“I would like to thank the Fishers, Trainers and Senders (FTS) team for taking us into the communities where we were able to sensitize the learners in schools about forms and consequences of violence. This has been an eye opener for us as law enforcers to touch base with issues on the ground that affect children on a daily basis.” ~ Sub Inspector Lucy Kamchere (Nkhoma Police)
Gender-based violence is a big issue everywhere in the world. For this reason Fishers, Trainers and Senders (FTS) ministry in Lilongwe, Malawi, has developed an awareness programme on this topic and recently presented it to married couples, of whom most of them were church leaders, as well as to school children.
“In FTS we make sure that every full-time staff member is trained and then they get enough exposure to be trainers even though they also have other responsibilities in FTS,” says Louise Laubscher, Director of FTS.
Married couples
From 20 to 25 February 13 married couples from Nkhoma and Chilenje in Central Malawi attended a six days Channels of Hope training about gender-based violence. It was facilitated by the Fishers, Trainers and Senders (FTS) ministry team, Louise Laubscher (Director), Stonard Banda (Deputy Director), Ishmael Devison (Accountant), and Only Makwinja (Administrative Secretary) at their head office in Lilongwe.
The purpose of the training was to train church leaders to be trainers on creating an awareness and introducing tools for church leaders to identify and manage gender-related issues. The couples were of ages ranging from 25 to 60 years.
Topics covered during the training were such as: Transformed relationship comes through Jesus Christ; Act like a man/Act like a woman; What is gender-based violence? Define vulnerability; The importance of the Church to be gender competent; etc.
Adam and Hilda Mbiri
One of the couples who attended this training, Adam and Hilda Mbiri, say, “We have been married for 35 years and God blessed us with four children, but all these years we have been abusing each other unknowingly. We didn’t know the true purpose of marriage and we were neglecting our roles as parents. The training has sharpened and exposed us to another world of a Christian family.”
“If I heard any rumor of my husband, I could stay for days without talking to him and we could not be together as husband and wife. With the training, I have learnt the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation as the body of Christ,” says Mrs Mbiri.
“As a husband, I was giving a huge load for my wife to carry alone forgetting that she is just my helper and we need to be doing things together. I was even neglecting my children in decision making because I was regarding my decisions to be the perfect ones. The training has helped me to see the bigger room in my life which needs change and growth,” says Mr Mbiri.
Schools
The nine full-time FTS workers who coordinated the gender-based violence awareness programme from school to school were led by Chikumbutso Lunda and Charity Munyenyembe. There were 14 schools visited (7 schools in Nkhoma and 7 schools in Chilenje), reaching 9,117 children of whom 4,299 were boys and 4,818 were girls.
The topics that were discussed were such as: Combating school related gender-based violence; The reporting and referral mechanisms when a child’s right is violated; Channels of hope for child protection and role modelling to school learners on the importance of pursuing further in education.
Stakeholders who were engaged in this programme were people like officers from the Malawi Nkhoma Police Unit, nurses from Nkhoma Hospital, pastors who are Fraternal members, social workers (child protection officers), a group village headman, a college graduate and representatives of World Vision.
“I have learnt that we don’t have to be violent to anyone’s right. If anyone has been abused, he/she needs to report the incident to school authorities, local leaders or the police”. ~ Bikoko Elisa (Chowo School)
“I never knew that children are also capable of abusing others too till now. I have learnt different forms of abuse which I underrated some of them in the past.” ~ Monica Moses (Kapedzera School)
Contact
Louise Laubscher
agogolouise@gmail.com