Updates from H.E.L.P. Malawi: Child Skill Development, Malnutrition Statistics and Educational Programs
Over the month of April a lot of projects have been implemented to help solve the problems Malawi faces and the impact of these initiatives are being positively felt in the rural communities where H.E.L.P. Malawi is working.
Students take skills home
In an attempt to teach entrepreneurial skills to the students of Nanthomba School, necklace making has turned into a popular trade among 20 students – both males and females. More interestingly a large number of students are starting to take these skills home to train their parents and relatives about making necklaces out of used magazines. Without a doubt the income levels of the participating households will definitely increase if a reliable market is maintained. This reliable market will then provide families with better access to their basic needs of food and clothing and lead to more poverty reduction.
Malnutrition prevalence at 4%
One issue that Malawi faces is a malnutrition endemic. In Malawi most of the rural households who solely depend on maize as their only staple crop find themselves out of food from November to March. A nutrition assessment surveyed 327 students at the Nanthomba School discovered that 1.2% were severely underweight and 1.5% were deverting from the normal weight standards toward severity(moderately underweight).
Although 96% of the students had normal weight most of them had their age’s Body Mass Index (BMI) Z-Scores below one. These low BMI scores are attributed to inadequate nutritional food intake. For example, most of the students came to school without eating breakfast and most had only one meal per day in their homes.
Community leaders promote education and protection of children
Child Rights Campaigns, a program facilitated by H.E.L.P Malawi and the community leaders, have recently been launched via community meetings conducted in 24 villages. It is H.E.L.P Malawi’s goal to provide education and protection to the children in rural Malawi. In the Nandumbo area there are a number of rights-based issues which are affecting the future of their children. These problems include child labor, early marriages, and child neglect. Children stay out of school in order to work and support their families. These decisions eventually lead to early marriages. Some parents even encourage their children to leave school and marry in order to assume the responsibilities of a father.
Malawi children are also victims to fatherhood neglect. One of the major factors that attributes to father’s neglecting their children are large family sizes. These large family sizes commonly lead to divorce or polygamy among Malawi households.
