Cholera Concerns in the Wake of January's Floods

With the recent flooding and displacement of thousands in Malawi, many have feared outbreaks of disease such as cholera. Cholera is a highly contagious water-borne bacterial disease which manifests in the form of acute diarrhea, stomach pain, and occasional nausea/vomiting. Though treatable, cholera can become life-threatening in situations where infected persons do not have access to clean water and proper medical care. (InterHealth Worldwide) The first recorded occurrence of cholera in Malawi was in the 1970's and since then Malawi has faced a cholera outbreak nearly every year. Malawi's worst cholera outbreak occurred from October 2001-April 2002, with 33,150 cases and 981 deaths. (WHO)

Cholera outbreaks occur mostly in the rainy season because the flooding and poor sanitation that ensues. According to the CDC:

A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person that contaminates water and/or food. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water. 

Due to the nature of the spread of cholera many have been weary of a possible outbreak in Malawi after this year’s severe flooding. Since the flooding began in Malawi, 148 cases of cholera, including two deaths have been confirmed by the Ministry of Health.

The majority of the cases of cholera and both deaths occurred in the Nsanje region which was worst hit by the flooding and had been the most difficult region to provide aid to. However, 100,000 cholera vaccines have been obtained and will be administered in and around displacement camps and communities in the region. Getting those effected with cholera to proper treatment is a top priority as is providing everyone, especially those in areas hardest hit by the flooding, with clean water and sanitary living conditions. The best way to slow the spread of cholera is to keep everyone living and working in cholera effected areas vaccinated and keep the water clean. Cholera can be cleaned out of water with chemical treatments or by simply boiling the water before consuming. (InterHealth Worldwide)

With fifty new cases of cholera popping up in Malawi in the week of March 9th-15th it is clear that the disease is increasing exponentially. It can only be hoped with the new vaccinations in the Nsanje region and a higher access to clean water and medical care that the disease will be back under control quickly. Most outbreaks last from October-April/ May and go away shortly after the end of the rainy season. This suggests that this year’s outbreak should end soon and preparations can start being made to treat or even eradicate cholera in Malawi before next year’s rainy season.

Camp Hope Cooks!

  Camp Hope can change a child’s life. 

  Camp Hope follow-up sessions can change a family.

  On February 21, 2015, World Camp hosted its first ever Malikha-focused follow-up session to   Camp Hope. World Camp has put on Camp Hope for a number of years, but 2014 was the first   time we were able to include youth living with HIV from our partner communities in the   Malikha Zone. 

  Camp staff and Mentors could not have been happier to provide extend the true camp   experience to youths already involved with World Camp’s after-school clubs, community   outreach, and education initiatives in Malikha. 

Last month, 8 Campers from Malikha worked with 4 Mentors and 1 Nutritionist to discover the basics of nutrition and learn how to make simple, healthy meals and snacks to boost the immune system. There could not be a more important topic for a first follow-up session than nutrition. Those with compromised immune systems, such as youth living with HIV, can see their health and productivity increase greatly with proper nutrition and caloric intake.

The specific objectives of the lesson were that by the end of the lesson, campers would be able to: 

• Define malnutrition 
• List some causes of malnutrition
• Describe the effects of malnutrition
• Discuss two types of malnutrition
• Explain ways of managing malnutrition
• Prepare a balanced and nutritious meal using locally available resources.

Lessons included theoretical aspects in addition to practical segments in which every camper actively participated. Campers, along with Mentors, cooked a delicious, and healthy meal that included egg custard, cassava chips, and guava juice. 

  Unlike a typical meal in Malikha, which consists of nsima and a vegetable relish, this meal   included food from all six food groups and was designed by a nutritionist that specializes in   working with people living with HIV. 

  After a full day of learning and cooking, Campers were sent home with a sack of food to   share with their families. They were encouraged to use their newly acquired skills to   integrate healthy sides in daily meals. 

  Thinking outside the nutrition box, participants discussed the possibility of generating home-   based income by selling the delicious cassava chips and fritters, as well as the guava juice   they’d learned to make. This initiative could not only provide awareness and nutritious food   to the greater community, but also generate income for each camper’s family. 

Up next: a follow-up session based on sexual and reproductive health on March 28th. Stay tuned for more updates from the field, and a progress report on campers’ implementation of these nutritious lessons. 

Celebrating International Women's Day 2015!

From the beginning of our operations in Malawi, World Camp has been focused on ensuring female empowerment was a part of our programming. The nature of the spread of HIV caries from region to region but one of the primary causes for the rapid spread of HIV in Malawi and similar countries is the gender disparity that exists. Women are unable to determine the terms in which they have sex and this makes them more likely to become infected. For this reason, and an interest in human rights, gender empowerment has been part of World Camp/World Camp for Kids’ curriculum for well over a decade. Back in the day World Camp also offered a scholarship program to help girls in secondary school.

These days, World Camp undertakes what’s called gender mainstreaming. This means that regardless of whether a program specifically addresses gender issues, we assess the impact the program would have on women and girls. We also think about whether there is gender parity in leadership, staffing, and participation. Here’s a little bit more about what we’re up to these days to empower, encourage, and celebrate women and girls.

Within our World Camp Clubs we try to ensure female students are involved by encouraging participation whenever we’re present. We also work closely with both a female and male faculty advisor for each Club. We ask the faculty advisors to help us ensure girls are speaking up, running for student leadership positions, and participating in community improvement projects. Similarly, we have two World Camp Clubs Mentors and one of them is a woman – gender parity!

  In our Camp Hope Follow-Up program we also employ an equal number of female and male   Mentors. We do not insist on equal female and male participants as we are aiming to serve   youth living with HIV that are most in need. In a recent Follow-Up session, though, grinding   food in a mortar was required as part of preparing a healthy meal. This task is one typically   assigned to women in Malawian culture but Mentors and the Country Manager ensured that   both sexes participated in the work equally.

  World Camp staff frequently meet with stakeholders in our partner communities and one of   the groups we are honored to work with in each community is the Mothers’ Group. A lot has   been written about the importance of Mothers’ Groups and we couldn’t agree more! These   women offer us invaluable insight and we are grateful for the opportunity to support the work they do to benefit all children, but particularly girls, in their communities.

This past summer, World Camp Managing Director Emily Stallings had the chance to work directly with teachers in some of our partner schools, talking about reproductive health and family planning. Some of the most valuable skills she was able to share were natural birth control methods. As mentioned above, it is very hard for women to negotiate the terms of sex but if a woman knows when she is most fertile, she knows when the tough situation created by insisting on safe sex is most important. While it is small progress and does not change the systemic issues, it empowers the women living within the situation. These teachers in turn may share this information with others in their communities.

World Camp’s senior-most active staff member is a woman, our American Board of Directors is nearly 50/50 female/male, and our Country Manager came to us from an organization the works with only women.

We take gender equality seriously and are happy to be celebrating another International Women’s Day!!