When right to education has no meaning

Section 25 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi stipulates that all citizens are entitled to education. The same right is provided under Section 13 of the Education Act of 2013.

However, the story is different in some remote areas where the right to education is constricted as people with albinism are denied this constitutional right due to threats they encounter on their way to and from school.

Here is a story of three girls—two from Mangochi and one from Machinga districts in the Eastern region of Malawi, where cases of attacks on people with albinism have been rampant.

Some youngsters aspire to become medical doctors and nurses but their dreams are on the brink of destruction since, ironically they chose life and not death.

On Wednesday, Catherine Laston, a girl with albinism ,attended classes at Kanjedza Primary School in Mchisa Village Traditional Authority (TA) Kawinga in Machinga and returned home safely.

March against attack on persons with albinism

Her dream was to become a medical doctor, breaking her family curse—claiming her family has not produced a doctor.

“I want to be the first doctor in my family,” she says.

Upon her return from school, The18-year-old Catherine, who is in Standard Five, was busy washing clothes planning to return to school the following day. But little did Cathy, as she is fondly called by her mother, know it was her last day to go to school.

It was Thursday, at around 2am, when six men stormed Cathy’s house with an intention to abduct her.

Her mother, Chrissie Stephano said on that night, she heard dogs barking outside her house.

She suspected something strange, but did not have the courage to go outside to check what it was.

“A minute later, our door made of grass was broken and it was that time that I saw six men entering my house with panga knives..,” Stephano said as she fought back tears.

“I woke up, but seconds later I was kicked down, a man grabbed me by the neck, ordering me not to scream.

“Turning the other side, I saw the other men tearing down the mosquito net where Cathy was sleeping in. They only took away Cathy. I witnessed the assailants covering my daughter’s mouth with something so that she could not scream,” she said.

But the mother managed to scream for help, so neighbours came and chased the abductors for about 100 metres, after which, sensing danger, Cathy’s abductors dropped her and that was how she was rescued from the jaws of albino killers.

“I sustained bruises and experienced body pains,” said Cathy. “They were strong men with weapons, I knew that I was gone, I saw death…but God loved me,” she added.

The case was reported to Machinga Police but until today no one has been arrested but Eastern Region police spokesperson Joseph Sauka assures that investigations are still underway.

From that day, March 5 2015, Cathy, then 13 years old, made two painful decisions—quitting school and stop sleeping in her parent’s house.

“It is about [three] kilometres to school, I knew these men would find a way of killing me and that’s why I decided to abandon school,” she said.

“It is a painful decision because my classmates will be sitting for Malawi Secondary Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations this year,” she said.

Cathy added that if security is granted, she can return to school to fulfil her dreams.

Her story is similar to that of 23-year-old Lekeleni Evans of Simika Village in T/A Chimwala, Mangochi.

Her mother, Violent Martin, named her Lekeleni because being an albino she knew people would be after her life, so the name is a message to albino killers to spare her daughter.

Evans has four daughters with albinism. Together with her husband, they have been under pressure to protect their children due to increasing cases of albino killings in the country.

Lekeleni, a second-born in the family, is the only child who has gone far with education. Her dream has been to become a nurse.

She was schooling at Chiunda Community Day School in the same district where she rented a house close to the school. When she was in Form One, a plot was made to propose her for a relationship so that she could be killed upon visiting the house of her future husband. That was in 2014.

Her mother said she was tipped by a well-wisher of the plan to kill her daughter.

“I followed her where she was staying. We had a meeting with the head teacher of the school and we resolved that she quits school,” said Evans.

Because of growing cases of albino killings, Lekeleni’s mother decided to move from Mangochi and relocate to Lilongwe where a Good Samaritan volunteered to send Lekeleni to school.

As fate would have it, when Lekeleni was in Form Three, the well-wisher started struggling financially and stopped paying her school fees. It was then that the mother decided to return to Mangochi where she is currently staying.

“Life was difficult in Lilongwe. I was begging to feed my children. I could spend two days without food and that’s when I decided to return to Mangochi,” she said.

“Lekeleni could not proceed with her school. I planned to go back to school but it was the same month when my older sister was attacked, so I decided to quit,” said Lekeleni.

So her dream of becoming a nurse has been aborted.

“My heart pains; my classmates today are in offices after completing their education, it could be me but life is so unfair,” she lamented.

Acting national coordinator for Association of Persons with Albinism (Apam) Menard Zakaliya says his office has no records on how many learners have dropped out of school, but indicated that the situation is worse in the rural areas.

“It is bad; parents cannot afford to escort their children daily to and from school. This is why many have decided to quit school to protect their lives. But, if government is failing to help us, what kind of Malawi are we building?” he said.

Another school drop-out Ellen Kachepa, who comes from Kalonga Village in Sub-T/A Chiunda, Mangochi, feels like government doesn’t care about her case.

Ellen, 22, was visited twice in 2017 by abductors who broke into the the house she was sleeping in.

“I was lucky because I was not in the room which they entered. On that day, it was my parents who were sleeping in that room,” she said.

Her fear was that the abductors would follow her on her way to school so, Ellen, who also aspires to become a medical doctor, decided to quit school in Standard 8 while learning at Namitonga Primary School.

In 2018, a man proposed to marry her and she accepted but only to be disappointed after people mocked her husband-to-be.

“They mocked him that he is in a relationship with a government property and would be arrested anytime, and on those fears he dumped me,” she said.

Civil Society Education Coalition chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said section 20 (1) and (2) of the Malawi Constitution prohibit discrimination in whatever form, saying every Malawian child regardless of gender, religion, political party affiliation, including children with albinism are entitled to education.

“So, on that basis it means that children with albinism are entitled to education, meaning that the State has the constitutional obligation to promote, protect and fulfil the right to education for children with albinism.

“Under the current situation when children are dropping out of school because of fear of being attacked, it, therefore, requires State agencies to ensure that optimum protection is provided where it shall mean taking responsibility at the community level, social protection officer under ministry of gender to make sure that these children are going to school without fear of being attacked,” said Kondowe.

Ministry of education spokesperson Chikondi Chimala said government has done a lot to ensure that learners with albinism should not drop out of school but, despite reminders, he did not elaborate on the same.

Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC) is implementing a two-year project being funded by the European Union (EU) through Christian Blind Mission (CBM) titled Cultivating Environment for the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Persons with Albinism (Ceppam) in Dowa, Lilongwe, Ntcheu, Mangochi, Chiradzulu and Chikwawa districts.

The project’s overall goal is to promote and protect fundamental rights of persons with albinism after noticing that persons with albinism have suffered various degrees of attacks and discrimination contrary to what should have been the case in a democracy.

MHRRC programme officer Enock Chinkhuntha said in a democracy, every citizen should enjoy fundamental rights as enshrined in the Republican Constitution but also other regional and international human rights instruments.

“We are working with Malawi Police Service on the security issue and through our work, community policing structures have been set-up and MHRRC and its partners in this project are working with these structures to ensure that there is safety and security for persons with albinism,” he said.

Chinkhuntha said through this project, his organisation has also engaged teachers in schools where there are learners with albinism to also ensure that their safety and security is prioritised.

“This, among others, included advising teachers to ensure that learners with albinism do not travel alone to and from school. They should be accompanied by responsible colleagues,” he said.

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