed, so that the world does not experience yet again what happened in Rwanda, Balkans and Darfur.

There is a possibility that some might not take Mr. Ging’s plea seriously, especially since the world is busy concentrating more on the Arab Spring, specifically with the war within Syria where it is no secret that some big nations are still in a heated argument on whether or not to use military force on al-Assad’s  government.  However, what is going on in the CAR is also huge, and if preventive measures are not taken now, we might regret in the future.

Let us look a bit at the Central African Republic.  As it is with nearly all African countries colonised by Europeans, the CAR is also rich in natural resources, and it has a history of being governed by dictators.  It gained its independence from the French in 1958, and it has already experienced four coups since 1960.  In short, this is country whose 4.6 million people are used to violent politics.

One of the former rulers, Jean- Bédel Bokassa who took over the country in 1966 claimed that he was a Caesar with the likes of Napoleon.  Rumours had it that Bokassa used to eat human flesh, and human limbs were normally stored in his freezers.

Despite the political history, the CAR is also surrounded by countries who are involved in conflicts as well.  It is boarded by Congo to the south, a country that has been in war since 1998; while it shares its northern boarder with Sudan, a country that has also been in civil war since 2004.

The current violence in the CAR involves the Séléka rebels, a group that involves five rebel groups, including UFDR and CPJP that are accused of having elements of jihad.  All those groups opposed the government for many years, and in March this year they took over the capital city of Bangui with an estimated 5,000 fighters, and overthrew President Francois Bozizé.

The leader of the Séléka group, Michel Djotodia declared himself president after the coup, but right now he has lost power over the Séléka rebels and what is going on right now is the groups stirring religious conflicts between Christians and Muslims.  It should be remembered that Djotodia is a Muslim leading a country where 80 percent of its people are Christian.  The worst case scenario is that there is evidence that the rebels have been involved in war crimes, including murder.

People are running away from their homes because the killings are focused on ordinary citizens.  This has caused many of them to find refuge in the bushes and elsewhere, since instead of the clashes being between the government and the rebels – as it is for countries like Syria – they are actually between Islam and Christianity.

In the village of Bossangoa, for example, about 35,000 people are reported to have fled their homes and sought refuge at the Catholic Mission.  Most of them are Christians who are scared of being killed by the Islamic groups.  At the same time, Muslims are also afraid of being killed by Christian groups seeking revenge, and they have also ran away from their villages and taken refuge at the Liberty school.  What is going on is the ghost villages being burnt down by fighters of both sides.

There are currently 1,100 troops from the African Union peace keeping force, and the organisation is expected to add more troops that will reach 3,600; but that is not until 2014.  This means that despite reports of rebel fighters using guns and machetes to kill people, citizens of the CAR will have to depend on the security of the 200 policemen available in that country.

What is more surprising is that prominent leaders, such as US President Barack Obama do not seem to be concerned about what is happening in the CAR, despite different organisations explaining the situation and how they are offering relief efforts to the refugees.

This is why a number of organisations, including the United Nations, are begging the Security Council to permit UN troops to intervene so as to prevent what might happen, and so as to prevent having another genocide as it was for the case of Rwanda.

But then why is the case of Rwanda being associated to what is happening in the CAR?  I do not want to go into detail about the colonial history of the treatment of Hutus and Tutsis that are said to be the major reason for what happened, but I would like to talk a bit about the events that happened leading to the 1994 genocide.

The film ‘Ghosts of Rwanda’ which shows interviews of different people who were in Rwanda prior, during and after the 1994 genocide, shows very clearly how the international community did not take seriously what was going on in that country.  Even the Rwandan media was used to propagate the killings of Tutsis against Hutus, reaching a point of naming those who were supposed to be killed, and where they were.  This was no secret, and the UN official who was in Rwanda at the time was informed, but his pleas to the headquarters to permit an intervention were unsuccessful.  The United States, on the other hand also did not want to get involved in another country’s affairs, and said it respected “freedom of speech” practised by the media.

