Malawi

The life expectancy in Malawi for the entire population at birth is 36.97 years, which is extremely low. For males it’s about 36.59 years and females, 37.36 years. The reason the life expectancy is so low is because of the high rate of HIV/AIDS which is a massive problem in this country, with approximately 14.2% of adults obtaining the disease. Food or waterborne diseases are at high risks as well, such as bacterial/protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and even typhoid fever. Malaria and plague are also at high risks in some parts of Malaria, all which are causing the life expectancy rate to decrease.
The infant mortality rate in Malawi is about 103.32 deaths/1,000 live births. For males, it’s 107.44 deaths/1,000 live births and females 99.07 deaths/1,000 live births, according to the 2005 records. There is 55% of Malawians living below the poverty line and many do not take in enough money to feed their families. The mean per capita income in Malawi is less than $1 per day. Hunger is a growing problem due to the Malawi food crisis, which is an ongoing severe food security crisis that has affected more than five million people in Malawi. Due to drought, there is not enough maize produced for the people. It takes about 3.4 millions tons of maize to feed the people of Malawi and they only produced 1.25 million.
Malawi has taken on quite a few refugees in the past years. From 1985-1995, over a million refugees from Mozambique alone came to Malawi. In 1996, Malawi also received a massive amount of refugees from Rwandan and Congolese seeking asylum. But having all these refugees seemed to bring in a significant amount of international assistance which is very helpful to Malawi in a struggling time.

The houses in Malawi are usually built by the local people. Around twenty people are involved in building the house. If people have money they will buy their supplies, if not they will make them. After the house is finished, it will stand for about twenty years. The oldest houses in Malawi are fifty years old. The materials that they use vary between the rich and the poor. Poor houses have dirt floors, grass roofs, and no paint. Rich houses have cement floors, tin roofs, and colored paint. All houses have brick walls. The rich have brick with plaster on it. These are natural resources found nearby. All houses in Malawi are one story high. Around eight people live in an average house.

Some conditions that severely affect children is the right to which they are protected for a primary education. But their families are responsible for books, tuition, and cost of uniforms, so those from poor families are at a serious disadvantage. Also, orphanage is a huge problem with 14% of the population being orphans. Opportunities are few and far between for orphans and most end up as prostitutes or breeding street children. Also, there is no age specified for the protection of minors from sexual exploitation which can cause major problems for an adolescent or child.
Women have the right to full and equal protection under the Constitution, but they do not receive the same treatment. Most women have lower levels of literacy, education, formal and nontraditional employment opportunities, and access to resources. Women are also subject to domestic violence, particularly wife beating. Police do not normally take any action in domestic violence, therefore women have numerous problems that they must learn to deal with on their own.

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