New Fertilizer Application Methods on the Cards

A research project to transform the way farmers use fertilizer in Malawi is underway courtesy of the ministry of agriculture’s Research Services Department.

The Soil Health Diagnostic Trials project comes against a backdrop of farmers’ complaints that they have not been yielding enough despite using fertilizer.

In Malawi the tradition has been that farmers use any type of fertilizer for basal dressing and top dressing regardless of the type of soil and its natural nutritional components.

This is the trend that the Soil Health Diagnostic Trials project aims to change to ensure that farmers maximize on yields by using the right type of fertilizers in the right type of soil, according to its coordinator Dr Wilkson Makumba.

“The area fertilizer specific recommendation is going to assist us to reduce the quantities of fertilizers that we are applying per hectare”, he says.

“Like the 92 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare is being applied everywhere but we do need all that in all areas. In some areas they have adequate amounts phosphorus that they do not need even adding extra, some have medium quantities that we really add the quantities”, said Dr Makumba.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa has put $ 420, 000(MK 70, 000 000) in the project.

“We decided to fund this programme because it falls within our mission where we want to promote agriculture in order to have a food secure Africa”, says Rebe Harawa, AGRA Program Officer responsible for soil health in east and southern Africa.

“To be food secure it requires use of both chemical and inorganic fertilizers, but to use organic and inorganic fertilizers you need to have the right type and the right amounts of fertilizers in the right places. And this project is to fine tune the fertilizer recommendations”, she added.

Director of Research in the Ministry of Agriculture, Alfred Mtukuso says the project will help farmers save on fertilizer costs. He said currently farmers are not getting maximum yields because of a blanket recommendation for fertilizer application the country has.

“There is a lot of variability in the soil types and fertility levels in the country, so this project is fine tuning the recommendations so that they are area specific to suit the types of crops grown in a particular area and therefore we’ll be getting maximum yield,

“But also this project will address the issue of total soil health. In other words, applying chemical fertilizer alone is not enough. We need to apply organic manure and intercrop our crops with legumes to build the organic reserves in the soils,” said Mkukuso.

It is expected that final results of the research will be made available to the public after three years, but currently farmers involved in the trials, for example in Chiwamba, Traditional Authority Chimutu in Lilongwe are already utilizing the experience.

Group Village headman Mseche hailed the project as a major compliment to farmers’ efforts to improve crop production by using lesser inputs. “When we see our maize growing greener, we know that we are going to have enough food. We need this research because our soils here are degraded”.

Currently farmers in Malawi produce less than a tone of maize from a hectare, but experts says there is potential of 10 tones where proper farming methods are followed.

AGRA works to achieve a food secure and prosperous Africa through the promotion of rapid, sustainable agricultural growth based on smallholder farmers

Malawi Finally Starts GM Cotton Trials

LILONGWE: The Malawi Government has finally given Bunda College, located in the country’s capital Lilongwe, permission to conduct confined field trials on genetically modified (GM) cotton, after nearly three years of assessment.

Bunda College scientists and officials of the National Biosafety Regulatory Committee confirmed this at a stakeholders’ awareness meeting held in Lilongwe on Friday, November 4.

According to Professor Moses Kwapata, Principal of Bunda College, who chairs the trials committee, it will take at least three years for results of the research to come out. The approval was officially made on August 19, 2011.

The trials are aimed at coming up with bore worm resistant and herbicide tolerant cotton varieties.

The notion is that this variety, known as BT cotton in the scientific circles, will help farmers earn more as they will no longer be required to spray their crop up to eleven times as is the case now.

On the other hand the tolerance to herbicides means that farmers will have reduced workload because, instead of weeding, they just apply herbicides – chemicals that kill weeds in a garden. The conventional cotton varieties currently on the market would die if herbicides are applied to the field.

Professor Kwapata said, “So far we have identified the field where the trial will be conducted (at Bunda College), we have already started preparing the land in anticipation to be planted in December or early January this year.

“We also have initiated the process acquiring the seed from South Africa and we have already put up a team that will be looking at the trial site on a daily basis.

“And we hope that once this has been planted in the field, it will also provide the farmers and other stakeholders an opportunity to come and see and evaluate the trials. It will include BT cotton plots and conventional local cotton varieties so that people can compare the differences as with advance in seasons.

