Pharmacist strike hurts aids patients

By: Abby Wiseman

HIV patients line the hallway of the Fevers Unit Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. They wait for hours for their name to be called, so they can collect their antiviral drugs. Normally the patients would get two to three months of medication at a time, but since the pharmacists are on a national strike in Ghana, they are lucky to get 10 days worth.

Juanita Sallah, the local journalist I’m working with at CitiFM, negotiates her way past the watchful nurses and finds Nana Esi, an HIV patient, sprawled out on a bench.

Nana Esi is concerned.

To put more pressure on the government, the Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association announced last week that they were going to stop administering drugs to emergency patients, the mentally ill and those with HIV/AIDS. Which means that Nana Esi does not know how much longer she will be able to get the drugs, and that she is relying on the nurses to accurately portion out her medication.

“We are worried, we are worried,” she says. “They just give us bit by bit, bit by bit. We are just pleading with the government to do something about it.”

We speak with another man battling HIV who refers to himself as Kwame. He tells us that the strike has become a major inconvenience in his life, because he has to travel four hours to the hospital every 10 days. This, he says, makes it difficult for him to work and keep a living.

The problem is that the government, under the Fair Wage and Salaries Commission, suddenly switched the pharmacists into a new salary structure, mid-negotiation, without any notice. It’s a part of a new public servant salary structure, called the Single Spine Salary Structure, which ensures that all public servants with the same education and occupation will be paid the same across the board. 

The pharmacists were categorized in a much lower salary group than they think they should be- something closer to nurses, when they say they should be paid closer to the doctors. Instead of trying to negotiate with the commission, the Government and Hospital Pharmacist Association decided to strike immediately, exacerbating an already dire situation, because the doctors have been on strike since the end of March, leaving the care of the patients to the nurses.

Talks between the Fair Wage and Salary Commission and the pharmacists have been non-existent. When Juanita phoned the health minister, Sherry Ayitey, to find out what her ministry is doing to ensure HIV patients get their medication, she declined to comment. I called her after the story aired to see if she would like to have a word before I publish this blog. She said she did not know about the strike and hung up the phone.

After that exchange, I think of Nana Esi, dabbing her forehead with a sweat rag in that long hallway. She’s so sick and she is just trying to survive, but the politics of a nation are getting in the way. As far as anyone knows, there is no plan to help her or remedy the situation, and now the nurses are threatening to strike. She should be worried.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The need for mental health rehabilitation treatment in Malawi

Flomina Mawindo stands in front of the dilapidated house she plans to rebuild as a strategy to keep the chronic stress and depression that initially caused her mental illness at bay. Photo by Karissa Gall. 

By Karissa Gall

A building remodel is not typically “what the doctor ordered” to stave off chronic stress and depression.

But in Malawi there is a shortage of doctors with orders, and for Flomina Mawindo, a single mother of five in the Che Mboma village, rebuilding a dilapidated house is her best shot to ensuring her own rehabilitation after being discharged from Zomba Mental Hospital.

Mawindo was admitted to the hospital after family and financial stress set off a downward spiral into anxiety and insomnia. She struggled with a husband who, until his death in 2004, encouraged thieves to steal from her to ensure she did not have the means to divorce him; in-laws who cursed her and her children and a son who stole from other villagers and skipped town leaving her to pay outstanding debts.

She began walking the streets at night, talking to herself and became increasingly violent when her children attempted to restrain her. She was admitted to the hospital in November 2011.

Mawindo was discharged in February, and is able to recall, with a shaking voice and haunted eyes, her experience at the hospital as one of “trouble and pain.”

“In the first ward, it was not good at all,” Mawindo remembers.  “There were four or five patients in one room.  The others would bite me, abuse me, and grab my food.  I could not protect myself.”

Mawindo said the problems that made the hospital “like a prison” were caused by a shortage of doctors and nurses - an issue that was confirmed by a nurse at the hospital who said “the nurses are always there, but for example today we are only two nurses, and we have...53 patients."

