By Isaac Salima:
The journey to Liwundi in Traditional Authority Mlumbe, Zomba District, begins at St Anthony Primary School, off the Blantyre- Zomba Road.
The 20-kilometre journey to Mayera, which is the connecting trading centre to Liwundi area, is not that enjoyable as the road is bumpy and stony, making the trip hectic.
We soon arrived at Mayera Primary School, where we had to abandon our vehicle and proceed on foot for the rest of the journey.
It was around past 11 in the morning, when we arrived at Mayera Primary School.
Under the scorching sun, we started off to Liwundi where we were to meet some of the people who settled at the peak of Mwinji hills.
Clambering up the mountain under the October heat was just unbearable, prompting some of us to take off our shirts.
Along the way, we met some learners who were heading home after knocking off from Mayera Primary School.
We later learnt that these are children of people who settled at the hill.
The only primary school at Liwundi offers education up to standard five and it is for this reason that the children have to further their education from standard six at Mayera Primary School.
After knocking off at noon, the children have to go all the way up the mountain on the way back home.
The next day, they have to leave home around 5am for school by descending the same mountain, which is another energy-draining and tedious experience.
From Mondays to Fridays, children from Liwundi have to go through this routine in search of education.
It is not their choice, but their parents’, after they decided to settle at the place.
After over one hour and 30 minutes of climbing the hills, we finally arrived at the peak of the mountain.
This is home to about 300 households.
At Linthipe Junior Primary School, which is the only school in the area, we found learners in class.
To those who will be going into standard six next year, the tedious experience of traveling up and down the hills to Mayera awaits them.
At Linthipe, there are only five teachers, who operate on rotation basis.
On the day of our visit, two teachers were on duty.
Others, we were told, were resting.
The arrangement, according to head teacher at the school Foster Tikhiwa, was made considering the long distance that teachers cover on the way back home as the school has no teachers’ houses.
“All of us put up at Thondwe [Trading Centre] and, as such, we agreed that we should be working on rotation, whereby some can rest while others are working.
“However, classes normally begin late because we have to arrive here late because of the long distance we have to cover on daily basis,” Tikhiwa said.
At Liwundi, life is very unbearable as community members have to struggle to get almost everything.
However, the people are still in love with the area because of farming activities.
Village Headman Liwundi 1, while lamenting the tough life in the area, said he does not have an answer on why their fathers placed themselves there.
“Life is really tough here. We have to travel to Mayera to buy things and get other services. We feel for these teachers because they have to endure this on daily basis. There are no teachers’ houses and, as such, they are forced to stay elsewhere. We have tried in vain to engage authorities to address some of these concerns,” the chief said.
Councillor for the area, Basta Chirwa, said resource constraints are the major stumbling block preventing them from responding to the people’s needs.
“We are aware of these challenges but you understand that development funds are not always adequate to address all the challenges. We are trying to find resources so that we can at least make their life better,” Chirwa said.
Community members at Liwundi are just a few of many Malawians who choose to settle in seemingly awkward and weird areas and eventually disconnect themselves from social services.
Unfortunately for such areas, the provision of essential services is a challenge.
For instance, at Kachere fishing village on the shores of Lake Malawi, children cover almost 15 kilometres to school as the area has no school.
Child rights activist Memory Chisenga has, meanwhile, described the issue as complex.
“This is a complex issue in the country.
“However, the government can still make some provisions to reach out to these people. The government should do research on these areas so that people can still access services such as water, education or health,” Chisenga said.
Construction Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity William Kachikopa said they are trying to work with the government in providing settlement solutions to the people.
“We are working with the government under the Ministry of Land to provide settlement solutions. We are doing advocacy on land choice and construction methodologies,” Kachikopa said.
For Liwundi community members, they continue to lose out on some public services.
As for the children, their future is certainly bleak.