Caroline Theka, an environmental officer in the Environmental Affairs Department Biosafety Registration Office, said the trial at Bunda College will closely be monitored by the authorities.

Asked whether the trial approval delayed because of Malawi’s limited capacity to conduct safe genetic modification, she said, “Yes and no. Yes in the sense, as you know, this is a new technology…people are apprehensive and cautious as well – so the issues of taking it back and forth delayed.

“But also people weren’t just sure of what to do, so that took a bit of time, so we can say capacity, yes, and also its because of apprehension and conscious”.

She said the office of the National Biosafety Registrar will work with Bunda scientists from the time they will be importing the seed, as they plant it, to the time the results will be released as prescribed by standing procedures.

“We will have our own monitors who will be going there over time and again.”

The BT cotton to be tried at Bunda is already being grown in other African countries such as Burkina Faso and South Africa.

Scientists, however, have to test here to ascertain how it can perform in the Malawi environment.

The approval of the BT cotton trials comes at a time when Malawi is working on increasing cotton production to complement tobacco, whose prices have fallen drastically over the years, as the main foreign currency earner.

BT cotton is said to have the potential of producing four times higher than the conventional crop per hectare when well taken care of.

2010 was the 15th anniversary of commercialization of products of agricultural biotechnology worldwide with an excess of 1 billion hectares of land, eight times the size of South Africa, planted with genetically modified crops.

A ray of hope

Over the past months on this blog you have read diaries of women who have suffered abuse after they disclosed that they are HIV positive: women abandoned by their husbands, denied access to land, prevented from taking leadership roles, rejected by family members, denied access to subsidized farm inputs and many more.

This is just a tip of the iceberg because it is an open secret that many women and girls are suffering in silence because of their HIV status.

However, it should be recognized that Malawi is making significant improvement in the public’s acceptance of HIV and AIDS, efforts to prevent further spread and mitigate the distress of those affected.

This is why today we present to you the story of a woman who is a living example of how Malawi has come to accept a section of its population once almost outlawed.

Former MYP boss

Miriam Patel hails from Mkalawire Village, in the area of Traditional Authority Mkula in Machinga District in the Eastern Region of Malawi.

Born on November 27, 1961, she did her education up to Standard 8 but she has done a lot in her life including serving in the once dreaded military wing of the former ruling Malawi Congress Party - Malawi Young Pioneers (MYP).

“After I dropped out of school in Standard 8, I joined the Pioneer where I served for three years. I rose up to the position of instructress.

“After left the MYP, I was married to a police officer-in-charge, but the marriage ended just after a few years and I left for my home village”, she recalls.
She had one child from her first marriage.

“While I was living in the village, I got married to another man. His parents however appeared not to be happy with me and marriage did not last long. Again, he left with one child - a boy.

“Subsequent to that I left for Mangochi where I started doing business. I was cooking rice and selling it to traders in the main market at the district headquarters”, she explains.

Then she got married again – a third husband! That was in 2001.
“I become pregnant, but I was getting ill frequently. My legs were becoming swollen time and again because of anemia.

“I had to leave for my home village, but my new husband did not follow me. He ran away.

“After sometime I gave birth to a stillborn. I did not do anything about it. I told myself that it was ‘God’s plan’.

A few months later she seriously fell ill. Coincidentally it was the same time Malosa Community Based Organization (Macobo) was being established in her area.

“The organization was looking for two people in our village to be trained in home based care. I was one of those chosen and I was also trained in HIV counseling.

“Through the lessons I undertook, I convinced myself that I needed to undergo an HIV test because I was frequently bedridden.

“I went to St Luke’s Hospital where I was found HIV positive. But the hospital staff did tell me the results of my blood test I think because they knew I was already an HIV counselor. They just forwarded my forms to Macobo.

“Sometime later the hospital was looking for people to start taking antiretroviral drugs. I gave them the names, but at the end I told them to include my name as well.

“I remember one of our bosses asking me why I wanted my name to be included on the list, but I insisted because I knew they deliberately did not want to tell the results of my blood test.

“Then they added my name to the list and that’s when I knew that indeed I was HIV positive.

