Women Doing It for Themselves!

Malawi, Africa

Khadija Hamdani, chairperson of Muslim Women organisation.

With these clear objectives, the organization has set up Salule Women's Day Secondary School for those who dropped out for various reasons. The secondary school is managed by women and teachers who teach on a voluntary basis. Hamdani, a Muslim woman herself, said in an interview,

One of the women who benefits from the organization's activities is Patricia Kwelani who dropped out of school when she was in Grade 8, eight years ago, and got married.

Fighting Poverty With Knowledge

After years of marriage, Kwelani decided to continue with her education to move out of poverty:

It was her desire to improve her knowledge and skills in business that drove this lady into rejoining school, which she had abandoned years ago. She mentioned that, three years ago, she got enrolled as a student at Salula Women's Day Secondary School:

Kwelani, a mother of three, said she does not feel ashamed to sit in an examination hall with students, the majority of whom are peers of her children:

She added that she dreams to venture into a huge business when she finishes her education.

She said most of the things these days involve information and technology:

Small Business for the Needy

Hannah Katalama is already a business lady. She is one of the members of Muslim Women's Organization. Some of the organizational activities include tailoring as an income generating activity for women and orphans.

Women are also involved in farming cotton and maize and fish farming. All these activities for this organization are courtesy of Hamdani, the founder of the organization.

"I am one of those women who have benefited from the business skills offered by the women's group whose founder is Mrs. Hamdani. I can now safely say that my family is able to find money from the business we have. I am a farmer, and I grow different crops, and all these are bringing me income," said Katalama.

The orphans also have inspiring stories. One of the children, who lost his parents two years ago, said Hamdani's work has really helped him survive the terrible conditions he has been exposed to, such as lack of education and food.

"I am now able to go to school and eat properly because of the treatment I am receiving from the centre," said Chifundo Banda from Mwalandilidwa Orphanage Centre, which was also established by Hamdani.

Hamdani lost her husband last year. She has been an active Muslim woman for several years, and her effective role in the community started after she noticed that many women and orphans were living in desperate poverty.

"I am a Muslim, and we are taught by the Qur'an to share with friends the little we have. I formed the Muslim Women's Organization, and I am also the founder and chairperson of Salima Women Empowerment, Development, and Task Force, which currently operates a Women's Day Secondary School," said Hamdani.

The Women's day Secondary School caters for the needs of every woman irrespective of their religious affiliation. "Poverty knows no boundary. It does not say I should attack this one because she is Muslim or Christian. I am supporting everyone who needs my help," she said with a smile.

The school currently has a total of 51 women, and they are asked to pay a fee of US$7 a month to pay for teaching volunteers. "Even this fee is high for many women. However, we have no other option because the students need books to read," said Hamdani.

She told IslamOnline.net (IOL) that she has been to a number of places in Malawi, and she has seen many orphans who need help. She said because of that she decided to open three centers for the orphans and the elderly.

Malawi is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, where poverty levels are high. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that a total of over 52 percent of the 13.6 million people lives on less than US$1 a day. An estimated 1.6 million children are orphans most of whom are a result of HIV/AIDS.

"As a progressive business woman and an active development conscious lady chairing various humanitarian organizations in Malawi I traveled extensively to many places. It is sad to note that people have no clean water, the road networks are poor, and people live in poverty," she said.

The majority of the Malawi population lives in the rural areas with women doing a lot of household work. The project by the Muslim Women's Organization is indeed helping those women, who are taking care of their households and many of them are widows.

"Most women have lost their husbands and have nothing to do. With this project a number of them have been assisted. I am sure we have reduced poverty among women," said Hamdani.

Hamdani has also embarked on the drilling of boreholes in the communities where her organization operates. She said water is life, and people need potable water:

Future Aims of the Organization

Hamdani's dream is to have a big cotton factory where women, who grow the crop, can sell and process the crop. She said that many of the women that she works with have the potential for business. However, they face three problems: the inadequate marketplace, lack of equipment, and poor road infrastructure.

She said it is her organization's future dream and aim that women in Salima in particular, and Malawi in general, will move out of poverty through small-scale business.

Salima is one of Malawi's lake shore districts in the Central Region and many families rely on fishing and farming for their activities.

Both men and women are involved in fish farming, and, according to Hamdani, the communities are also interested in crop production apart from fishing. "This remains my wish that many are trained new technological skills in modern farming," she said.

It was because of her future dreams that in the May 2009 Parliamentary elections she decided to join the race for the Salima constituency seat, but she lost to a man who was standing for the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while she stood for the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF). Despite the loss, Hamdani said she will continue with her work of helping the needy, especially women and children through the Muslim Women's Organization.

With all her work devoted to charitable activities in Malawi, Hamdani said,

Raphael Mweninguwe Freelance writer from Malawi . He can be contacted at youth_campaign@iolteam.com