Our Story
The city of Blantyre marked on the above map of Malawi by the red square with black outline.
Sub-Saharan Africa is known for a myriad of natural, political and social miseries. Malawi, granted independence in 1964, exhibits these problems in high relief. It is the poorest democracy on the continent, with 19 million citizens under-recognized and under-utilized. Landlocked Malawi, more than its abutting neighbors, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia, is an overwhelmingly agricultural country, relying on tobacco and rice exports, its people getting most of their nourishment from fishing in Lake Malawi, which defines most of its eastern border, and maize. The capital is Lilongwe, but the largest city is Blantyre. There is a large presence of NGOs in rural Malawi, but very little international philanthropy in the larger cities.
In Blantyre, higher education scrabbles for primacy with two universities and a medical school, but primary, elementary, and secondary education suffer from poor schools and fewer resources. The Blantyre Girls School has performed relatively well, in spite of having 100-120 girls in one classroom with one teacher, with several of its girls annually going on to secondary school and then college. It serves two distinct wards of Blantyre, Namalimwe and Matope, which are across a small river from the school.
In February 2016 a heavy rainy season led to flooding which washed away the footbridge connecting the homes of the school girls to the school. Students and teachers had to walk forty-five minutes downstream to a ford, to cross, and then forty-five minutes more to get to school, twice daily, for months. Some students and community members chose to try to jump across the river using boulders. Three drowned and four suffered long-bone-fractures.
Later that spring, in May, the city councillor for the area, Gertrude Chirambo, was admitted to the John F. Kennedy School Program for Women in Power. There, her study partner was Marjorie (Margie) Bride, of Cambridge, MA. Gertrude's project in the program was to find ways to fund the replacement of the ex-bridge. Margie and her husband, Terry McEnany, became very interested in the project and contributed funds to help get the bridge re-built. A new steel and reinforced concrete bridge was completed in March 2017. Margie and Terry, during a trip to Africa in April and May 2017, attended the dedication of the bridge.
Councillor Gertrude Chirambo, Deputy Mayor Joseph Makwinja, Marjorie Bride, and Terry McEnany at the dedication of the replacement pedestrian bridge.
Schoolgirls singing at the opening of the bridge ceremony “If you want a good education, open up the bridge for us.”
“Don’t forget us grandmothers... we have nothing to do”
While at the dedication, Margie and Terry were impressed by the remarkable number of elder women in the large audience. These were some of the community's grandmothers, (many of them had been teachers) who are the primary care givers for the 1000+ school girls. Several grandmothers were vocally frustrated that they had "nothing to do" except caring for the large number of "AIDS orphans" and women suffering from AIDS. (There is essentially a reduced Malawian 20- to 50-year-old generation, because of the AIDS blight.)
Gertrude Chirambo and Terry McEnany meeting with the principals of The Philanthropy Initiative in October 2017.
Gertrude, Margie, and Terry took their concerns seriously, and after months of discussions with the Blantyre stakeholders, Gertrude came to Boston in October 2017 to meet with The Philanthropy Initiative, part of The Boston Foundation, to get help in identifying appropriate missions, practices, and development plans for the project. Plans were drawn up to establish a centre for the grannies and their charges, establishing a secure location for programs to acquire skills translatable for financial independence, a site and resources for education and medical counseling and a community beacon. Directed funds were raised and construction of a centre began in early 2019.
It was decided that the centre would be named Chem’balira Hall. The name was chosen by Gertrude, in honor of her mother: “That is her grandmother's name and she was given to pass on the name when she passed away. It means 'the mother who nurtures'.” Over the last several years, we have come to see that the name Chem’balira has suited the centre quite perfectly.
Today, Chem'balira Hall is partially completed, and classes and meetings are being held daily. All local seniors can participate in presentations by outside speakers and others with special tastes and interests in the arts literature and, a movement succeeding in many African countries with such grandmother projects, self-determination. It is open after school every day for homework help and skill sharing.
Margie with the Governing Committee of Chem’balira Hall.
To date, we have invested over 48,000USD in the bridge, getting land for and starting construction and furnishing. To fulfill the promise of an active community centre, a number of construction and furnishing items need completing. This will continue to be our long-term goal for GranCommunity.
“In the short term, we do not need a great deal, but we do need enough: enough to safeguard the health of our grandchildren and of ourselves, enough to put food in their mouths, roofs over their heads, and clothes on their backs, enough to place them in school and keep them there long enough to secure their futures... We grandmothers deserve hope. Our children, like all children, deserve a future. We will not raise children for the grave.”