A changed society

Miriam was on the first people to start taking live prolonging drugs in Machinga.
“I was one of the first people so much that my number is 4. I’ve been taking the drugs since 2004,” she says.

“In the first days I was worried, but later I accepted that I have to live with it. My parents were also shocked when they learnt that I was HIV positive, but I told them I was not dead. They now realize what I meant as they see me still living today.

“Yes, indeed, previously we faced a lot of discrimination in various spheres. People thought we could not contribute to community development. It was difficult for us to access coupons for subsidized fertilizer, for example.

“But after we enlightened them, more people here now accept those living with HIV just like another person.

“In 2009, I took three traditional authorities to Dowa where we conducted a campaign against discriminating people living with HIV in the distribution of subsidized farm inputs.

“The situation has now changed. We are now given priority”, explains Miriam.
“After being trained in counseling, we were advised to form a group which we called Tagwilizana (United).

“First we sort assistance from the National AIDS Commission (NAC) which provided us with broiler chickens. We were also assisted by the Malawi Social Action Fund which gave us goats which were keeping up to now.

“Then the District AIDS Coordinators came to find out if we were interested to join the Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (COWLHA). I was the first to be approached and I was among the first women that launched the organization in Blantyre in 2006.

Miriam says she has lived a comfortable life since coming in the open to declare her HIV status.

“I consider myself fortunate because I did not suffer stigma and discrimination as it is usually the case when one declares his or HIV status.

“Some of my friends whom I counseled and told them to start receiving medication were not so lucky. They have been rejected by their family members and some have died because their families stopped them from taking ARVs.

She is thankful that St Luke’s Hospital is very caring. The hospital has a special room where people living HIV receive treatment.

“We go to the clinic on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. We are treated better probably because the hospital is owned by a religious institution.

In some parts of Machinga, our colleagues do not have the same opportunity. For example, in Chikwewu, they have a shortage of nurses. Because of this people living HIV were given only a single day within the week to receive treatment.

“During such days, people with other ailments are not allowed to visit the hospital. This fuels stigma and discrimination because it is easy to notice that those visiting the hospital on that particular day are living with the virus.

It would be better if they were receiving the drugs just like those suffering from any other disease”, she laments.

A call for action

Working under COWLHA, this woman is leading a campaign to end cultural practices that encourage the spread of HIV, such as fisi,(hyena) where a man is hired to father a child in childless family.

With the establishment of COWLHA, Miriam says more women living with HIV in Machinga are now exercising their rights.

Miriam urges all those who have not yet gone for HIV testing to do so. On the other hand she encourages those who are HIV positive to come in the open because that will free their minds and help them live a comfortable life.

She particularly calls on the youth to go for HIV testing.
“These days we have HIV messages everywhere: on radio, TV and newspapers. They should advantage of this to avoid being infected”, she advises, “They should abstain from sex and work hard in class to have a bright future.”
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Author’s note:Tell us what you think about any of the articles you have read on this colunm by sending your comment to georgekalungwe@yahoo.com or just drop your comment in the dialogue box under the article to help us evaluate feedback.
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My Survival Story on ZODIAK Online is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa).

He battered me while I was pregnant

The 2010 16 Days of Activism against Gender based Violence officially ended on December 10.

During the campaign that annually starts from November 25, this year Zodiak Online has been bringing you stories of women that have suffered various forms of abuse because of being HIV positive and how they managed to sail through.

Now, because the end of the campaign does not necessary mean all people with ill minds have transformed, we will have to continue a little bit further in order to reach out to those that still believe that abuse of women is normal.

Today, we hear from Serenia Jokora – the youngest of all the women that have presented their stories on this special column.

Serenia is 33 years old. She hails from Undi Village in the area of Traditional Authority Chawuma is Dedza.

“It’s now three years since my husband abandoned me. He left for Kasungu. I’m told he is working in tobacco fields there”, she says, “He left me with a young child”.
Serenia was found HIV positive in 2005.

“It all started after I tested HIV positive during mandatory test at the antenatal clinic.

“He was furious when I told him the news and he said I should not involve him in the issue. At first he refused to go to hospital for testing, but later he accepted. He was also found HIV positive.

