NOVOC was invited to the Ministry of Finance’s Budget consultation meeting. We provided input around budget priorities, especially around children and OVCs. More information on our submission can be found in our publication Abridged Version of the budget analysis for education for OVCs.
Rape is a real problem in Malawi. Following some recent events, the Malawian President has approved a rape hotline. We are now working together with other organisations to set up a one stop rape crisis centre. Based on the Zambian model, rape victims can visit this centre and see police, medical officers and counselors in the one place.
Much rape goes unreported in Malawi, because victims are all too often further traumatized by the rape reporting process. Many victims have to take public transport to the police, who tell them they need to go to the hospital first, and may laugh at the victims.
Recently, we met a lady whose 4 year old daughter had been raped by her father. The woman reported the crime and her husband is now serving 7 years in prison. However, the woman is now finding it difficult to support her children. Neighbors were laughing at her, telling her it was her own fault – she shouldn’t have reported her husband. The little girl is suffering psychologically and runs away from any man she sees. When we met her, she was very unhappy. We raised money to pay her transport costs to live with her parents.
Novoc Fountain Of Life CBO consultation meeting
One of our latest projects is the ‘stamp of approval’. The stamp gives donor partners assurance around an organisation’s processes, transparency and accountability. It is a 2 year process and needs to be updated periodically. Member organisations can nominate to be assessed for our ‘stamp of approval’. See our publications page for more information.
Jennifer is a young 26 year old mother with 2 children; 3 and 5 years old. Thanks to Cordaid, Novoc was able to supply her with start up capital to start her own business selling maize. She has now returned to school and is completing Form 4 (final year of secondary school). Congratulations Jennifer!
Jennifer's mothers group Chitembeye
One of the most enjoyable parts of working for NOVOC is visiting community organisations that work with OVCs. We ask them how things are going for them. They tell us some of the problems children in their communities are facing. They ask us many questions on what they can do better, what assistance is available to them.
We aim to empower them, telling them what is available and what they need to do to access this assistance, rather than linking them directly to assistance. For example, we tell them about initiatives such as Journey of Life, what they need to do and who to contact to access these initiatives. The idea is to build their capacity and make them and their local communities more self-reliant, rather than always looking to others for external help.
Kamamina CBO
Journey of Life (JoL) is all about communities taking responsibility for themselves, rather than relying on government and/or donors. It is a simple tool that can be used to mobilize the community to work as a team towards meeting children’s needs holistically. Together with government, we have trained interested community members across Malawi, to facilitate JoL workshops.
JoL transforms communities. Two important messages that communities learn is that they can:
Regular monitoring visits are conducted by us, the facilitators, or District Social Welfare Offices, to ensure that JoL principles are put in place.
You can find some success stories on our Journey of Life page
