By Dyson Mthawanji
Some chiefs in Malawi’s Dowa District have hailed the Integrated Adult Education (IAE) which DVV International is implementing in the district in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare.
Group Village Headman Kwindanguwo said this on Thursday when DVV International and MoGCDSW visited the district to monitor the IAE classes.
Kwindanguwo said IAE is a stepping stone for the people of Dowa district in as far as people’s participation in community development is concerned.
We really understand that there is nobody else who will develop us in this area other than ourselves. That is why we are taking the IAE project seriously because we are the ones who will be happy when we are literate. DVV International is not giving us fish; it is teaching us how to fish. That is really good. The knowledge from these classes will help us to do our small businesses and participate in rural development projects successfully.
His words echoed what Barack Obama, First Afro-American and 44th President of the United States of America, once said that:
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Kwindanguwo added:
We have a lot of illiterate people in our district. Therefore, the IAE project has come at the right time. The project has already started bearing fruits as many participants of these classes are now able to read, write and calculate.
He said participants are benefiting from the project as they are sharing skills in modern farming methods, environmental management and health, among others.
The IAE is all about blending literacy with life skills to create a well-rounded, practical learning experience for adults. It is not just about teaching people how to read, write and calculate - it is about giving them the tools they need to thrive in their personal and social lives.
DVV International Regional Director for Southern Africa Dr. Johann Heilmann expressed the organisation’s excitement that the project is changing people’s lives.
I’m happy that people are able to make daily calculation and also calculations for longer periods courtesy of the IAE project. They are also gaining knowledge on how to save and spend money wisely. In Malawi, money is scarce, therefore, people need to have skills on wise spending.
Heilmann thanked the Dowa chiefs for supporting IAE by providing some spaces for the classes. He urged them to continue with such gestures to ensure that more people benefit from the IAE classes.
MoGCDSW Chief Community Development Officer, Samuel Ziba, encouraged the participants to work hard as there is ‘no sweet without sweat’. He said the Malawi Government’s policies can easily be implemented if the people at the grassroots are able to read, write and calculate.
Apart from Dowa, the IAE project is also being implemented in Ntcheu, Mchinji and Ntchisi districts, all in Malawi’s Central Region.
DVV International started the IAE programme in 2022 following the success of a similar project in Mozambique where the organisation also operates.
According to the Malawi Integrated Household Survey of 2020 (IHS5), Illiteracy levels in Malawi are currently estimated at 24.5%, with 17% for men and 31.2% for women. The case is more pronounced for rural women. The rates is 35.2% compared to 19.4% for rural men. The situation is markedly better in urban areas, where the illiteracy level stands at 5.6% for men and 10.8% for women.
As Malawi charts its ambitious path towards achieving the Malawi 2063 vision of becoming a prosperous, self-reliant and industrialised upper-middle-income nation, it is imperative to ensure that people are literate so that they effectively participate in the development agenda. The IAE project is an ingredient towards attainment of the Malawi 2063 vision.