What happened after that was a series of killings of more than 800,000 people in 100 days, and only stopped when the RPF rebels, led by General Paul Kagame decided to intervene and defeated the Interahamwe militia who were administering the slaughters.  After that Rwanda received so many message of “sympathy” from different world leaders, including the United Nations and the former US President Bill Clinton who visited the country to express their condolences.

The pleas from different people and different organisations should not be taken lightly.  What is happening in the Central African Republic is more serious than others might think, since the religious incitement going on is planting a bad seed – one that will soon sprout and instigate more harm as was in the case of Rwanda in 1994.  Condemning and denouncing does not help to restore peace, unless we want to wait until the point when things get out of hand.  We should act fast, and we should act now.  I hereby forward my motion.

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What exactly is al-Shabaab’s agenda with Kenya?

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

AFRICA, especially East Africa is still healing from wounds of the Westgate attack that happened in Kenya recently, which has killed dozens of people.  This was an attack claimed to be carried out by the al-Shabaab terrorist group as a “warning” to the Kenyan government to remove its troops from Somalia.

A lot has been written, a lot has been said, and a lot has been insisted on.  But what I liked the most was President Uhuru Kenyatta’s assurance that the troops in Somalia were sent there to restore peace in the neighboring country, and until that happens, they will stay there.  He has insisted that they will not be scared or shaken by threats from al-Shabaab, and they will remain in Somalia until that country is calm again, with no more terrorists.

And President Kenyatta has been very clear about this, saying that his country will continue to fight terrorists, as al-Shabaab’s threats have only made them stronger, with the zeal to go on with the fight.

However, one thing that amazed me was al-Shabaab itself, a group that has emerged from nowhere and is troubling Africa’s minds.  This group has its own agenda to rule Somalia, and is now gaining the publicity that it seems to so badly want.

The al-Shabaab terrorists have yet again threatened that they will continue to attack Kenya, due to the fact that the government has refused to remove its troops from Somali land.

In their statement, al-Shabaab say that they will “continue to strike Kenyans where it hurts the most, turn their cities into graveyards and rivers of blood will flow in Nairobi.”

Allow me to quote part of the statement: “Harakat Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen is fully determined to intensify attacks inside Kenya until the last KDF boots exit Somali soil.  We have the right to fight for our country and for our people from the clutches of the enemy.  If Kenya's political leaders are still persistent in their quest to occupy our Muslim lands and carry out heinous atrocities against our people, then let them know that Kenyans will never find peace and stability in their country.”

al-Shabaab’s warning has made me think of so many things, specifically on the whole aspect of why people kill each other like this.  Why is it that some people find pride in killing innocent citizens of other countries in the name of “saving their land?”  Why is it that some kill their fellow innocent citizens, claiming that they are teaching them ethics?  And why do others claim that there are countries that carry out “heinous atrocities”, while they are actually the ones doing it?  I am talking about al-Shaabab.

A sentence in their statement reads: “…If Kenya's political leaders are still persistent in their quest to occupy our Muslim lands and carry out heinous atrocities against our people, then let them know that Kenyans will never find peace and stability in their country.”  What bothers me are the claims that Kenyans are the guilty party against the people of Somalia.

I have tried to trace the emergence of al-Shabaab from different stories and various news sources, and I have never seen a single story that says that Kenya, or any other country for that matter, has conducted “heinous atrocities” against the Somali people.  What I know is that two years ago Kenya invaded al-Shabaab’s stronghold in South Somali and later joined African Union’s 17,700 military force based in that country.  AU’s Force has troops from several African countries, including Uganda and Ethiopia.

But at the same time, al-Shabaab who claim to fight for the rights of the Somalis, are actually the ones carrying attacks against the people of that very same country.  This is what makes me ask myself, what exactly dos al-Shabaab have against Kenya, a country that has joined other African countries in order to restore peace to their neighbors Somalia?

Here are some of the attacks that are claimed to be carried by al-Shabaab against their fellow people, Somalis, and other countries:

2009:

February:  al-Shabaab carry out a bomb attack against AU’s base in Mogadishu, killing six peacekeepers from Burundi.

May: al-Shabaab and a group known as Hizbul Islam carry an attack in Mogadishu with the aim of capturing the city, ending up killing hundreds of people, injuring many and causing others to remain homeless.

