Save the Childrens Mandate to Respond:

Overview of our response from January

to April 2015.
Intro

Corners showing that this opportunity cost is one of

great priority in the flood response.

In Malawi, the New Year began on a celebratory note for

some and on a more insecure one for others. At the
beginning of January, heavy rains hit the Southern districts of
Malawi, which caused devastating floods in 15 of the
countries districts (Nsanje, Chikwawa, Phalombe, Zomba,
Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Mulanje, Balaka, Machinga,
Mangochi, Ntcheu, Salima, Rumphi and Karonga) some
being worst affected than others.
On 13th January 2015, Malawis President, Peter Arthur
Mutharika made a Declaration of a State of Disaster. In
response, various clusters, being led by the Department of
Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) began providing food
and non-food items to those affected.
At Save the Children, a committee being led by the Senior
Manager of Humanitarian Affairs, James Lwanda was
immediately set up to address issues in the areas of
Education, Child Protection, Food Security and Agriculture,
Health, Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs) and Water
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). We have a global mandate
to respond in humanitarian situations because we are
worried about the impact of humanitarian situations on the
well being of children, said Country Director, Matthew
Pickard. The organisation has been focusing its response in
the affected districts of Zomba, Phalombe Nsanje, Chikwawa
and Chiradzulu.
The following are case studies that took place in the months
of January to March 2015 on Save the Childrens response to
the recent floods that affected most of Malawis districts.
These are first hand perspectives from staff that visited
various affected areas where Save the Children is focusing its
response efforts.

The Plight of
Development

the

Floods

on

Early

Childhood

By Akuziki Ghambi, ECCD Facilitator Save the Children

The recent floods have affected a majority of the CBCC

structures. As a whole, there are 235 CBCCs in Save the
Childrens ECD implementing zones, 35 of which are
cement structures built with the organisations support.
The remaining 200 are semi-permanent structures that
are for the most part made of mud walls and thatched
roofs. Of the semi-permanent CBCCs, 137 of them along
with a majority of their detached toilets have been badly
affected, some entirely, others partially. The ruined
structures have made it unsafe for children to learn and
have raised concerns about the toilets in regards to Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
CBCCs play a vital role in the implementation of ECD
programmes almost all CBCC activities, community led
meetings, Childrens Corner sessions, growth monitoring
and screening and parenting sessions take place in CBCC
structures. As a result of this sudden impact of the floods,
community programmes have had to resort to temporary
solutions. There are reports that groups are meeting in
churches, conducting lessons under trees or pretty much
any random place they can find shelter. Since being
affected, 199 CBCCs have reopened, resorting to some of
these makeshift solutions. Undoubtedly, this has greatly
affected the attendance rate of children at many CBCCs
that are already facing accessibility challenges due to
poor road conditions.
Save the Childrens ECD team has been as flexible as
possible in responding to the disaster at hand. On 14th
January 2015, the team conducted a mapping exercise in
the impact area of Traditional Authority Chikowi (TA), Sub
TA Ntholowa and TA MBiza. At the time there were 2
camps, one at Chikomwe Primay School, which was
accommodating 970 households with 583 children of
whom 210 were under-five and the other camp at
Kasimu Primary School accommodating 586 households
with 326 children of whom 138 were under-five. It was
reported that the children in the camps had last taken a
meal 2 days prior. In response, Save the Children provided
the camps with a tonne of VitaMeal for under-five
children. In addition, Save the Children provided support
to families by opening several of its permanent CBCC
structures for shelter.
As families slowly return home from temporary shelters
and camps, there is hope for more stabilisation as
development agencies and the government continues to
support the communities survival. A majority of CBCCs
are receiving health and sanitation support from the
national health cluster response who through the
government and partner agencies are distributing
chlorine for disinfection and conducting hygiene and
sanitation sensitisation meetings.

The remains of a CBCC that was affected by the floods in Zomba

District. Photo taken by Akuzike Ghambi, Save the Children

The nation of Malawi, through several avenues and

stakeholders continue to harness integrated recovery means
for the survival of Malawians who have been affected by the
recent devastating floods. According to government records,
230,000 people have been displaced in 15 of Malawis 28
districts. Zomba is among the countrys districts that were
affected. Wreaking havoc the scale of the disaster has seen
villages run-down, crops swept away and livestock drowned.

