Usisya is located in the Nkhata Bay District, North Malawi. It is an exceptionally beautiful part of Malawi. It is, however, a very remote area, and because of this has been neglected by the government and NGOs working in the area. Usisya is made up of 56 villages with a total population of around 17,500.

Land description

Situated on the lakeshore, surrounded by mountains, with a large flat area where the main villages are. There is an area of marshlands in the middle of the flat area.

History

When speaking with the elders of Usisya, they talk of the abundance of wildlife that would once come down from the mountains to the flat lands to drink from the lake, including elephants, lions and panthers. You still often see monkeys in the trees around the mountains. Baboons are also common, although a problem for farmers, as they eat their crops. Missionaries came to Usisya in the late 1800s and now there is a diversity of churches and religions in the area. Prior to modern religion, the tribes in the area would worship the largest mountain surrounding Usisya. They also spoke of a large snake that lived on the mountain that was over 30 metres long! It is a common belief that the snake still lives there. There is also a strong belief that witchcraft (known as Ju Ju) is commonly practiced, although many people turn to religion and do not wish to be involved with Ju Ju. It is believed throughout Malawi that Ju Ju does not work on white people.

Chiefs and village headmen: The government works hand in hand with the chiefs and village headmen throughout Malawi and together they co-ordinate activities in the country. Each village has a headman (small chief), then you have a sub-TA (tribal authority) who will be in charge of a number of villages, usually four to five. In charge of them all is the TA. TA Mbwana is the TA for Usisya. He is 75 years old and full of character!

Transport

Usisya has one road – a dirt track that can only be used by four-wheel drive vehicles. Throughout the rainy season, it is difficult to access the area even in a four-wheel drive. The main means of transport is boat. There is a ferry on the lake, which leaves Nkhata Bay on Sunday morning, taking two and a half hours to get to Usisya. It returns on Monday morning back to Nkhata Bay.

Local boats go up and down the lake every day. They leave Nkhata Bay in the daytime between 8AM and1PM, often depending on the weather and how rough the lake is, or on how many people are travelling (They usually wait until the boat is full). These boats can take between five and 10 hours to reach Usisya. Returning from Usisya to Nkhata Bay, boats travel over night. They leave Usisya between 8PM and10PM and again can take five to 10 hours. Even if you arrive in Nkhata Bay at between two and three AM, you still have to wait on the boat until sunrise, as it is not safe to walk through the town in the dark. As you can gather, transport is a problem. Public transport is unreliable and time consuming, which can make situations very frustrating.

Communication

There is a post office in Usisya and the ferry delivers the post once a week. There is a pay-phone at the post office, but it has not worked for some years. There is one other phone line in Usisya at a lodge called Mshunguti Lodge. This phone line sometimes works, but cannot be relied upon. The police station has radio contact with Nkhata Bay and Mzuzu police station. One very new development is that parts of Usisya now have mobile phone coverage due to an new mast having been installed in Usisya proper. This development has already proved invaluable for our communication with the team on the ground in Usisya and it has been warmly welcomed by the community. Now the service is available, everyone is now desperate for mobile phones. We have installed an email system in the community centre that works using radio signals, which is called Bushmail. Having this system to communicate with the project in Usisya has been invaluable and will continue to be despite the new mobile coverage.

Medical care

There is a hospital in Usisya, although the facilities are limited. They do not have a microscope, so cannot test for Malaria or other diseases. They have some basic antibiotics, but not many. They sometimes run out of paracetimol and other basic hospital drugs. There are many illnesses in Usisya. We believe the most common killers are malaria, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid and cholera. Usisya is known to have the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the Nkhata Bay district. CCAP (A church-run NGO in Africa) has done a survey in Usisya, which shows that possibly one in three people have HIV. As there is no way of testing, they have calculated their results by the percentage of TB-related cases to the percentage of the population. TB is a common infection in people with HIV and is the main killer of people with AIDS.

Community groups

When we first surveyed Usisya, we were surprised to discover a number of community groups formed by key members of the community. The majority of these groups do not have help from outside organizations to support them, yet they recognize the problems in their area and try to help and support each other, despite having little financial support. This shows a very strong community spirit.