June: al-Shabaab claim to have carried out a bomb attack in Beledweyne that kills 35 people, including Somali’s Security Minister, Omar Hashi Aden.

September: The group claims to have carried a bomb attack at the AU base, killing 17 peacekeepers.

October: al-Shabaab were whipping in public all women who were wearing bras, claiming that it is against Islam to wear a bra because it is deceiving.

December: al-Shabaab are accused of carrying out a bomb attack at a prominent hotel, Shamo, killing 24 people that include three ministers.

2010:

February: A suicide bomber tries to kill Defense Minister Yusuf Mohamed Siyad, but the attempt fails and seriously injures two of the minister’s body guards.

April: The group bans the ringing bells at schools, claiming that it is against Islam as it is a “sign of the Christian Churches.”

July: al-Shabaab claim to have carried out a deadly attack in Kampala that killed 74 people who were watching the World Cup at a prominent restaurant.

August: al-Shabaab are accused of carrying out an attack in Somali’s capital, Mogadishu, killing more than 300 people.

October: al-Shabaab kill two teenagers in public, accusing them of being spies.  The girls were between 17 and 18 years old.

2011:

July: al-Shabaab members ban the use of the samosa snack, claiming that it looks Christian because of its triangle shape, symbolizing the Holy Trinity.

October: A truck full of weapons is driven into a ministry building in Somalia, killing 139 and injuring 93 others.  Al-Shabaab claim to have carried out the attack.

2012:

March: al-Shabaab are accused of carrying out an attack that kills four people at a bus stand and injuring others in Nairobi, Kenya.

October: Sources from the Somali military report that General Ibrahim Farah (Gordan) has been killed in an attack that was carried out by al-Shaabab militants in El Waregow, near the port of Marko.  al-Shabaab do not make a statement about the attack.

Now those are some of the attacks carried out by al-Shabaab since 2009, as reported by different news sources.  These are apart from the most recent Wetgate attack on Kenya.  In short, al-Shabaab are conducting heinous atrocities against Somalia and other countries, and at the same time claiming that they will continue to attack Kenya because the country is carrying heinous atrocities against Somalis.  I am still confused.

On the other hand, it is the same al-Shabaab who claim that Kenya is occupying their land.  At the same time, the group has captured and is holding several towns of Somalia, and wants to capture the whole country while Somalia has a legitimate government.  But to them, the Kenyans are the bad guys and that is why they want to make sure that they will “turn their cities into graveyards and rivers of blood will flow in Nairobi.”  Seriously?

I am still confused and have to ask myself several questions: What exactly are al-Shabaab looking for? What really do they have against Kenya?  Is there something else that we do not know about?  I would love to get the answers to these questions.

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Africa Needs Martin Luther King’s Dream

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

Fifty years ago, on August 28, 1963, at least 250,000 people marched towards the Lincoln Memorial stadium in Washington, United States, and heard the famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr., widely known as “I Have a Dream.”

This prominent speech was among a number of speeches by Dr. King, and it dwelt on the importance of having equal rights for all citizens.  During that time, African-Americans were segregated due to racism that was wide spread in the country.  An African-American was still living in deep poverty in the middle of a sea full of riches.  An African-American was still living a terrible life in the middle of other wealthy people.  Dr. King wanted to make sure that this segregation comes to an end, and that is why he had a dream.

Dr. King’s dream was not directed to African-Americans alone, but was a reflection of things that were going on in the whole world.  America was only an example of a country that practiced racism to the extent of Africans not being able to have better jobs, not being able to sleep in nice hotels, and not being able to vote or do anything meaningful.

Dr. King’s dream was talking about the suffering that Africans endured all over the world.  Being colonialized, marginalized, grabbed of land in their own country, denied the opportunity to vote and choose the leader they want, and denied the chance of using the natural resources that are in their own land.

Dr. King’s dream was that of seeing Africans, in their country, living in peace and harmony.  It was to see the available resources being used to develop the African.  It was one of seeing people vote, and do so in a free and fair manner; and for the results to be truthful, depending on the votes being cast.  His dream was to see justice being served to all people, black or white, Africans or Europeans, Christians or Muslims, old or young, rich or poor.  In short, his dream focused on talking about people’s rights throughout the world.