Healing and Education Through Arts in Camps

By Collins Mhango, Knowledge Management Officer Save the Children

The scale of the disaster in the Lower Shire has wreaked

havoc on the densely populated country of Malawi,
where most people survive from subsistence farming.
Crops of maize have been destroyed, villages obliterated,
homes swept away and livestock killed.

Despite the predicament, there are children who have

survived to tell their tales. While they crowd in tents in the
camps, where there are no comforts as they might have
been used to enjoying at home, they begin to feel safe in
their new families.
At Bitilinyu camp, in Nsanje District, one of the ninenteen
camps Save the Children works in, over 100 school going
children meet in the afternoon after classes.
Here they meet as one big family. They make a circle while
holding hands. They all sing and dance. Drums are heard.
The noise and the singing get louder. The excitement grows.
Its time for group psychosocial support therapies.
They get into small groups of fives. As they wait for the
activities to start, they use the time for discussing this and
that. They share stories and jokes too.
In their groups, children are engaged to start the drawing
session, drawing one incident in their lives that make them
very sad - an incident that has left a mark in their lives.
As the children start drawing, the noise subdues. There is
now total silence in this room. Everyone seems to be
concentrating on telling his or her story through arts. Later
on, every one, one by one, explains to the counselors as well
as the group what they have drawn and what it means.
The process brings mixed feelings. A few girls are seen
crying. Some boys also shed tears. They feel like they are one
family now and they open up to each other. They have
found friends whom they can share their stories with.
Most stories are very common. They draw houses being
blown away, rivers swelling, farms, livestock being swept
away and loss of their loved ones.
One girl still remembers how she lost her only brother to the
floods.
Every day I live to remember this day when I witnessed
my only brother being swept away by the floods. I was so
powerless that even when my brother asked for help, I could
do nothing, she cried.
A few boys narrate how they lost their livestock. Another
young girl, aged five narrates her ordeal.
This day I was at home when I saw people running
everywhere. When I realised what was happening, it was too
late to run. So I just climbed a tree close to our house. While
in the tree I saw a big snake coming to where I was, she
narrated. Apparently the snake was also seeking refuge in the
tree.
These sessions are conducted in Children Corners that were
established at each of the camps by Save the Children. The
Psychosocial Support facilitators together with the Camp
Counsellors do the facilitation. They are a means through
which the children share their experiences and ordeals. Save
the Children, being a child-centered organisation aims to
create an environment where the children feel loved, cared
for and have friends they regain their self-esteem and feel
as part of a big family, explained Save the Childrens, Enala
Kamanga.

In Zomba District, communities in which Save the Children

implements its Early Childhood and Development (ECD)
programmes continue to bear the brunt of the devastating
rains. As a result, child centered community programmes
and the homes of community volunteers who keep them
running have been dilapidated causing disruption to ECD
programming.
For ECD, community involvement sits at the hub of its
strategic priorities, but with the recent disaster having
affected as many as 726 volunteer households priorities
have had to shift from their selflessness in running childrens
programmes to setting precedence on their own survival.
Just like other affected households, community volunteers
have to attend to rehabilitating their homes and fending for
their own children. As these volunteers justifiably recover,
their absence will be felt in areas of community
development such as Community Based Childcare Centres
(CBCCs), parenting sessions and the facilitation of Childrens

A child at Tizora Grain Camp in Chikwawa expressing her emotions through art during a Save the Children camp session.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

The Blind Side of the Flood Disaster

By Nomsa Taulo, Campaigns and Communications Officer Save the Children

While gruesome stories of how heavy rains washed away

property and in some cases took lives of people in some
parts of the country are still being told, there are some
heartbreaking and yet very interesting to the ear stories that
are happening. A baby being born in a tree, some displaced
people claiming they have not yet been assisted and so on
and so forth.
In February, an unaccompanied baby was identified and
successfully evacuated from Makhanga camp the hardest
to reach East Bank area in Nsanje with support from Save the
Children. The baby is now at Open Arms babies home in
Blantyre District. At the time, the baby was estimated to be
between 2 to 3 months old.
The evacuation team left Bangula around 2pm by Boat on
Februray 9th and arrived at Makhanga Camp sometime
around 5pm.
Save the Childrens, Enala Kamanga said the journey took
longer than expected because there were heavy winds. The
baby was taken to Bangula at around 7pm. The team quickly
made arrangements to take the baby to Open Arms
childrens home.
We could not keep the baby throughout the night because
we did not have anything to feed a 3 month old baby, we
could not trace the mother who was rumored to have a
mental illness and had disappeared, said Kamanga.
Save the Childrens Child Protection Senior Manager,
Thandizolathu Kadzamira said, the East Bank cases were
identified over the weekend by the UNICEF communications
team who went there by helicopter.

