Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: CRC, Early marriage, HODI, pregant, sex, SGBV, trafficking
By Sally Chiwama in Mporokoso
Kapenda Buyamba is only 16 years old but she has already been in married two years, as if that was not enough, she is heavily pregnant and expecting her second baby. Her first one is two and half years old.
Buyamba says, she got married at a tender age of thirteen and a half after being impregnated by a boy who is now her husband. She says that there was not much to do in the camp and they had little food from her family and so she had to fend for her self most of the times. Buyamba was not ashamed to say that she was doing her first grade at one of the schools in the camp.
“Nimeowa nilikuwa na myaka kumi na tatu” (I got married when I was 13 years old,” she said in Kiswahili.
Exact figures of the number of early marriages are difficult to obtain, as so many Camp marriages are unregistered and unofficial. However, Buyamba is probably one of the many girls whose marriage will never be documented anywhere.
Namanda Mateele Project Manager of HODI a non-governmental organization that works in the camp on issues of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) says that her organization addresses issues such as early marriages, defilement and gender based violence amongst the refugee community.
Mateele says a task force on SGBV and a Youth Group were formed to look at these issues so that youths can also come together and discuss issues that concern them.
“We have formed an SGBV youth group with 56 girls and boys, this was after we realized that there was a lot of sex amongst adolescents,” said Mateele. She said that in the youth groups are encouraged to put their education ahead of anything else. She said that one of their most important tasks was to try to convince the girls that have fallen pregnant to go back to school.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) show that early marriage in any place including Mwange Refugee Camp was part of a broader approach of building a “protective environment” for children which shelters them from this type of exploitation. It adds that early marriage can have harmful consequences to children including health problems, spousal abuse and the denial of education. Once married, girls often do not go back to school.
The society at Mwange refugee camp should therefore ensures that girls have an equal opportunity in education so that families and communities are aware of the serious risks of early marriage for young girls that legislators are committed to prohibiting early marriage and that services are available to counsel young girls who have been abused.
To stop the inhuman attitude towards girls who are involved in early marriages The CRC says there should be stringent laws against the practice of child marriages, and both the governments and the civil societies should initiate campaigns in every community on the evil consequences of child marriages.
It was observed that refugees at Mwange refugee camp who have gone through early marriages have embraced the concept of going back to school even though they are young mothers and fathers.
ZAMWA spoke to Mitwele Mwelu a grade 12 pupil, married with three children who decided to go back to school.
“Nime furahi sana, kurudi kwa shule “(Am very happy to come back to school)”. Mwelu says she is even happier that she is now writing her final exams so that when she finishes high school she will also be able to work. She says that her husband encourages her to work hard as he is a teacher at the same school.
Heri Mupata a grade 11 pupils is also another married boy with a child who is very proud to be in school and says that he is preparing for his future and have a good life with his family. Mupata says his wife is also doing a skills development course and takes the baby with her when she goes for her class.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most comprehensive international instrument for the definition and enforcement of human rights of children.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the only international human rights instrument that consistently uses both masculine and feminine pronouns throughout and makes it explicit that the rights contained therein apply equally to female and male children.
The CRC Convention will soon be turning 18years old and nearing maturity, progress achieved in areas such as education and health cannot be claimed for areas such as child participation and special protection. In many parts of the world, many girls are still subjected to various forms of violence.
The CRC notes that girls are still stigmatized by societal inferior status. “They rarely have the opportunity to express their views and concerns, let alone have them taken into account. Many girls are deprived of their inheritance rights, dragged into early or forced marriages, female genital mutilation, trafficking, exploited in the sex trade or in the labor market but this must not be let to go on. Let us all join in the fight against early marriages and looking at a girl as “just a girl.”
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Charles, electricity, Kapumo falls, Mporokoso, science, Zesco
By Sally Chiwama in Mporokoso
Solar power is a good investment for most people in rural areas but for this couple, this investment did not do much for them as they only used the solar power to light up the house but not for cooking or refrigeration. They then decided to invest in a generator so that they could use such items as the fridge and cooker but this investment also proved to be too costly as the continuous buying of fuel was draining their resources.
Charles Mubanga Mumba, Zambia’s new “scientist” and Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation’s (ZESCO) new competitor then decided that with Kapumo waterfall in his backyard, he had all that he needed to generate power from it, the biggest resources he needed was his brains and his hands.
ZAMWA visited the site where Charles Mumba, a resident of Mporokoso rural has put up a Mini Hydro Power Station using a K42million generator, tractor rim and other components at Kapumo falls on Mutotoshi River.
A farmer by profession and a humble education of Form four (grade 11) from Chasa Secondary Schools in the Eastern province, Mumba decided to follow his dream and make it come true.
The dream was realized after an application to be connected to ZESCO cost him K68 million because ZESCO said that he was in the rural area and that they would need to put up a Transformer so that even other people could be connected if they applied.
He told his wife Mary about what he planned to do but the wife thought that a man can dream but it would end at just that- a dream.
