Ruth Mwandira: Changing laws, lives, and legacies for women throughout Malawi

Ruth Mwandira is convinced that “If women in my country were empowered, most of our problems would go away. When men have the money, half is spent on family, but I guarantee women would spend 99 percent on children, family, health, and home.” In a patriarchal society, it could seem an impossible call to action, but to Ruth, it’s a reason to see every day as a new opportunity to effect change, one small step, one rural village at a time. A mother of four aged 17 to 24 and a PhD student in public health at OSU, Ruth will return in 2011 to teach at the University of Malawi and continue her successful work for gender equality and maternal and child health: convincing people in her country’s 28 villages that equality is vital for them to survive and convincing legislators that laws must change to support women in school, home, and business. She’s well-known in both circles, having traveled thousands of miles, speaking, urging, educating and playing a lead role in changing laws including one recently that increased the minimum marriage age for girls from 16 to 18.

She has worked in the Malawi Ministry on Gender and as executive director of the Christian Health Association of Malawi. Throughout her career, Ruth has been blessed with role models and support – her “mum,” who was the first educated person in her family; her husband, Chimwenwe; and Beatrice, her supervisor in college. While in her final term at the University of Malawi in 1985, Ruth became pregnant, which meant immediate dismissal. As Beatrice fought for an exception, “I checked my pigeonhole every day expecting the letter of dismissal,” recalls Ruth. The letter never came, and she graduated with her BS in agricultural sciences and an obligation “to help other women, especially young girls and orphans, to delay marriage, stay in school, stand on their own.” She worked as part of a social mobility campaign to change the law in the 1990s so that girls can stay in school if they become pregnant.

She has reported to the United Nations, attended the World Conference on Women in Beijing, and with the support of her government studied in Israel, the U.K., and Canada. The American Association of University Women and the Philanthropic Educational Organization are funding her work at OSU. All wise investments for a woman creating hope for other women.
“I want to make a difference in my country. We have so much poverty, suffering, and disease… our brothers and sisters are suffering, and those of us surviving have a lot of work to do!” she says, her enthusiasm tinged with urgency. 
“We are making changes, but resistance is still there. We aren’t just changing laws…we’re changing a culture.”