Nellie is 61 years old and lives in Karonga district. She is single and physically challenged and lives with her two grandsons. Nellie has never owned livestock and lacked knowledge on climate resilience as her education levels are those of a primary school leaver. This made her extremely vulnerable to long periods of hunger, particularly in times of drought. Under DISCOVER Project, Nellie received two pigs which are acting as a source of manure, and source of protein. This conserves moisture needed for proper crop growth in case the area is hit by erratic rains. She also benefited 1000 tubes of Faiderbhia albida (Nsangu), Acacia lebbeck (Mtangatanga) for her tree nursery which will act as a shield in times of strong winds. She owns a solar gadget, Chitetezo Stove, which uses less amount of firewood as compared to the conventional three stone fire.

Nellie was quoted saying ‘pakhomo pano ndi pamwana alirenji, zakudya ndi zosasowa’ zikomo DISCOVER Project’. Meaning “this home never lacks anything, food is available at all times”. And continued saying, ‘Nzeru ndi mphamvu’ ndiyesetsa kuti anthu ambiri adziwe za kusintha kwa nyengo ndi kuphelera kwacha’. Meaning “knowledge is power, will ensure more people learn on climate change and mitigating the impact. Thanks to the DISCOVER Project.”

•  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.

Martha Hiwa is a physically challenged woman from Kalembo village in Balaka District. She did not finish Primary School. She is married in a polygamous marriage and spends most of her time on her own, as she says her husband prefers his other wife. In the past, Martha was food insecure and lacked basic household essentials. She was excluded from development programmes on the basis of her being physically challenged. Under Self Help Africa initiatives in Kalembo Impact Area, Martha received 3 goats (2 does and 1 buck) in 2007 after the Village Development Committee learnt in one of the trainings that women empowerment, joint decision making on equal access and control of resources amongst males and females in families, reduces gender based violence in communities.

To date she has 6 goats of her own, something she never envisioned she would possess. She has been able to construct a good house and user friendly toilet as she could not access the available toilets due to walking difficulties.

She was quoted as saying “I did not know that I can own my own livestock in this life, thanks to Self Help Africa”. She is a now a role model in her village, proving to the community that “disability is not inability”.

•  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.

Lucia Kanyoza and her husband from Chibvala Extension Planning Area in Dowa district, planted amaranth seed on 3 standard beds in their garden and they were amazed by the income they realised from the sales. With little effort, they managed to harvest twice a week in a period of five weeks. Every time Lucia takes her vegetable to the market for sale, she brings home between MwK3,500 and MwK 3,700. This is a much higher profit compared to earnings from the same volume of other vegetables she also sells. The money is used to buy food and other basic necessities for the household. Since the activities were done as a family, it has helped Lucia to have access and control over the household resources.

Lucia was quoted as saying ‘taphunzira kugwira ntchito limodzi ngati banja,’ meaning ‘Me and my husband have realised the goodness of planning together. This has reduced gender based violence (GBV) in our household as there is greater harmony, and well being in the family.”

The family of Mr and Mrs Kazinga are now a role model in the fight against gender and domestic violence in their community because of the benefits they have realised from the access and control of the resources they get from farming proceedings.

•  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.

Born 41 years ago Malita Chikhosi is happily married to Village Head man Funsani. They have three sons and live in Dowa district. Life before chicken production was difficult for Malita as she could not access money from her husband, who was the sole provider of the home. Due to cultural norms they never realized it was possible for husband and wives to sit together and plan for the family. Thanks to Self Help Africa who initiated a programme specifically to uplift lives of women economically, Malita joined a group of 10 women who received 200 hundred chickens. The group managed to keep them all alive and now they are selling cocks. In the group men were involved in constructing khola’s in a way of reinforcing families to work together and in the process there were discussions on gender equality.Currently the women are selling the chickens at an average price of MK 3,000.00 and managed to share MK 19,000 from cockerel sales in 4 weeks time. They are hoping to get MK 300,000 from the egg sales with which they will buy fertilizer for the maize gardens and pay school fees for their children. This has increased Malita’s confidence in decision making as she is able to plan together with her husband in a way teaching her husband the goodness of planning together.

She was quoted as saying “if all goes according to plan we will construct a house with iron sheets’

• 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