-
Hi, we're Caroline and Joyce!
Welcome to Malawi! We hope you enjoy your visit. Click on this image to find out what we’re up to. We’ve also listed some interesting facts about Malawi. Well, we think they’re interesting. Hope you do too.
-
Long, hard haul
Maize is the staple food in Malawi. One large bag of maize feeds a family of ten for two weeks. But there is a long, hard haul involved in getting the corn to the mill before the family can put meals on the table.
-
An ancient board game
Wari is a varient of one of the oldest board games, known more widely as Mancala/ Mankala. Dating back thousands of years, the game is still popular today. In Malawi, children play Wari on ‘boards’ scooped out of the ground.
-
Forced into marriage – aged 13
As a young girl in Malawi and especially if you live in a rural area, you may be forced into marriage, sometimes with a much older man. The government is trying to outlaw such traditional practices.
-
Sub-tropical climate
Malawi enjoys a sub-tropical climate with three seasons. Watch out for the rainy season, when as much as 15cm of water can fall in one day.
-
Agriculture still the mainstay
Malawi’s economy revolves around agriculture, which brings in more than 80 per cent of the country’s export earnings and supports well over 80 per cent of the population.
-
One in ten children not at school
Primary education is compulsory. However, around one in ten primary-age children are not enrolled at school. Of those who do attend school, only a quarter currently go on to secondary education.
-
Life expectancy - 47
Due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, average life expectancy in Malawi has dropped to just 47 years.
-
Filming in Malawi
Some of the children at the SOS Children’s Village in Malawi made their own film. They were given lessons, from professional film makers. The children learnt skills in editing, directing and shooting a film. See what they came up with.
-
Maize is life
Malawians have a saying - ‘chimanga ndi moyo’ (maize is life). For 90% of Malawians, life revolves around growing enough maize to feed the family.
-
Lake of the stars
Lake Malawi is the dominant geographical feature of the country. It runs almost the entire length of the country and is the third-largest freshwater lake in Africa. The lake lies within a deep trough along the Great Rift Valley and has existed for around two million years.
-
All to do with respect
If you’re a young person in Malawi, you’d say ‘Bo?’ when greeting your friends. But for parents or anyone older, a more formal and respectful greeting would be used.
-
Ambition and enterprise
What do young people in Malawi want to do when they leave school? Dumbo Jonasi talks about his dream of becoming a manager and working in an office, showing young people have the same kind of aspirations the world over.
-
A fearsome apparition
Outsiders are not meant to see what happens at initiation ceremonies for boys and girls in village communities. So when Caroline takes her video camera, young men in wild animal costumes rush up to her – a fearsome apparition.
-
Colours of a nation
The colours of Malawi’s national flag represent the blood of those who fought for African freedom (red), the people of the African continent (black) and the land and its natural resources (green).
-
Explore Malawi
Discover some of Malawi’s most important places and features, such as Lake Malawi, which runs almost the entire length of the country.
-
It’s OK to be late
When young Malawians fix a time to meet, they expect to arrive late – perhaps by an hour or so – unlike Westerners, who mean the time they set!
-
One in ten adults have HIV/AIDS
In Malawi, more than one in ten adults are infected with HIV/AIDS and each year around 50,000 people die from the disease.
-
Natural wealth in a poor country
Malawi has great natural wealth and its biodiversity and climate attract many tourists. The greatest draw is Lake Malawi, which offers stunning scenery, beaches, snorkelling, scuba-diving and water-sports.