Due to the shortage of doctors and nurses, psychological treatment has not been institutionalized and instead the provision of drugs takes priority.

Mawindo has been prescribed sodium valproate, a mood stabilizer which causes side effects including include fatigue and shaking. She is no longer strong enough to walk to the market to do business and has not returned to work since being discharged.  Her daughter Tadala left primary school to care of the family until the Jacaranda School for Orphans stepped in and hired a caretaker.

Beyond the caretaker and maize meal donations provided by Jacaranda, Mawindo said she is not aware of any other community-based services able to help support her and her family.

In the absence of government-funded, community-based aftercare and rehabilitation services, Mawindo said she plans to make repairs to a dilapidated house on her property and open it up to renters or turn it into a chicken farm. 

She derives her motivation from the time spent at the mental hospital.

“I was going through trouble and pain at that hospital,” she said.  “I’ve decided I will never go back there again.”

According to Draft III of the Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan for 2011-2016, in March 2011 when the plan was published there were no mental health activities at community level, primary health care units did not provide mental health services, the treatment services provided by tertiary institutions were mainly for people with severe or acute mental health problems and the provision of psychological rehabilitation was limited.

The same report found that in 2011 only 1.5 per cent of the national health budget was being spent on mental health and except for one or two districts, most districts spent none of their budget on mental health services apart from the procurement of drugs.

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

Revamping the Malawi police force

Comfort Chitseko on the front page of the BNL Times (Malawi newspaper) in October 2011. He was accused of being an activist.  Photo by: Comfort Chitseko.

By Kara Stevenson

"I was detained, in jail for seven days for no reason,” says Comfort Chitseko, who was arrested by Malawi police in October for allegedly conducting "demonstration without authority consent and seditious act", according to police.

“I was having lunch with my cousin before I was arrested. They put me in the local jail cell and then they eventually transferred me to Maula Prison. I did absolutely nothing wrong."

During the time of Chitseko’s arrest, the country was in chaos. The July 2011 protests caused tension across the nation.

Chitseko now awaits a court hearing for the accusations.

“Time and time we experience that the society is saying that we mishandle suspects,” says Commissioner Nelson Bophani for Malawi’s police service in Lilongwe’s central region.

Since the 2011 protests, the force has yet to recover from their violent reputation.

Many police authorities recognize Malawians' criticisms of the force's arbitrary arrests and alleged brutality.

“The public is expecting a lot from us,” said Detective Lucy Mkute from Kanengo Police Service. 

She feels that changes are already being made within the force.

Many changes have been made in government administration since the leadership of Joyce Banda, including the replacement of the inspector-general of the service.

Since being appointed, the new Inspector-General, Commissioner Loti Dzonzi has initiated an "Investigative Interviewing Skills" workshop for all investigators and prosecutors in the service.

“It is the desire of the inspector-general that we change the image of the police service,” said Bophani. “His intention is to do it by imparting skills to all investigators and prosecutors.

“The police service needs to avoid using torture and violence...instead we should use our skills. It’s what Malawi needs.”

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

Family planning in Ghana

Munika Mohammed and her son Muhaison at Tamale's newest family planning clinic. Photo by Gwyneth Dunsford. 

By Gwyneth Dunsford

Munika Mohammed sits in the clinic waiting room, breastfeeding her seven-month-old son.

Though the 28-year-old works at Tamale's newest family planning clinic, she still had to beg her husband to let her take contraceptives.

"I waited for a day when he was very happy," she says. "It was difficult to convince him ... but he realized that family planning isn't something that would (prevent me from having another child)."

The Marie Stopes International clinic is the only family planning clinic in Ghana's northern region. The U.K.-based NGO has clinics in Accra and Kumasi but a location in Tamale was long overdue, says Kenneth Danuo, the clinic's behaviour change communications coordinator.

"Tamale has a very high fertility rate (and) maternal deaths have also increased in this part of Ghana," he says.

According to the 2008 Ghana Demographics Health Survey, the northen region's fertility rate is 6.8. This means women of child-bearing age have an average of 6.8 children in their lifetime compared to the national average of four children per women of child-bearing age.

