Chonde: Champion of tubal litigation
Bertha Saikonde ('Chonde'), is Group Village Headwoman in Chonde. She does not believe the old Malawian saying 'having scores of children is a sign of wealth' - she chose to be sterilised in 1995 using tubal litigation, after an outreach team from Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM), MSI’s Partner in Malawi, visited her community.
“I’ve had no regrets; I haven’t lost the person I used to be. By that time I already had six children and I knew that was already too many. I would have continued child-bearing had it not been for BLM.
BLM really empowered me; I wanted to have a sterilisation after four children, as I had experienced how my parents struggled to raise us because we were many. But relations and friends scared me off. BLM put right these misconceptions and I have reaped the benefits.
I am able to travel and meet a lot of people because I am no longer child-bearing and I can support my children. I am not very educated because my parents couldn’t afford school fees and I don’t want my children to go through the same ordeal.
My message goes out to churches that denounce modern family planning. They preach about making donations to their churches but how can they expect money from people already burdened with supporting big families? I don’t understand their logic for try to stop tubal litigation.”