ELIAS KANTEPA

Elias Kantepa is a registered Nurse/Midwife who works with AMECA as a Midwife mentor. Elias also advocates for sexual and reproductive health rights, specifically for the youth, for the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning. He has run projects on youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health and rights services, and youth empowerment.

“Patience, hard work and perseverance are important in life.”

Q: Tell us a few things about your country, and also your life's story!

Malawi is a landlocked country found in the South-eastern part of Africa. It is also known as 'the warm heart of Africa', simply because its people are friendly to everyone - even strangers. Malawi has some beautiful scenery and the environment is just awesome; for example, we have Lake Malawi which is one of the most beautiful freshwater lakes in the world. It runs almost along the entire length of the country. Lake Malawi boasts beautiful beaches, it also inhabits more than 1,000 species of fish and other marine life. To the southern region there is Mulanje Mountain which is one of the tallest peaks in Africa. 

The people of Malawi belong to different cultural groups. Some of the cultural groups are the Ngini, found in the central and northern region of Malawi and the Chewa tribe, which is predominantly found in the central region. These cultural groupings/tribes are identified by certain things such as dances like Ingoma and Gule Wamkulu, which are performed by the Ngoni and Chewa respectively. 

I am a registered nurse/midwife working for the Government of Malawi and at the same time I am a sexual and reproductive health rights advocate. I graduated from nursing school in 2017. After my graduation I worked as a part-time nurse/midwife at a number of hospitals before securing a permanent job. From a tender age I had always wanted to be a health worker with an objective of trying to solve some of the health issues facing Malawians. In 2015, after attending a Sexual and Reproductive Health class, I was enlightened. I came to discover that many youths in Malawi are struggling with Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) issues such as HIV, STIs and alcohol and substance abuse. Hence, my decision to become a SRHR advocate.

Q: What was your experience of the global pandemic crisis? Did it change your life and/or your views about the world? If so, how?

The pandemic has hit my country so hard, to the extent that the economic and health services have been incredibly disrupted. Psychologically I wasn't prepared to face something like the pandemic, something that would bring the whole world to a standstill. To make matters worse, I have lost people I knew, I haven't been able to be with my relatives and friends as I used to. Lastly, I have missed out on some opportunities due to the pandemic.

Q: What are some of the key challenges in your society currently?

Poverty is the paramount issue in my society. HIV, malnutrition and sexually transmitted diseases are also some of the key challenges facing people in my society. In recent months I have also witnessed an increase in early and unintended pregnancies among girls. For example, more than 40,000 early and unintended pregnancies have been recorded in Malawi between March and August 2020 (data supported by the report by Malawi Ministry of Gender).

Q: Can you share with us some of the hurdles that you have had to overcome in your life so far? How did you handle them? 

I lost my dad at a tender age and so life was now always easy growing up with one parent, my mum. However, I did not take this as a real challenge. Instead I worked hard at school and in all my endeavours in order to achieve my goals and make it in life. Unemployment has been one of the challenges that I have grappled with for a few years. As a result, I had to take on unstable part-time jobs in order to gain experience and earn a living, things that have helped me come this far.

Q: If you were to ask one thing from our current leaders, what would it be?

Are you able to support people coming from developing countries like myself with opportunities (be it scholarships or similar) to further their studies?

Q: Why is the role of a mentor important for you?

Being an expert in a certain field, I believe a mentor possesses the ability to impart knowledge and skills to their mentee. A mentor also gives their mentee career advice and enrichment of the same. In turn, this leads to the mentee improving in both a personal and professional capacity.

Q: Do you have a lesson that life has taught you and you would like to share? 

I have come to realize that patience, hard work and perseverance are important in life. Life has never been easy growing up, but that has made me work hard, persevere and wait for opportunities to come my way.

Q: Name a project, a foundation or a person in your country that you think is doing great work in helping improve other people's lives!

Peter Mndalasini. Peter is a fellow Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) advocate, currently he is implementing a project in a few districts of the central region of Malawi. The project is aimed at teaching school-age girls on making re-usable sanitary materials in order to improve their menstrual health.

Q: What are some of the challenges that women in your country face and what efforts are being made towards gender equality?

Two challenges are and remain a greatest concern among women in Malawi: gender inequality and gender-based violence (GBV).

1. Gender Inequality: Malawian women are not treated the same way as their male counterparts. For example, Malawian women are denied the opportunity to take leadership roles and rise to prominent positions - be it in government or in the private sector. 

2. Gender-Based Violence: Most women in Malawi are victims of GBV, and this can take several forms - sexual, physical and psychological. In recent months, many women and girls were raped and their perpetrators walked away free or received lighter punishments. I have also witnessed and read reports of women being beaten or having their body parts chopped off. 

In light of the above issues, the Government of Malawi has come up with a National Gender Policy, whose aim is to sensitise and promote rights as well as the welfare of women in Malawi. Women empowerment programs have been developed, for example those that empower women's financial situations have been implemented in recent years. In a nutshell, a lot has been done in the legal and policy spheres in order to protect Malawian women. 

Q: Share with us a phrase, a poem or a story that you love or you find interesting!

The phrase is "BALANCE IS KEY IN LIFE". This phrase has enlightened me and made me realize that if one is able to balance things, he/she is likely to achieve a lot in life.

Q: Can you share with us a project that you would like to make happen for your country or a cause that you are passionate about? 

The project would be something to do with women's menstrual health. I would appreciate seeing reusable sanitary materials being distributed to almost all school-attending girls of reproductive age. On the same note, I would also love to see almost all girls being trained on making reusable sanitary materials and being provided with locally available materials that would enable them to make new materials. Lastly, I would love to see better menstrual hygiene facilities being constructed in almost all schools in Malawi.