Did you turn on a tap today to get your water supply? In third-world countries, villagers collect water from swamps or seasonal streams. These are polluted because pigs, goats, dogs and wild animals also use the same water sources. The contaminated water promotes diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and skin rashes. Death from water-borne diseases is not uncommon.
Malawi, southern Africa, is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, ranking 159 of 174. Only 47% of the population has access to clean, safe drinking water.
Women walk long distances to collection centres where they line up, and sometimes fight, for access to clean water. They must go early in the mornings while the supply lasts. Says one woman: “It isn’t safe early in the morning to walk by ourselves. Men attack and rape us.”
HIV/AIDS and family planning are other major concerns of rural women in Malawi. Seventy percent of hospital deaths are a result of HIV/AIDS and more than 400,000 children, under 15, have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
Another significant challenge in Malawi is adult literacy. Studies reveal that 35.9% (mostly women) of the population can’t read or write. And, only 53% of the children are in school.
The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda is contributing to the Malawi government’s efforts of poverty eradication by:
· constructing, installing and maintaining 20 boreholes and water pumps in 10 rural communities that will provide clean, safe water.
· assisting 900 rural women with adult literacy classes.
· supporting more than 4,000 women with community health related issues
· providing quality care and support to more than 1,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS.
The Salvation Army began operations in Malawi in 1967 and currently is active in 15 Districts. The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda is one of the key funding partners of The Salvation Army Malawi.
To date Canada has: funded adult literacy classes in rural communities where 900 women benefited; established a goat bank program that reached 1,460 women; provided vocational training for more than 100 orphans and vulnerable children.
In the targeted communities The Salvation Army is known as a trusted agency that is there to assist them.