In Memoriam: Flora Mangiliza Mtuwana
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April 28, 2008 Flora Mtuwana, an extraordinary African woman food farmer from Malawi, who many Hunger Project partners had the opportunity to meet during the 2007 30th Anniversary celebration, passed away unexpectedly this week after a short illness. Flora was a Hunger Project partner and member of the African Woman Food Farmer Initiative (AWFFI) from the Jali epicenter in Malawi. She was a successful entrepreneur and chairwoman of the village livestock association. Flora was an amazing leader and inspiration to the people of her community and to thousands of Hunger Project investors around the world. We are deeply honored to have had the opportunity to have met her. |
Remarks by Flora Mtuwana, October 13, 2008 on the Occasion of The Hunger Project's 30th Anniversary
When I was a
young girl, working in my mother’s field, I never dreamed that I would one day
fly to
I was born into a family of eight children. When I was 12 years old my father passed away and my mother was left to raise the family. That's when poverty struck our family. We often went all day without eating.
And life was not just hard for my family, but for everyone in my village. There was a shortage of food. There was no medicine. There was no clean water.
Life was particularly difficult for us women and girls. It was normal for women to die while having babies. Almost all of us would walk 12 miles a day with babies tied on our backs to fetch water and firewood. Our husbands beat us for no reason. Men controlled us.
It seemed like my family and our village were going to be hungry and poor forever.
So, at first, we couldn’t believe the aim and vision of The Hunger Project. Is this true? Can people who are hungry do this? Can we really end our own hunger and poverty?
In the beginning, we thought we would just get free food like we did from other organizations. But, it soon became clear that The Hunger Project was different.
It took a year to change our minds and to really understand the aim of The Hunger Project. But that year was worth it! We are now empowered women and men with a vision, working together to achieve it. Now we know that when we build something ourselves it will be ours forever. No one can ever take it away!
And I’ve seen changes in myself.
I became an AWFFI partner and I took out a loan. With that one loan I purchased three pigs, and the rest is history! Those three pigs turned into 300!
I am a successful business woman! And I am now one of the most respected people in my village—a respected woman and a respected person.
I can now buy medicine for my family!
My family has three nutritious meals every day!
I send my two young daughters to school and I feel fantastic knowing that when they are older I will be able to send them to university.
I have built a five room house for my family.
And, I am most proud to say that I have a bank account, in my name, with my own money. You see, when I was a girl, women were not allowed to touch or even hold money, let alone decide how to spend it. I almost can’t believe it—almost!
I am a leader! I am the Secretary of my Epicenter’s Food Processing Committee! Chairlady of the Pig Farming Association!
I am working with my AWFFI partners so that the Jali Epicenter can one day open a women-owned and managed bank recognized by our government!
I am a teacher—I help women and men learn to be successful farmers!
I invest in the future of my village! I opened, with my own money, a nursery school for 34 orphans. At school, they eat a nutritious breakfast and lunch each day, they learn and they are loved.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I, Flora Mtuwana, am a leader! I am proud to be an example for my two little girls and for all of the girls in my Epicenter! I am a living example of a woman who is strong, a woman who is successful, a woman who is powerful!
From left: Momana Begum, Pranita Jangum, Flora Mtuwana, Carmen Carrasco