Wednesday, July 6, 2009: A man drives to Blantyre’s Bangwe Township and is mobbed by residents for having three dead chickens on him. Within hours, talk is common around town- not only about the man, but the company vehicle he was allegedly using.
From nowhere, the word Siku becomes synonymous with dead chickens in Bangwe. The way the issue has been blown out of proportion smacks of something more than meets the eye. There has to be some invisible hand from somewhere, possibly people who would love Siku, and some of its directors’ reputation, thrown in the mud.
It serves, sadly once again, as a reminder of how as a nation we are so much affiliated to jealousy and its ugly machinations. No wonder our wonderful National Anthem throws a chord over the issue of jealousy.
The truth of the matter is that there is no fuss around the issue of rituals. Rituals are as old as life itself, practiced all over the world. It has always been an integral part of the history and cultural heritage of many people around the world. In Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe and elsewhere, rituals are common place.
In Southeast Asia, for example- with its heavy seasonal rains, the diversity of flora and the abundance of metal ores, agricultural communities have had their rituals since the 4th Millennium BC.
Archaeological and cultural records from Java, known for its favourite geological conditions, have proved beyond reasonable doubt that rituals, religious and cultural beliefs sustained the people there, and gave them some common heritage. Not only in Asia has this happened, elsewhere, too.
Abundant archaeological and cultural evidence from as many as six continents indicates, clearly, that what has come to be known as modern life is merely a combination of immerging trends and our ritualistic past- a past so full of invaluable traits and life colours. This overwhelming evidence, whose force of truth became more powerful in the Late Pleistocene period, and mainly from sites
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Monday, December 28, 2009
First public gay engagement takes place in Malawi
Gay lovebirds Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza on Saturday made history in Malawi when they spiced their festive season with an open gay engagement ceremony, the first recorded public activity in the country’s history.
The ceremony was held at Mankhoma Lodge in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, and was witnessed by hundreds of bewildered patrons.
Clad in traditional matching outfits, the bride and groom had their wonderful day under two tents elected in the lodge grounds. The whole place turned into a beehive of activity as people pushed and shoved each other in a quest to get a glimpse of Tiwonge and Steven during such a rare occasion.
Some people stared in wonder as others threw a flood of questions at the couple. But the couple ignored them and went about their business according to the programme of the event.
Tiwonge, the bride, was the major centre of attraction as his female make-up and dressing interested many patrons. He sat unperturbed by the pregnant atmosphere, sitting coolly next to his prospective husband he intends to marry in 2010.
However, what should have been a special moment for the two turned into outright agony as homophobic people went about confusing the whole process. They were not as supportive as happens during heterosexual relationships. In addition, there was some power interruption.
The bride openly wept and broke down, while the crowd became apparently uncontrollable.
“I spent K18, 000 (US$110) for this chinkhoswe (engagement) but look at what is happening. Nobody seems to take this whole thing seriously or giving us something. We have been here since 1:30 pm and this is after 4:00pm and nothing, in terms of exchanging gifts and cash, is happening,” sobbed Tiwonge.
“Ndisanyozeke ine. Siine olaula (Don’t ridicule me; I haven’t done the unusual,” said Tionge, who said he works at the Lodge.
The Director of Ceremonies tried to comfort him by saying: “Aunt Tiwonge, Musalire. Zinthu zikhala bwino. Kungotinso magetsi azima. Anthuwanso sakufuna kukhazikika kuti tiyambe mwambo. (Don’t cry Aunt Tiwonge. Everything will be alright. If only the people cooperated and power retunrd we would have finished everything.”
Steven said he realized that he was gay when he met Tiwonge.
“We met at church where we both congregate and have been together for five months now. I have never been interested in women, neither has Chimbalanga, and we stay together at Chileka Roundabout,” said Steven.
Steven, who remained quite during the entire ceremony, claimed his parents were supportive of him, as witnessed by the fact that they attended the ceremony.
Some lodge officials confirmed Tiwonge is their employee and that he also claims to be a woman.
The officials said Tiwonge approached them on his engagement and that they offered the venue for free.
“Our electricity units run out and we had to replenish. We would not sabotage the function, otherwise we would not even have allowed them to get engaged here if we had sinister motives,” said one of the workers at the lodge.
Homosexuality, referred to under ‘Offenses against morality’ in the Penal Code sections 153 and 156, is illegal in Malawi and carries a maximum sentence of five to 14 years imprisonment, respectively, with or without corporal punishment.
Principal Secretary for HIV, AIDS and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr. Mary Shawa, recently called for the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the five against HIV and AIDS in the same manner government caters for commercial sex workers, even if it is not legally recognized in Malawi.
Currently, the HIV infection rate among Malawian gays is pegged at 25 per cent. A report by the Malawi Gay Rights Movement (Magrim), the representative body for gays and lesbians in Malawi, indicates that HIV prevalence rate among lesbians is at 27 per cent.
This means more women are infected than their male counterparts.
The ceremony was held at Mankhoma Lodge in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, and was witnessed by hundreds of bewildered patrons.
Clad in traditional matching outfits, the bride and groom had their wonderful day under two tents elected in the lodge grounds. The whole place turned into a beehive of activity as people pushed and shoved each other in a quest to get a glimpse of Tiwonge and Steven during such a rare occasion.
Some people stared in wonder as others threw a flood of questions at the couple. But the couple ignored them and went about their business according to the programme of the event.
Tiwonge, the bride, was the major centre of attraction as his female make-up and dressing interested many patrons. He sat unperturbed by the pregnant atmosphere, sitting coolly next to his prospective husband he intends to marry in 2010.
