A Child's Story - Jaklin and Margarite of Malawi
POSTED ON Aug 18, 2009
Develiyasi, Jaklin and Margarite
Jaklin and Margarite sit in an empty brick classroom in Chirombo Village. The benches are clay mounds. Gaps in the room’s brick walls act as doors and windows, providing only natural light to those inside. Malawi’s winter wind whips through the windows and both 12-year-old girls are barefoot and wrapped in thin chitenje for protection against the wintry air.
Beneath the chitenje Margarite wears an aqua dress with French blue and cream-colored flowers. She is beautiful. Her dress is not. The grimy brown trim, which is supposed to be white, leads your eyes to the garment’s left shoulder. Completely torn, the fabric is nothing like Margarite’s spirit. Lipstick accents her wide smile, a slight clue of the day’s significance. Today registered and sponsored children get their picture taken and Margarite knows she’ll speak with the camera-toting visitor.
Jaklin huddles on the floor and rests her head on a clay bench, her brown chitinje like the cocoon of a bright and tiny caterpillar. It’s hard to believe she is 12. A blue skirt with pink roses hangs loosely on her tiny frame, leading to bony ankles and callused feet. Only bright red toenail polish reflects the spark in Jaklin’s eyes, a reminder of the young girl within a work-roughed body. Her youngest sister, Disunge, is with mother Likisina today instead of on Jaklin’s back. The break from her sisterly duty does not seem very important to Jaklin. “I’m used to getting her on my back,” Jaklin says. “When mom is not around, I take care of her.”
Margarite and Jaklin are classmates in Standard 2 and live similar lives with their families in Chirombo village. The girls attend school Monday through Friday. Jaklin explains that absences require reasons; otherwise they are in class every day.
Both girls hope to combine their caring spirits and education to pursue medical careers. “I wish to finish my education and become a nurse,” Jaklin says. Taking care of her two younger sisters is part of daily life. Jaklin also cared for her younger brother, who was six, until he passed away this spring.
Similarly, Margarite’s responsibilities include caring for her four younger siblings. She recalls that her old sister, Develiyasi, had eye problems and stomach pain. Remembering her sister’s recovery, Margarite wants to bring healing to others. “I want to gain knowledge. I want to be a doctor to help the sick,” she says.
Before going to school in the mornings, the girls complete chores. They draw water from the well, wash dishes, and sweep their huts. Families use green bars of hand soap to wash clothing and dishes. To sweep, the girls splash water from a plastic cup onto the hut’s dirt floor to keep the dust down. Bending low, they sweep ashes, grass, and dirt into the head of a shovel and dump the refuse into a grave-like hole nearby.
When Jaklin and Margarite return from school, they finish any remaining chores and prepare food like nsima and beans. When they complete their duties at home, the girls join friends for games of netball and jump rope. “Sometimes we come together as girls to teach one another how to cook,” Jaklin says.
Margarite remembers when she registered for COTN's sponsorship program. She received a blanket, soap, and clothes. She felt good about how she looked. Margarite takes pride in her appearance, as evidenced by the red lipstick surrounding her slightly gapped smile. Confidence in her looks is just as important to Margarite as it might be to other preteens, even considering her parents’ struggles to provide enough food for their six children.
Child sponsorship, even for one child, subsidizes the family’s needs. Jaklin and her sister Febe, 15, are both registered, but baby Disunge and Likisina’s fourth daughter Linese, 3, are not yet. Receiving food and blankets helps Jaklin’s single mother to provide for her four children.
"I'm very thankful for the COTN Village Partnership Program," Jaklin says.
To sponsor a child like Jaklin or Margarite visit our Child Sponsorship page.