In his speech, “I Have a Dream”, here are some of the words that Dr. King said in front of the hundreds of people who gathered to listen to him:

“But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. 

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends -- so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.  I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.  Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that, let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.  Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.  Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi -- from every mountainside.  Let freedom ring.

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring -- when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children -- black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics -- will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Now it is 50 years since this prominent speech was heard throughout the world.  Dr. King is already dead, dead by a bullet because of his fighting for freedom for the world.  The question that I am asking myself, is, has this dream come true?  As we commemorate 50 years since he shared his dream, has it happened?

I am talking here about the whole world’s dream, and not just America’s.  I am talking here about the Africans’ dream to free themselves from the claws of the colonialists and finally being able to govern themselves.  I am talking here about the dream of every one who has the right to vote not only be able to vote, but be able to do so through a free and fair process, without any fears.

I am talking here about the dream of having the casted votes being announced, and the voters agreeing with it.  I am talking about the dream that will see Africans, in their continent full of honey and milk, being able to use their resources for the benefit of all Africans, for their people, for their children.  It is a dream meant to see all children be able to go to school, everybody being able to afford three meals a day, everyone have access to clean and safe water, and everyone enjoying the benefits of the resources available.

The dream that I’m talking about is that of seeing Africans live peacefully, instead of killing each other because of minerals that are in their land.  It is the one that does not want to see Africans stabbing each other only because of religious differences.  It is the one that does not want to see Africans throwing tear gas at each other simply because they have different political ideologies.

The dream I am talking about does not want to see a certain group thinking that it is the one with the right to rule, as if the leadership was a monarchy that could only be left by death.  It is not a dream that will see a politician deciding to use money to win an election, without even knowing where the money came from and how it would be repaid.  It is not a dream of leaders refusing to let go of power when their time is up, as if the constitution told them that the leadership belongs only to them, and no one else.  It is not a dream of seeing politicians insulting each other instead of arguing with valid points. Oh no, that is definitely not the dream!

It is a dream that wants to see Africa change, and freedom ring.  Just as it was with Dr. King’s dream, let freedom ring from the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to the minerals of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Let freedom ring from the shores of Lake Nyasa to the gold mines of South Africa.  Let freedom ring from the Mosques of Egypt to the camps of Sudan.  Let freedom ring from the villages of Zimbabwe to the forests of Rwanda.  From every corner of the African continent, let freedom ring.

And if we let that happen, of we let freedom ring, if we let it ring from every village and every place, from every state and every town, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Nigerians and Tanzanians, Kenyans and Somalis, Moroccans and Mozambicans, Christians and Muslims, Arabs and Africans, black and white, politicians and citizens, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

  

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Just Thinking Aloud: I Cry for the African Child

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

FOUR years ago I visited a very remote village called Shidunda.  The village is located in Nyimbi ward, Mbozi district in Mbeya, in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.  In that small village I met an eleven year old boy called Andrea.  He was disabled, using a wheelchair to help him move from one place to another, with his fellow children happy to push the chair up the hills, whenever Andrea needed a hand.  Andrea was in standard two at the time, and although he was old for his class, at least he was lucky to be taken to school.  His past story is an example of how many African Children are denied the right to education just because they are disabled.

To cut a long story short, Andrea’s father had passed away, and his mother was the one taking care of him.  However, the grandfather did not want his grandson to be seen by anyone because he was disabled.  It just happened that one day the Shidunda Primary School head teacher was in the neighborhood checking if children who had reached the age of going to school had been registered.  As he was getting closer to Andrea’s home, he saw four children playing; but as he got there, he found only three.  That was when he discovered that Andrea was hidden under a sack so that he couldn’t be seen.

But Andrea was lucky that the teacher saw him and made sure that he was enrolled and started attending classes.  His grandfather did not know that being disabled is not a curse, and neither did Andrea or his fellow children know that he had rights just like any other child in the world.  And that is the real situation of today’s African Child. Does this child really know his rights? How about the community that surrounds him? Do they really know?