“Initially we had no problems in our family, but my husband just changed overnight. He started beating up me, more especially the time I was pregnant.

“He used to come home drunk and he would beat me up almost daily without any proper reason during my pregnancy.

“We quarreled on petty issues. For example, if any man passes by our house, he would ask me who the person was. If I say I do not know him, he wouldn’t listen and he would beat me up severely.

“On several occasions he infected me with sexually transmitted diseases but instead accused me of being a prostitute. I can assure you that since I got married I never slept with any other man apart from him,” she says.

Suffering in silence

Despite that she was battered by her husband for close to five years, Serenia never reported the matter to police or any organization that would have assisted her.
The only third party was involved was their marriage counselors.

“They tried to reason with him to stop beating me up, but he never changed until he left for Kasungu three years ago.

“It’s true that most women are suffering in silence. Most of us do not know where to seek assistance on these issues”, she observes.

“Over the past years I have been having problems to find food because I have five children. I work in other people’s gardens to raise money for my daily needs.”

Serenia comes from a Ngoni area where beer drinking among men is part of culture.
“Most of the men around this area are militant towards their wives when they get drunk. I have a number of friends who have suffered in the same way.

“My husband said he will come back. Anyway, I will accept him because of the children, Serenia says surprisingly.

A call for action

Serenia urges government and nongovernmental organizations to work together to civic educate women in rural areas on their rights.

“We need to know where we can seek assistance when we are abused by our husbands.
She is currently on antiretroviral treatment and says the medication has helped to invigorate her life.

Serenia concurs with the rest of the women that have spoken out during this year’s 16 Days Campaign that provision of soft loans to enable women living HIV start small-scale business is an area where government and nongovernmental organizations must invest adequate resources.

As a member of a community-based health and advocacy group she is one of the few people that have come out in the open in Undi Village to declare their HIV status who are campaigning overtly for increased rights of people living with the virus that causes AIDS.

“If my husband comes back today, I will not just go head to accept him. Now, we have several support groups here, like Chembe Community Based Organization which I joined last year.

“I will tell him to make a promise in the presence of members of the group that he will no longer beat me up. In fact, I will demand that he joins the organization before we can reunite”.
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My Survival Story on Zodiak Online is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for South Southern Africa (OSISA)

He never told me his status…

Winless Kaonga hails from Chitipa District in northern Malawi. To be specific, she is from Mwanamuyemba Village in the area of Traditional Authority Mwaulambia. She was found HIV positive in 2006. She has five children of which two are also HIV positive.

“We were then staying in Karonga”, she recalls how trouble started to creep into her life.

“My husband was sleeping around with prostitutes. He abandoned me and never paid rent for the house we were living in.

“I had to be taken care of by my relatives who came to see me in Karonga”.

Concerned over her deteriorating condition, the well wishers took her to Wenya, Village Headman Mtemamkondo in Chitipa.

“He followed me and pleaded that we reconcile. I accepted because we had two children born in our family and I was concerned about their plight”, she said.

When Winness went back to Karonga, she gave birth to a third child.

“After the birth our third child, he started behaving wildly again.

“But after some time he fell ill. His legs started swelling”, she says.

The rejected stone

“Despite that he abused me¸ I tirelessly looked after him. I took him to the toilet, bath him…and took him to hospital.

“All his relatives refused to take him to hospital. They said ‘he deserved the suffering’. They said that’s what he wanted.

“For six years, we did not know what was causing his leg problems. Then I started asking him to go to hospital to have an HIV test, but he strongly refused.”

“He could not walk. It was as if he was suffering from polio. Later he started coughing. He coughed throughout in the afternoon and during the night.

“I tried to reason with him that the radio says when a cough persists for three weeks people must take a sputum test in case they have tuberculosis, but still he could not listen to me.”

The cough, however, was so serious that probably he had no choice with sores in his throat and mouth. He accepted to go hospital where he was admitted.

She said: “I had to take him on a bicycle. At the hospital he was, however, just treated for the sores and we were discharged after some weeks.

“But a few days after we arrived home, somebody from the hospital came to ask us to return to the hospital because my husband had been diagnosed with TB.”

This time he was in the hospital for fourteen days.

