At 79, Margret Mkandawire has no time to mind her personal problems. She has chosen to mind more about finding solutions to problems of other people who are in dire need of assistance.
Mkandawire, who struggles to walk since her legs got paralyzed due to the effect of High Blood Pressure (BP), leads eight other older women of ages ranging between 75 and 85 years who made the decision to spend the rest of their lives taking care of orphans from Old Chasefu Township, in Mzuzu City.
“My reward is in heaven, and I made a commitment with God that I will spend the rest of my life looking after orphans some of whom were just loitering in the streets, helplessly” Mkandawire says.
She says she abandoned her restaurant business in 2007 which she was operating with her husband, now late, and decided to be home full time supporting the orphans.
Mkandawire says despite some people mocking her for the decision; she still stood her ground because it was a decision her conscience pushed her to make.
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“The idea started after I listened to a sermon in church where the preacher preached that many Christians pretend to be godly, yet they fail to support the vulnerable in their community,” she says
Mkandawire said she started the home with 17 orphans who were kept in his house. However, with the passage of time, the number increased to somewhere near 80 to 100.
She says she decided to engage fellow older women to help support the orphans and that was the birth of Walusungu Community Based Organization (CBO).
With now 80 children, the CBO is operating with eight older women who struggle with resources to support the vulnerable children.
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Rose Mwandira, 87, says the children’s only hope is in the CBO, which supports them with food and other basic needs, including school requirements.
“They even come to collect money to have their hair shaved at the barbershop, school development fund, food and other basic needs. We always make sure that we assist every child when he or she comes with a problem, and we thank God that the little we get from our small businesses and well-wishers’ support, we reach out to all of them,” Mwandira says.
She says the women make mats and other knitting related clothes which they sell to put bread on the table.
Mary Mphande, who is in her 80s says all what they are praying for is that God should give them a long life for them to continue supporting, the children 10 percent of which are now in colleges.
She says, as one way of showing a commitment to support education for the children, the founder, Mkandawire, sacrificed one room of her house and stocked it with books and is used as a library.
“We requested community leaders for a space where we can meet these children and they offered a small structure which does not tally with the number of orphans who we support. So, a well-wisher bought land for us but we are failing to develop it because of resource constraints,” Mphande says.
She says currently, they have incorporated nine young women to help operate the CBO for its suitability as they are now aged.
The nine older women prove other people wrong, about witchcraft allegations against the elderly.
Some older people were killed, others assaulted while some chased out the communities accusing them of practicing witchcraft.
Commissioner of Police responsible for Northern Region Noel Kayira confirms such incidents, revealing that in 2023 alone, the region registered two deaths of older people and 50 cases were reported in different Police stations in the region.
Kayira said it is unfortunate that the elderly are still facing various forms of abuse by their communities despite interventions by several actors to address the problem.
“The figure is big and we are very concerned with these practices. Therefore, we request our chiefs and other stakeholders to help in protecting the older people because they are human beings just like any other person,” Kayira says.
Traditional Authority Mtwalo of Mzimba said he will continue civic educating his subjects on what the Witchcraft Act stipulates adding that some people are still not aware that calling somebody a witch is a crime.
Mtwalo said Mkandawire and the eight elderly demonstrate that older people are a source of wisdom and not witches.
“I don’t know why people still believe in witchcraft. Why should older people be accused of practicing witchcraft, killing their own children or grandchildren. This must stop,” Mtwalo says.
He then says the chiefs’ role is to continue taking advantage of village gatherings to share with people good messages about older people and about the Witchcraft Act.
The Ngoni chief says older people, especially those in rural areas, are victims of archaic beliefs that when one is old means they practice witchcraft.
Mzuzu Older Person Network chairperson MacPherson Gondwe said if the government can fulfill the promise they made during the campaign, that they will introduce honoraria to the elderly, their welfare would improve and therefore minimize cases of the attacks on older women.
“The government said we will be receiving between K15, 000 and K20, 000 per month but this is their third year in government and nothing is happening. How can they lie to an older person like me?” Gondwe said.
Ministry of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare Jean Sendeza, is yet to respond to our questionnaire.
But Mzimba North District Social Welfare Officer Hellen Simwaka says she is aware that some older people are facing some abuses but said that is one of the reasons her office is intensifying civic educating the public about the importance of taking care of the elderly.
“The older people are suffering all sorts of abuses and we need to check on them and ensure they are protected all the time. So, we go with messages out there in order to help change the mindset of people so that they should always think of how best older people can be protected,” Simwaka says.
A recent study which was conducted in Mzuzu and Mzimba North, done by Malawi Network of Older Persons (Manepo) together with Mzuzu Older Person Network, shows that the country is still far behind in protecting the elderly.
The study reveals that apart from accusing older people of practicing witchcraft, some struggle to access quality health services, lack of support from relatives and other economic related challenges.
Manepo Program Manager Goodwell Thunga says the elderly believe that if they can be given special wards just like a pediatric ward, which is for children in health facilities, they will be assisted with health specialists with minimal challenges.
Thunga says despite public hospitals already having inadequate specialists, the government can start with central hospitals before expanding to districts and rural hospitals.
“The idea is that the old people should access quality health services. They will be assisted by specialists who will understand them better, looking at their ages. So, many said the treatment has not been fair in public hospitals,” Thunga says.
Malawi’s current population shows that about 2.7 percent of the total population comprises people above 65 years.
The eight older people who are supporting about 80 orphans in Mzuzu, are a light to the nation that the elderly are human beings capable of contributing to the country’s development if supported.
Gogo Efraim Mjiva Munthali, who clocked 100 years old on January 1, 2024, and currently lives at Jarani Village, Traditional Authority Jalavikuba in Mzimba district says: “a country which its people attack the elderly is a cursed nation and it needs to be healed.”
