Women's conference

I was invited by one of my Bible Study to friends to teach at a local women's conference about HIV/AIDS. Lorrie and her husband come alongside local churches around the Lilongwe area to encourage them and help train and teach when needed. Lorrie and her family spend most Sundays at one of the village churches worshipping together and getting to know the different congregations.

So Lorrie, myself and Sara (another friend who is a dietician) left Friday morning and drove about an hour out of Lilongwe to speak at the womens conference. We had interpreters go with us who had lived in the area, which was great because the dirt roads are not marked and it was a bit of a maze to find. We passed many women walking, or riding on the back of bicycle taxis to get to the conference. Many of the women traveled a full days walk to come to the conference.

We met in a large brick building. The conference opened with wonderful worship songs. And then a choir from 5 different churches presented a song. All of the songs were in Chichewa and fully choreographed. I wish I had video for you because it was an awesome experience.




Sara shared about nutrition using the Malawi food guide as a reference. In short, she encouraged consuming and growing a variety of foods--fruits, veggies, legumes--for all of their different nutritional values. All of which can complement the nsima (maize) which is the staple food.



I shared about the basics of HIV--what it is, how you can get and transmit the virus, also a bit about how anti-retrovirals work to maintain health. I was hoping to encourage discussion about HIV amongst the women, and testing for them to know their status. Unfortunately for this village, the closest VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) center is about an hours walk away. And the medications are only available at a hospital a half-days walk away.

I asked a lady to come up and show me how to tie my chitenje--we got some laughs

Access to care is a very difficult issue in Malawi. (I am excited that Partners in Hope is involved in starting 3 new outreach sites beyond the immediate Lilongwe area to help with this problem) But even more difficult were the questions the women asked--many of which pertained to their lack of power in regards to their own health. It is very common for men to have partners outside of marriage, contract the virus, and bring it back to their wife. And often men will refuse to wear condoms which would help protect their wife.

These questions do not have easy answers, and I certainly didn't have any quick answers that day. But alongside the women "elders" at the conference we prayed for these specific women and for women in general to continue to seek the Lord for wisdom, patience and love in these situations. Please join me in praying for the social structures and cultural expectations of women to change in Malawi--that they might have more of a say in their lives.