{"id":54973,"date":"2017-10-13T08:27:49","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T06:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=54973"},"modified":"2017-10-13T08:27:49","modified_gmt":"2017-10-13T06:27:49","slug":"trash-wipes-away-tears-of-widow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2017\/10\/13\/trash-wipes-away-tears-of-widow\/","title":{"rendered":"Trash wipes away tears of widow"},"content":{"rendered":"

B<\/strong>orn in 1974, Edina Banda is a widowed mother of six and has been earning a living by collecting wastes from people\u2019s homes and turning them into usable products.<\/p>\n

Banda, whose husband died in 2012, lives in the populous Chibavi Township of Mzuzu City but her original home is Likoma District.<\/p>\n

She said, soon after the death of her husband, life was difficult as she struggled to fend for her six children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI became hopeless and could cry day and night. Life became meaningless because I had no means of supporting my children after his death,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, in 2004, the dark cloud that hung over Banda\u2019s family started to move away when a friend introduced her to an organisation called Federation of the Rural and Urban Poor.<\/p>\n

This is an organisation formed in 2003 to ensure that poor people living in urban areas have access to land and affordable decent houses plus reliable sources of income.<\/p>\n

The people are taught entrepreneurial skills and introduced to money-saving culture through savings and loan groups.<\/p>\n

Banda said when she joined the grouping, she was given saving lessons and how to make manure using locally available materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined this group in 2004. We called our savings group \u2018Khodo Khodo\u2019 which meant K1 and it was the amount of money many of us could manage to contribute during that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to contribute khodo khodo. Although it was little, the savings eventually enabled me to start a small business which later assisted me to switch to manure-making business till today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Banda said it was easy to switch to manure business because it does not require a lot of money as capital since most of the materials used are locally found.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use things such as maize husks and we go around collecting them and putting them in 50kg sacks for them to decompose.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use things that we know can decompose. We don\u2019t use plastic bags because they don\u2019t decompose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Apart from manure production, Banda said she and nine other members of the group also make tumblers from disposable glass bottles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make different kinds of tumblers from any glass bottles as you see them here. We sell some at K550 each and others at K700.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for a 50kg bag of manure, we sell it at K5,000,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said, on average, they make 10 bags of manure, which give them K50,000 per month which they share in addition to what they make from tumblers and savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy because I didn\u2019t know that I would be where I am today financially. Just imagine from khodo khodo (K1) that I was saving in 2004, I\u2019m now able to save K2,000 and sometimes K5,000 per day from the sales of manure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Banda added that she is able to feed her family and pay school fees for her two children who have just finished Form Four.<\/p>\n

She said the business has enabled her to own pigs which have, in turn, boosted her financial muscle.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m no longer under persistent stress that followed the death of my husband,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we make manure and tumblers from these locally available materials, our motto has always been zinyalala nchuma chobisika <\/em>(wastes are a hidden treasure) and, indeed, we have seen many benefits from this business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can testify that whatever I have today originates from wastes that some people threw away. We turn waste into new usable products. There is money in waste management,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Apart from financial gains, Banda said the manure-making business has helped improve sanitation in the area because people no longer throw waste anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have taught many people how to manage wastes in their homes, more especially in areas where cholera used to break out.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow such areas are cholera-free zones because many people know how to manage and where to go with wastes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Banda, who has since built a small decent house from her savings, plans to buy a car in the near future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to assure you that one day I will buy my own car from this manure-making business.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our friends in Lilongwe, who came to teach us these skills, managed to do that. I am also going to afford a car,\u201d she said confidently.<\/p>\n

Banda then advised women, especially widows who are just staying, to join different organisations that teach various skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us use the wisdom and knowledge that our God gave us. Our lives won\u2019t be the same. I am a living testimony,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said her group is discussing with Mzuzu City Council so that they should start operating from the council\u2019s newly established Msiro Waste Management facility.<\/p>\n

Banda said, if the council allows them to operate from Msiro, the development will not just benefit them financially but will also complement the council\u2019s vision of shifting from dumping to managing wastes.<\/p>\n

Mzuzu City Council spokesperson, Karen Msiska, said the council will soon engage the services of different groups that were trained in waste management.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there are some groups of people who are able to turn glass bottles into tumblers and there are some who are able to make mats from plastic bags; we are very ready to accommodate them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Msiska said, apart from people who turn wastes into manure, tumblers and biogas, the council wants to partner other organisations who can produce electricity from the wastes.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should know that the key aspects of Msiro Waste Management facility are to reduce, reuse and recycle the wastes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we would like to engage as many organisations as we can in order to fulfil the council\u2019s vision for the facility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Born in 1974, Edina Banda is a widowed mother of six and has been earning a living by collecting wastes from people\u2019s homes and turning them into usable products. Banda, whose husband died in 2012, lives in the populous Chibavi Township of Mzuzu City but her original home is Likoma District. She said, soon after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54979,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54973\/revisions\/54979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}