What Richard Chirombo Says on Education in Malawi

BY RICHARD CHIROMBO
Wyson Mpoto, 26, does not regret dropping out of Standard 8. He
acknowledges growing up believing that the earth was a prearranged
fate- too much, always, for the masters; too little, if at all, for
the have-nots.
“That’s how things went those days that many pupils from Misuri
Village in T/A Chikumbu’s area (Mulanje district) were dropping out of
school believing that they would benefit nothing from school, and that
their future lied in tea plantations,” says Mpoto.
He also cites rural poverty as one of the reasons behind high school
drop out rates. Hard work seemed like the only poverty-unlock key for
many in Mulanje and Thyolo, Mpoto says, with tea fields offering the
best alternative.
“My whole life revolved around the hope that, one day, I would work in
the (tea) fields and be able to fend for my family. But I felt I could
not achieve this through the classroom because of poverty and too much
theorizing in our curricula,” he says.
Therefore, Mpoto banged heads with 24-year old Lonimas Moyowina about
the possibilities of better life unattached to the classroom. They
agreed to abandon Misuri Village for Blantyre.
Nothing strange in this decision as many a people from Mulanje trek to
Blantyre in their average hopes for better life. Additionally, United
Nations Development Programme Human Development Indices for the past
ten years seem to suggest that Malawi remains one of the countries
with the highest rates of urbanization.
A trend Local Government Minister, Goodall Gondwe, acknowledges. He
says rural people tend to believe that urban life offers better
opportunities. Government has, however, been working towards changing
this mindset.
Gondwe cites various government policies, including the Malawi Rural
Development Fund low cost loan facility, One Village One Product
initiative, and increased funding to local government establishments.
“All these are designed to reverse this trend and bring development to
rural areas; not only that, but also that these developments remain
there,” says Gondwe.
By improving resource allocation to district and town assemblies,
Gondwe hopes for a medium-future Malawi where urban masses go back
home (rural areas) and invest in the many virgin opportunities.
For Moyowina, village life still provides limited opportunities. The
more reason he loathed the idea of working in tea fields and earn
peanuts while estate owners walk home millions of Kwacha high; neither
could he remain in the village and marry at a tender age. Where would
the resources to sustain his family come from?
Mpoto and Moyowina came to Blantyre some ten years ago. There was no
ready employment for them so they spent much of their time fishing in
mudy Bangwe Township rivers. They would put the fish in five litre
bottles for sell but, to their surprise, most of the fish would die
within days. Today, the two may qualify for the description ‘genius’.
Using raw knowledge, the two have come up with unique designs of fish
tanks, water- filter and pump systems, with an electrified air
circulation system to boot.
“It’s nothing learned from school; our innovations are a gift from
God,” says Mpoto.
Strange, the inspiration behind their innovations: “We were inspired
by dead fish, and wanted to know why they were dying a few days down
the line. In the end, we came up with the idea of designing
electricity-run aquariums, as well as air circulation and water filter
systems. It is a first in Malawi,” says Moyowina.
The system works like this: Mpoto and Moyowina assemble and graze
glass to construct a transparent aquarium.
The two then assemble plastic bottles from which they mould small
pipes through which air and water will pass. Sometimes, when the cash
is on them, they will buy the pipes at either Bangwe or Limbe markets.
This, combined with mosquito net-sized meshes, covers the area of air
circulation and water filtering. The only things they buy are an
electric cord and plug, which they connect to the aquarium for the
water and air systems to start working.
Their aquariums are thus electricity powered, and water can remain
unchanged for six months.
“The good thing is that we have designed the aquariums to consume very
little power; far less power than a portable radio could consume,”
says Moyowina.
The two are now singing a different song. They have since 2004 made
over 20 aquariums, which they sold at prices ranging from K5, 500 to
K6, 000. The aquariums come in two sizes: 25 centimeters (cm) by 10cm
and 20 cm by 8cm.
“Many people now know us in Bangwe. Demand for our aquariums has
peaked up but we lack resources. We need glass, electric cables, good
quality pumps, glue, and financial resources. We are in the process of
devising a battery system,” says Mpoto.
Mpoto says they have plans for growth but need K300, 000 to reach
Mzuzu and Lilongwe. That is a medium term plan because, now, they do
not even have a fixed place. They sell their aquariums loitering
around or standing outside NBS Bank Limbe Branch- oblivious of the
warning, ‘Vending or loitering around bank premises is prohibited’.
But, at least, they have avoided the single path to tea estates.