Dear Reader,
The carnage on the roads of Malawi has reached a shocking state with deaths on a daily basis. A date will not pass without hearing someone has died on our roads. We seem to be comfortable with the situation and wondering what the Government and all duty bearers are now doing about this. What is more shocking and disturbing being that there are rumours that drivers have a malpractice of paying for a road traffic offense before they commit it. This malpractice is called ‘Kudula GR’ (General Receipt). So, when you reflect on it, this malpractice is really doing “kudula” as it really cuts the lives of productive people who could have served the nation in different capacities. One wonders why our Traffic Police and key stakeholders have been silent on the matter. We need to put this on check and reinforce the rules as they are. While we are asking the duty bearers to be responsible enough, rights holders also need to rise up and speak on this. As rights holders, our right to life is at risk when we are packed like bags of tomatoes. Unless rights holders demand their rights in full, we could be moving in circles. “Kudula GR” is really cutting the lives of productive Malawians.
No one will remain youthful forever and aging is something that we all need to reflect on because whether we like it or not, we will grow old. The unfortunate part is that when people get old in our societies, we associate them with so many other issues including witchcraft. As we celebrate the International Day for Older Persons on 1 October under the theme “Aging with Dignity: The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide”, let us reflect on how we are treating our elderly people. As YONECO, we would like to applaud the work being done by “Mai Mbambande” in supporting the elderly people in the family settings. We like it as you call them boys and girls and they indeed are our boys and girls of those days. We want to encourage that there is a lot of wisdom and knowledge that we can tap from. MANEPO is another organization we need to congratulate as they focus on community care for the elderly. We need to join hands to ensure that the elderly enjoy their rights to the fullest.
As you are reading this newsletter, many thanks to all our teachers and we celebrate the World Teacher’s Day falling on October 5, 2024, under the theme: Valuing teacher voices: Towards a new social contract for education”. Let us all raise the voice of the teacher to be treated with dignity and support for them to deliver the best. The unfortunate reality is that everyone went to the hands of the teacher including the most powerful president and yet the teacher is not given the attention they need.
Mental health has become a death toll currently with suicide being common. Productive persons are dying every day. The 2024 World Mental Health Day has been dedicated to the workplace realizing that in the world there are lots of issues that create mental challenges including and not limited to pressure of work, meeting deadlines and inadequate supervisions. The common language of burnout is an issue, and we need to reflect on them. It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace is the theme for the year, and we need to reflect on how we can deal with this aspect. Both employers and employees need to manage the expectation of each other, avoiding procrastination, using the time productively, being focused and balancing life and work properly. We need to manage relationships.
We have heard several people commenting on the young girls as “ka Yoneco” meaning they are the property of YONECO. We have seen these comments on social media, and we have been so proud to be associated with the girl child in Malawi. We thank all of you that have positively influenced our work, and we will not tire of the girl socially, psychologically and economically. As International Day of the Girl Child comes with Girls’ vision for the future, we want to particularly draw everyone’s attention to special groups of girls living on the street, the girl child being exploited in public entertainment places, in travel and tourism and children in child labour especially child domestic labourers. This should not just be for the elite girls and the girl child in difficult circumstances are in majority.
Disasters have become a way of living these days. In the last 10 years, it has been disaster after disaster and it’s either we have floods, or we have drought. 13 October is International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction under the theme: “The role of education in protecting and empowering youth for a disaster-free future.” This brings to light the critical aspect of education as the central tool for preventing and mitigating disaster impact. Simple actions like tree planting at school, monthly school environmental awareness days, cleaning our surroundings and promoting clean energy are going to make a huge impact on the individuals. We therefore invite everyone to the International Day of Disaster risk reduction.
Malawi celebrates Mother’s Day on the third Tuesday of the month of October and our mothers are looking forward to it. The day this year falls on Tuesday, 15th October takes many faces, forms and engagements. The mother is such a critical person who is at the centre for sharing the love and spending sleepless nights at all levels. Let us give the mothers the love they need and support them. While this is the case, we request that we celebrate responsibility as we move forward. Happy Mother’s Day.
