In Malawi, child labour and early marriages continue to be some of the main reasons that girls do not go to school and receive an education.   When given a choice and limited resources parents will choose to send their sons to school rather than their daughters. This is due in large part because parents expect their girls to get married – often as teenagers - or they become pregnant. If the girls are sent to school they will most likely not finish because they will be...
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The rains had just taken a break and the sun seemed to have exercised its supremacy over the clouds. If it were not for the downpour resulting from the furious clouds, I could have been here two hours ago, just in time for my appointment with the first female teacher ever at Chiputu Primary School, 49 kilometres (30 miles) from Kasungu town. “What will you have first, dowe (roasted green maize) or, nkhaka (cucumber)?” was the greeting from Yamikani Kantepa. As I enjoyed the dowe,...
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"She symbolizes life, she is life and she brings life." This is what Clare Padenga said when asked why she worked so hard to depict what she truly believed her mother deserved on her special day, Mothers’ Day.  When I explained to the girls that we were once again creating the Mother’s Day artwork for the Join My Village community, many responded the same way. "Yeah, we will need a day to do this; our major challenge is to select which message to write."  It was on...
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Typical of the rainy season here in Malawi, it was a wet and cloudy Saturday morning in Kasungu when people from the Nyemba primary school witnessed the “handing over” ceremony of a teacher’s house built by Join My Village.This time it was a symbolic presentation of nine houses and the District Education Manager’s (DEM) office received the house keys from Join My Village on behalf of the community.In attendance were Senior Chief Chidzuma, representatives from District Education Network, department of planning, the district education manager,...
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Sports are fun, interactive and above all they bring an automatic bond of friendship among participants. While we appreciate the value of sports for an individual and a country as a whole, culture has its own silent but very powerful impact on the development of someone into a particular sporting talent. A free culture is likely to cultivate a community that has different individuals with various talents, while others may place limitations based on gender.However, gender should not be a barrier but rather a means...
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