Rob, Malawi’s guardian angel
Robert
I met Robert on Kande Beach in Malawi when he took our group around his village for an authentic village tour. This wasn’t your typical village walk, and I quickly learnt Robert had a story worth sharing, and I only hope my words have done enough justice to his life so far.
Rob’s grandfather moved from the village, Tonga to Zambia for work opportunity, and dedicated his working life to farming. Once his grandfather had retired, when Robert turned 6 his mother, grandfather and himself moved back to Malawi, their village welcoming them back with open arms.
After attending primary school free of charge Rob realised he needed to work to afford secondary school, a friend from the city offering to teach him jewellery making becoming the perfect business venture for a young Rob. Being the only jewellery maker in the village and surrounding meant Rob made enough to send himself to school, until a young woman who bought a restaurant on the waterfront changed his life.
Caroline came to Malawi in search for a business venture herself and a change of scenery, her purchase of the Kande Beach resort restaurant the perfect excuse to uproot her life from England and make the move. Her father, who would visit often decided to sponsor Robert and pay his school fees for form 3 and 4 of high school, providing him with not only an education but money in his pocket from his business he wouldn’t have otherwise been able to keep. To this day Caroline comes “home” and visit Robert in the village, her impact on his life has had a domino effect of thousands of children.
After secondary school Robert used the money saved from his jewellery business and trained up in social work in Malawi’s main town of Katawe. His passion, driven from how Caroline and her father helped him, was to help provide children with the right for a healthy and happy life.
Although Robert himself never experienced abuse, he saw it. Whether it was seeing classmates or hearing stories from neighbours, he saw the amount of abuse and neglect prominent in his village and beyond. His training allowed him to understand the evidence based research behind abuse in all its forms and develop strategies to overcome this in his village.
Not long ago, a child’s future in terms of marriage was decided by his uncle who would look for good looking girl in the village and tell her she was to marry his nephew. The women, who were sometimes young girls weren’t allowed to say no, the boys uncle paying for the daughter with cows, sometimes in investment amounts if they weren’t wealthy, those who couldn’t afford to send their daughters to school simply married them off to pay for meals and “keep her safe”. Nowadays thanks to Robert’s work with educating the communities and further education through technology, men look for their own woman and woman have right to say yes or no. Child marriage is deeply frowned upon and nowadays there are local families employed to detect and be the safe place for children to come if they are being assaulted or married off, with punishments of jail time and fines common from this crime.
After Robert finished his training he has dedicated his life to the education and improvement of childhood health and educational outcomes in the communities. He spent years building trust between villages, his information about the danger of neglect and abuse was first perceived poorly. Communities out here are very isolated, so what their grandparents told or what they saw is all they know, abuse included. The deep history of poor outcomes of children doesn’t stem from a lack of love, but from lack of knowledge or money and so Robert made it his mission to rectify this. Over time, Robert has built relationships with 26 neighbouring villages, volunteering his time hosting workshops with parents, teachers and children. He offers resources, and safe havens as well as financial support for families whose abuse and neglect stems from poverty.
He developed Children’s corners, a safe place where kids subject to abuse meet after school twice a week. Their involvement in activities, sports and games allows them not only a distraction and distance from life at home but a safe space to voice issues they are facing. From here issues are reported to Robert who attend the child’s home with police to educate the families.
Rob started working with the intrepid trucks in 2004, forming lifelong bonds and creating relationships that will last lifetimes. He’s now the proud dad to his own two kids and works hard showcasing his work and the village to tourists like myself to pay school fees for his brothers and friends children. He says education is imperative, not only to a child’s learning and growth but to the success of their futures. Those who can’t afford high school spend a life in poverty and are highly likely to marry and have children before they turn 18, never leaving the village. Those who attend continue to university and contribute to society in vocations they are passionate about whilst raising children in a safe home where they can begin the next cycle of positive health and educational outcomes.
What’s next for Rob? Rob wants to further his education and go back to school and study social work, the learning he engaged in 20 years ago would be outdated nowadays and as always there is so much to learn.
If you want to contact Rob, to learn about how to sponsor a child through a term of school just as he was, or to contribute to the community his number is below.
+265 999603320
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