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Church transforms sex workers' lives with vocational and business training
Malawi's Sex Workers Transformation Ministry trains sex workers in business and vocational skills, improving their livelihoods, writes Maureen Kawerama.
Malawi-Sex Workers Transformation Ministry, under the Malawi Assemblies of God Church in Mangochi-Monkey Bay, is transforming the lives of hundreds of girls and women who earn their living from sex work by training them in basic business and vocational skills, writes Maureen Kawerama.
The ministry was established in 2016 to transform the lives of sex workers by providing them with vocational skills and seed money for their various trades.
The ministry's director, Pastor Jostino Kamvaka, said they trained the sex workers to help them "graduate from commercial sex work to more decent trades."
He said the church also goes to preach in taverns and nightclubs where sex workers are usually found.
"After responding to the Word of God, we take them to the Village of Hope, a community that we constructed in Mangochi Monkey-Bay, where they learn vocational skills such as tailoring, hairdressing, animal production, baking, and the gospel for six months," said Kamvaka.
He also said that women are expected to be "agents of change in their communities."
Each person receives K150,000 and a sewing machine as capital at the end of the training.
One of the girls who has been transformed by the ministry, 25-year-old Salome Daka, of T/A Mlonyeni in Mchinji district, said she gained business skills that are helping her generate money.
"I met Pastor Kamvaka in 2018, who preached the gospel to me, and he took me to the Village of Hope in Monkey Bay where I learned business skills, and right now, as you can see, I have my tailoring shop where I make at least 25,000 Malawi kwacha per day, unlike in my past life when I could make just 2,000 kwacha by being with men," Daka said.
"In addition to that, I am now working with the ministry as a teacher in tailoring and design and also act as a role model for other girls here at the Village of Hope," Daka said.
Sungeni Yonasi, 27, of Nsaka village, senior chief Nankumba in Mangochi district, says she started doing commercial sex work after her husband divorced her.
She said she will not return to prostitution since she now has her own hairdressing salon, which she opened after getting trained by the Ministry.
"I started prostitution at age 20 because of poverty after my husband left me. I was facing a lot of challenges, like being beaten by men and being used without being paid. But now, I am very grateful for the skills that I acquired from the Sex Workers Transformation Ministry. With the capital I got from the Ministry, I opened this hairdressing salon, which now supports me and my family," Yonasi said.
Judith Nachoka (not a real name), 23, from Senior Chief Nankumba in Mangochi district, said she was sleeping with more than seven men a day just to get K7,000, but now she can make more than K50,000 per day through her tailoring and hairdressing businesses.
Mkandawire, Daka and Nachoka all agree that it is better to involve oneself in useful skills, other than sex work, which puts people’s lives at risk of contracting deadly diseases.
Group Village Head Nsumbi from Senior Chief Nankumba in the district, expressed gratitude to the ministry for the initiative, which he said is transforming the lives of many girls in the district.
"A majority of our girls join prostitution because of poverty, so the coming in of the Sex Workers Transformation Ministry has helped to transform many lives here in Mangochi because, with the skills that they gain from this ministry, they are now able to support themselves and their families through decent businesses, which they are doing right now," Nsumbi told AfricaBrief.
Nsumbi has further encouraged the girls to work hard in their businesses and to share their business skills with their friends in their localities.
Mangochi Social Welfare Officer Vitumbiko Mkinga said her office is working hand in hand with the Sex Workers Transformation Ministry to help transform as many lives as possible.
"Mangochi being one of the tourist districts in the country, has a huge percentage of sex workers, so as an office, we are working hand in hand with the Sex Workers Transformation Ministry to train the girls in decent work to transform their lives," she said.
The girls are drawn from different districts of the country, namely Phalombe, Mzimba, Machinga, Rumphi, Mchinji, Ntcheu, and Mangochi.
Kamvaka said the ministry has trained a total of 50 sex workers since the training began in 2016.
The initiative is being funded by the Steamboat Christian Center in Colorado, United States.