Ndaziona
is an orphan girl of 12 years. She was brought up by her grandmother and behaved
like any "normal" child of her age until January 2002 when their village
was severely hit by hunger. In February the girl ran away to the nearby trading
center where she stayed till harvest time. What really happened to her during
that time, nobody knows, one can only guess. But when she returned to the village
in April, she started stealing money and food like groundnuts, which she then
shared with her friends. In September she also took the blanket of her grandmother
and burnt it. When the grandmother noticed what Ndaziona had done, she gave her
a hard beating with the intention of teaching her. This made the girl run away.
This time she came to Lilongwe. Out of fear, the girl refused for about a month
to reveal her home village to the Social Workers of Tikondane. After having experienced
much violence the girl agreed that a Social Worker would escort her to her village.
The family agreed to take the girl back and Tikondane made two follow up visits
within one month. But after only a few weeks, Ndaziona was back in town - exposed
to violence of any kind. She is no longer able to lead a normal life after the
traumatic experiences she suffered during the past months. Hunger was at the beginning
of a process that has irreparably destroyed her life.
Mphatso
is a five-year-old boy who, one night in February 2002, was found on the veranda
of a Rural Hospital. He only knew his name, but could give no other information
about his identity. Some weeks later, an elderly woman claimed that the boy was
her grandson. She received maize from the hospital and took the boy. Two days
later, the boy was found near a river, half drowned in mud - and totally exhausted.
He was brought to the next Police station. The Police asked the person who had
found the boy to take him into his family up to the time the child's parents would
be found. The family treated the boy with remarkable love like their own child.
But in May they felt they had to hand him over to the Police, assuming that the
Police hadn't really tried hard enough to find the home of the boy. The Police
brought the boy to Tikondane. It took us several weeks before the mother of the
child was found. She had not missed the boy, because a relative had offered to
take Mphatso during the time of hunger saying she wanted to ease the burden of
the mother. The mother thought that the boy was in good hands….
Some
obvious symptoms of Mphatso's trauma were that he soiled himself by day and night.
He was also terribly afraid of being left alone or left behind. Will he ever be
able to trust again? Will people bear with him if he as a growing boy continues
wetting his trousers and beddings? Will he be able to lead a normal life?
Noel is an undernourished, sickly boy of about 11 years. He was found in
Lilongwe on Dec 27th, 2002. He said that he was an orphan and that the grandmother
who had cared for him had died. According to him, nobody else was in the village…
He was obviously very much afraid of revealing his true story. When we insisted
that we would like to help him, but that we would need to speak with the people
of the village, he lead our Social Worker to a village where he was obviously
not known. Finally, on the second day, we found his real village. His mother and
younger siblings were there. The family lives in extreme misery. There is no food
in the house, and there is no relief food distributed in the village. On Christmas
day Noel had passed at a neighbour's home where he found some meat in a pot. He
ate the meat. Then he run away because he feared severe punishment.
A piece of meat eaten on Christmas day by a hungry child can be fatal!
Masautso
is a 14-year-old orphan girl who came to Lilongwe in December 2002 because there
was
no food in her home. After failing to find work she started begging.
A home visit showed that there was
indeed no food in the home. At the day
of our visit there was food-distribution in the village. But the
beneficiaries
were mainly the Chief and his relatives. The Chief's wife was found preparing
white
flour from relief maize….
Unfair distribution can drive children into a life of despair.