On June 16 each year, Africa celebrates the Day of the African Child.  This day was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), honoring those who participated in the Soweto Uprising of June 16 1976 where about ten thousand black school children marched in a column more that half a mile long, protesting the poor quality of their education and demanding for their right to be taught in their own language.  Hundreds of young students were shot, and more than a hundred people killed in the protests the following two weeks.

This day, which has been celebrated by Africa since 1991, aims at raising awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children and other things that affect them.  This year’s theme for the day is "Eliminating Harmful Social and Cultural Practices Affecting Children: Our Collective Responsibility."

Now, as children have celebrated this day all over the continent, I have been asking myself one question: Has the African Child really been reached?  I’m talking here about involving children like Andrea, those who live in the remote areas where there is no electricity, nor the luxury to learn about this important day through the media.  I’m talking about people like Andrea’s grandfather, who have no idea about this day and about the rights of the child, and who only need someone to tell them that this child is not a curse, but a blessing from God who can do wonders if given the opportunity that is given to other children elsewhere.

And that is what makes me cry for the African Child.

I cry for the African Child who comes from the very remote places like Shidunda, Kantalamba, Idweli, Iseselo, Koboko, Hayadesh, Mbuganyekundu, Jobaj, Mnyuzi, Chekelei, Mbwakeni, Ndaoya and Makongorosi.  I cry for that child who doesn’t even know that June 16 is the most important day of their lives, for them to celebrate their being and demand for their rights.

Yes I cry for the African Child – even that one in the city – who is forced to burn out in the sun while the ‘grown ups’ take the front seats in the shade, claiming to celebrate this day with the child who does not even understand their ‘grown up’ speeches and just enjoys the fun of being able to sing and dance, without even understanding its history.

I do cry for the African Child who has parents and guardians who do not even know about this day, and still think that a child is a commodity that can be turned and twisted around any time they feel like it.  Parents and guardians who, if reached, could make a positive change and help bring up a generation that will be free of revenge, free of hatred and free of emptiness.  A generation that would make the African Child feel proud to be African.

I also cry for the African Child whose celebration this year was overshadowed by another important celebration, “Fathers’ Day”.  The African Child that couldn’t even see well-wishers posting about their day on Facebook, Twitter and the likes.  The African Child who wasn’t even given much importance in the media outlets, other than a small portion in the inside pages, since the story doesn’t “sell”.  Yes I cry.

And as I think about children like Andrea, I cannot stop but to wonder if we are really doing any justice to the African Child.  They deserve a lot more, and they deserve a bigger voice.  And until something happens to give them the full attention that they deserve, I will cry more and more.  Yes, I cry for the African Child.

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Saved by the bell: Obtaining an education instead of an early marriage

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

SEVENTEEN year old Hawa Yuba had only one option when she completed primary school – to get married.  No, it wasn’t out of love; in fact she hardly even knew her future husband.  She did it because it was the only way out of her problems.  It was either get married or starve.  She had no idea that her guardian angel was about to save her.

Hawa had been living with her mother and five siblings, and she completed standard eight in 2010.  With the difficult condition in which her family was living, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to join secondary school, even though she was selected for form one. One day, a man from the village came to propose marriage, and, feeling devoid of options, she agreed to be his wife.

The would-have-been student got married to a man she hardly knew immediately after completing her primary education, and lived with him as his loyal wife for a whole month before he left the village and went to Blantyre. 

“I don’t even know how old the guy was.  Actually, I never asked him although we were married,” explains Hawa.

Hawa’s mother, Sifati Solomon, felt bad that she had agreed to her daughter’s marriage but did not know where to obtain help.  Her friends and neighbors advised her to visit Namwera AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC) so that her daughter could receive educational assistance through the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Child Protection Support Project.  NACC was able to provide the support Hawa needed to go back to school.

“My husband called one day to ask how I was doing, and that’s when I broke the news to him that I was going to school, and he should feel free to marry any other woman,” says Hawa.  “He didn’t argue.  He said that he respected my decision, and so we got a divorce.”