Mohammed's approach to contraception is typical for the region, says Danuo.

"The fear of the women is that (their) husbands, for all kinds of reasons, will not want (them) to ...  take family planning methods."

The main reason husbands deny their wives birth control are the misconceptions that they will never be able to conceive again, says Danuo.

Data from a recent presentation by the region's Family Planning Services shows married women decline taking contraception for many reasons. 

Marie Stopes International clinic is 200 metres away from Tamale's Central Mosque. Strong Islamic beliefs in the region are also hindering contraceptive use, says Danuo. 

Birth control injections like Depo-Provera are popular, because they prevent pregnancy for up to three months, says Danuo. Women can secretly get the shot and avoid telling their husband they are on birth control.

It's Mohammed's job to teach woman about the different types birth control. She reassures them that their periods won't stop and that they will be able to conceive again.

"Women are coming one-by-one and they don't know what method to choose, but after counselling...they (go) for the injectables," she says.

Like family planning services offered by Ghana Health Services, contraceptives at Marie Stopes are heavily subsidized. Both Marie Stopes and GHS charge 0.50 GHC ($0.25 Cdn) for an injection of Devo-Provera.

Mohammed's son, Muhaison, coos as she bounces him on her lap. Mohammed plans to have more children, but on her own schedule.

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

Malawi'sJoyce Banda: Determining international, national loyalties

Joyce Banda before delivering her first state of the nation address at Malawi’s Parliament building in Lilongwe. Photo by Desiree Buitenbos.

By Desiree Buitenbos

Malawi’s President Joyce Banda knows how to impress donors.

In her first months in office, Banda has appeased the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) call to devalue the Malawi Kwacha, and announced that the country will soon loosen its tough stance on homosexuality.

The latter made international headlines, including praise from John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister.

“We are encouraged by her recent commitment to repeal discriminatory legislation, including legislation that persecutes gays and lesbians,” Baird said in a statement.

And local human rights activists couldn’t have agreed more.

Gift Trapense, director of the Center for the Development of People (CEDEP), acknowledges that repealing the law requires a parliamentary vote which might be tough to pass. But he argues that changing the law is imperative for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Malawi.

“We commend the government for taking that bold step in terms of respecting international human rights norms. It will go a long way to build the image of Malawi which was not good in the previous administration,” says Trapense.

 “When we talk about men having sex with men, we find that some have girlfriends, some are married which means that we are connected in terms of sexual activity. If you can’t prevent HIV amongst one group then you are not doing anything in terms of the whole pandemic.”

Generally speaking, African nations condemn same-sex relationships. In Northern Africa, homosexuals are sentenced to death. While in the South, with the exceptions of South Africa and Mozambique, the maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment.

In Malawi, some religious leaders argue that God created man and woman for a reason. They say anything else is abnormal and perverted.

But Banda’s appeal to retract “bad laws” made under late president Bingu Wa Mutharika has presented southern Africa’s first female president with a dilemma. On the one hand, Banda is succumbing to international pressure to honour human rights agendas. On the other, she is the leader of a country where homophobic sentiment is the norm. She risks losing popular support.

Within 48 hours of Banda’s surprising announcement during her first state of the nation address in May, her words were put to the test when a national newspaper ran a story about a lesbian couple in Blantyre publicly declaring their engagement. The women, Ruth Banda and Redgner Mmangausi, were quoted in the article as saying that they were so in love that society’s views of them didn’t matter.

This story was reminiscent of a saga from two years ago.

In a similar circumstance, two men, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, announced their plans to marry. Under Mutharika, the men were arrested and sentenced to 14 years in prison for committing “gross indecency and unnatural acts”.  They were later pardoned on humanitarian grounds after a visit from the United Nations secretary general, Ban-Ki Moon. But Mutharika never faltered on his stance that the men had violated Malawi’s cultural and religious laws.

Now Banda, who ascended to presidency after Mutharika’s sudden death, was faced with the same predicament.