“I think it was while he was under TB treatment, that he tested for HIV but he never told me.

“He refused whenever I told him that we should go together for an HIV test. Probably he already knew his status but he did not want to tell me,” she says.

Because he had TB his immune system was compromised. His condition could not improve.

“I continued to insist that we go for an HIV test until one day when he accepted. I was happy because this was what I had longed for many years”.

“When we arrived at the hospital I was surprised to see him producing documents indicating that he had already taken an HIV test and that he had been certified to start lessons for antiretroviral treatment.

“So, you already took an HIV, I asked him and he replied ‘yes’.

“I felt very bad because he violated my right to know his status as his sexual partner. To me this was gender based violence since all along I had been asking him that we go for HIV testing but he refused only to go behind my back and, worst still, decide not to disclose to me his status.

“I was confused and banged out of the testing room.

“I stood outside for a while but something touched my heart. I told myself that if I were to go ahead abandoning him, it wouldn’t be fair. It thought it would be tantamount to abuse since he was very sick.

“Then I went back and asked the doctor to have my blood tested for HIV. I was also found positive”, she explains.

After the lessons for ART, the husband was put on treatment and in no time his health was resuscitated! He was back on his feet again!

However, as her husband got better, Winness now started feeling the pinch. She was diagnosed with TB which had infected her backbone. She was also hospitalized for two weeks.

“After I left the hospital, I continued taking the drugs. Now my health is back to normal.

“I was told at the hospital that being HIV positive did not mean the end of my life. It was told that whenever I have any problem, I should rush to the hospital. This made me feel strong and to start planning for my future.

“Now I am able to work in our garden and do any other household work. If I get sick, then it’s just like any other person…malaria and the like. I receive medication and get healed.

“I would not have continued to have children if I had known my status, but all the same that’s what happened. Two of children are HIV positive”, Winness laments.

Burying the hatchet

Winness still lives with her husband because she forgave him.

“Our love has now grown even stronger after fourteen years in marriage. Probably he has nowhere to go now that he is HIV positive!” she says jokingly.

Winness feels men in Malawi wield more power than women hence her suffering. “The situation is now changing. The coming of women groups has helped to changed things. Women are now able to speak out against abuse but previously we were ignorant of our rights.

“In the past whatever they say was taken as gospel truth provided it is a man speaking, but now that’s no longer the case”, she says, “We want this continue. We should have more women in decision making positions to speak out for the rights of their colleagues sufferings in rural areas.”

A Call for Action

To make sure that she lives a healthy life, Winness joined the National Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS and the Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS.

She urges women who have gone through similar ordeals not to despair but be strong and look forward to the future. “If you decide to walk away from the family, you’ll end up making your children orphans which is not good.

“Let’s speak to our husbands and try to guide them where they go wrong. Men should also take it upon themselves to end violence against women. They should speak to us in a lovely manner if we are doing something wrong other than resorting to having extra marital affairs. That cannot solve the problem.

“As women living with HIV, we want government to defend our rights. On our part she should also strive to have a united voice in ending violence against women and girls.

“I’m happy that my story has been told….it used to trouble me a lot, but now that I have spoken out I feel relieved because I know people will draw lessons from story.

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My Survival Story on ZODIAK Online is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa).

Snatched land, house…

When her husband died, Florence Luwe was inherited by her late husband’s brother in a traditional practice locally know as chokolo (wife inheritance). In her new family, however, nothing was rosy. She lost a house and land left to her by her deceased husband.

As we continue hearing from women who have suffered various forms of abuse due to their HIV status during this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence, Mrs. Luwe tells us her story. Her ordeal is a vivid example of how culture can fuel violence against women.

Mrs. Luwe lost her husband to an HIV/AIDS related ailment in 1991. She currently stays at Champhira in Mzimba, but her late husband hailed from Kaluluma in Kasungu, in central Malawi.

“I got married in 1972 and lived a happy family life until my husband died”, she starts narrating her story.

“When my husband died, I was inherited by his elder brother as part their culture which they say is meant to keep the family together”, she says, “I had seven children with my first husband, but none with my second.”

“From the onset, I had problems staying with my late husband’s brother. We quarreled a lot over petty issues. He started spending nights out and subsequently left for his home”.

