Olive Gunyais is aged 15 and is from Malasa village in Nkhotakota District. She does not know her father. Her mother married another man and moved away from her children five years ago. Olive was raised in her grandparents’ home.

In 2013 Olive joined her mother and stepfather in Blantyre, where her step-brother was given preferential treatment. “My step brother is sent to a private school where school fees are K10,000 per term, while my sister and I go to a government school where there is no fee paid. My stepfather says that boys are more intelligent and can finish school but girls may get married and waste his money.” She adds: “My stepbrother does not do any house chores, he gets up in the morning, has a bath and eats breakfast and goes to school while us girls have to light fires, wash plates, fetch water from a public water tap and prepare breakfast for the family before going to school.”

Rejected and worried about her future, Olive returned to her grandmother’s home in Nkhotakota. There, her aunt introduced Olive to the Skillz Girl Initiative. The initiative uses fun interactive methods to provide life skills and gender education, through a partnership between Concern Worldwide and Grassroot Soccer. Olive attended a one-week camp where she learned about gender, sex, and HIV in a safe and welcoming environment.

“In a girls-only session I am able to freely discuss life issues unlike in school where girls were mixed with boys” Olive says.

• This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
• Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje

Grace* is a 13 year-old girl from Blantyre district. She has four sisters and two brothers. The children were orphaned in 2008. After Grace and her younger sister were taken in by a family member, she was sexually assaulted by an adult cousin. Fearing that she would be blamed for the abuse, and worried what would happen to her younger sister if they were made to leave, Grace never spoke out. Finally, she was forced to reveal her secret after she became pregnant.

Grace was cast out of the home for bringing shame upon her family. With nowhere else to go Grace and her sister walked to the closest town, where her situation was discovered by the District Social Welfare office and referred to Concern Worldwide for support.

These agencies linked her with district support services; she and her sister were provided with food and care From the District Health Office until Grace delivered her baby. After several consultations between the social welfare office, Concern Worldwide, and a local organization supporting orphans and vulnerable children, the local CBO agreed to take on responsibility of caring for Grace, her baby, and her sister.

Social welfare guidelines call for placing her in the home of a relative, despite the risk Grace and her sister would face. At the moment, Grace’s situation is still uncertain. Her future is still unresolved. Her dreams are still waiting for better days.

• This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
• Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje
• Names and locations changed to protect identity

Mafulesi Matengambiri is 62 years old and lives in Galafa village in Nsanje. She is the mother of three children, aged 20, 17, and 15. Mafulesi spent years married to a man who abused her both physically and emotionally, leaving her powerless in her own home. Her husband took total control of household decision making, using their joint earnings for his own personal enjoyment.

“I couldn’t participate in decision making, even if I earned my own money from piece work. If I contributed my own thoughts that would result in a beating” says Mafulesi.

In 2011 her husband abandoned her. She has since been solely responsible for the well-being of her household and children. To raise money or to get food to feed her children, she undertook ganyu work (manual labour), neglecting her own fields. “After working on other peoples farms I would feel tired and spent less time on my own farm.”

In November 2013, Mafulesi participated in Concern Worldwide’s Conservation Agriculture (CA) project. She was given a small amount of seed and fertilizer, and trained in techniques to improve her yields and prevent poor harvests in drought years. She was also provided with two goats; when these reproduced, she passed on the kids on to another vulnerable household. A major breakthrough came when she joined a Village Savings and Loan (VS&L) group, which enabled her to start up a small business selling tomatoes. Through her VS&L, she has already saved MK 16,200 which she plans to use to expand her business.

• This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
• Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje

Katrina Shako is an ambitious girl who completed primary school in Blantyre. In 2014, she returned home to live with her parents in Nsanje where she is currently doing Standard 7. Her father Vito explains, “The moment I saw her, I told my wife that the time had come for Katrina to be married. She had grown into a beautiful young woman and I knew that we were going to be troubled with worries about her getting pregnant before marriage because of her looks.”

Girls who fall pregnant before marriage in Nsanje are subjected to a ritual known as ‘kupitadzwade’. The pregnant girl is forced to have sex with an older man during the course of her pregnancy or after giving birth. To avoid this, many families in Nsanje arrange marriages while their daughters are still young.

In 2014, Vito joined a Fathers’ Group launched by the organisation Friends in AIDS Support Trust (FAST) with support from Concern Worldwide. These groups advocate for and support children to stay in school. Radio broadcasts, developed and aired by Theatre for a Change, provide discussion topics at each meeting.

Vito has now reversed his decision about forcing his daughter into early marriage. He is an active member of his local Fathers’ Group, encouraging other parents to send their children to school. “He is on the top of the list of people who are encouraging girls in the
village to go to school and work hard at it,” says the local Village Headman Kalumbi. The family plans to send Katrina to attend secondary school.

• This case study was prepared as part of the Gallery Exhibition to commemorate the visit of the President of the Republic of Ireland, His Excellency Michael D Higgins to Malawi in November 2014, and later to coincide with the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against GBV on November the 25th, 2014.
• Pictures taken by : Chipiliro Khonje