Welfare officer by the UNICEF Child Protection team, for a

rapid response to be done as well as to facilitate family
tracing actions and psychosocial support. The Ministry of
Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare
(MoGCDSW) officials also gave us guidance for us to
quickly find an alternative care institution for the baby,
hence the finding of Open Arms while the family tracing
process was being done, added Kadzamira.
There are stories and more stories that are untold in
camps; there are babies and young children in need of
help, there is us at the end with the capability to bring
change and inspire breakthroughs in the lives of these
children. The time is now!
Defilement Case at Chikali Camp
By Thandizolathu Kadzamira, Child Protection Senior Manager Save the
Children

So many untold stories lying in the minds of children

especially girls; what surprises them is that their kin do
not appear to be bothered to report defilement and
sexual abuse cases that are rampantly taking place in their
communities.
Children often ask themselves; is sexual abuse not a big
issue to them? Is it because they think children are their
own drivers of these problems? Amongst other reasons
for not reporting is the frustration that communities have
with how these cases are handled. People have given up,
as they dont see any hope in reporting. The common
sound of wailing goes, Can you imagine? The suspect
who was picked yesterday by police has been given bail!
Imagine, the perpetrator has only been given three years
imprisonment Imagine, there is no PEP at the clinic and
we were told to rush with our girl to a bigger hospital
which is far away and we need transport money.

The matter was referred to us and the Nsanje District Social

The story in now different at Chikali camp in Traditional

Authority (TA) Mlolo, which lies in the Eastern Bank of Nsanje
District, where the impact of the recent floods has left the
place impassable by road. The defilement case of a
six-year-old girl was reported in a timely manner and acted
upon with seriousness. As we speak now the perpetrator has
been sentenced to nine years imprisonment.
It was on the afternoon of 9th March 2015 when the
defilement occurred. The perpetrator was a 23-year-old
man at Chikali camp. The camp is located within a
community setting and the perpetrator sexually abused the
child in a bathroom belonging to one of the community
members. It occurred when people at the camp (including
the childs parents) were busy queuing to receive food items.
Her family is amongst those who have been terribly affected
by the recent disaster with most of their belongings having
been swept away by the flash floods.
The girl reported that at first, the perpetrator appeared to be
very nice to her and even offered her something to eat. He
then asked her to follow him to the bathroom, which she did.
He led her to a random bathroom, belonging to a resident
close by. The owner of the house heard some strange noises
in the bathroom. She rushed there yelling, thinking some
children were playing games inside her bathroom only to
discover a man was coming out of there with a six-year-old
girl. The man ran away leaving the girl behind as she
evidently showed signs of discomfort. The woman
immediately concluded it was a case of defilement. She
screamed, alerting other people who ran towards the scene
while the Camp Civil and Protection Committee chased the
perpetrator and caught him leaving him detained with the
committee while waiting for Fatima Police to pick him.
Thereafter, he was taken to Bangula Police by boat.
The parents of the girl together with a Child Protection
Worker rushed with the girl to Makhanga Health Centre
where they were told there was no medication. They then
rushed to the Police and to Trinity Hospital in a town called
Fatima, which is quite a distance. The Child Protection
Worker then alerted Save the Childrens team in Nsanje
about the incident by phone.
Through UNICEF funding, Save the Children is supporting
Child Protection Workers (CPWs) who are in hard-to-reach
camps (like the East Bank Camp) with Airtime as a
mechanism to quicken reporting of abuses. Hence the Child
Protection Worker at Chikali camp was able to report this
case in a timely manner.
The girl was thoroughly examined and administered with
the necessary treatment including PEP for HIV and STIs at
Trinity Hospital. Being a Christian Health of Association of
Malawi (CHAM) hospital, all the necessary medication
required was available, but at a fee. The wounds were also
dressed and due to her condition, the girl was also admitted
at the hospital for three days. Save the Childrens team
encouraged the Child Protection Worker to support the
childs family by continually following up with all proper
procedures as well as communicating any financial support
required.
Despite roads to Chikali camp being impassable, on 11th
March 2015, Save the Children staff in collaboration with the
Nsanje District Social Welfare Office (DSWO) visited Chikali
camp by Boat to follow up on the case. The group also
provided some psychosocial support through counselling to
the girl, her parents and other concerned members of the
family.
UN Women in collaboration with UNICEF have assigned a
pro-bono Lawyer to follow up this case. The Lawyer has
already been in touch with the DSWO and Police at Bangula.
Sensitization was conducted on strengthening protection
for the girl to avoid traumatizing her considering the
attention the family is receiving. Teachers at Chikali Primary
were also met and discussed how the girl can be assisted
while at school. VCPC, Community Based Organizations
(CBO) and camp committee members were also sensitized
on establishment of protection measures for the girl to avoid
trauma on her and the family. It was further agreed that the
committees would continue with monitoring of the
situation at the camp and sensitization on protection and
combating GBV at the camp.

