People that reside in GVH Mbalu are often hit by climatic shocks since the area is low lying and is where one of the major rivers in Zomba feeds into Lake Chilwa. A majority of people are into farming and the major crop produced in the area is rice. Eliza Chipungo (32), a widow and single mother of four from Mwanyumbu Village under GVH Mbalu in TA Mwambo, is one of these farmers whose livelihood was disrupted when Cyclone Freddy destroyed both her house and crops in the field. Despite this tragedy, her membership in the Titukulane Youth club and Mwambo 1 Youth Network has paved a way to a transformed livelihood for her family through vocational skills training.
After Cyclone Freddy devastated the area, she was among the people placed at an evacuation camp where names of youth club members who were heavily affected were recorded for specialized support. She lived a stressful life as she had to think about how her life would return to normalcy since the crops that she invested in were washed away which heavily affected her family’s food security. The education of her children was also disrupted due to damaged roads, bridges, school materials and suspension of classes to accommodate survivors of the storm. With the passage of time, the youth club members who survived the storm were called by CADECOM, our implementing partner, at TA level to fill applications for interest in the vocational skills training program.
“I applied to do the Tailoring course because I saw it as a great opportunity for me considering that no amount of natural disaster can take away such skills provided that you are alive and well. This is in contrast with farming which only brings trauma due to its susceptibility to climatic shocks.” Expressed Chipungo.
Chipungo was so excited upon hearing that she has been considered in the vocational skills training course of her choice. She believes that this would not have been possible if she was not a member of a youth club in her area and urges young people not to ignore such associations since they are the spaces where people expose themselves to life changing opportunities. On December 11th, 2024, all the successful applicants were called to fill forms of admission and the training commenced four days later.
“Due to my commitment to these training sessions, I am now able to mend my clothes as well as those of my children who used to put on torn clothes due to my inability to raise money to fix the same. I have also managed to design and produce skirts and a women’s guild uniform for myself.” Said Chipungo.
Apart from tailoring, she is also passionate about Theatre and she was one of the TfD actors that captivated the audience in both the two phases of the Arts for Climate Change Project. She has been able to apply the TfD knowledge and skills that she acquired through Art and Global Health Center Africa (ArtGlo) in to sensitize and engage participants in different spaces. Together with her colleagues at her Youth Club in 2023, she has engaged the youth and the community in issues to do with Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Cholera prevention campaign among others.
During the first Phase of the Arts for Climate Change project, it was discovered that lack of a stable source of income for survivors of climate change induced loss and damage contributes to psychological trauma and disrupts the performance of children and quality of education. After consultation with community members, our implementation partner is Zomba, CADECOM, identified youth from registered youth clubs in TA Mwambo to benefit from the Vocational Skills training initiative.