Hawa says that she wasn’t happy with the married life because she wanted to obtain an education.  Her marriage happened because of her difficult financial situation.   Luckily, after her decision to get a divorce the village council met with parents from both sides, and agreed to dissolve the marriage.  Even the husband didn’t demand anything, saying that his wife had also played her part by helping with chores at his parents’ house.

Hawa is now in form one at the Majuni Secondary School in Kamwendu village (Mangochi District) in the Southern region of Malawi, and she wants to be a nurse one day.  “I really admire the way they wear their white dresses and walk along the corridors giving pills to the patients.  They look lovely and I want to be doing that one day,” she explains, adding:  “I don’t want to get married again; maybe I might think about it after being a nurse.”

Hawa’s mother admits that she made a huge mistake by agreeing to the marriage.  She felt so distraught about it, that when she went to NACC’s offices she asked them to escort her to the police station so that she could turn herself in for getting involved in a forced marriage.

NACC officials took her to the Victims’ Support Unit, a government office that helps in addressing gender based violence and promoting women’s rights.  The quality improvement team did an assessment and realized that Hawa getting married wasn’t a deliberate move by her mother, who wanted the best for Hawa.  Sifati had thought that marriage would offer her daughter an opportunity for a better life.  The officials understood the Sifati’s plight and asked her to promise that she will encourage her daughter to study hard, and concentrate in her studies.

“I am thankful that NACC helped save my daughter, and now my heart is at peace,” says the mother of six.  Her first born is a school dropout, Hawa is her second born, and the other four are studying in primary school.  They all depend on her tomato business, since her first husband with whom she had four children had passed away, and her second husband with whom she has two children separated from her and is not helping them.

Being seventeen years old can be very confusing.  One moment you think that you’re on top of the world, while you actually might be drowning.  In the case of Hawa, she got married in one month, divorced the next, and back to school afterwards.  Poverty almost robbed Hawa of her dreams and future.  Hawa is thankful for the opportunity to study and strongly believes that her guardian angel has always been with her every step of the way.

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(Leah visited Malawi in December 2010, under a program implemented by Pact Malawi)

How denial nearly killed the Kanyawire’s

By Leah Mwainyekule

Two years after James Kanyawire’s daughter died after falling sick in 1999, James decided to take an HIV test.  The results were positive, but he didn’t want to believe it.  He looked at himself in the mirror and thought that he was too healthy to be infected.  He didn’t even bother to tell his wife or take another test.  He didn’t even imagine that he could fall sick one day.  He didn’t even think that the virus could spread.  Yes, he was living in denial.

Denial was what nearly cost the lives of James and his beautiful wife Faggie.  They had another daughter who suffered the same fate as the first one, and they too fell sick at the same time.  They were too sick to even take care of each other, and slowly, they started realizing that living in denial will eventually kill them.  And it nearly did.

“We had reached a point that both of us were too sick to do anything, and so my relatives had to come and take me somewhere else, and my wife’s relatives also had to take her somewhere else,” remembers James

When the Kanyawire’s second child died in 2004, they decided to take a test and the result came out positive for both husband and wife.  This time James believed the results and knew that their status was the reason for their children’s premature deaths, but he was still hoping for a miracle.

“We were referred to the Thyolo Hospital so that we could start treatment, but didn’t go.  We still looked healthy by that time and I was just hoping that some kind of miracle might happen and the virus might just vanish,” he says.  But after falling sick badly to the extent of being taken care of by different relatives, the pair decided to change.

“I had actually reached the last stage of AIDS,” recalls James.  “I had wounds in my mouth and throat, my body was sour, my weight was down, you couldn’t look at my skin and I couldn’t even walk.  I was also coughing continuously.”  According to the couple, the wife was even worse than her husband.  “I developed skin cancer in my legs and my weight dropped to 28 kilograms,” says the wife, Faggie, who now enjoys her weight of 52 kilograms.  Her skin is also healed.

The worse thing is that upon knowing their HIV status, the couple used to quarrel a lot, with the wife accusing her husband of bringing the disease since he used to sleep elsewhere most of the time and get back home drunk the next morning.

