Mwandi

Mwandi is a small town on the Zambezi in the district of the same name[1] of the Western Province in Zambia. The town is 120 km west of Livingstone, on the M10 Road to Sesheke.[2] The village is part of the region known as Barotseland. The town is the seat of a parliamentary constituency of the same name.[3]

Etymology

Mwandi means "plenty of fish" in the Silozi language.[4]

Religion

The United Church of Zambia maintains a large mission at Mwandi. In addition, local traditional tribal beliefs continue to be practised.[2]

Facilities

The hospital is the Mwandi Mission Hospital, which is listed as a Level 1 Hospital by the Zambian Ministry of Health.[5] The hospital is one of the village's largest employers.[4] The village is close to the Shackleton Tiger Fishing Lodge,[6] a popular tourist destination for fishing for tigerfish named after Robert Millner Shackleton.

Population

Approximately 8,000 people live in the village proper.[7] They are semi-nomadic cattle herders and fishermen. Infrastructure is poor, and electricity and clean water are not readily available, though recent development efforts have begun to change that. Most people live on less than $1.00 per day. The people are largely of the Lozi ethnicity, though there are also some people here of European descent. The area around the village includes anywhere from 25,000[4] to 33,000[8] people.

Culture

The village is a centre of traditional Barotse culture, housing the Kuta council, which adjudicates disputes and legislates on issues related to the tribal people of Sesheke District.[8]

Health

Mwandi, like all of Sesheke District, is in an area with a very high (>300/1000) incidence of malaria.[9] As road infrastructure has improved, HIV has also spread to the village.[7] The village is the site of a large health centre (the Mwandi Mission Hospital) which serves both its people, and the surrounding area. Average life expectancy as estimated by the United Nations is 59 years.[4]

Notable individuals from Mwandi
  • Chief Inyambo Yeta IV of the Barotse Royal Establishment
  • Dan Van Zyl, co-director of the Home for AIDS Orphans, a registered nonprofit which provides a variety of services in Mwandi[10]

References
  1. Mposhi, K. Zambia: Administrative Division (Provinces and Districts) - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Citypopulation.de (2017). at https://www.citypopulation.de/php/zambia-admin.php
  2. MWANDI UCZ MISSION Area Info. Mwandi-mission.awardspace.com at <http://mwandi-mission.awardspace.com/Areainfo.html>
  3. List of Constituencies by Province | National Assembly of Zambia. (2017). Parliament.gov.zm. Retrieved 9 March 2017, from http://www.parliament.gov.zm/members/constituencies
  4. Mwandi, Zambia - CMMB. CMMB (2017). at <https://cmmb.org/champs-community/mwandi-zambia/>
  5. Ministry of Health (Zambia). 2012 List of Health Facilities in Zambia. (Ministry of Health of Zambia, 2013).
  6. Shackletons Tiger Fishing Lodge | Participant | Open Africa - Do Travel Differently. Openafrica.org (2016). at http://www.openafrica.org/experiences/route/107-south-barotse-trails-route/participant/2656-shackletons-tiger-fishing-lodge
  7. Kamba, L. Mwandi Community : Mwandi Christian Hospital. Mwandimission.org (2017). at <http://mwandimission.org/our-patients/>
  8. Magri, A. Mwandi village, the location of Home for AIDS Orphans. Homes4aidsorphans.com (2016). at <http://www.homes4aidsorphans.com/about/mwandi-village.html>
  9. Zambia [Internet]. World Health Organization; 2016. Available from: http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_zmb_en.pdf
  10. Magri, A. About Home for AIDS Orphans. Homes4aidsorphans.com (2016). at <http://www.homes4aidsorphans.com/about/about.html>

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