On a wooden bench outside a small rundown pub in the thick of Limbe Town, Blantyre, a group of men laugh over a shared drink as minibuses roar past and callboys clamour for passengers. Among them is a downcast Peter Juma, 32, who forces a smile as tavern jokes rain, but it quickly fades into grins and headshakes. The father of four was a shop assistant, but the business collapsed last year.
He can no longer afford rent, food and peace of mind. “I wake up every day blaming myself because I cannot provide for my family,” he says. “Even my children feel like I am failing them.” Each morning, Juma walks about four kilometres from Bangwe Township to Limbe in search of scarce piecework to compensate for the job loss.
His experience reflects how financial stress weighs heavily on low-income breadwinners, especially men. ‘A problem shared is half solved’ is a familiar saying, but Juma, like most Malawians, grew up hearingmwamuna salira(a man does not cry). “I am not a sissy.
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A man must be strong,” he says, exemplifying how the proverb drives men to downplay heartbreaks, fears and pressures. Instead of speaking openly, they suffer in silence. Chipiliro Banda, 28, who runs a workshop in Manje Township in the city, resorts to drinking to forget his business struggles.
“Some days, I go home empty-handed,” he says, perspiring as he sands a plank. “When you share your problems, friends laugh at you. Even your spouse expects you to be strong.” From the look of things, drinking joints have become trusted garages for heartbroken men.
They share liquor, a laugh and sorrows, pausing their stress, anxiety and depression. Judith Mbedza, a mother of three from Bangwe, says her once-talkative husband has become withdrawn and seldom spends evenings at home. “Ask him what is wrong and he will say it’s OK.
However, he gets angry easily. He has become a stranger in our home,” she says.
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