Health activists target salons for marketing female condoms and information, making them well suited for educating women about the benefits of condoms made for women. Project supporters hope the plan will help reduce women’s exposure to the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Lameck Masina in Blantyre says Malawi’s conservative culture prohibits women from openly discussing reproductive issues. In general, condoms and other measures to prevent pregnancy and reduce sexually transmitted disease have been considered the domain of males.
But that’s changing, thanks to a new program to introduce condoms made to be worn by women. The effort is run by the United Nations Population Fund and an NGO called Population Services International (PSI).
Pamela Msukwa is the family planning and HIV technical coordinator for PSI/Malawi. She says, “We are here to improve the lives of Malawians and our main goal is to reduce the rate of new HIV infections and of unplanned pregnancies in Malawi and also increase the adoption of safer sex behavior through increased and consistent use of the female condom.”
This is not the first effort to introduce the female condom. A pilot project eight years ago failed because there was not enough information on the condoms which are introduced into the cervix. Most women refused to use them, thinking they were meant for prostitutes. But the new plan – to distribute the condoms in hair salons – has been a success in other parts of the world. Msukwa says part of the success is due to the venue:
“We thought the salons or hairdressers provide a very viable and highly targeted market because most women visit the salons. that’s where they get to talk about issues, and there is always somebody they can discuss issues with. [Unlike supermarkets, for example] once [women] get information about the female condom, they can always go back to get more information.”
The organization uses a team of women to promote and distribute the condoms. It will also train salon staff on how to talk to their customers about the new product. Janet Sande is the owner of a salon in the commercial capital, Blantyre. She’s making a good profit from condom sales. A pack of two costs about 24 US cents.
Msukwa says the positive response from the salons has spurred the organization to consider new ways of educating the public. “Right now, we are working on strategies for reaching men. The outlets that we are trying out now are the barbers, who we believe most men go to for haircuts. They will be trained on the [benefits of the] female condom [and in turn] they will be able to educate their customers about it.”
The reaction from men about women’s condoms varies. Clement Chinaka says he has no problem with his girlfriend wearing a condom. “I don’t think I would be very strict to stop her because we are in a democratic society, whereby everybody has to protect his or her life especially this time when we are having HIV/AIDS scourge. It’s up to her. She is protecting her life and I also have to protect my own life as well”.
But some men say supporting female condoms is like giving a woman approval to have multiple sex partners. Georgina Jere, a mother of two, disagrees. She says a female condom will help give women more control over their sexual health.
Female condoms are distributed by fifteen PSI country programs worldwide.PSI says they’ve been successfully introduced in neighboring countries, including Zambia and Zimbabwe. So far, more than seven million female condoms have been sold.
Monday, 15 September 2008
Zain Malawi offers additional coverage sites to widen network
Zain Malawi, once known as Celtel Malawi, on Monday announced additional of nine coverage sites across the country in a bid to improve the quality and delivery of service to its over one million subscribers on its nationwide network.
The company is currently serving 1.2 million customers.
Zain is spending about US$30 million for the current exercise being undertaken by telecoms engineers from Siemens, Nokia and National Electric Company, and by the end of 2009, Zain Malawi would have spent US$100 million towards expanding and upgrading of its network to ensure it covers every part of Malawi.
Zain Malawi\’s Marketing Director, Enwell Kadango, said the new installations included five capacity sites and another five additional base stations in the central and southern regions of Malawi. They are part of Zain’s current project to upgrade and expand its network operations in Malawi which started in August, he said.
The five new stations are at Sharpe Valley and Bilira in the central district of Ntcheu, Chisitu in the southern district of Mulanje, Tengani in Nsanje and Malembo in Mangochi, also in the south of the country.
The remaining four capacity enhancement sites are in Blantyre’s Ndirande, Nkolokoti, Chirimba and Chichiri areas of the city.
"The new coverage sites underscore the company’s commitment to give customers modern and world class network services in line with its strategy of becoming one of the top 10 telecommunications brands in the world," he said.
He pointed out that versatile network experts from Sweden, Germany and Japan are working round the clock to speedily integrate new software and hardware installations to ensure that Zain customers continue to enjoy high quality and uninterrupted services.