Initially, it seemed like the lesbian couple’s arrest was imminent, however rumours were put to rest after moratorium was declared on the law.

Banda showed leadership by choosing not to back down.

It has since come out that the article that started the controversy was a fabrication. Both the author and the publishing house are now facing libel lawsuits. However, the episode has opened up the debate on whether Malawi, a self-described “God-Fearing Nation”, is ready to tolerate LGBT communities.  

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

 

Ghanaian sues for compensation after spening 14 years in prison

Francis Agyare sits outside a courtroom in Accra, Ghana waiting for his trial to begin. Photo by Danny Kresynak.

By Danny Kresynak

Francis Agyare sits in the audience of a courtroom in Ghana’s Human Rights Court. He’s dressed in a blue plaid shirt, black belt and khaki pants that he rolls twice at the ankle. He’s clean shaven and his shoes are shined but he takes time to buff them as he waits for the clerk to call his name.

He says he needs to focus on his future rather than his life before his arrest. He was 26 then, the owner-operator of a small motorcycle mechanic shop in Jamestown-Accra. He was a family man and the sole means of financial support for his son and wife.

Agyare was never convicted of a crime, nor did he stand trial for any offence. Yet, he served 14 years and four months behind bars in Nsawam Prison before a judicial order freed him in 2008.

Now, nearly 18 years after his first night in a cell, he’s suing fo compensation. His case is in front of the court.

Agyare’s arrest was part of a sweep of Jamestown Beach.

“I went to buy fish, but the people I buy from weren’t around. I was waiting when I heard shots. I didn’t know what to do so I ran," he says.

That morning, police detained Agyare along with 57 others in connection with a single act of vigilantism.  At the police station, Agyare was interrogated and put in a holding cell with four other men. “They put us in a box they call 'lock-up'...No food, no water, barely enough air to breath.”

He spent a week in a regional holding cell before police dropped him off at Ghana’s largest prison.

Agyare found refuge on the prison's tower roof because it was the only place with room to move. Agyare would climb a drainage pipe fastened to the wall’s mortar and run a line along the roof to dry his laundry.

The view from the tower gave him an elevated perspective on the yard and a glimpse at the road beyond the prison’s barbed wire, wall and fortified gate. It was there, about seven years into his stay, that he decided to jump. “I remember that day, I was depressed. I looked to my left, nobody. I looked to my right, nobody," he says. “I told my friend I was going to hang clothes. But I wanted to die.” 

He suffered a split lip, scrapes and bruises. Agyare says the urge to die was motivated by his desperate surroundings.

His inability to end his life strengthened his faith and forced him to embrace his circumstances. 

Agyare recently returned to Nsawam to visit former cellmates. It was his first trip through the prison's gates since his exit June 2008.

“I would complain to every visitor about my case," he said. “I had faith, but (I) never thought I would get out.”

His persistence caught the attention of other prisoners, guards and eventually a lawyer from an NGO called Justice for All (JFA). The lawyer filed a motion for Agyare’s release. The judge ruled in his favour and Agyare was let go.

Agyare re-entered a world that had gone on without him. His wife had remarried and moved away with his son, now a young man. He also bore the stigma of years spent in prison. “It’s a struggle when you get out. I had no place to live, no job, nobody helping me.” 

He now lives in the home of Achimota Pastor, and JFA advocate Reverend Isaac Ofori.  Ofori gave Agyare a job as a security person at a vocational training centre run by his church.

His court case carries on.

In two prior hearings, the Attorney General and Regional Police Command have been unable to produce a docket with Agyare’s name on it. Agyare’s current lawyer, Francis Xavier says the details of the case warrant substantial compensation.

His argument focuses on Ghana’s constitutional requirement that all people in custody be processed by a judge within 48 hours of arrest.

“They cannot find his file because it doesn’t exist. He never saw the judge. He was locked up and forgotten about. They cannot give him the time back. It is unacceptable to take someone’s life away for no reason then release them with nothing," Xavier says.

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

Press freedom in Malawi

The Daily Times newsroom. Photo by Karissa Gall. 

