Articles

It is 3 pm at Champhoyo Trading Centre in Traditional Authority Nthondo in Ntchisi North East. The marketplace has been deserted due to the afternoon heat. Other traders have temporarily abandoned their merchandise for lunch. Buyers and wannabes have also relocated to their homes, ready to come again at the fall of the sun. While the hustle-bustle of the market has relented, a young woman stands resiliently besides her merchandise—second-hand clothes. She has endured the sweltering heat for hours now. Tiyamike Boniface is her name. Every time and again she steals a glance at the small heap ...

At Nthondo Trading Centre in Ntchisi North East, there is a 22-year-old Josen Tawayira who has earned a name for himself. The young man from Kawiya Village in the area makes hoes, axes, repairs metal works, and does some fabrications. Occasionally, he makes steel door frames and window frames, including metal gates. Tawayira joined cohort five-under Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation (CRECCOM)’s Youth In Action in 2016. The same year he went to Mikolongwe DAPP Technical College in Chiradzulu where he did welding and fabrication. At the end of his training, he received a daughter gri...

Twenty-eight-year old Pilirani Joseph from Banja Village, Traditional Authority Nthondo is a well- known tailor at Champhoyo Trading Centre. Every morning, he takes out his sewing machine, ready to men people’s clothes. As early as 8am, people, especially women, are seen standing while others crouching around him. Some with new cloths for sewing new dresses while others with old ones to be mended. From their chatter, one learns that Joseph has a cordial relationship with his clients. From the proceedings, you get the impression that he enjoys his job. “Come closer,” he calls a woman who wan...

Probably the most decorated young man under Youth In Action Project in Never Kakota from Ndayawani Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nthondo in Ntchisi. The 22-year-old, who joined Youth In Action (YIA) under Creative Center for Community Mobilisation (CRECCOM) in 2013, graduated in Bricklaying from Mikolongwe Dapp Technical College in Chiradzulu in 2015. He was one of the best in his class. CRECCOM implemented the project with support from MasterCard Foundation (Canada) through Save the Children between 2012 and 2017 in T/As Chilooko, Malenga, Chikho, Nthondo and Kasakura in the district...

Without education, it is very hard for a person to be financially independent and a responsible citizen whom people can look up to. One of the young persons who can testify to this is Dines Mpophera a standard 7 student at Nkanda Primary School of Chambe zone. Dines aged 14, comes from Livetere village in Traditional Authority Nkanda in Mulanje district. As the second-born son in a family of 6, Dines dropped out of school in 2019 because of poverty. “My family could not afford to provide me with enough food and school necessities like notebooks. As a result, sometimes I could go to school with...

Makande primary school of Namulenga zone in Mulanje district is located in the traditional authority Nkanda. The school practices inclusive education and as such it enrolls learners with different kinds of impairments including those with physical. Although the school practices inclusive education, little does the infrastructure of the school responds to such. For instance, the school’s classrooms have no ramps and this poses mobility difficulties for the learners with physical disabilities. A good example is Daniel Mchala, a standard one learner at the school, who has a physical impairment an...

Jenifer Yekha is a woman aged 59 and hails from Thamanda village in traditional authority Nazombe in Phalombe district. Due to her activeness in community development activities, Jenifer was selected to be one of the members of the safe school committee under Girls Get Equal (GGE) at Nazombe Primary school. Before the GGE project, Jenifer was already the mother group chairperson. Before GGE, her team of mother group was managing cases affecting the education of a girl child. The coming in of the safe school committee by the CRECCOM through the GGE project had helped a lot in revealing issues...

If you spend some minutes watching Frank Mumba working on a piece of timber, you will realise that carpentry is an art. The young man from Munika Village Traditional Authority Chikho in Ntchisi is a mastercarft. The 22-year-old holds the plane in his right hands and rolls it over a rough plank—producing peels that fall gently on the ground—amid the hissing sound of the plane. As perspiration shines on his forehead, the talented artisan peeps obliquely at the piece of wood he is working on, as if to find fault with it. His eyes fall on some bumpy surface on the plank. Immediately, he lets th...

Gideon Mumba from Traditional Authority Zulu in Mchinji knows how to spend his time. The 25-year-old young man realises that time is a precious commodity he cannot afford to mismanage. He says he owes his success to his time management, which he learned from Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation (CRECCOM) Youth In Action Project. CRECCOM implemented the project with support from MasterCard Foundation (Canada) through Save the Children between 2012 and 2017 in T/As M’duwa, Zulu, Mkanda and Mavwere in the district. The programme was expected to reach 39 850 direct beneficiaries over six ...

If you were given K40 000, how would you spend it? On groceries, clothes, or beer? But, that is not how Happy Sakaike Banda of Mdzomba Village, Traditional Authority Zulu in Mchinji spent his K40 000 he received from Creative Centre for Community Mobilisation (CRECCOM) in 2014. At that time, the father of two had no income-generating activity. Being a primary school dropout, he could not dream of getting employment. Not even when youths who have qualifications are struggling to secure jobs. So, the young man just left everything to chance. “There was nothing I could do. I just accepted my l...