However, what should have been a special moment for the two turned into outright agony as homophobic people went about confusing the whole process. They were not as supportive as happens during heterosexual relationships. In addition, there was some power interruption.
The bride openly wept and broke down, while the crowd became apparently uncontrollable.
“I spent K18, 000 (US$110) for this chinkhoswe (engagement) but look at what is happening. Nobody seems to take this whole thing seriously or giving us something. We have been here since 1:30 pm and this is after 4:00pm and nothing, in terms of exchanging gifts and cash, is happening,” sobbed Tiwonge.
“Ndisanyozeke ine. Siine olaula (Don’t ridicule me; I haven’t done the unusual,” said Tionge, who said he works at the Lodge.
The Director of Ceremonies tried to comfort him by saying: “Aunt Tiwonge, Musalire. Zinthu zikhala bwino. Kungotinso magetsi azima. Anthuwanso sakufuna kukhazikika kuti tiyambe mwambo. (Don’t cry Aunt Tiwonge. Everything will be alright. If only the people cooperated and power retunrd we would have finished everything.”
Steven said he realized that he was gay when he met Tiwonge.
“We met at church where we both congregate and have been together for five months now. I have never been interested in women, neither has Chimbalanga, and we stay together at Chileka Roundabout,” said Steven.
Steven, who remained quite during the entire ceremony, claimed his parents were supportive of him, as witnessed by the fact that they attended the ceremony.
Some lodge officials confirmed Tiwonge is their employee and that he also claims to be a woman.
The officials said Tiwonge approached them on his engagement and that they offered the venue for free.
“Our electricity units run out and we had to replenish. We would not sabotage the function, otherwise we would not even have allowed them to get engaged here if we had sinister motives,” said one of the workers at the lodge.
Homosexuality, referred to under ‘Offenses against morality’ in the Penal Code sections 153 and 156, is illegal in Malawi and carries a maximum sentence of five to 14 years imprisonment, respectively, with or without corporal punishment.
Principal Secretary for HIV, AIDS and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr. Mary Shawa, recently called for the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the five against HIV and AIDS in the same manner government caters for commercial sex workers, even if it is not legally recognized in Malawi.
Currently, the HIV infection rate among Malawian gays is pegged at 25 per cent. A report by the Malawi Gay Rights Movement (Magrim), the representative body for gays and lesbians in Malawi, indicates that HIV prevalence rate among lesbians is at 27 per cent.
This means more women are infected than their male counterparts.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Malawi cargo stuck at Beira
MALAWI has for the past ten years registered a sharp decline in the use of Beira Port in Mozambique, according to traffic statistics sourced from the port’s authority.
A report from Cornelder de Mozambique, the company that won a 25 year-long concession from the Government of Mozambique in 1998 to run the port, points to a sharp decline in the use of the port by Malawian exporters and importers.
It says, for instance, that, while the country’s imports and exports traffic amounted to 570 million metric tonnes in 1998- and went on to reach a 1, 3 million metric tonnes peak in traffic in 2002- Malawi has failed to beat its own record peak of 2006.
In 2006, only 1.2 million metric tonnes of Malawi’s imports and exports passed through the Port of Beira, a figure that dropped in 2007 when 1.1 million metric tonnes passed through the port, largely considered as a gate way for Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Only 940 thousand metric tonnes of cargo were serviced through the port last year. Traffic records for this year’s first half do not point to a rosy picture for the port authority either, as (from January to June, 2009) only 430 thousand metric tonnes have passed through the Port of Beira.
Malawi’s top cargo through the Port of Beira includes Tobacco, Tea, Cotton and Sugar.
This sharply contradicts with total traffic flow for the port’s main users (Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo) during the same period.
In 1998, 980 thousand metric tonnes passed through the port, a figure that popped up to a record 230 million metric tonnes in 2008. So far (from January to June this year), 880 thousand metric tonnes have passed through the port.
The biggest decline in total traffic was registered in 1999, when only 850 thousand metric tonnes were shipped through Beira- though the picture this year also points to a general decline by end 2009, though traffic flows have already slipped past the general traffic flow record for 1999.
The declining figures (both Malawi and other port-user countries) have not eluded the attention of Cornelder de Mozambique officials. The company’s Executive Managing Director, Carlos Mesquita, said in Blantyre in an interview the port authority had now embarked on intensive investments projects aimed at improving the scales for business.
Mesquita said the company- owned 67 per cent by Cornelder Holding and 33 per cent by the Mozambican Port and Railways- has for the past five years been injecting between US$3 million (K420 million) and US$4 million (K560 million) in equipment and infrastructure development.
“The decline in general traffic inflow during 2008 has come because we had some problems at the port, some of these pertain to the shallowness of the channel. Dredging will start in September and is slated to end in February, 2010. We have also invested heavily in infrastructure and equipment as we anticipate more traffic in the next three years,” said Mesquita.
He dismissed suggestions pointing to poor capacity at the port, saying the Port of Beira has been operating on 40 per cent capacity. The port has a nominal capacity of 5.0 million metric tonnes, but only 2.03 million metric tonnes are currently being handled at the port.
Wheat, maize, granite, fertilizer, clinker, rice and sugar top the list of commonly handled general cargo, though the port also has container facilities for tobacco, sugar, cotton, timber logs, (metal) scrap and vermiculite.
General cargo accounts for 47 per cent, while container goods make up for the remaining 53 per cent.
Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association of Malawi chairperson, Eddie Kaluwa, said the decline in Malawi traffic could have something to do with satisfactory service.
Kaluwa said Malawians now had the discretion to choose a port of their choice, should they feel short-changed elsewhere, and asked for fair treatment.