By Karissa Gall

Joyce Banda was sworn in as Malawi’s newest president on April 7 under the terms of the constitution, following two days of political uncertainty after the sudden death of the late Bingu wa Mutharika.

Having won national and international recognition for championing the education and rights of underprivileged girls, Banda’s ascension to the state house has raised hopes for a fresh start for the impoverished nation.

But in a place where a two-day national news blackout left Malawian media scrambling to ascertain the fate of the late head of state, what can be said for the future of press freedom under the new leader?

According to Daniel Nyirenda, deputy editor of The Daily Times and editor of The Business Times, it will take more than a transition of power to translate into improved media freedom.

“We are at a period now where there has been a suppression of media freedoms,” said Nyirenda, citing “bad laws” for press freedom that were enacted during Mutharika’s second term of office.

“We’ve also seen threats from the executive arm of government on the media and the banning of advertising to media that is unfriendly to government,” Nyirenda added.  “Reporters or even newspapers are afraid to publish certain stories for fear of getting a backlash from the executive arm of government.”

When asked if rights media might improve now that the executive arm of government is under Banda’s new leadership, Nyirenda said he is unsure.

“In my view, I think much won’t change because it’s the same people really, just wearing new clothes.  In Malawi, we have people who believe in controlling the media...so much won’t change.

“But, I’m hopeful that now that (Banda) has tasted life in the opposition she has learnt a lesson and she might be more flexible in the way she handles the media.”

Based on comments from The Daily Times’ current chief reporter, Charles Mpaka, Nyirenda’s hope may stand to come true.

While Mpaka said that colleagues working longer in the industry have testified that Banda was averse to criticism from the media and personally attacked journalists when serving as a minister, he added that after she was ousted from the DPP in December 2010 and started her opposition People’s Party, “she was reachable on her phones and willing to talk all the times that (he) phoned her.”

However, he added, the interviews were on issues serving her interests.

“From the experience that I have had with Malawian politicians, I would not rush to conclude that things will get easier for the media.  Politicians do change when they get the power and influence."

When asked what needs to change to usher in a new “normal” for press freedom in Malawi, Nyirenda said that it’s not the people that need to change but the system.

“We still have a hangover of one-party dictatorship in our laws,” said Nyirenda.  “We also need to change MBC (Malawi Broadcasting Corporation) from a state-controlled institution to a public institution.

“We need to reviews these things – then there will be adequate press freedom in this country.”

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

 

How Malawi will remember late president Bingu Wa Mutharika

Bingu Wa Mutharika, former president of Malawi, died after suffering cardiac arrest on April 5, 2012. Photo by Desiree Buitenbos.

By Desiree Buitenbos

The flag flies at half mast outside Malawi’s parliament building where thousands of civilians have braved long line-ups in smoldering hot sunshine to view the body of late president, Bingu Wa Mutharika, who died after suffering cardiac arrest on April 5, 2012.

To an outsider, this seems like a country truly mourning the loss of their beloved leader. Radio stations and newspapers are bombarded with messages of condolence, while government offices have shut down for the next 30 days.

And though some might argue that the sheer turnout to see Mutharika’s body is evidence of his vast popularity, there are others who say that nothing could be farther from the truth.

Precious Gondwe, 34, has been waiting in a queue to enter parliament for nearly two hours, and her determination to view Mutharika’s embalmed body is fuelled by a desire for closure rather than respect.

“I came here to see with my own eyes that our president is no longer with us,” says Gondwe, “It’s funny that we are lining up to see him when he is the reason we line up for essentials like petrol and sugar.”

Gondwe’s views are not uncommon.

According to Chijere Chirwa, a politics professor at Malawi’s Chancellor College, the lack of mourning among some Malawians can be characterized as “strange” but not unexpected considering the recent failures of Mutharika’s regime to uphold democratic ideals and improve the living conditions for the 74 per cent of the population who survive on less than a $1.25 per day.

“A lot of the critical minds would regard the current economic, social and political situation as developments closely connected with the president,” says Chirwa.

