By Jessica Perrin, CARE International
Many years ago in a small village an hour outside of the Malawian capital of Lilongwe, a young girl named Giliseliya was forced to leave school after her older sister had a baby. Overnight she became a caregiver instead of a student and lost her hope of finishing school. Today, at 39 years of age, Giliseliya is determined to ensure the same fate doesn’t happen to her own two children, even in the face of a food crisis.
The tiny village of Kapiza where Giliseliya and her children live has suffered from food insecurity in the past. For years there was no sustainable food source and families were forced to go to bed hungry. ‘It was too hard to find any food, the whole community was hungry and we had no one to ask for help,’ said Giliseliya, ‘we only had five or six months worth of food for the whole year.’
The situation was desperate, and when CARE offered help to the community of Kapiza, Giliseliya thought all her dreams were coming true; ‘I was so happy, I was hoping all my problems would be over,’ she said. CARE provided agriculture training and introduced village savings and loans groups to the community, whereby women like Giliseliya invest small amounts of money into a fund from which they can eventually borrow. As the fund grows with interest from repaid loans, members begin to make money. The groups work together, save together and, as a result, all share in the success.
After two training sessions, Giliseliya was confident in her ability, ‘I learnt how to plant crops, how to manage soil, grow sweet potato, maize and ground nuts,’ she says. She took a small loan to buy seed and hasn’t looked back since. She tended to her crops everyday and even managed to sell her left over produce at the market. Following her success she has been able to buy basic necessities like soap and salt, feed her family and even buy livestock.
Today, five years on from the first training session she attended with CARE, Giliseliya has four pigs, ten goats and is growing beans, corn and tobacco. Her kids are back at school and she’s a community facilitator helping other people become involved in the savings and loans groups.
CARE’s project officer, Charles Mkangara, explains why it’s so important for women like Giliseliya to become community facilitators; ‘they’re teaching people what to do, they’re learning the fruits of their labour, improving their households and they use that information to help the community with their crops,’ he said. Put simply, they have the chance to help their entire community overcome poverty, something Giliseliya is working towards everyday.‘I’m proudly helping my community after my life has changed,’ she says.
Her initial success is flourishing throughout her village and even within her own family. Giliseliya’s fourteen year old son, Misheki, is thrilled to be back at school. ‘My favourite subjects are maths and English and I have all the energy I need to work hard. One day, I‘d like to be an engineer,’ he says candidly.
Giliseliya’s life is nothing like what she remembers of her childhood. She’s just one of many women in Malawi supporting their families and communities to a sustainable path from poverty, and in her eyes, that comes in the form of education for her children. Sitting in front of her house, Giliseliya looks out at the grain silo full of maize in her yard, the goats and chickens running beneath her feet and lastly at her eldest son. ‘I feel very proud today because my children are going to school and we have enough to eat,’ she says. ‘I feel like I’m a teacher and role model for the other savings and loans groups. I’m happy because I can finally help my friends.’