sewing

Mwayiwathu simply means "blessings" in Chiyao, the language of the Yao people in Malawi.  This is the name that the HIV support group in Ndiwasa Village near Domasi (map) chose for their group when they started working for Dsenyo.  

HIV Positive Living Groups are quite numerous in Malawi because of the high HIV infection rate.  The purpose of these groups is to provide a safe place for people to share their struggles, council each other and encourage others in the community to live openly with the disease.  There is still a huge stigma associated with HIV, which is evident especially among men.  The majority of these groups are comprised by women, many of whom are widowed, and only decided to get tested for HIV after seeing their husbands die too young and suspecting AIDS was the cause.

Mwayiwathu is a group of 20+ women who chose this name for their group because they see the work from Dsenyo as a blessing and a solution to some of the challenges they face.  They use their wages to pay for transport to the hospital to get their ARVs (anti-retro virals), buy food, pay school fees for their children and purchase fertilizer for growing crops. 

On our recent trip to Malawi this August we interviewed each member of the group asking, "Has your quality of life improved through working with Dsenyo?"  Esinara Kwalamasa (photo left) said that it really has because she has learned new skills, she enjoys working together with the other women sharing her problems and ideas with them.  She also said that now she has money to cover basic necessities like food and soap which were a struggle before.

The Mwayiwathu HIV Support Group makes the following items for Dsenyo...everything is hand-stitched, no machines: Flowers (hair clips, ornaments, magnets, etc) and Little Friends (lion, monkey, elephant, bunny stuffed animals).

Click here to share this fair trade story...

I am traveling with Tamara Banda, a driven, talented and confident young business woman. With Dsenyo's support, Tamara has started KAFUTARO Import & Export. Dsenyo will contract with Tamara's business to provide services like coordinating between our different producer groups, managing quality control, delivering materials, collecting finished goods, and serving as translator during training sessions. In the past, Tamara was one of the leading female soccer referees in the Northern Region and a long distance runner for the Malawi Police College.

I'm here in Malawi for the month of March and promised I would keep all of you up to date on my blog. I resolved to blog for each leg of the trip:

1. Lilongwe
2. Kasungu
3. Mzuzu (Ekwendeni, Nkhata Bay)
4. Khande
5. Zambia
6. Tanzania 

Well, I'm already in Mzuzu, leaving tomorrow for Khande and feeling a bit behind on blogging. So here's a brief overview of my first few days in Malawi which I spent in Lilongwe getting settled and touching base with people in the capitol city.