For the past two years, Mutharika, once hailed by the World Bank for his successful fertilizer subsidy program, steered Malawi’s economy into steep decline by telling foreign donors who contribute 40 per cent of the annual budget to “go to hell”.

His dismissal of aid catapulted the government into the adoption of a zero deficit budget which subsequently affirmed that the small landlocked country couldn’t self-sustain with limited resources.

More than 80 per cent of Malawians rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, and tobacco is the country’s main crop, as well as its primary generator of foreign currency. But since 2011, sales of the golden leaf have plummeted by a dismal 57 per cent resulting in reduced finances to purchase fuel from suppliers like Saudi Arabia. This scarcity coupled with a fixed exchange rate has increased consumer inflation to a staggering 10.9 per cent.

According to Voice Mhone, chairperson for the Malawian Civil Society Organizations, the months leading up to Mutharika’s death were overshadowed by rampant dissatisfaction.

“I think the political landscape, as well as the economic situation in Malawi kept on deteriorating," says Mhone.

“Staying in a queue for fuel is now part of our daily life, and if you look at the price of sugar and other essential commodities they have all skyrocketed.”

On July 20, 2011, the anger and frustration surrounding the country’s economic crisis culminated in mass demonstrations calling for the president’s resignation. These peaceful protests soon turned into bloody riots when police opened fire on innocent crowds leaving 19 people dead and scores of others injured.

But Mutharika didn’t accept blame for the deaths, nor did he take the public criticism to heart; instead he began a vigorous campaign to clampdown on critics, media and opposition leaders.

Reverend Macdonald Sembereka, a civil and human rights activist who played an instrumental role in organizing the protests, had his home petrol bombed by suspected government youth cadets last September. But he says that while the nation has gone through a turbulent time, he has no hard feelings towards Mutharika.

“He did contribute what he could contribute. If he failed that would be part of human nature," says Sembereka. “I’ll remember him as a person who stuck to his guns. When he wanted to do something, he would stick to it, even though the whole world would stand on the opposite side.”

At Mutharika’s funeral in the southern region of Thyolo, recently inaugurated president, Joyce Banda summed up his life with the sentiment of the nation, saying, "He was not an angel, he made mistakes”.

For Banda, Malawi’s first female president, the road ahead is littered with the legacy of those mistakes, and the latter has prompted her government to resume donor talks with the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

Life for children in Swaziland is far from a fairytale

Pre-school children from the Ekuphileni Care Centre in Swaziland are educated about HIV/AIDS. Photo by Robin Pierro.

By Robin Pierro

The children of Swaziland's Ekuphileni Care Centre sit sprawled around Siphiwe Khumalo’s knees in a field of dry, yellowing long-grass outside their one-room preschool.

The valley is widely known as a resting place for royalty, and it is where King Mswati III, who has ruled Swaziland’s absolute monarch since 1986, keeps one of his many luxury homes.

Khumalo, who has been a pre-school teacher for nearly 20 years, begins clapping her hands and the children beam up at her attentively; she reads the title of that afternoon's book, “What You Need to Know About HIV and AIDS.” 

The stark reality of life for the children living in "Paradise Valley" is far from an enchanting fairytale. Half of the 30 children attending the centre are HIV/AIDS orphans and several are infected with the virus as well. 

Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. Twenty-six per cent of population is living with the virus and the average life span is 37. 

“It’s good for them to learn about AIDS now, that way they can grow up knowing more than we did,” Khumalo says, “But what they really need right now is a place to sleep.” 

Khumalo and other community members are fighting to have an orphanage built to house the estimated 300 orphaned children in the surrounding area.

“In this area, it’s become so bad, almost every house has taken in an orphan, I have three with me now. Their parents die of AIDS and then they are left with nowhere to go,” she says.

The orphanages in the nearby cities are at capacity and individuals living around the pre-school feel it’s important for the kids to remain in their own area, around family and friends, once their parents have died.