The Community Partnership for Relief and Development (COPRED) organization, in Lilongwe, Malawi, helped save the Kanyawire’s.  When Faggie was being taken care of by her relatives, a volunteer visited her and convinced her to join a support group of people living with HIV.  She had also started taking ARVs and was receiving food supplements from COPRED.  Recovery was fast.

Upon sharing the good news from his wife, James returned to Blantyre where he and his wife were both in the same support group.  He also started the ARV treatment and found his body recovering pretty fast, and in one month.  However, life wasn’t easy for the Kanyawire’s.

“I had stopped working when I felt sick and we had even sold our house items to get money for treatment, so we were actually starting from scratch,” says James, who used to be a hotelier.  “We started depending on charity from religious institutions and COPRED itself.”

That was 2008.  Luckily for them, the pair was selected to go for a counseling training, and that was when James started working as a volunteer for the Chilomoni Health Centre, while his wife was stationed at the Soche health Centre.    In mid 2009, COPRED employed James as an HIV Counselor and Tester, a position he enjoys until now.

James speaks of his job so fondly, expressing how he loves it because he knows that those infected will get better, even though they are suffering, as he is a living example of that.  “It’s as if God was waiting for me to start suffering so that he could give me this job and help save others,” he says.

The couple is planning on having a child one day, and they’re just waiting for Faggie’s CD4 count to be strong enough so that they could start producing.  “We only want one child, and we know that we will always be with that child,” says James.

The Kanyawire’s are now born-again Christians who want to help other people help themselves.  They know that if they had kept on living in denial, they would have already been history by now.  They have only one advice for everybody out there: “Denying your HIV status is like signing your own death certificate.” Yes, James and Faggie definitely don’t have plans of signing theirs.

(Leah visited Malawi in December 2010 under a program implemented by Pact Malawi)

  

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The old man with a big smile

By Leah H. Mwainyekule

AS he stands in his shop serving customers, the old man looks happy.  A big smile on his face assures the buyers that they have come to the right place.  He sells commodities to them, jokes with them and laughs with them.  But behind his laughter, behind his smile, behind his jokes, is a sad story of being neglecting by his own children for being HIV positive.

Collington Mwakipesile realized he was HIV positive in 2004 when he decided to take a voluntary test after noticing that he had the symptoms.  When it was confirmed that he was actually positive, he decided to tell his older daughters but they didn’t like it.  And ever since, they are not really close to him.

“That year two of my children died of AIDS and I was taking care of them here at home.  After they passed away I realized that I also had some of the symptoms that they had, and I was falling sick more often.  I decided to take the test and it was confirmed that I was HIV positive,” he explains.  “But unfortunately when I told my other two daughters, I experienced stigma from them.”

Things with his wife were not better as well.  She got angry and refused to take the test.  During that time she got too much into drinking and used to get back home passed midnight or even the following day.  They used to fight a lot and all the children were on their mum’s side.

“One day we had a huge fight and my son decided to help him mother and fight me as well.  They were all over me and that was when I realized I had nothing left.  I decided to leave the house and stay on my own,” he remembers with sadness.  However, their relatives intervened and told him to go back home and that the children were old enough to rent their own place.  His wife decided to leave with the children.

“I got lonely, very lonely to the point that sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and start crying like a baby,” Collington says.  But not anymore.  The 67 year old has found peace in his group called Upendo where he is the Secretary General.  The group that has members who are people living with HIV in the Sinde ward in Mbeya Urban, implements under KIHUMBE through its Home Based Care program.

“The group has been my family and my whole life.  I have found peace because there are people here who love me and treat me as a human being,” he explains.  Through the group, he has also been able to borrow money that they contribute each week, and has managed to open a shop and a stall where he sells house products.  He also has one goat that was provided to him by the program, and he expects that it will produce many more goats in the future.

And Mr. Collington has not given up on his kids either: “I still love my daughters; and although they are not close to me, most of the time I try to contact them and visit them.  They are still my children and I will always be their father.”  And with this, he smiles again.  A big smile that assures everyone that Collington is now a happy man who is looking forward for a brighter future.

  

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