The Invisible Prisoners: A case of Children in Malawian Prisons.

Children with incarcerated mothers are considered to be one of the most vulnerable and at risk populations across the globe. Despite vast research on prisons in Malawi, inadequate research has been conducted in the field of children who live with their mothers in prisons, irrespective of the fact that they pose to be one of probable growing category of prison population. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore and highlight vulnerability, in terms of challenges, that children who live with their mothers in Malawian prison face and find reasons behind such. Data for this study was collected using qualitative research techniques which included Observations, In-depth Interviews and Key Informant Interviews. Max Weber’s typology of authority has been used as a guiding tool in assessing the operations of prisons in Malawi. Findings show that despite provisions in laws governing the operations of prisons, children in Malawian prison face enormous challenges and yet they have never committed any crime at all. It has been observed that it is not possible to change the living conditions of the children living in prison alone, without changing those of their mothers due to the mother-child complete dependency relationship

Vulnerabilities of signaling system number 7 (SS7) to cyber attacks and how to mitigate against these vulnerabilities.

As the mobile network subscriber base exponentially increases due to some attractive offerings such as anytime anywhere accessibility, seamless roaming, inexpensive handsets with sophisticated applications, and Internet connectivity, the mobile telecommunications network has now become the primary source of communication for not only business and pleasure, but also for the many life and mission critical services. This mass popularisation of telecommunications services has resulted in a heavily loaded Signaling System number 7 (SS7) signaling network which is used in Second and Third Generations (2G and 3G) mobile networks and is needed for call control and services such as caller identity, roaming, and for sending short message servirces. SS7 signaling has enjoyed remarkable popularity for providing acceptable voice quality with negligible connection delays, pos- sibly due to its circuit-switched heritage. However, the traditional SS7 networks are expensive to lease and to expand, hence to cater for the growing signaling demand and to provide the seamless interconnectivity between the SS7 and IP networks a new suite of protocols known as Signaling Transport (SIGTRAN) has been designed to carry SS7 signaling messages over IP. Due to the intersignaling between the circuit-switched and the packet-switched networks, the mo- bile networks have now left the “walled garden”, which is a privileged, closed and isolated ecosystem under the full control of mobile carriers, using proprietary protocols and has minimal security risks due to restricted user access. Potentially, intersignaling can be exploited from the IP side to disrupt the services provided on the circuit-switched side. This study demonstrates the vulnerabilities of SS7 messages to cyber-attacks while being trans- ported over IP networks and proposes some solutions based on securing both the IP transport and SCTP layers of the SIGTRAN protocol stack

The pattern of transaminase abnormality among HIV and HBV co-infected women on ART in Lilongwe, Malawi

Master of Science in Epidemiology in the field of Epidemiology and Biostatistics June, 2017Background Hepatitis B and ART have been established to cause liver damage. We compared the changes in the levels of Alanine amino Transferase (ALT) in HBV/HIV co-infected and HIV infected women on ART to determine liver disease among women on ART in Lilongwe Malawi using Data from the BAN study. Methods We conducted a secondary data analysis from The BAN study to investigate the changes in the levels of ALT among HIV/HBV co-infected and HIV mono-infected women who were randomised into the maternal ART arm. In brief The BAN study assessed the benefit of nutritional supplementation given to women during breastfeeding, the benefit and safety of antiretroviral medications given either to infants or to their mothers to prevent HIV transmission during breastfeeding and the feasibility of exclusive breastfeeding followed by early, rapid breastfeeding cessation. ALT was monitored up to 48 weeks with an average of 12 follow-ups per individual. Continuous variables i.e. Age, ALT and CD4 count were compared between HIV/HBV co-infected women and HIV mono-infected women using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Multiple regression analyses were performed using longitudinal data Generalised Linear mixed models to evaluate the relationship between ALT and HIV/HBV co-infection, among HIV-infected women, controlling for ART regimen, CD4 count and visit. All individuals were included in the analysis regardless of the different numbers of follow-up visits. To show the change of ALT levels longitudinal line graphs were used. Predictions of ALT levels per visit were also plotted using margin plots. Results The study subjects comprised of 544 women of whom 5.6% were HIV/HBV co-infected. The age range of the study population was 16-45 years. Median age at enrolment was 26(IQR: 22-29). The median ALT enzyme level of HIV/HBV co-infected individuals was slightly higher at baseline (13 UI/L (10-16) vs 14 UI/L (11-18, p=0.10) and at the last follow-up (17UI/L (14-22) vs 19 UI/L (16-26, p=0.04) compared to HIV mono-infected counterparts. HIV/HBV co-infection women were 3.28 times (1.43-9.03 p= 0.01) more likely to have abnormal ALT, compared to their mono-HIV infected counterparts. Individuals that were initiated on Nelfinavar as first line ART were 3.22 times (1.85-5.59 p=0.001) more likely to have elevated ALT compared to those that were initiated on LPV/r based regimen. Moderately immune suppressed women (CD4 count of between 200 to 500 cells/dl) were 0.38 times less likely to have elevated ALT(0.15-1.00) while women who were severely immune suppressed had 3.51 times more likely to have abnormal ALT . Overall there was an increase in the level of ALT per each subsequent visit. Conclusion Individuals co-infected with HIV/HBV generally had higher levels of ALT compared to HIV mono-Infected individuals and this increased over time. The current study suggests that monitoring of ALT in patients co-infected with HIV/ HBV on ART should be performed regularly, and the caution should be taken when prescribing first line ART.MT201