Mrs. Luwe was falling sick frequently, but says she just took it for granted and did not bother to go for an HIV test.

“I did not know what I was suffering from, but I seriously got ill in 2004… and because I used to hear on radio that when one gets sick time and again, they must take an HIV test I decided to go for one and I was found HIV positive.

“When I informed him (the new husband) about the development, he got angry and there and then ended the marriage. This is now the tenth year since we parted ways.

“He went as far as throwing away the drugs (antiretroviral drugs) I received at hospital, accusing me of infecting him with HIV.

“I was bedridden from some time. But my health picked up when I started taking medication…so in 2008 I decide to back to my first husband’s home, Kaluluma, to inquire about the land where we used to cultivate maize and other crops.

“He refused to give me that piece of land. Instead, they (relations of the former husband) gave me another land without proper explanation. I did not argue with them. I just went ahead to cultivate on the new land.

“I went again in 2009 to reclaim my farmland. This time, I was told that it had been rented out.

“Then I asked about the house I had built with my first husband. I wanted to renovate the house because it had developed cracks, but again he denied me access to the house because his workers were residing in it. He actually said it was longer mine!”

Mrs. Luwe says this year again she has been denied access to her farmyard and the house.

“Since 2004, I have not received any assistance from my late husband’s brother who inherited me on the pretext of taking care of me and my children”, she laments.

“I feel I am being victimized because I am HIV positive.

“In our culture, women have limited rights. Men can do whatever they want and you cannot question them. Land, houses and everything is owned by men.”

She, however, says she will fight on to reclaim her farmland and the house.

“I’m worried mainly because of my children; where will they cultivate their crops when they grow up if they do not get this piece of land”, she says, “If don’t get back my land back I’ll will report the matter to human rights organizations or police. I’ve been patient with them because I thought we could solve this problem as a family affair”.

To keep her life going, Mrs. Luwe works as a ward attendant at Champhira Health Centre. “I use the little money I get to support my children.”

“Four my children have since gotten married.

“Presently I am not worried about my health. I am just worried about the future of my younger children. If I retire now, where shall they go? The only piece of land I had was the one which was taken away”, she says.

“If there are other women who have suffered the kind of abuse I have gone through, I urge them not to despair.

“We can start life afresh by looking for employment or engaging in small scale-businesses.

“I also urge financial lending organizations to offer women living with HIV loans for small-scale businesses”, says Mrs. Luwe.

Just like the four women we have previously heard from, Mrs. Luwe explains that joining a support group has helped to ease her life. She is a member of the Malawi Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (MANET+) and the Coalition of Women Living HIV and AIDS.

She has also received support from Action Aid Malawi.

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My Survival Story on ZODIAK Online is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa).

Rejected by family members

Catherine Martin comes from Mwepetha Village, Group Village Headman Bwanaisa, in the area of Traditional Authority Nkhumba in Phalombe.

She the fourth in the series of women telling us stories of abuse and militarism they have suffered upon declaring their HIV status as nations world over observe the 2010 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence.

Born on October 5, 1962, she got married in 1977. She has six children, but also takes care of one orphan.

“My husband died on 10 February 1999”, she starts her story. “I was prompted to go for testing because I was frequently getting sick. I used to suffer from malaria, knee swellings…And a friend of my late husband used to scoff at me saying I had contracted HIV from my husband.”

However, it was not easy for her to test for HIV. “Previously we had problems here in Phalombe. One needed to pay in order to get tested for HIV”, she recalls.

“I had to contact Likurezi Support Group and they sent their volunteers who took me to hospital and paid for me. Results of my test showed I was HIV positive and I was counseled right away on how to live my life healthily.”

So what went wrong?

“I started facing problems right from within my family. It all started when I declared that I was HIV positive during one public campaign in our area. I was shown on television declaring my status and calling on people to go HIV testing.

“This did not please my brother. Apparently he felt embarrassed by my confession and hired some people who were showering insults at me every day in the village. The people used to shout at me that I was going to die any day and that my children will be made orphans.

“My son was angered by this tendency and he beat up my brother. He (the brother) reported the matter to the area chairman, but the story did not go in his favour. The area chairman told him in the face that these were longer the days to scold people living with HIV.

