MOTHERS UNION IN MALAWI

• Mothers Union is very passionate about caring for families.

• They are about 13,300 members of Mothers Union in Malawi.

• These members are found in all the four dioceses of the Anglican Church in Malawi.

• Mothers Union holds about 50% of the church members.

MU MISSION AND VISION

• Sustainable development and poverty reduction through advancement and promotion of the full participation of women in society.

• To reach out to many vulnerable women and girls in society and empower them in all fields of potential so that they become self-reliant and contribute positively to all development agenda and thereby having healthy communities. This would therefore in return reduce level of illiteracy and poverty in society because of the knowledge with various skills imparted to the targeted group.

OBJECTIVES OF MOTHERS UNION.

• To promote and support married life• To encourage parents in their role to develop the

faith of their children.• To maintain a worldwide fellowship of Christians

united in Prayer, Worship and Service.• To promote conditions in society favourable to

stable family life and the protection of children• To help those whose family life has met with

adversity.

In-order to fulfill the above objective, Mothers Union members are involved in various activities namely:

• Literacy programs• Perma-culture (Permanent culture)• Orphan care• Savings and Credit (Microfinance).• Family life program• Community work• Relief work

MOTHERS UNION LITERACY AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

• In 2000, Mothers Union Literacy Development Program was introduced in the Mothers Union Organisation through its Headquarters at Mary Sumner House.

• It was first introduced in Northern Malawi Anglican Diocese as a pilot project.

• Later in 2004, the other three Dioceses of Upper Shire, Lake Malawi and Southern Malawi.

• The project was being funded by Comic Relief up to 2008 when Comic stopped funding the project.

• Mary Sumner house has taken over funding but there are some hiccups.

AIMS OF MULDP

• Empower participants, women in particular with literacy and numeracy skills.

• Enable communities and families to discuss important issues such as gender, human right, health and sanitation.

Where Adult Literacy Circles are Conducted

How Literacy Circles are conducted

• Discussion is the main tool used in the Literacy circles so that everyone participates. Actually the topic of the day is taken from their discussion.

• After two years of learning some are able to write exams and receive their certificates.

• So far about 26,446 learners have been accredited since the program started in Malawi.

Adult Learning Cont: Showing off their certificates after graduation.