“I told my wife am going to generate power from the falls but she was sure I was going mad”, says Mumba.
Mumba then says that the beginning was very tough as he had to wake up at 04:00am every day for more that one-year and this was not welcome with his wife but emphasizes that he had to do what he had to do.
“It was not easy to see my husband leave the bedroom at 04:00hrs everyday for more than a year, but I had to support my husband and accepted the situation but it was a difficult thing to accept” says Mary.
Mary also says that she only saw her husband for a few hours in a day as she had to take breakfast, lunch and supper to Kapumo falls where the husband worked with some of their children.
Mumba then explains that he started looking for drums and used over five of them to create a heavy flow of water that he had to use to turn the turbines he created from an old tractor rim and other scrap metal. He further explains that he used an old tractor rim to make a turbine and other small components. Mumba says he has been using power for six years generated for his domestic use as it supplied power to his house and his mother’s house.
He said he tried to engage some people to work with but they failed because they had little faith that electricity could be generated from his dream.
Meanwhile, Mary told ZAMWA that life is now more bearable now as she can do anything she wants around the house and does not have to worry about paying bills to ZESCO she says with a smile. She also says that the children are now able to read and study anytime of the day.
“It is only now that I realize I have an inventor for a husband” says Mary, shyly as she expertly knits a table cloth and when he told me that he wanted to generate electricity for us, I thought he was crazy, I thought he was just dreaming” it really boggled my mind”, said Mary. She further adds that she sees no difference now with her in rural Mporokoso and those that are in town and that a lot of things have changed in their life for the better.
She proudly praises her husband that he can fix anything that he can get his hands on and that that is how they make a living. Mumba chips in and says that he gets contracts from government institutions such as the Mporokoso District hospitals to fix machines such as the Ultra sound machines, motor vehicles, computers and many other things.
He also says that now a lot of people and organizations have approached him to electrify their places but lack of funds is hindering his dreams.
Mumba says that he now his two big dreams: “To light up Mporokoso so that the town should never have to rely on ZECSO and to go school but all these are hampered by lack of funds,” he says confidently.
The government has recognized Mumbas efforts and last year President Levy Mwanawasa honored him on Independence Day. In October 2007, the Ministry of Science and Technology awarded Mumba with K80million, which he is yet to receive.
Mumba electricity project is on Kapumo falls which is five kilometers west of Mporokoso.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Climate change, environment, Mwange, refugees, UNHCR, Worldvision
By Sally Chiwama in Mporokoso
There is a proverb that says, “educate a woman and you educate the whole nation”. Given that women’s knowledge and participation in disaster situations has been critical to the survival of most communities, World Vision International (WVI) in Mwange Refugee camp have put in the fore front in the fight for a clean environment and climate change.
World Vision has developed practical tools that allow women refugees to incorporate gender equality and women’s participation in environmental and climate change initiatives.
World Visions Agriculture and Natural Resource Coordinator for Mwange Project Alexie Lumbi said his organization was empowering refugees in the camp with agriculture skills and women were considered priority in most activities.
Lumbi told the Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA) that the refugees are empowered with a few farming implements and inputs to supplement the rations they receive from United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
“We have even formed a community environment task force that includes all the implementing partners such UNHCR, HODI, Zambia RED CROSS and WVI and the host community has been put in place to foresee all the environmental issues and we have meeting every so often to brain storm on issues that are affecting our environment”, said Lumbi.
The refugees are empowered with skills such as land rehabilitation and tree planting and sensitized on use of natural resources. Lumbi also said that to motivate the community the WVI commemorates days such the World Environment Day and recognizes the efforts of their efforts by giving them tokens of appreciation and Certificates.
The community told ZAMWA that they are happy with the skills they acquire as they know that when time comes for them to go back home they will carry the skills with them and teach their family and friends back home.
Lumbi mentioned that one of the most successful projects was the use of the energy saving Mud Stoves that are used by the women in the homes. He explained that the mud stoves use very little firewood and are energy efficient, as they do not use a lot of wood. He added that women do not trek many times to fetch firewood and that close to 80% of the Mwange refugee camp use the mud stoves.
Katele Salva a refugee trained environmental guide one of the beneficiaries of the trainings that WVI offers say that ever since she started using the energy saving mud stoves, she said that she has seen many advantages in using the stoves.
“I like using the mud stove because I do not have to go to the bush many times to fetch firewood, the fire last long, I can use it for two days and that means less trips to the bushes, also my pots don’t get dirty.” She said. Salva added that some of the things that she has learned as an environmental guide include preserving of the forest. She has since appreciated that woodcutting has lessened in the community.
World Vision also emphasize that when time comes to repatriate the refugees, the houses that have been vacated are demolished and trees or banana suckers are planted so that the land is not left bare when the refugees return to their respective countries.
Zambia is currently hosting close to 18,000 Congolese refugees in Mwange refugee camp situated 35 kilometers Southwest of Mporokoso District.