Just such a thing happened with the Port of Dare salaam. When Malawian importers and exporters felt short-changed on service delivery, they opted for other ports- a development that has culminated into few importers and exporters passing through the port these days.
Back in Mozambique, competition no longer pits the Port of Beira against Nacala; it is either Beira or Nacala against the port of Durban- though charging rates there vary with the strength of the Rand, further giving the Mozambicans an upper hand.
There has been little valuation in rates at Beira for the past nine years, as Durban struggles to balance the Rand with the port rates. This often means changes in pricing.
Kaluwa said some port authorities had the tendency to favour countries with more cargo, a development he said disadvantaged Malawian freight forwarding and clearing agents.
This seems to have declined, however, now that Zimbabwe- one of the massive importers and exporters before its economic crisis- has eased its gear down owing to the situation back home.
Importers and exporters who use Beira Port expect tough competition once the economic situation stabilizes in Zimbabwe
A report from Cornelder de Mozambique, the company that won a 25 year-long concession from the Government of Mozambique in 1998 to run the port, points to a sharp decline in the use of the port by Malawian exporters and importers.
It says, for instance, that, while the country’s imports and exports traffic amounted to 570 million metric tonnes in 1998- and went on to reach a 1, 3 million metric tonnes peak in traffic in 2002- Malawi has failed to beat its own record peak of 2006.
In 2006, only 1.2 million metric tonnes of Malawi’s imports and exports passed through the Port of Beira, a figure that dropped in 2007 when 1.1 million metric tonnes passed through the port, largely considered as a gate way for Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Only 940 thousand metric tonnes of cargo were serviced through the port last year. Traffic records for this year’s first half do not point to a rosy picture for the port authority either, as (from January to June, 2009) only 430 thousand metric tonnes have passed through the Port of Beira.
Malawi’s top cargo through the Port of Beira includes Tobacco, Tea, Cotton and Sugar.
This sharply contradicts with total traffic flow for the port’s main users (Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo) during the same period.
In 1998, 980 thousand metric tonnes passed through the port, a figure that popped up to a record 230 million metric tonnes in 2008. So far (from January to June this year), 880 thousand metric tonnes have passed through the port.
The biggest decline in total traffic was registered in 1999, when only 850 thousand metric tonnes were shipped through Beira- though the picture this year also points to a general decline by end 2009, though traffic flows have already slipped past the general traffic flow record for 1999.
The declining figures (both Malawi and other port-user countries) have not eluded the attention of Cornelder de Mozambique officials. The company’s Executive Managing Director, Carlos Mesquita, said in Blantyre in an interview the port authority had now embarked on intensive investments projects aimed at improving the scales for business.
Mesquita said the company- owned 67 per cent by Cornelder Holding and 33 per cent by the Mozambican Port and Railways- has for the past five years been injecting between US$3 million (K420 million) and US$4 million (K560 million) in equipment and infrastructure development.
“The decline in general traffic inflow during 2008 has come because we had some problems at the port, some of these pertain to the shallowness of the channel. Dredging will start in September and is slated to end in February, 2010. We have also invested heavily in infrastructure and equipment as we anticipate more traffic in the next three years,” said Mesquita.
He dismissed suggestions pointing to poor capacity at the port, saying the Port of Beira has been operating on 40 per cent capacity. The port has a nominal capacity of 5.0 million metric tonnes, but only 2.03 million metric tonnes are currently being handled at the port.
Wheat, maize, granite, fertilizer, clinker, rice and sugar top the list of commonly handled general cargo, though the port also has container facilities for tobacco, sugar, cotton, timber logs, (metal) scrap and vermiculite.
General cargo accounts for 47 per cent, while container goods make up for the remaining 53 per cent.
Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association of Malawi chairperson, Eddie Kaluwa, said the decline in Malawi traffic could have something to do with satisfactory service.
Kaluwa said Malawians now had the discretion to choose a port of their choice, should they feel short-changed elsewhere, and asked for fair treatment.
Just such a thing happened with the Port of Dare salaam. When Malawian importers and exporters felt short-changed on service delivery, they opted for other ports- a development that has culminated into few importers and exporters passing through the port these days.
Back in Mozambique, competition no longer pits the Port of Beira against Nacala; it is either Beira or Nacala against the port of Durban- though charging rates there vary with the strength of the Rand, further giving the Mozambicans an upper hand.
There has been little valuation in rates at Beira for the past nine years, as Durban struggles to balance the Rand with the port rates. This often means changes in pricing.
Kaluwa said some port authorities had the tendency to favour countries with more cargo, a development he said disadvantaged Malawian freight forwarding and clearing agents.
This seems to have declined, however, now that Zimbabwe- one of the massive importers and exporters before its economic crisis- has eased its gear down owing to the situation back home.
Importers and exporters who use Beira Port expect tough competition once the economic situation stabilizes in Zimbabwe
Manganya Strategises on Piracy
Comedian Michael Usi, aka Manganya, says he has put in place stringent anti-piracy mechanisms ahead of the release of his latest movie, ‘Living on Poison’.
‘Living on Poison’ is set to be premiered next month, August 1, at Comesa Hall in Blantyre- a development Usi describes as a life-time opportunity for Malawians to choose their favourite episodes for inclusion in the final product.
Usi says he has leant a bitter lesson from what happened to his ‘Dr. Manga’ film, which got into the wrong hands and is now out of his control. ‘Dr. Manga’ continues to be shown on various international Airlines, yet the talented comedian has got nothing to show for his talent and sweat contributed towards that acclaimed film.
This has prompted Usi to put in place stringent measures aimed at arresting piracy long before the release of ‘Living on Poison’.
