Mother of four Ethel Khundi knows only too well that the best laid plans can be easily derailed.<\/p>\n
Only last year this harsh life-lesson was dramatically brought home to her when her entire drove of pigs was killed by an outbreak of swine flu that wiped out hundreds of animals in the locality.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly everyone in the village lost their animals. It was a major setback,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Ethel, who farms a small plot in Whunachu village in central Malawi, wasn\u2019t totally reliant on her animal rearing to earn an income. The implementation of new conservation farming techniques she learned on a Self Help Africa training course has enabled her to produce almost three times more maize than she had done a year earlier.<\/p>\n
The increased harvest has offset some of her other losses, and helped Ethel stay on-track with her plans to both extend her home, and continue to set up a small shop in the village.<\/p>\n
Ethel\u2019s plans don\u2019t end there either, for she also hopes that her 13-year old daughter Memory can finish school, and be able to pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want her to follow her dreams,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The 36 year-old Malawian, whose husband works as an immigrant labourer in South Africa and hasn\u2019t been home in five years, says that the tragedy of her pigs is now in the past. \u201cI am thinking about the future. When I harvest my groundnuts I want to set up a shop, and start trading goods in the village.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n