The additional network installations and other phases of the upgrade, he said, are expected to be completed in September, and were aimed at accommodating up to three million customers on the Zain network.
Zain is Malawi’s mobile telecommunication leader with a market share of 74 percent and 86 percent population coverage.
The company is currently serving 1.2 million customers.
Zain is spending about US$30 million for the current exercise being undertaken by telecoms engineers from Siemens, Nokia and National Electric Company, and by the end of 2009, Zain Malawi would have spent US$100 million towards expanding and upgrading of its network to ensure it covers every part of Malawi.
Zain Malawi\’s Marketing Director, Enwell Kadango, said the new installations included five capacity sites and another five additional base stations in the central and southern regions of Malawi. They are part of Zain’s current project to upgrade and expand its network operations in Malawi which started in August, he said.
The five new stations are at Sharpe Valley and Bilira in the central district of Ntcheu, Chisitu in the southern district of Mulanje, Tengani in Nsanje and Malembo in Mangochi, also in the south of the country.
The remaining four capacity enhancement sites are in Blantyre’s Ndirande, Nkolokoti, Chirimba and Chichiri areas of the city.
"The new coverage sites underscore the company’s commitment to give customers modern and world class network services in line with its strategy of becoming one of the top 10 telecommunications brands in the world," he said.
He pointed out that versatile network experts from Sweden, Germany and Japan are working round the clock to speedily integrate new software and hardware installations to ensure that Zain customers continue to enjoy high quality and uninterrupted services.
The additional network installations and other phases of the upgrade, he said, are expected to be completed in September, and were aimed at accommodating up to three million customers on the Zain network.
Zain is Malawi’s mobile telecommunication leader with a market share of 74 percent and 86 percent population coverage.
Points of desperation
These past few days have been very trying for me. I have decided to spare everyone the gory details, but I have never in my life felt more lost or scared. I have also never felt more blessed and protected. Due to some miscommunication I will not be staying at the Farmers Club in Lilongwe instead I will head back to Blantyre today. There are positives and negatives in this change. In Lilongwe I was going to be much closer to the lake, which I was looking forward to. In Blantyre I will not be to far from the lake, but a good 2 hour bus ride away. i will also be closer to Lawrence when he comes to visit and that is a huge plus!
So some things I have learned recently......if you are the only white person on a bus and the bus pulls over for a security check DO NOT GET OFF THE BUS! I have never had so many people surround me wanting things. It was overwhelming. The children, old ladies, etc. all wanting me to buy things or give them money. I have been trying very hard not to hand out money. It has been especially difficult. Instead I am trying to say a small prayer for each person I encounter. So the next security check point I stayed on the bus while everyone else got off. Being an unaccompanied white woman in this country makes me a walking target ALL THE TIME. The people are wonderful and friendly, but they are much more aggressive then I am used to. And I have become used to aggressive men in the past year living where I do in Kansas City. It is different here, people want even just to talk to me or touch me sometimes. This is not something I expected and I'm not even sure what it is I expected, but I am constantly amazed and constantly grateful to be from a country where even those with nothing still have more.
Today I am learning what a fuel crisis really is. I rode with my friend Chique to the gas station and there was no gas, we ended up going to over 5 gas stations and still no fuel. Apparently there is a place 30KL from here with some gas, but it is very expensive. So they sent someone on a motor bike to fill up containers with fuel. Malawi sometimes has shortages because of Mozambique. The government will not let the fuel ships from the middle east come to port. This is where Malawi gets fuel because they are just next the Mozambique which is next to the Indian Ocean. The gas stations never know when this will happen and neither does the Malawian government. I have been picking up a paper everyday to see what kind of things they put in there news...they have Dennis the mennis cartoons!
I want to thank everyone that has been so supportive, I will say that the prayers have helped and were especially needed in the past few days. Some extra prayers are needed for the enormous mosquito bites I have acquired. Half of my arm is swollen from the 3 bites I just pray it is not Malaria or one of the other horrible diseases the mosquito's carry here. I have been very careful, but up north there are more mosquito's since it is greener here. I hope this finds everyone well. I am off to find out where my adventure will continue!
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