“This time around, we have become cleverer in that we have put in place stringent measures aimed at preventing piracy. We are building from our experience with ‘Dr. Manga’ film; a lot of people got arrested because of pirating that film. This time, we have increased monitoring mechanisms and are ready to take those caught pirating to book,” said Usi.
A soft-spoken Usi, resting his right leg over the left in his office in Blantyre, promised that ‘Living on Poison’ would be a record breaker for Malawi, as he has become more and more inquisitive about human behaviour in the film.
“I have always been fascinated with human behaviour: why do people behave the way they do? This, and many more, forms the thesis of this film,” said Usi.
The yet-to-be-released ‘Living on Poison’ has episodes that tackle various real life experiences- a cheating husband, an inner political cycle that happens to be a lying lot in a bid to impress the President, and prisoners convicted on grounds of reformation, only to be turned “from criminals to beasts” because of the poor treatment they get at prison.
The short of it all is that people pretend to be what they are (cosmetic living)- which Usi equates to living on perform, as an individual’s natural scent gets enveloped in perform and fellow beings live a lie about such an individual since they merely get the painted side- when they are far from it.
“Living on Perform’ is an ambitious film. That is manifest in the fact that it represents, at least, four nations: Sweden, Burundi, United Kingdom and Malawi. These nations are represented by the people who play their roles in the film, adding the much needed flavour, experience and solidarity to the Malawian production.
Usi would also wish to involve the Malawian public, that those who will trek to Comesa Hall on August 1 and partake of the feast will be in for an entertaining surprise.
There will be an assortment of public competitions-all funny, really. One will be about overalls; who will dress quicker than the rest?
Nsima, too. Who will eat his mountain load of Nsima faster than the other?
Laughing: Who will hold the vocal chords a little longer. Who will laugh a little longer?
“There will be many interesting things,” he said.
Usi became the first Malawian to receive international recognition when, in August 2008, he was honoured with a plaque for his outstanding service to youth ministry in West-Central African Division. The event took place in Calabar, Nigeria.
‘Dr. Manga’ piracy case lingers on
By Richard Chirombo
Comedian Michael Usi has so many unanswered questions about his first film, ‘Dr Manga’.
When he set out to release ‘Dr. Manga’ some four years ago, he had a clear vision. He wanted to take Malawi’s film industry to the next big level.
That happened because the film found itself in such countries as Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania and United Kingdom. The film even flew on acclaimed international Airlines free of charge, in both the economy and business class segments.
It was with the same spirit, wishing to make it big for Malawi, that he sought the services of a merchandise film, which promised it would reproduce ‘Dr. Manga’ and make it available to as many as possible. Usi, too, would get more money for his sweat.
He never did.
And the film is no longer in his hands.
What happened?
Usi could not say much, for fear of pre-empting what has been lined up for the courts. He could only reveal, however, that: “In fact, that issue has gone to court, and my lawyers have advised me against speaking much about it, as it remains a sensitive issue. All I can say is that that issue is now in court.”
Usi hoped that he would come to the root of so many unanswered questions. He, and Malawians, may also get to know how the ‘Dr. Manga’ film grew legs and found itself being shown in world acclaimed Airlines.
He, and the nation, will also learn how ‘Dr. Manga’ film went to the airport, booked a ticket, and……..boom, found itself in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and other countries.
No that he loathes success and fame, who would hate that? It is a question of benefiting from one’s sweat.
“A lot goes into producing a film. So much money that you need something back. Justice, too, is another issue. Piracy harms innocent people,” he said.
MPS pays up
By Richard Chirombo
The Malawi Police Service (MPS) has paid the K5.7 million fine meted by the Super League of Malawi (Sulam) for the unceremonious way they withdrew Eagle Beaks from the league.
MPS announced recently it would not allow Eagle Beaks, one of the two sides it sponsors in the league, to continue plying its trade in the country’s prestigious league. Instead, MPS was for merging of the two sides into one team.
This irked the Super League of Malawi, which threatened to penalize sponsors of the two sides. MPS would be required to cough half of the league’s running costs, amounting to over K25 million.
The figure was later reduced to K5.7 million following some mitigation from MPS, which included the point that off loaded players would still be well taken care of.
Williams Banda, Sulam General Secretary, confirmed today MPS had paid the fine.
“The money will help us off set some of the costs incurred in preparing for the league. We will also modify the fixture we have released to accommodate the team that will replace Eagle Beaks,” said Banda.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that NCIC, formerly Pakeeza United, will replace Eagle Beaks.
A Sulam meeting held this week resolved to bring Pakeeza back into the league, owing to its league position the time it got the boot from the TNM Super League last season.
The team slided back to the Central Region Chipiku Football League alongside Michiru Castles, which is now playing in the Southern Region Arkay Plastics Football League.
Banda asked other teams, such as Michiru, not to despair as their time would come in future.
Initially, Sulam planned to organize play offs amongst Michiru and Pakeeza following the withdrawal of a Northern region side on grounds of financial incapacity.
‘Living on Poison’ is set to be premiered next month, August 1, at Comesa Hall in Blantyre- a development Usi describes as a life-time opportunity for Malawians to choose their favourite episodes for inclusion in the final product.
Usi says he has leant a bitter lesson from what happened to his ‘Dr. Manga’ film, which got into the wrong hands and is now out of his control. ‘Dr. Manga’ continues to be shown on various international Airlines, yet the talented comedian has got nothing to show for his talent and sweat contributed towards that acclaimed film.
This has prompted Usi to put in place stringent measures aimed at arresting piracy long before the release of ‘Living on Poison’.
