What's happening in 2009?

This year in Malawi, starting on 23 September a week of activism will be held leading up to the International Day of Older Persons on 1 October.

The highlight of the events is a public meeting attended by the Vice-President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, in a rural location, 100 km from the capital Lilongwe. Up to 2,000 older people are expected to attend and draw attention to the issues they face.

• All of these policy areas will be combined in one ask of the Malawian government: to speed up the approval of the National policy for Older Persons which has been in draft form for over 3 years now. Without the policy it is very difficult for the government to be held accountable on action for older people.

A consultation has been undertaken throughout rural Malawi to understand the lives of older people better. Films have been recorded to capture the voice of real older people which can be heard by the very highest level of government. Among the older people that have contributed to there voices are:

• Ephraim Kwatakwata, 63 years old, and a village chief. He says: "It becomes tough when an old person falls ill. It is hard to access the medical facility due to the distance [the nearest health centre is 30km away]. If there is no one to take you there or pay for the bicycle, you can hardly make it on foot."
  
  He also raises the issue of older people being accused of witchcraft:
  
  "If someone falls ill, it is the elderly who are held responsible. The elderly are associated with withcraft. They say our teeth are rotten because we have chewed more than enough meat; human flesh. So they believe we are witches. Nonetheless, when they have problems they still come to me. They run to me for advice. The belief is that old people know more and have solutions to most problems. So I can be a wizard today; but an advisor tomorrow."
• Loveness Kalumbu, 62, also states: "I am currently staying with orphaned grandchildren, five of them in my house. The most critical challenge I have is taking care of my children. If I were assisted by the state I would accept anything from money, to clothes and food. But given a choice, I would go for money because it has proved to go a long way. There is flexibility in money, you can buy food, clothes as well as access to medical facilities when I fall sick."