Impact Testimonies – SHADRICK KACHULE

RESTORE HUMANTY CAMPAIGN –SHADRICK KACHULE

I am Shadrick Kachule, 48 years old, married, and currently living in Salima, Malawi, in my home village following my contract termination on 3rd February, 2025 whilst working with Project Hope Namibia – Malawi (PHN – Mw). 

Professionally I am a trained nurse with a Bachelor degree in Nursing and a marketer with a certificate in Marketing obtained in 2005 and 2011 respectively. I have worked in both the public and private sector in Malawi. My recent job was with PHN – Mw and I was working as a Families Matter Programme (FMP) Facilitator in a DREAMS project funded by USAID/PEPFAR in Machinga district. My job was working with parents and guardians in stopping further spread of HIV among adolescent girls and young women by imparting positive parenting skills and knowledge.

My job and those of others was halted by suspension of USAID funding when President Trump issued a decree to review all US agency funding in January, 2025. The suspension affected PHN – Mw operations. My hopes were shattered as I had joined my job on 14th October, 2024 with an average income of USD 600.00 a month. This meant that my earnings were zero from 3rd March, 2025 after being issued one month pay notice. Since then life has been tough. I cannot pay my daughter’s secondary school fees and even assist my ageing mother financially.  My family and I can’t afford some medical services which were covered by work medical scheme. I relocated to my home village because I couldn’t manage to pay for my accommodation, water and electricity bills. Food availability was hard. These are some of the challenges which I face when my contract was halted.

To mitigate the challenges highlighted above I relocated to my village in Salima where I stay with my relatives. I am planning to engage in small scale farming when I source some loans from friends or money lending institutions. This also is hard because I am new in the community. To get surety is hard to come by. I need to develop a thick skin as I cope with the job loss. My dependants are the ones that have suffered a major impact with this job loss. However, I am getting some financial, moral, and material support from my friends and family.

Looking forward I would like to do more of commercial farming by acquiring some land. I will be growing soya beans, and maize. I also want to engage myself in piggery and local poultry. The main challenge is to source funding to achieve this. Getting a job is a forlorn hope as many people lost jobs when USAID projects were eventually terminated. Job competition is high. 

I believe I will be able to sustain myself in the next 12 months. My immediate need is to source money for daughters’ secondary fees and tertiary education. If I fail to do that their academic life is doomed.

Lastly I would to appeal to donor agencies to consider transition period before they terminate their funding. My experience with the job loss is horrible. It has had financial, social, psychological, and physical impact for most of us. I cannot make ends meet as I lack money; I am a laughing stalk because my qualifications are not helping me to secure a job; and personally I have been fighting episodes of peptic ulcers due to stress.

Thanks for your attention. See attached my pictures with my lovely daughters and those whilst I was working with PHN – Mw.