“He told that if the matter was to be reported to police he would be locked up because he had violated my rights. He advised him to apologize to me, which he promptly did. He also promised before our village headman that he would not repeat what he did”.

She says discrimination and stigma against people living HIV still continues in Phalombe despite numerous campaigns nongovernmental organizations and AIDS support groups are under taking.

“We go about conducting public meetings in areas of various traditional authorities telling people to stop discrimination against people living with HIV, but still there are some people who are stubborn who do not want to change their attitudes”, explains Mrs. Martin.

Apart from what she went through she says her group has also documented stories of many other women suffering various forms of militarism upon declaring their HIV status. “Some men refuse to use condoms when having sex”, she says, “This is gender violence”.

Limited economic rights

Another common form of abuse women are facing, according to Mrs. Martin, is the tendency where men take supreme control of farm proceeds.

“We see a lot of women and men working together in the garden during cultivation, but when it’s time of harvest and selling, women are victimized, they have no say on how the earnings should be utilized”.

Mrs. Martin also claims not all vulnerable women, ‘especially members of the Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS’ in Phalombe benefit from the government funded farm in subsidy programme.

“Even when we write funding proposals to NGOs, we are rejected. Perhaps they think we cannot do development work because we are HIV positive”, she laments.

Health care challenges

According to Mrs. Martin, women living HIV in the area of Traditional Authority Nkhumba are facing many challenges in terms of access to health care.

“In the past years, we had a very few doctors and a very few HIV testing centres. Now the situation is improving, but still there are many problems. Many women are dying here because we have a single CD4 count testing machine. When it breaks down, it takes a long time before it is fixed”, she says.

Worst still, the nearest hospital, Holy Family, is a private facility.

“Sometimes when you go there you can be charged MK 300(2 USD) whereas you only have MK 100 (0.66 USD). And then when you decided to go the district hospital, you find that the prescription you have been given at Holy Family, is not available the public clinic. You have no choice but to leave without getting any medication”, explains Mrs. Kanthiti.

Making ends meet through peace works

“Four of my children are in secondary school. I have problems in finding money for their school fees. I do piece works, such as cultivating in other people’s gardens, to find money”, says Mrs. Martin.

“Sometimes, I am unable work because of illness and I tell some of my children to assist me, but what it means is that they miss lessons at school”.

She has been receiving support, of course, from Likurezi AIDS Support Organization since 2000 and, of late, the Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS (COWLHA).

She has been receiving beddings and medication from Likurezi, while COWLHA provided them with life skills training. Mrs. Martin says her decision to join a support group has helped to change her life in the sense that she is now more confident of her life.

“We encourage one another to fight on with life. Sometimes, I can leave my home with some qualms, but all these are gone when I meet my friends. We also go around campaigning against discrimination against people living with HIV”, she says.

A Call for Action

At Lukurezi, Mrs. Martin says, people with various problems pertaining to HIV and AIDS and gender based violence are counseled, her being one of the counselors.

“We target even those who are HIV negative”, she explains, “Some people think they are HIV negative because they’ve not gone for HIV testing, so we tell them the importance of under taking an HIV test and the benefits which we are seeing after knowing our status.

“If you go for testing, you are able to plan your future, but if you haven’t you do not know your status and you think everything is alright. We also target men. Men have a significant role to play in fighting HIV and promoting gender equality.

“For example, we teach men in this area to appreciate their wives when they demand use of a condom or a break from sex. Women and men are the same. They all get tired.

“Here we have a tendency of men who insists on sex even when their wives tell them they are not feeling well. If you say you have a headache, they would say, ‘it is only the head that is not feeling well and not the other side!’ So, these are some of the acts of male chauvinism we want to eradicate in this area,” explains Mrs. Martin.

To empower women, she says they must be given the opportunity to take part in various economic activities from which they can a living.

“NGO should approve proposals which we write to them so that we can fight the financial challenges which are facing”, she pleads, adding that: “I urge my fellow women to stop relying on men. Being HIV positive does not mean the end of life. We must engage into farming business and join support groups so that we can be self reliant and live a happy life.

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My Survival Story on ZODIAK Online is sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (Osisa).