An update from Link Education International on their response to the recent cholera outbreak in Malawi. By Rebecca Hami (Malawi Office) & Kate Sykes (Edinburgh Office).
Since January, Malawi has been experiencing its worst ever cholera outbreak. Cases have rapidly spread to all districts in the country. One of the worst affected districts is Lilongwe Urban, where the government issued the instruction that schools were not to re-open following the Christmas break to stop the spread of the disease.
Lilongwe is one of three districts that Link’s flagship girls’ education programme in Malawi calls home. The TEAM Girl Malawi project provides complementary basic education and life skills to out of school adolescent girls, and supports them to re-enter primary school, or join vocational or entrepreneurship training. Our participants face high levels of poverty, many coming from child-headed households, early marriage and motherhood, in addition to having disabilities which have kept them from mainstream education and limited their life chances.
The cholera outbreak meant that the project’s community-based learning centres were also closed. The situation was particularly concerning for us as the girls in our programme are highly marginalised, and are especially vulnerable to falling behind in their learning and dropping out before finishing and transitioning onto their next steps.
This was not the first time Link had to respond to school closures. During the COVID-19 outbreak we had experienced a similar situation. Many girls in the programme – who had already experienced significant challenges causing them to leave mainstream school – reported an increase in anxiety and mental health issues during this period. Others underwent traumatic experiences including gender-based violence and abuse. All of these issues have had a further negative impact on their resilience in the face of challenges, self-esteem and self-confidence.
When this new outbreak hit, we were able to draw on our experience during the COVID-19 emergency, implementing our education in emergencies response plan. After receiving the news of school closures due to cholera, our team acted immediately to:
- Reinforce safeguarding and child protection checks and reporting pathways in the communities
- Plan catch up classes to take place when centres re-opened so learners did not fall behind in the curriculum
- Prepare home-based learning activities which we would distribute in case prolonged closures became necessary
- Communicate daily information about cholera prevention from the Ministry of Health to class Facilitators using WhatsApp, who then passed on the messages to the girls in a safe, socially-distanced way
- Ensure good supply of hygiene materials so all centres could continue to prevent the spread of cholera once they re-opened
“Learning at home during the cholera crisis was a bit hard as I had to also balance with house hold chores but our facilitators kept on checking on us and supporting us with home lessons. It was easy to catch up after schools re-opened. I am happy to be back in school!”
Mercy- Learner in Malawi
When the government allowed schools to re-open two weeks later, attendance was very low in the first days as most girls were still afraid. However, after a few weeks almost all the girls had returned. Facilitators and the girls appreciated the support which was given to them during the school closure, and they said the home-based learning activities helped them to catch up after schools re-opened. Currently learners are preparing to sit their end of term exams and they are expected to do well. Supporting education in emergencies is one of Link’s key goals in our 2020-2030 strategy. Education can be one of the first things to be disrupted in emergency situations like Malawi’s cholera outbreak, and yet it is also a powerful way to enhance protection, prevention and prosperity of communities experiencing conflict or disaster. This disaster will be further worsened by the fall out from the recent cyclone Freddy. As extreme weather events like this and violence increase with the effects of climate change, it’s vital that the global development sector be prepared and able to advocate for education and protect learners during these events.
“Our centre was supported with all necessary hygiene materials like soap and water buckets. This help came so timely and we are glad that we did not register any cholera case at our centre. School is back to normal and hygiene has become part of our lives.”
Nancy – Learning Centre Facilitator
Emergencies are going nowhere. We must be prepared to meet new challenges head on in order to protect the next generation’s right to quality education.