Groups in Usisya when surveyed in 2004:

• Womens Voice: Gender equality and support group
• Usisya Youth Friendly Health Service Clubs: Teaches HIV/AIDS awareness
• Khali Orphan Care
• Love Day Orphan Care
• Mdo Lo ngo Home-Based Care
• Chisangizi Home-Based Care
• Red Cross Usisya Sub Division: Orphan and home-based care
• Twonga Orphan Care
• Khambildona Agriculture: Goat farmers
• Tzyambyzane Youth Group: HIV/AIDS awareness
• TGWKIRIZANE (Let’s be together): Friends of orphans and people living with HIV/AIDS (School-leavers support group)
• Tivwilane Orphan Care
• Chigonezgo (Good Hope): School-leavers group
• Tigwirizane: Friends of orphans and people living with HIV/AIDS (TIFOPWA)

Agriculture

There are many subsistence farmers in Usisya; this being an income for the majority of families, as well as their means of food. They can only grow crops in the rainy season, which lasts for six months of the year. Every year in Usisya, people face famine, the hunger season being Jan/Feb. Many people die at this time because they are weak due to lack of food. Seed availability is a problem. The government do provide some seeds – nearly always maize seeds, but they do not always come at the right time. Sometimes, seeds from the government are rotten, and people become tired from trying to grow crops that don't work. There are not enough seeds for everyone: only a small percentage of the population receives seeds.

The main crops grown are; cassava, maize, sugar cane, ground nuts, ground beans, rice, yams and a few tomatoes. Mangos and paw paws naturally grow on the trees. The people of Usisya have expressed that they would like to grow onions, beans, pineapples, cabbage, potatoes, oranges, more bananas, guavas, peaches, strawberries, and apples. Livestock: mainly goats, cattle, cows, ducks, chickens, doves, sheep, guinea fowl, rabbits, and fish. There are not many livestock in Usisya, however. Most families, in fact, do not have livestock, but many families would like to keep some animal. Problems: Termites and other pests kill crops. The local people need ways to overcome these. Some people also have the problem of monkeys and baboons stealing their crops.

Skills and business development

There is now a market in Usisya, although it is not fully up and running yet and only has a few stalls that are there every day. There are a few small general stores selling basic necessities, however these are always marked up at a much higher price than in Nkhata Bay or Mzuzu. People have expressed that they would like to sell sepa (little fish), second-hand clothing and other supplies in the market. They also say Usisya needs more builders, more tailors, and more carpenters. There are some people trained in these areas, yet they are lacking tools and materials. Some women know how to knit, yet they also lack materials. Likewise, some people can make pots, yet they lack the essential materials to make them. Businesses people would like to set up: a bakery, restaurant, rest house, fishing with big nets, and a paraffin business.

Many supplies in Usisya are expensive, so other people would like to set up stalls selling sugar, fuel, oil, diesel, petrol, flour, chipiku, and salt. One person has also expressed an interest in setting up a nursery. There is no refrigeration in Usisya, so someone else wants to make a business selling cold things. People would also like to learn how to budget.

Schools

There are three schools in Usisya:

• Usisya Primary – 800 pupils
• Tembo Primary – 1,200 pupils
• Community Day Secondary School - this has four teachers and 240 pupils, form 1 to form 4. They complete their equivalent to GCSEs here.

All are lacking paper, pencils, blackboards, chalk, sports equipment and much more.

Orphans

There is a high number of orphans in Usisya. We strongly believe this has increased in recent years due to the AIDS epidemic in the region. We do not have any statistics for orphans in Usisya as yet.

Elderly

We have been informed that there are also a large number of elderly that are not cared for. The family unit is very strong in Malawi, however with the AIDS epidemic and other diseases, many of the middle aged are dying, leaving behind elderly and children who need to be cared for. Again, we do not have any statistics for this problem as yet.

Churches

• Roman Catholic
• Lutheran (Martin Luther King)
• Seventh Day Adventist
• Jehovah’s Witness
• Natherland
• Anglican
• African International
• CCAP (Church Central African Presbritarian) North
• CCAP South