“This time around, we have become cleverer in that we have put in place stringent measures aimed at preventing piracy. We are building from our experience with ‘Dr. Manga’ film; a lot of people got arrested because of pirating that film. This time, we have increased monitoring mechanisms and are ready to take those caught pirating to book,” said Usi.
A soft-spoken Usi, resting his right leg over the left in his office in Blantyre, promised that ‘Living on Poison’ would be a record breaker for Malawi, as he has become more and more inquisitive about human behaviour in the film.
“I have always been fascinated with human behaviour: why do people behave the way they do? This, and many more, forms the thesis of this film,” said Usi.
The yet-to-be-released ‘Living on Poison’ has episodes that tackle various real life experiences- a cheating husband, an inner political cycle that happens to be a lying lot in a bid to impress the President, and prisoners convicted on grounds of reformation, only to be turned “from criminals to beasts” because of the poor treatment they get at prison.
The short of it all is that people pretend to be what they are (cosmetic living)- which Usi equates to living on perform, as an individual’s natural scent gets enveloped in perform and fellow beings live a lie about such an individual since they merely get the painted side- when they are far from it.
“Living on Perform’ is an ambitious film. That is manifest in the fact that it represents, at least, four nations: Sweden, Burundi, United Kingdom and Malawi. These nations are represented by the people who play their roles in the film, adding the much needed flavour, experience and solidarity to the Malawian production.
Usi would also wish to involve the Malawian public, that those who will trek to Comesa Hall on August 1 and partake of the feast will be in for an entertaining surprise.
There will be an assortment of public competitions-all funny, really. One will be about overalls; who will dress quicker than the rest?
Nsima, too. Who will eat his mountain load of Nsima faster than the other?
Laughing: Who will hold the vocal chords a little longer. Who will laugh a little longer?
“There will be many interesting things,” he said.
Usi became the first Malawian to receive international recognition when, in August 2008, he was honoured with a plaque for his outstanding service to youth ministry in West-Central African Division. The event took place in Calabar, Nigeria.
‘Dr. Manga’ piracy case lingers on
By Richard Chirombo
Comedian Michael Usi has so many unanswered questions about his first film, ‘Dr Manga’.
When he set out to release ‘Dr. Manga’ some four years ago, he had a clear vision. He wanted to take Malawi’s film industry to the next big level.
That happened because the film found itself in such countries as Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania and United Kingdom. The film even flew on acclaimed international Airlines free of charge, in both the economy and business class segments.
It was with the same spirit, wishing to make it big for Malawi, that he sought the services of a merchandise film, which promised it would reproduce ‘Dr. Manga’ and make it available to as many as possible. Usi, too, would get more money for his sweat.
He never did.
And the film is no longer in his hands.
What happened?
Usi could not say much, for fear of pre-empting what has been lined up for the courts. He could only reveal, however, that: “In fact, that issue has gone to court, and my lawyers have advised me against speaking much about it, as it remains a sensitive issue. All I can say is that that issue is now in court.”
Usi hoped that he would come to the root of so many unanswered questions. He, and Malawians, may also get to know how the ‘Dr. Manga’ film grew legs and found itself being shown in world acclaimed Airlines.
He, and the nation, will also learn how ‘Dr. Manga’ film went to the airport, booked a ticket, and……..boom, found itself in the United Kingdom, Nigeria and other countries.
No that he loathes success and fame, who would hate that? It is a question of benefiting from one’s sweat.
“A lot goes into producing a film. So much money that you need something back. Justice, too, is another issue. Piracy harms innocent people,” he said.
MPS pays up
By Richard Chirombo
The Malawi Police Service (MPS) has paid the K5.7 million fine meted by the Super League of Malawi (Sulam) for the unceremonious way they withdrew Eagle Beaks from the league.
MPS announced recently it would not allow Eagle Beaks, one of the two sides it sponsors in the league, to continue plying its trade in the country’s prestigious league. Instead, MPS was for merging of the two sides into one team.
This irked the Super League of Malawi, which threatened to penalize sponsors of the two sides. MPS would be required to cough half of the league’s running costs, amounting to over K25 million.
The figure was later reduced to K5.7 million following some mitigation from MPS, which included the point that off loaded players would still be well taken care of.
Williams Banda, Sulam General Secretary, confirmed today MPS had paid the fine.
“The money will help us off set some of the costs incurred in preparing for the league. We will also modify the fixture we have released to accommodate the team that will replace Eagle Beaks,” said Banda.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that NCIC, formerly Pakeeza United, will replace Eagle Beaks.
A Sulam meeting held this week resolved to bring Pakeeza back into the league, owing to its league position the time it got the boot from the TNM Super League last season.
The team slided back to the Central Region Chipiku Football League alongside Michiru Castles, which is now playing in the Southern Region Arkay Plastics Football League.
Banda asked other teams, such as Michiru, not to despair as their time would come in future.
Initially, Sulam planned to organize play offs amongst Michiru and Pakeeza following the withdrawal of a Northern region side on grounds of financial incapacity.
Increased duty excites milk producers
Twice, Michael Kasambwe woke up from some deep sleep, braced the cold weather so seasonal this time around- and so biting in this highland district of Thyolo- and, like a blooding hen, went round his kraal of 11 dairy cows. It was Friday, July 3, 2009.
It is the day new Finance Minister, Ken Kandodo, presented his maiden budget statement for Parliament appraisal.
Kasambwe says never in the history of national budgets has he been so intent to lean about the cats hidden in the customary black suitcases associated with Malawian Finance Ministers. He knows it is always on Fridays the statements are presented, though he doesn’t know why (Friday).
“I was interested in new measures to reverse the losses we, dairy farmers, have been incurring over the years. Milk processors have been shunning our milk, or, where they have accepted to buy from us, the prices have been exploitative,” said Kasambwe, one of the farmers affected by raw milk price fluctuations.
