Malawi is currently grappling with diminishing stocks of its staple grain, maize, due to a number of both natural and artificial factors. This has resulted in the use of desperate measures among the poor who are unable to afford the little available maize on the market whose price has risen with a 400% price in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy. In the Lower Shire districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa, people have been harvesting bitter tubers, called ‘Nyika’, found in Shire River for both consumption and sale. ArtGlo had a chance to interact with some widowed women from GVH Mambundungu in Nsanje, who gave an account of the psychological trauma they go through as they risk their lives daily for their families.
Dorica Billy (63), has exhausted all the possible means for the survival of her family from picking wood and charcoal for sale, to diving into the Shire River in search of Nyika. She is keeping 2 of the 4 children left by her son who was killed by Cyclone Freddy induced floods last year. After the passing away of her son who was swept away by floods in Makhanga area, she assumed the responsibility of raising her grandchildren. The mother of these children abandoned them due to the death of their father who was the provider of the house.
“I sometimes wish I was the one who should have died that day because my son was the only one who was taking care of all my needs and now has left me the burden of raising his children whom I am failing to provide for their basic and school needs.” Lamented Billy.
Billy disclosed that she is failing to pay a school development fund fee at Ndindi Primary School for her grandchildren who have been chased out of their respective classes. Every year, primary school learners are required to pay MK 1000 to support development initiatives. During the time she was selling forest products, she was able to afford some of their household needs and would send the children to school but this was not sustainable. This was because of the running battles she used to have with the Department of Forestry Officers who would confiscate any firewood and charcoal that anyone is found with ferrying it to the market.
Another widow, Fainesi Lazalo (48) is failing to have peace of mind because she is struggling to educate and provide the basic necessities for the seven children which was not the case 3 years ago. Both Billy and Lazalo are survivors of the 2021 Cyclone Anna which saw the tremendous swelling of a small stream, sweeping away a new settlement that the Government of Malawi had bought the community. Now, some members of this community, especially the ultra-poor are trapped in adverse poverty and are failing to leave the temporary tents that were constructed for survivors of the tropical storm.
“As each day passes, I am always sad and stressed because my daily challenges continue to persist both in the night and day. The firewood I collect from the forest is not enough to feed my children who cannot be going to school on an empty stomach and without settling their school development fund. That is why I spend most of my time fetching for Nyika.” Lamented Lazalo.
To make matters worse, it is not all days that Lazalo is able to collect enough Nyika since she is not the only one fetching Nyika in Shire River. Sometimes she needs to dive deeper to find these tubers and she collects only a few in this scenario. The only piece of land they would have been cultivating is their old home close to Shire which is now an island and waterlogged due to excess waters brought about by Cyclone Freddy. The land around where the community is camping, has sandy uncultivatable soils and barely receives rains but flooding waters descending from the mountains.
Nevertheless, these two women believe that the Psychosocial training, provided by CARD Malawi, that some people in their village received will help in the delivery of support on another level. The two have benefitted from the psychosocial support that members of the Village Civil Protection Committee (VCPC), Village Headmen and GVH Mambundungu has been rendering before the training. They also believe that the TfD performances that ArtGlo held in the area will help those who were suffering in silence due to lack of knowledge, to start reaching out.