Not far from the pre-school is a community centre that was built several years ago by King Mswati III in an attempt to diminish the number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS in the area. He has opened similar centres in many rural communities across the country. 

Vilakati Khanyisile, the secretary at the centre, who also plays the role of mother to four orphaned children, says that Mswati's attempt to hinder the epidemic - through the building of the centre - was not enough.

She says that although providing money to construct the building was a good thing, they no longer receive financial support from their government. The centre’s HIV/AIDS awareness programs run based off donations from foreign philanthropists.

The constant flux of foreign donations has caused major problems, such as unsustainable programming, and the donations are not enough to run an orphanage out of the centre.

 “It should not be up to foreigners who come here to give us money, our own government, our own king, should be doing better, says Khanyisile.

Khanyisile has contacted government officials to inform them of her community’s needs countless times, but years of being ignored have made her distrustful and frustrated.

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.

Children in Malawi run away due to lack of food

Tikhala Chilembwe used to be one of many street children in Malawi, but he has since returned to school. Photo by Desiree Buitenbos

By Desiree Buitenbos

Its 10 p.m. in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, and the nighttime vultures that characterize the city at night are out in full force.

Prostitutes prey on drunk men stumbling out of dimly lit bars, while stray dogs are on the hunt for scraps leftover from the hustle and bustle of daylight hours. These desolate streets are no place for a child to grow up, yet many often do.

A 10-year-old boy who didn't want to give his name says he has been sleeping in a gutter outside a popular grocery store for the past three years. He says poverty pushed him into the streets after he lost both his parents to AIDS.

“Most of the time, I beg for money to buy food because I have no one to look after me," he says. “The problem is some men at night will beat us up and take all that we have sourced throughout the day, leaving us with nothing at all”

Chimwemwe, 12, also left home with dreams of finding a better life in the big city, but his experience has been more comparable to a recurring nightmare. 

“Some men rape us night," he says “Others beat us and tell us to go away saying that we are thieves in town”

According to UNICEF, there are approximately 8,000 children living on the streets in Malawi’s major urban centers. Most of them are boys, and 80 per cent are AIDS orphans. These youngsters are often labelled by locals as purse-snatching, thugs, but the reality is that many of them have suffered unimaginable physical and sexual abuses.

Dr. Joseph Bandawe, a clinical psychologist at the Malawi College of Medicine, says that homelessness disrupts the sense of safety and security that children need, and as a result, they wander through life lacking self-confidence and being wary of adults.

“The trust and confidence that good things will happen to them is not there," Bandawe says.

“This affects their social interactions – defining the way they’re able to relate to other people, and the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not.”

Bandawe’s explanation might explain why many of Malawi’s street kids are tempted by a life of crime, but he also suggests that building trust and restoring family ties is imperative when returning troubled kids to school.

Chisomo Childrens Club is a local non-profit working on child poverty issues, and their main mission is to integrate youth back into an ordinary way of life. According to Irene Ngumano, a senior social worker for Chisomo, the biggest challenge in terms of rehabilitation is working with families who were willing to let their children go in the first place.

“Many families that we are working with are poverty stricken families who typically don’t have three meals a day," says Ngumano.

With Malawi’s escalating economic problems, inflation now stands at a staggering 10.9 per cent, causing the prices of essential commodities like bread and sugar to skyrocket. This implies one thing: the number of street children is set to increase unless there is radical policy change.

But Ngumano adds that if families are facing financial difficulties, Chisomo provides monetary assistance which enables them, at the very least, to feed their dependents.

Such was the case with 17-year-old Tikhala Chilembwe who ran away from home in Grade 3. He slept under a bridge for years, until he was discovered by Chisomo social workers who reunited him with his legal guardians and resumed his education.

“My life is okay right now,” says Tikhala, with a smile. “When I’m finished school, I want to become a doctor and I am going to work hard to achieve my goals."

There's so much more to Africa than predictable headlines about war, famine and AIDS. From Ghanaian beauty pageants to music in Malawi, Africa Without Maps provides a rare glimpse of life in Africa from Journalists for Human Rights interns on the ground.