Save the Childrens ECD Facilitator, Enala Kamanga embracing the rescued baby.
Photo taken by Save the Children Staff

On 25th March, the suspect, George Maiteni received 9 years

imprisonment with hard labour for the events that occurred
at Chikali Camp. In finally addressing the suspect, The
Lordship Mr. Masanjala explained, I have done this as a
lesson to other people who have a mind as wicked as yours.
After the case, the prosecutor thanked Save the Children for
all the support rendered to the government and the victim.
Without you following up and also providing support to the
family of Kandiado, this case could have just ended just like
that in the community. We as police dont have enough
resources to be making follow ups as you have done. We
really thank you very much for your effort and commitment.
We have been losing a lot of cases in our district due to lack
of support as you have done, explained Mr. Banda.

Humanitarian Response: Save the Children

These pictures illustrate some of the work Representative of the Secretary-General on
Save the Children and its partners have been Violence against Children (SRSG) who was
doing for the flood response in Malawi.
accompanied by a team from UNICEF. They
witnessed some of Save the Childrens Child
On 23rd February 2015, Save the Childrens Protection initiatives at Tizora Grain Camp in
Child Protection unit had the honor to host Chikwawa District. UNICEF is funding Save
Marta
Santos
Pais,
UN
Special the Children in its implementation of Child

Distribution items being loaded at Save the Childrens office in Zomba District headed from
Traditional Authority (TA) Mwambo.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

The sight of a camp in T/A Mwambo next to a Save the Children distribution point.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

A girl from Tizora Grain Camp telling a group of viewers what she painted during a Save the
Children, Childrens Corner session.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

Protection at camps in the districts of Welfare Dr. Mary Shawa, Inspector General
of Police, Mr. Kachama, international NGO
Nsanje and Chikwawa.
representatives including Action aid, World
Special thanks to a host of other dignitaries Relief, local NGOs: YONECO, CRECCOM,
who were also in attendance: the Guest of Malawi Care, District Health Office and
Honour, Principal Secretary for Ministry of Malawi Police, District Commissioner Ms
Gender, Children, Disability and Social Chitete, Paramount Chief Kyungu and Senior
Chief Mkanda.

Items consisting of buckets, plastic plates and cups, mosquito nets, maize and
phala ready for distribution in Zomba District.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

Asiyireni standing in front of a Save the Children distribution point at Chinkhwangwa Primary
School, Zomba District.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

Children at a camp in Chikwawa drawing during a CBCC session.

Taken by Collins Mhango, Save the Children

UN Special Representative, Marta Santos Pais speaking to a crowd of flood survivors in

Chikwawa.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against

Children bonding with children in Chikwawa.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

Save the Childrens very own ECD Facilitator, Enala carrying her CBCC materials after
completing a camp session.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

Learning materials used for CBCC sessions at camps during Save the Childrens flood response.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

A lady from Tizora Grain Bank camp in Chikwawa retelling her story of how the floods
occurred through drama.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children

A team from Save the Children wrapping up an event where they hosted a UN Team at Tizora
Grain Camp in Chikwawa.
Taken by Luzayo Nyirongo, Save the Children