What I learned About Malnutrition In Malawi
The country of Malawi has experienced poverty and malnutrition for quite a long time. As peaceful and democratic as it is, the country is constantly stricken by hunger seasons with high rates of stunting and wasting among young children. On the other side, the widely known warm heart of Africa has much to offer to the tourists and visitors: from the famous mount Mulanje — a UNICEF world heritage site, lake Malawi also known as the lake of stars, tobacco and the beautiful wide tea plantations in Thyolo.
For many years, Malawi has been one of the African countries with the highest number of non-governmental organizations and donors. However, the country has not moved much.
It’s not rare to find girls as young as 17 years of age who are already mothers to two or more children. If you believe in the fact that the young people of today are the leaders of tomorrow, now you start to see that something is wrong here. Gender equality and women empowerment programs are new to the country. Cultural barriers and the high level of school dropout at a young age definitely have an impact on the lack of youth contribution and public involvement in the decisions that are made for them.
May be the country is too peaceful? May be it doesn’t have the courage to move forward? May be it’s too comfortable with its current situation?
The role of an educated and informed mother at the center of a family is paramount in grooming healthy and responsible citizens. But, without access to appropriate nutrition with the necessary food components, the body growth is affected and the brain in particular. Healthy people make a wealthy nation.
Proper resource allocation, women empowerment and improved educational system are key to a healthier and wealthier Malawi of tomorrow.
The Global Health Corps works tirelessly to place passionate fellows dedicated to creating a better world at partner organizations like the Clinton Development Initiative (CDI) in Malawi, Gardens for Health International (GHI) in Rwanda and similar organizations and to provide support to help them succeed in their duties on Nutrition programs to fight malnutrition which often affects breastfeeding mothers, young children and people living with HIV/AIDS. There is still need for more initiatives on the side of women education.
Malnutrition is a threat to the country’s development and should be addressed from the root by empowering those who directly keep the society healthy: mothers, yes I mean women.