He has 11 dairy cows, only four of which are yielding milk at the moment. He gets an average 10 litres of milk per cow per day, he says, but has not been able to make ends meet in recent days due to low buying prices.
But that Friday, he saw his fortunes coming back; hence, twice, he remembers, he woke up to check on his cows’ safety.
This doesn’t surprise Philemon Kapinji
It is the day new Finance Minister, Ken Kandodo, presented his maiden budget statement for Parliament appraisal.
Kasambwe says never in the history of national budgets has he been so intent to lean about the cats hidden in the customary black suitcases associated with Malawian Finance Ministers. He knows it is always on Fridays the statements are presented, though he doesn’t know why (Friday).
“I was interested in new measures to reverse the losses we, dairy farmers, have been incurring over the years. Milk processors have been shunning our milk, or, where they have accepted to buy from us, the prices have been exploitative,” said Kasambwe, one of the farmers affected by raw milk price fluctuations.
He has 11 dairy cows, only four of which are yielding milk at the moment. He gets an average 10 litres of milk per cow per day, he says, but has not been able to make ends meet in recent days due to low buying prices.
But that Friday, he saw his fortunes coming back; hence, twice, he remembers, he woke up to check on his cows’ safety.
This doesn’t surprise Philemon Kapinji
Passengers query duty waiver on buses
People who commute to districts between Blantyre and Lilongwe have queried new Finance Minister, Ken Kandodo’s, duty waiver on buses that carry more than 45 passengers, saying recent trends had shown that bus owners were abusing the facility.
Kandodo indicated in his 2009/10 budget statement government wanted to extend the duty waiver on 45-seater, and above, buses in a bid to ease travel problems for people who commute on public transport.
Initially, the waiver was first introduced to woo more investors into the commuter transport sector, which was then characterized by the dominance of Shire Buslines- apart from minibuses that largely plied their trade within city boundaries. The initiative seems to have paid dividend following the entry of many large business players.
Government plans to extend the preferential initiative has, however, not gone down well with people who commute to inter-city districts of Balaka, Ntcheu, and Dedza. These districts lie along the way to Lilongwe and Blantyre.
Michael Khomba, a tomato farmer from Ntcheu who sells his farm produce at Blantyre Market, said in an interview Saturday government should not extend the duty waiver this time around for what he said was the apparent abuse of the facility by bus owners.
“These people (bus owners) have been abusing this facility by punishing people who commute to either Balaka, Ntcheu or Dedza. Apart from Axa Bus and Coach Service, National Bus Company, United Bus Company and Malasha, all the other carriers are charging across-the-board fees of between K700 and K800.
“This means if you are traveling to either Lilongwe or Blantyre, you pay this amount. It also means if you are commuting to Balaka, Ntcheu or Dedza, you have to pay the same amount. This is unfair,” said Khomba.
His sentiments were echoed by Lucy Malipa, a second hand clothes seller who commutes to markets between Balaka, Dedza and Ntcheu during market days. She said across-the-board application of traveling costs had translated into huge losses to her business.
“It is unfair that, where I pay between K350 and K400 when I travel through Axa, National Bus (company), United (Bus Company) and Malasha, I am forced to pay either K700 or K800. These are charges for Lilongwe and Blantyre commuters and not people who travel to inter-city districts,” said Malipa.
Malipa asked government to waive the waiver.
A visit to Wenela Bus Depot in Blantyre, Sunday, revealed that buses that carry 45 or more passengers were, in deed, applying across-the-board charges, much to the chagrin of passengers.
Those interviewed complained that the practice only favoured those traveling to either Lilongwe or Blantyre. They, however, blamed the country’s four top bus companies for creating huge gaps in the time-schedules of their buses.
“The only time you will find many buses is between 05: 30 am and 8:00 am in the morning; 11:30am to 01:00 pm in the afternoon; and between 05:00pm and 06:00 pm in the evening. There is a huge gap in between these peak schedule times, an anomaly these other 45-seater buses are trying to exploit,” said Smart Kambanje, a vendor at Wenela.
However, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) Executive Director, John Kapito, has shifted the blame back to passengers.
Kapito said in a separate interview passengers were to blame for opting to travel in buses that applied unfair practices.
“Other than describing the practice as unfair and exploitative, we must look at the other side of the coin. Passengers, who are in this case consumers, have money to spend on transport; and they spend it on buses that are charging exorbitant prices. It is their choice because there are many buses who are charging reasonably,” said Kapito.
He also backed the bus owners, saying they were taking advantage of free trade advocacy to make the most for their pockets.
“It is a question of practicing free trade on their part. As for the passengers, they have a choice because there are many buses around. They can choose to boycott such buses if they want, but they are not,” said Kapito.
There were reports earlier this year government would do away with the duty waiver on buses during the 2009/10 fiscal year, but Kandodo indicates in his budget statement government still wanted more investments and competition in the commuter transport sector.
Kandodo indicated in his 2009/10 budget statement government wanted to extend the duty waiver on 45-seater, and above, buses in a bid to ease travel problems for people who commute on public transport.
Initially, the waiver was first introduced to woo more investors into the commuter transport sector, which was then characterized by the dominance of Shire Buslines- apart from minibuses that largely plied their trade within city boundaries. The initiative seems to have paid dividend following the entry of many large business players.
Government plans to extend the preferential initiative has, however, not gone down well with people who commute to inter-city districts of Balaka, Ntcheu, and Dedza. These districts lie along the way to Lilongwe and Blantyre.
