I could tell right away that Marcelino believed passionately in the work that he is doing for the poor of Malawi. A native of Portugal, educated in Denmark, Marcelino has come to Malawi to be the project coordinator of a unique food security program that he helped design for the people of Malawi when he worked for ADRA Denmark.

As we drove out to the villages, he began to explain the rational for his approach to food security.

"According to UNICEF", he said, "Children fall into malnutrition under a combination of three factors.


1. The do not have adequate nutritional intake. The parents may be too poor to provide food, crops may have failed, last year's harvest has run out, or they may simply not know enough about enough about nutrition and the importance of balanced diets.
2. Parents in poverty may be so busy with the tasks of daily survival that they may not have the time or energy to prepare regular meals for the children.
3. The various diseases that tend to orbit around poverty, such as diarrhea, can make it very difficult for the body to absorb what little nutrition is given.

These three factors can easily combine to form a 'deadly cocktail' that often take the life of a child. In order to develop a comprehensive food security program you need to come with more then just seeds and a little agricultural instruction. You need to address all of the factors that lead to malnutrition and provide solutions. For example, if the parents are spending most of their day walking great distances to collect water, you need to provide a clean source of water close to their village as part of the food security program. If you see that there are no latrines in the village, you need to include a sanitation component to you food security plan. By freeing up time for food production and preparation, by reducing the incidence of diarrhea with sanitation and a convenient source of pure water you create an environment where families can escape the factors that lead to malnutrition.

Add to this a health education component, agricultural training, special seeds, and nutrition classes on how to ensure a balanced diet for optimal nutrition and you then have an integrated program that we hope will be successful".


Marcelino's enthusiasm was infectious and I was eager to visit one of the villages where his program was being conducted. Before reaching the village we stopped at a regional ADRA office to pick up the local program leader.

Many people in Malawi have unique names that are easy to remember. Blessing, Innocent, Faith, and Cosmos are some of the people that I have met since coming here. But our new passenger's name topped the list for me. Memory grasped my hand and shook it with enthusiasm. Later in the day I asked her about her name. "Do you spell it like the English word memory", I inquired? "Yes", she replied. "It is also the meaning - hard to forget". It suited her. Memory has a dynamic personality with a distinctive, commanding voice. She would act as our translator for the day.



Yoyola is a small village tucked away into a remote area north of Blantyre. The project is targeting 50 families in 48 different villages. By first building a relationship with the chief or headman of the village, and getting his approval and cooperation in the project, ADRA has been able to quickly gain the confidence of the people and they are participating with dedicated interest and enthusiasm. As we pulled into the village and stepped out of the vehicle, we were greeted by a group of women performing a traditional African welcome. Babies strapped to their backs they formed a snaking line that slowly made its way toward us as they clapped their hands and filled the air with a beautiful African song of welcome. I am not sure what the words were but the smiles on their faces told us that they were happy to receive us! After their song, they all took a seat on the ground, while the "dignitaries" sat on chairs under a tree and the speeches began. I don't think that Memory's translation of the villagers words was at all embellished. The expressions in their faces convinced me of their deep felt gratitude for all that ADRA was doing in their village. The chief of the village and others spoke eloquently about the program in a way that convinced me that they not only grateful but had signed on as enthusiastic partners.


Development is all about positive change, and that is clearly happening in the village of Yoyala. As we visited the fields and homes of the people, as I watched them drink in every word the educators said, it was evident that they were embracing the new information that they were receiving from ADRA and it was going to change their lives and the lives of the babies strapped to their back.

The food security program will work in their village for another two and a half years at which time it is hoped that they will become self sufficient in their new knowledge and they will have made changes that will infect other villages in their area to adopt their new practices.


The tee-shirt on one of the volunteers said, "Breaking the evil cycle of food insecurity". With the information, tools, seeds and support that ADRA has brought to these villagers, I believe that this dream will come true for the people of Yoyola. It was hard to say goodbye. I hope that I can one day visit this village again and see the transformation complete, the cycle of hunger forever broken.