Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Pilirani Lazaro: Cuts testicle to become Malawi's uncrowned 'new face of poverty'

What Pilirani Lazaro has done- chopping off his testicles so he may buy a bag of fertiliser- is an act of madness.
No, there is no madness in it- it is a 'real' act, done to better his life and family's well-being.
Here is a man, now in pain at Kamuzu Central Hospital, who wanted the best for his stomach. Next year, he wants to eat, but he will only eat if he works to day.
How does he do that without fertiliser, to pump productivity in his crops. It is maize we mean, by reffering to crops.
So, he decided to get rid of his testicles. 'They' might have done their job already- let's go to his home and count his children!
He wanted food for his family, so he decided to get rid of any 'extra' buggage.
Anything that 'clings' to you is a burden- it was never meant to be there!
Our man, Pilirani Lazaro, searched for something that was there, but was, in actual fact, not supposed to be there! He looked for anything 'hanging', and found that there was something that to his terbanacle of clay, but was always covered. If you take out something that can't be seen, it's as if it was not there- our man might have thought. And so he went on, to get rid of something he did not invent but found- something that was there when he came down the way of all the world.
Out, go, he thought; I want a bag of fertliser now.
Well, the 'thing' went; but the pain has become incessant- so discomfortable Lazaro has been complaining aroud: 'It pains!'.
But it's gone, the thing is gone.
Doctors at Kamuzu Central Hospital, the main hospital in the Central region, have failed to 'bring it back'. It is gone.
What we learn, from this story, is that poverty is real in Malawi- not only in Dowa where the man (?) hails from.
People are struggling to make ends meet.
People have wishes, and want to have the basics in life.
If they fail to get them by hook or crook, they will go the extra-mile. Inflicting pain on themselves and others. Shaming the nation.
Pilirani Lazaro is Malawi's living face of poverty today. And this must give us, all of us, food for thought.
What has 'gone' here may be small, but the implications are big.
'Small things' like 'these' have been known to 'build' nations!
Ask Abraham, the Father of All Nations!
Here we are.

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