Michael Khomba, a tomato farmer from Ntcheu who sells his farm produce at Blantyre Market, said in an interview Saturday government should not extend the duty waiver this time around for what he said was the apparent abuse of the facility by bus owners.
“These people (bus owners) have been abusing this facility by punishing people who commute to either Balaka, Ntcheu or Dedza. Apart from Axa Bus and Coach Service, National Bus Company, United Bus Company and Malasha, all the other carriers are charging across-the-board fees of between K700 and K800.
“This means if you are traveling to either Lilongwe or Blantyre, you pay this amount. It also means if you are commuting to Balaka, Ntcheu or Dedza, you have to pay the same amount. This is unfair,” said Khomba.
His sentiments were echoed by Lucy Malipa, a second hand clothes seller who commutes to markets between Balaka, Dedza and Ntcheu during market days. She said across-the-board application of traveling costs had translated into huge losses to her business.
“It is unfair that, where I pay between K350 and K400 when I travel through Axa, National Bus (company), United (Bus Company) and Malasha, I am forced to pay either K700 or K800. These are charges for Lilongwe and Blantyre commuters and not people who travel to inter-city districts,” said Malipa.
Malipa asked government to waive the waiver.
A visit to Wenela Bus Depot in Blantyre, Sunday, revealed that buses that carry 45 or more passengers were, in deed, applying across-the-board charges, much to the chagrin of passengers.
Those interviewed complained that the practice only favoured those traveling to either Lilongwe or Blantyre. They, however, blamed the country’s four top bus companies for creating huge gaps in the time-schedules of their buses.
“The only time you will find many buses is between 05: 30 am and 8:00 am in the morning; 11:30am to 01:00 pm in the afternoon; and between 05:00pm and 06:00 pm in the evening. There is a huge gap in between these peak schedule times, an anomaly these other 45-seater buses are trying to exploit,” said Smart Kambanje, a vendor at Wenela.
However, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) Executive Director, John Kapito, has shifted the blame back to passengers.
Kapito said in a separate interview passengers were to blame for opting to travel in buses that applied unfair practices.
“Other than describing the practice as unfair and exploitative, we must look at the other side of the coin. Passengers, who are in this case consumers, have money to spend on transport; and they spend it on buses that are charging exorbitant prices. It is their choice because there are many buses who are charging reasonably,” said Kapito.
He also backed the bus owners, saying they were taking advantage of free trade advocacy to make the most for their pockets.
“It is a question of practicing free trade on their part. As for the passengers, they have a choice because there are many buses around. They can choose to boycott such buses if they want, but they are not,” said Kapito.
There were reports earlier this year government would do away with the duty waiver on buses during the 2009/10 fiscal year, but Kandodo indicates in his budget statement government still wanted more investments and competition in the commuter transport sector.
We are ready for Egypt- Kinnah
Flames coach Kinnah Phiri says his charges are ready for the battle of Cairo.
Malawi paly Egypt this weekend.
Malawi paly Egypt this weekend.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Let HIV, AIDS not seperate us
“It’s been a year now since I tested HIV-positive but I haven’t disclosed my status to my husband because I’m afraid he’ll divorce me,” says a very irritated Martha (not her real name).
Martha has been robbed of her peace of mind for almost a year because she fears her husband might not understand her situation.
At times, Martha, who got married to a truck driver two years ago, feels like breaking the news to her husband so that he, too, should go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing. That will enable them to start using condoms- whether he tests positive or negative- as advised by counsellors.
The couple has quarrelled several times because of her husband’s promiscuity. Her husband takes to commercial sex workers on regular basis whenever he is on the road.
“I was not too shocked when I tested positive, even though I have been faithful to my husband. In fact, I knew this would happen because of my husband’s irresponsible behaviour,” she says.
The most important thing she is doing, she says, is to ensure she does not transmit the virus to her baby.
Martha, who is based in Blantyre, tested positive when she was pregnant last year and was immediately counselled on how to avoid infecting the HIV-negative baby.
“Each and every pregnant woman is supposed to undergo HIV testing, and this is a must, whether she likes it or not. The idea is to prevent babies from contacting HIV from their mothers. We believe that these are presidents, ministers, managers in the making and, so, who shall lead the country to prosperity if they get infected?” wondered Dr. Mary Shawa, Principal Secretary for the Department of HIV/Aids and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Shawa disclosed that the decision was made after it had come to the attention of the department that most pregnant women were testing positive.
The intention of OPC is to prevent babies from being infected through what is called Prevention from Mother to Child Transmission (PMTC).
Meanwhile, most research findings seem to suggest that most married couples that have tested HIV-positive got infected through the unfaithfulness of their partners.
In some cases, however, one partner may test positive while the other negative. The couple is then said to be sero-discordant.
It is because of this phenomenon that the College of Medicine-Johns Hopkins Research Project, which is into various studies on HIV and Aids in the country, is currently carrying out a study among sero-discordant couples aimed at finding out how and why this happens.
It also seeks to find out whether discordant couples can stay together for longer periods without infecting each other.
The project’s Field Coordinator, Fatima Zulu, said the study would help to keep couples in marriage even though they have registered different results. Experience has shown that some marriages break up when one partner, especially the woman, tests positive.
The irony, however, as Zulu noted, is that in most cases marriages last longer if it is the man who tests positive as he dictates terms on his spouse. This often includes the issue of having unprotected sex, thereby infecting her as well.
“Women are more vulnerable to divorce when they test positive. We are, therefore, urging more men to participate in the study with their wives so that we make them understand the significance of not divorcing their spouses, because definitely, they will miss their support,” Zulu said.
The study encourages couples to consistently use condoms each time they have sex. The study will further assist couples to remain healthy through counselling and giving them recommended medications so that the infected person does not develop Aids quickly.