Resistance to Narratives of the COVID-19 Pandemic as an Act of God

This article examines the views of 12 bishops of the Church of England in understanding the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of divine action. The most consistently mentioned unhelpful narratives hinge on an understanding of the pandemic as an act of God. Although there are several possible contextual explanations for this resistance to understand the pandemic as divine action, an analysis of the data shows that it is grounded in a desire to maintain (1) a space for the pandemic, the suffering, and the virus that caused it to be understood as part of creation and (2) focus on human agency and responsibility as the appropriate response to the pandemic. I argue that the strong resistance among the bishops interviewed to a narrative of divine punishment in particular is ultimately grounded in a desire to disable the blunt but effective tool of making moral judgments in the name of divine authority that regularly follow in the wake of global disasters

Decolonizing science‐engaged theology

This piece is about the value of decolonization for teaching and doing science‐engaged theology. I argue that decolonization should be seen as a useful tool that helps students, teachers, and scholars to re‐imagine the modern distinction between science and theology/religion

(Re)constructing the African notion of girls' readiness for marriage: insights from rural Malawi

This ethnographic study is concerned with examining how communities in Chauma of Dedza district in Malawi construct “girls' readiness for marriage” as the immediate lens through which child marriage can be understood. The social label of girls' readiness for marriage refers to the complex constructions of notions of girlhood and girls' sexuality, conscious and subconscious, that define the maturity of girls to enter marital arrangements. The choice of exploring the social construction of “girls' readiness for marriage” is odd, as it may be mistakenly assumed obvious and unnecessary. However, this choice places emphasis on the process itself – that of ‘becoming ready for marriage', one of the ways of understanding marriage decisions for young girls. And yet, this phenomenon has not received much scholarly attention in recent times. In this study, I adopt a social constructionist perspective to question and challenge how communities have constructed and reproduced notions of girls' readiness for marriage. The study argues that girls' readiness for marriage is a complex construction that is informed by interrelated and yet, exclusive, conceptualisations. It is crystalised by multiple, intertwined, politicised and, sometimes, contradictory, motifs, created by girls themselves and by other actors around them. These constructions are multiple layered and centrally revolve on the formulation and maintenance of traditions. The first layer in these constructions is a dyad of pull forces that shape and influence girls' readiness for marriage. One part of these largely constitutes customary and religious traditions, which not only define girls who are ready for marriage, but also influence the acceptance of girls' maturity for marriage. The other part comprises the symbiotic relationship between traditions and the power of traditional authorities. Perched at the fulcrum of maintaining the institution of chiefship are gendered and sexuality-based traditions, which are used to legitimise the exercise of chiefly powers over their subordinates. As this form of power is being exercised, girls' readiness for marriage is shaped. Foregrounded by the pull of social forces of traditions and the political economy of chieftaincies, is a second layer, where girls' readiness for marriage is conceptulised in other distinctive ways. These include physical and mental maturity, sexual maturity, perceived loss of innocence (pregnancy and dating), ability to perform gendered household chores and commencement of menstruation. In these constructions, despite its popularity amongst development and human rights discourses, the chronological age of 18 is not considered as a fundamental marker for girls' readiness for marriage. The study therefore stresses that activists, development practitioners and governments working on child marriages should be conscious of local contextual conceptualisations of girls' readiness for marriage before developing policies and programmes that aim at eradicating child marriages. The facets of the context-specific nature of girls' readiness for marriage are missing in the conceptualisation of the main childhood scholars, yet they emerge as important aspects in this study. The study points to the need for these facets to be incorporated into the core elements of programmes to create a more holistic framework of analysis. Through girls' readiness for marriage, this thesis also highlights many other aspects; it challenges several other assumptions around gender, sexuality, religion, universality of childhood and on power of chiefships

