BY MOSES CHITSULO:
On that beautiful Tuesday afternoon, Elizabeth Sibande energetically and passionately participated in the traditional singing and dancing meant to welcome The Daily Times to the village.
In the initial minutes of sitting in that simple local church, which members of Kapokozoli Cooperative use as a conference room, one would think Sibande is just one of those culturally excited old women who habitually feel duty-bound to welcome visitors-no matter how disconnected they are to such visitors.
But at 78, Elizabeth Sibande is not only an out-and-out member of Kapokozoli Cooperative in Kasungu North’s Traditional Authority Kaluluma area. She is a very dedicated old woman whose penchant for greatness knows no age limit.
Due to the well-documented social, cultural and economic reasons that dotted the colonial years, Sibande, as is the case with many of her peers in remote parts of Malawi, did not have any slightest chance of getting basic education.
That time, native Malawians were mostly born to grow up for marriage and child-bearing- with nothing more to aspire for.
Education was either for children of the colonial masters or a few privileged Malawians who were lucky enough to be close to the missionaries or colonialists then.
And today, the feeling might be that time is up for the old Sibande and there is no need for such an aged, of course not tired, woman to think of pursuing basic education such as reading and writing Chichewa and English and calculating figures.
Not with Sibande. At such an advanced age, she is a source of inspiration to some young girls and boys who take education for granted. She is presently part of the Kapokozoli Cooperative adult literacy classes.
“I have benefited a lot from these adult literacy classes. Before 2016, I did not know how to write. I did not know how to read but now I am doing it without problems. I am even able to read and count. Even in financial transactions, I know how much change I am supposed to get after buying an item,” Sibande said in Chitumbuka.
Illiteracy made life difficult for the oldest member of Kapokozoli Cooperative-a member of Community Savings and Investment Promotion (Comsip) Union.
It was definitely not easy for her to wisely save and invest the little money she was realising from the smallholder farming she engages in.
Kapokozoli Comsip Cooperative Vice Chairperson, Rogers Chirwa, says the adult literacy classes have helped many members in the cooperative to understand the importance of saving and investing-the Comsip way.
Since 2016, over 20 members have attended first classes for Chichewa lessons and have now joined class two for basic skills in English language.
“We have had great improvements in terms of reading and writing skills amongst our elderly members and we hope many will come and join the cooperative to improve their own lives through savings, investments and of course to attend these adult literacy classes,” Chirwa said.
According to Kasungu North Community Development Assistant (CDA), Simeon Bondera Nyirenda, the adult literacy classes for members of Kapokozoli Cooperative started in 2016.
Nyirenda said the introduction of the classes was demand-driven after results of a social research revealed that 40 per cent of the members were illiterate.
“One of Comsip’s core values is the uplifting of living standards for all members. They are doing business and we would like to help improve their income through attaining basic education.
“It is very difficult for a person who is illiterate to do business. Members of the cooperative are encouraged to join literacy classes for them to successfully venture into business and make profits.
“They should be able to read, write, record their transactions and be able to calculate whether they are making profits or not. So it is very important for our members to be literate,” Nyirenda said.
On the day of our visit to the area, members of Kapokozoli Comsip Cooperative, including Sibande, were about to sell their soya beans to Comsip Union in an arrangement called Legumes Enterprise Structured Production (Lesp).
In the arrangement, Comsip contributes 70 per cent of inputs to the production with cooperatives taking care of the rest in the first year of cultivating the legume. When the beans are ready, Comsip goes back to the village and buys them at prices higher than what middlemen offer.
On the day of our meeting, Gogo Sibande was at ease as she looked forward to calculating the proceeds she realised from her sweat.
In just two years, Sibande had mastered the ability to determine whether she had posted a profit or a loss. She would do the calculations herself without waiting for anyone to do it for her.
As the team that had gone to Nkhamenya to inspect the legumes market was about to leave, Gogo Sibande fished out some books and started reading, as if to prove that she was eager to further her education.
How refreshing it was to see an old woman who has been around for 78 years without attaining any form of basic education proudly reading with lots of energy and zeal!
She could be doing what she could have done over 70 years ago but the fact of the matter is that Sibande is no longer illiterate and is doing better than some of her own peers and others who are even younger.
They say where there is a will, there is a way.
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