Mercy Kalavina

Mercy Kalavina is one aggrieved person who chose to mourn differently. At the loss of her only 10-year-old son in 2001, she decided to start a foundation to help educate the less priviledged. While she is yet to come to terms with the death of Gift 13 years on, she is determined to make up for what would have been like educating her son to help others achieve their dreams. Mercy is set to end poverty, alliteration and transform her village in Nsanje and all poor communities in the country. Caroline Somanje speaks with Mercy. Excerpts:

Who is Mercy?
I was born on August 15 1973. I am third born in a family of 10; three boys and seven girls. I was born at Sorgin in Nsanje but grew up at a village called Tsirizani commonly known as Chinyanje, north of Nsanje. I’m currently based in South Africa.

Where did you do your education?
I went to three different schools namely Muona, Makata and Fatima Primary School in Blantyre and Nsanje. I then went to the Malawi College for Distance Education (MCDE) in Makhanga where I did Forms One and Two before my selection to Bangula Secondary school. I sat for the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) at Bangula in 1995 but failed. I have registered here in South Africa and will write Matric (equivalent to MSCE) next year.

Describe your upbringing.
Our family was supported by farming. I would go to school with no shoes or underwear, even when I was 18. My father was working for Ngabu Agricultural Development Division as a scheme advisor and got his pension in 1992. My mother is a house wife. Our problems started after he retired because he only received a quarter of his pension. He used the money to buy a piece of land in Chinyanje and built a small two bedroom grass thatched house.  It was not easy for my father to support all of us. My late sister dropped out of school when she was in primary school because of early pregnancy and got married.

Can you please describe your village.
The majority depend on subsistence farming. Most people are illiterate and most households live in poverty. It is a community where parents put more focus on farming and not on their children’s education. They leave their homes for farming early in the morning with their children. Sometimes children drop out of school to look after their siblings while their parents go for farming, a scenario which has seen mostly girls falling victims. The area has many school drop outs due to  early pregnancies, poverty, orphans due to HIV and Aids.
We have poor means of transportation, poor road net work, social services such as hospitals, shops. We only depend on Fatima Trinity Hospital (private) as the government health centre (Muona) is always out of medication. Business people have to travel to Blantyre to order for their small shops. We only have one Fatima Community Day Secondary, which is not enough to accommodate all the children in the surrounding areas. Some of these problems have made it difficult for other investors to establish schools and that is why I want to take this problem head for children of this area and beyond to benefit.
Education is my main concern. Most parents are not educated, hence, they do not see the importance of sending their children to school. I am determined to change this mindset. The only way to achieve that is by setting up my own foundation which will target the parents’ education in form of adult literacy, preschool, and secondary education.

Tell me the name of your project.
The project started as Amazing Mercy foundation and will be registered as Gift of Mercy Foundation to honour my late son, Gift. It started in 2009 after losing my only child. I cannot imagine more children suffering as long as I’m alive. I thought of making education accessible to disadvantaged children who may not have access to regular schools by starting on my own constructing school blocks. I first started by opening a pre-school. The project aims at touching the lives of over 3 000 children from the area and surrounding areas, many of whom may never have been introduced to the idea of early education. It is my passion to help my community, especially the needy and vulnerable people. There is high demand for education and my dream is to reach out to people countrywide. My vision is to challenge parents to believe in the future of their children. With the help of the community, organisations, churches, government and other non-government organisations, poor and disadvantaged children (and the help of chiefs & village headmen to identify the vulnerable), will have free education. The foundation will accommodate these children in the campus (boarding once the project is sustainable) together with those whose parents are better off in form of paying school fees which will help the foundation to sustain itself. The idea for this project is to have a daycare, primary and secondary.
My father is the one overseeing the projects on my behalf. Once it is up and running, it is my wish to return home and manage it myself, with support from the community and donors.
How do you fund this project?
Through my own salary earnings in South Africa. The school blocks which I am building are expected to open during the coming school session with Forms One and Three. Form Two and Four are expected to open the following year. With the high demand for education in our area and Nsanje as a whole, I’m hoping that the foundation will attract donor support. For now, it is just me laying the foundation. If I had enough funds, this project could have been completed in 2010 but my salary is not enough to speed up the project.

How did you end up in South Africa?
I got married in April 1997 to a very wonderful man. I left the marriage in August 1999 due to other circumstances and before I knew it, he married another wife in December same year. Three marriages later, my husband died. After my marriage failed, I got a job with a bakery in Limbe but the salary was not enough for me and my family back home. I thought of exploring other avenues for my son’s sake and my whole family. I left for South Africa in December 2000. Things did not go as expected, I returned in June 2001 and retuned in July same year. To be honest with you, things started working for me and I decided to go back home to take my son Gift so that he could also enjoy the new life. I never made it on time.

Take me through the journey to pick Gift
I left Johannesburg December 23 2001 and arrived in Blantyre on December 24. I reached Thabwa  on the 26th and while waiting for transport to take me home, someone who knew me asked if I came for the funeral. Mind you, I was not aware about any funeral and this person decided not to reveal much at this point. I arrived home at around 9 pm in the night during the rainy season.
As soon I got home, my mother who was lying on the mat got up and started crying. I was surprised and confused. Her cry went: “Ndimuuza bwanji Mercy wabwera” (how will I tell Mercy now that she has come). Instinctively, I got a torch from one of my bags and went inside the house to check on who might have died.  I found out that two of the children were not in the house; my niece Bertha and my son Gift. I then went back and asked my father to ask where Bertha was. He told me she had gone to Nsanje Boma to her uncle’s.  I then asked where Gift was. He did not answer me. I repeated the question. He said to me: “Khala pansi mwana wanga ndikuuze” (sit down my daughter I will tell you). Caroline, my knees trembled, my body just went numb. I did not know what was happening to me. My mother was still crying. I sat down and he explained the story of what had happened.

How did Gift die?
It was on December 14, 2001 when Gift complained of a pain on his right arm. They took him to a hospital on the 15th where they were told nothing was wrong with his arm. He was given some pain killers. On the 16th after supper, he asked for a bath. My late sister bathed him after which he could not stand and his body grew weak. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. I was told that my son bled through the nose and mouth. He was buried on the 17th and I arrived nine days later. They did not notify me because the family was still in shock. Elders too advised them against telling me in consideration of the long distance. Today, he would have been 22 years old. I loved my son and he was the reason I went abroad. Unfortunately, he died before enjoying the fruits of my hard work.

How old were you when you had him?
Going through material and financial difficulties I got pregnant for my son and gave birth at the age of 18. Someone walked into my life promising to provide for my needs. Who would have refused to put on new underwear for the first time or a petticoat at my age? He denied paternity. My father was disappointed and angry for I had disgraced him. He refused to send me back to school but my mother persuaded him and he offered me a second chance.
I went back to school in1991 and I breast fed Gift only for three months. My mother took over as she was also breast feeding my younger brother. I remember boarding fees was K70 per term but it was not easy for my father to pay that money. In 1994 when Gwanda Chakuamba was released from prison, he sponsored my school fees