There are just under eight million children in Malawi and
their life outcomes are so limited that life expectancy is 64.26 years (2019) leaving nearly half of the population (45.8%) under the
age of 14. Only a third of children in Malawi have access to safe water
making childhood disease common and HIV is still rampant despite
efforts by the democratic government to address the issue, with
nearly one third of all mothers in Malawi passing the virus onto
their children. In fact one out of every ten children in Malawi
is an AIDS
orphan and one in eight of them will die from preventable
diseases from pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria to HIV-related
illnesses.
Malnutrition, which remains rampant,
accounts for the death of half of all Malawi children. One in five children in
Malawi live without a biological parent. 90% of children in Malawi (of whom just over 50% get married before they are 18
years old) live in rural communities, traditionally with their extended family
in clusters of round, mud-walled, thatched-roof huts, although tin roofed mud
brick homes are becoming more popular. Although the government has pressed Malawi families to be limited to two to four
children, most families have six children not least to ensure sufficient hands
to work the land and provide for their parents in old age. And, of course, more
children mean more are likely to survive to be able to do that. Children's chores in Malawi include fetching water in the
morning and tending to the family's chicken and goats, then,
when its available, after breakfast, they walk to school which
often finishes at 2pm so they can get home without getting too
dehydrated. Then older lads will help look after the larger animals whilst
girls care for their siblings.
Evening meals often consist of nsima (ground white maize)
normally eaten with vegetables or, if available, fish or meat.
Then its playtime for Malawi children who enjoy football and
stone games as well as hide and seek and just dancing around. It is perhaps ironic that school children in Malawi have had
their educational prospects damaged by a government policy
promoting education, but that is exactly what happened in 1994
when the new Malawi government introduced free primary education
leading to more than a million extra children enrolling for
school in that year alone causing chaos in already overcrowded
classrooms and stretching limited resources past breaking point.
Attending school in Malawi
is now compulsory between the ages
of six to thirteen inclusive (eight years in total.) As noted
else where on these pages, Malawi is one of the poorest
countries on the planet and the government recognised that the
cycle of poverty could not be broken without getting Malawi
children into school to be properly educated. Unfortunately
these harsh economic conditions have meant that some three
quarters of secondary school aged children have left school to
either work or stay at home provide care for their families. In
fact nearly 30% of children in Malawi are engaged in child
labour.
A typical primary school in Malawi has between 800 - 850
pupils and classes often hold between 70-100 pupils, some even
as high as 150. Fortunately most of the school children are well
motivated and enthusiastic about learning so class management
isn't, in general, a problem. The curriculum is wide ranging but
although numeracy and literacy are at its core, the focus isn't
on just achieving good exam results but on social development as
well including good citizenship and learning about agriculture. The video below shares some insights into the lives of children in Malawi together with details of projects and programs below help children there.
Children in Malawi: Raising Malawi
|
Children in Malawi: Malawi Street Children
|
Children in Malawi: Sponsor Children in Malawi
|
Children in Malawi: Volunteer in Malawi
|
![]() |
Details of current volunteer work
opportunities in each of the
countries of Africa.
Find how to sponsor a child in Africa
with our list of organisations,
charities, programs and projects.
Discover all about Africa, its tourist
attractions, history, people, culture
and daily life there.
A treasure trove of African
resources from webcams to
free downloads and news.