Many of the women wore dresses made from state-issued “jubilee cloth,” a cloth with the faces of all the presidents of Malawi. The event was electrifying, especially when the Malawian soccer team scored a first goal against the Mozambique team. The women (pictured here) rushed on to the field to cheer, dance, and celebrate the goal. The newly-elected president, Peter Mutharikas, gave a speech calling Malawians to work together to improve their country. He even quoted JFK’s famous line, “Ask not what a country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” There was great excitement in the stadium where we met!
When I went to the office the next day, I was surprised to hear that most of my colleagues did not attend any of the celebrations.
One person said that there is nothing to celebrate since things haven’t improved and people are still living in poverty. In fact, when you look at the most recent World Bank statistics, 82.3% of Malawians still live on less than US$2.00 a day. UNICEF states that “more than half of the population (52%) lives on less than US$0.32 a day. This includes around four million children living in poverty”.
This means that Malawi’s children, 1.5 times the population of Toronto and Chicago (pop. of 2.7 million), are living on less than 32 cents a day.
With statistics like this, it is no wonder that stunting in children under 5 years old is 48%. Stunting begins when the baby is in the mother’s womb and the mother is poorly nourished. Stunting continues when the child is inadequately fed and plagued by repeated illness and diarrhea. The effects of stunting are typically permanent: both in physical development and in cognitive development. If children who are stunted attend school, many will have trouble learning due to developmental deficits. As a result, many of them will be in the same economic situation as their parents—and so history repeats itself in chronic poverty from generation to generation.
It is no wonder my colleague said that after 50 years of independence, Malawians are not better off!
Prayers
As you are reading this, I encourage you to take some time to pray for this project, the staff, and the country of Malawi.
Pray especially that we will have a good working relationship with the district government staff and community volunteers.
Pray that the fathers in these communities will support this project and will want to provide the best food for their wives and children.
It is my hope that, three years from now, we will really see a positive change in these communities, and that we will have real reasons to celebrate on Independence Day!
Blessings,