The extent to which African indigenous language tools are an instrument to promote or/and hinder gender equality: critical analysis of chichewa proverbs of Malawi.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This study is traced from the United Nation Sustainable Development goal number five of gender equality and women empowerment which supersede Millennium Development Goals number three. One way in which language is used is through the use of proverbs. The study aimed at finding out how Chichewa proverbs of Malawi can be an instrument to promote or hinder gender equality and women empowerment. The study followed hermeneutic phenomenological method and qualitative research approach to understand and interpret the connotations inscribed in Chichewa gendered proverbs. In order to unpack and analyze the proverbs, the study is underpinned within the Knowledge translation theory, along with critical discourse analysis and the reformist African feminism. Two methods of data collection were adopted in this study: desktop search and interviews which were conducted with the aid of semi-structured open ended questions. The interviews were conducted in two separate ways ie. Individual face to face as well as focus groups. In total, fourty four participants were from four different population groups namely; the block leaders, the ward councillors, the education managers and other respondents who were just residents of the area. Using content analysis, the data were analyzed qualitatively and findings presented and discussed thematically. On a positive note, the results of this study reveals that Chichewa proverbs may work positively towards enhancing gender equality and women empowerment. This is demonstrated when some proverbs portray women as symbols of warmth to the society while others encourage women empowerment and agency. Secondly, men’s bad and evil behaviors towards women are rebuked in some Chichewa proverbs. The results of this study further shows that within Malawi society, men are not completely free from proverbial negativity but are equally victims of proverbial messages. With special reference to matrilineal society, proverbs have shown elements of discrimination on the part of suitors (mkamwini). This is in conflict with some Eurocentric gender studies which completely ignore the dynamics and uniqueness of different context, cultures and traditions. With the aid of poly-epistemic research approach and methodologies, such tradition dynamics were unravelled to fill the gaps and contribute to already existing body of knowledge. However, to the larger extent Chichewa proverbs have elements that work against women in various aspects. The proverbs are tools used to create and sustain the construction of hegemonic masculinity and femininity hence the superiority of men and inferiority of women in Malawi is sustained. By creating a body of knowledge which portray women as gossipers, evil beings, weak and people lacking decision-making skills, women continue to suffer oppression, marginalization, subordination and discrination in various ways both in public and privatespheres. Even though the results of this study reveal that probably both men and women were involved in the construction of proverbs, but the knowledge contribution of women in this domain was just meant to serve the male chauvinistic. This study therefore concludes that although some Chichewa proverbs can be used by gender activists to promote gender equality in Malawi, the wisdom embedded in some proverbs seem to be a hindrance towards the advance

Building Community Resilience with SLM : A Case for Malawi

It all started in 24th April 2012 when In Balaka the Mawelanyangu hills were burnt and women were already digging for water in the sand bed of the Mkandabwako stream a tributary of the Nkasi river which is a tributary  of the Shire River. This dire situation prompted action.The GVH Silika Communities were mobilized and the situation explained to them and that the answer lay with them since they owned the land. This led to the revival of the VDC subcommittees when the village decided to take responsibility for their area, as well as the VNRMC to lead the formation of a bushfire control committee under the VNRMC and an action plan drawn-up with the assistance of the DFO and DLRCO. The plan spelt out how they would manage the land and its resources. Of the almost 3000ha only about 10ha was burnt by the end of that dry season and as the rains set in there was little runoff due to the grass cover and the trees and coppices. The encouraged villagers went on to cut a firebreak round the boundaries of the GVH’s land resources and with advice further they cut other internal firebreaks dividing the land into 7 sections.During the 2013/14 the Nkasi river was flowing up to mid-Sept as opposed to the April scenario. The 2014 dry season saw the river flow up to October and the ensuing storms that led to floods made no dent in this landscape as the well grassed well treed landscape absorbed all the rain water and minimized runoff, which was contrary to the neighbouring communities which sustained massive damages to their croplands and homesteads. This land management has given this community resilience to floods to crop failures and food security. The GVHs of Muotcha , and Simbota that followed the footsteps of the Silika GVH sustained some damages but not like the other none participating GVHs, damage was proportionate to the level of improvement they had achieved in two seasons.This pathway had its own challenges like the desponded charcoal burners who wanted to continue their trade. This process was just as good as the village leadership and his/her community.   We are telling the masses how to be resilient, hence on 28th February an article was put on The Nation and the Standard and we will not stop telling the success story