Zulu observed that most discordant couples develop Aids earlier because of lack of proper and adequate counselling as well as poor medical services.
Each volunteering sero-discordant couple is expected to participate in the study for five years.
Martha has been robbed of her peace of mind for almost a year because she fears her husband might not understand her situation.
At times, Martha, who got married to a truck driver two years ago, feels like breaking the news to her husband so that he, too, should go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing. That will enable them to start using condoms- whether he tests positive or negative- as advised by counsellors.
The couple has quarrelled several times because of her husband’s promiscuity. Her husband takes to commercial sex workers on regular basis whenever he is on the road.
“I was not too shocked when I tested positive, even though I have been faithful to my husband. In fact, I knew this would happen because of my husband’s irresponsible behaviour,” she says.
The most important thing she is doing, she says, is to ensure she does not transmit the virus to her baby.
Martha, who is based in Blantyre, tested positive when she was pregnant last year and was immediately counselled on how to avoid infecting the HIV-negative baby.
“Each and every pregnant woman is supposed to undergo HIV testing, and this is a must, whether she likes it or not. The idea is to prevent babies from contacting HIV from their mothers. We believe that these are presidents, ministers, managers in the making and, so, who shall lead the country to prosperity if they get infected?” wondered Dr. Mary Shawa, Principal Secretary for the Department of HIV/Aids and Nutrition in the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Shawa disclosed that the decision was made after it had come to the attention of the department that most pregnant women were testing positive.
The intention of OPC is to prevent babies from being infected through what is called Prevention from Mother to Child Transmission (PMTC).
Meanwhile, most research findings seem to suggest that most married couples that have tested HIV-positive got infected through the unfaithfulness of their partners.
In some cases, however, one partner may test positive while the other negative. The couple is then said to be sero-discordant.
It is because of this phenomenon that the College of Medicine-Johns Hopkins Research Project, which is into various studies on HIV and Aids in the country, is currently carrying out a study among sero-discordant couples aimed at finding out how and why this happens.
It also seeks to find out whether discordant couples can stay together for longer periods without infecting each other.
The project’s Field Coordinator, Fatima Zulu, said the study would help to keep couples in marriage even though they have registered different results. Experience has shown that some marriages break up when one partner, especially the woman, tests positive.
The irony, however, as Zulu noted, is that in most cases marriages last longer if it is the man who tests positive as he dictates terms on his spouse. This often includes the issue of having unprotected sex, thereby infecting her as well.
“Women are more vulnerable to divorce when they test positive. We are, therefore, urging more men to participate in the study with their wives so that we make them understand the significance of not divorcing their spouses, because definitely, they will miss their support,” Zulu said.
The study encourages couples to consistently use condoms each time they have sex. The study will further assist couples to remain healthy through counselling and giving them recommended medications so that the infected person does not develop Aids quickly.
Zulu observed that most discordant couples develop Aids earlier because of lack of proper and adequate counselling as well as poor medical services.
Each volunteering sero-discordant couple is expected to participate in the study for five years.
Global Hope Mobilisation in Malawi film project
Global Hope Mobilisation, in conjunction with Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN), will be hosting a Canadian firm, Terida Systems Inc, to discuss how Malawi would manage to fight HIV/Aids using information, communication and technology infrastructure.
According to MHEN Programme Director, Caleb Thole, Terida Systems Inc is expected to meet government officials and other stakeholders in the health sector from November 24 to 25 this year.
Terida Systems is an institution working on ICT infrastructure innovations to reduce HIV and Aids, and tuberculosis around the globe. The work of the Toronto-based ICT giants has proved helpful in HIV and Aids treatment as well as care.
Thole said the goals of the meeting are to show how ICT infrastructure is working in other countries, how Malawi could benefit from ICT programmes to mitigate the pandemic and to find ways and means of replicating such programmes in Malawi.
Since the 2001 call for universal access to HIV and Aids treatment and care, there have been a lot of innovative discoveries in the fight against the pandemic.
“These range from awareness to treatment and care, while other innovative ideologies include discoveries of scaling up the use of, and improving, Nevirapine and ARVs, in addition to clinical research and trials on HIV and Aids vaccines being conducted globally,” said Thole.
Research has also shown that adherence to ARV treatment stops HIV from reproducing. However, when patients skip their dose of medication, the virus reproduces quickly and increases their viral load, thereby putting the patient at risk of suffering from HIV and Aids-related conditions and even death.
The researchers have found that optimal suppression of the virus requires 90 to 95 percent adherence. But providing ART in resource constrained countries with limited human resources presents a living challenge to balancing the demand for treatment and maintenance of improved standards of care.
MHEN National Coordinator, Martha Kwataine, says even for those suffering from other diseases, health workers find it difficult to follow up on patients due to poor record keeping since patients’ records have been known to sometimes go missing.
“There is need to use and apply advanced technological innovations for health workers to ably keep information pertaining to their patients,” said Kwataine.
She added that if Malawi wanted to register positive change, through reduced HIV and Aids prevalence rates, new technological interventions needed to be applied, and quickly.
Terida Systems Inc is currently implementing a programme in Trinidad and Tobago, where a five-year long National HIV and Aids strategic plan has been developed.
According to MHEN Programme Director, Caleb Thole, Terida Systems Inc is expected to meet government officials and other stakeholders in the health sector from November 24 to 25 this year.
Terida Systems is an institution working on ICT infrastructure innovations to reduce HIV and Aids, and tuberculosis around the globe. The work of the Toronto-based ICT giants has proved helpful in HIV and Aids treatment as well as care.
Thole said the goals of the meeting are to show how ICT infrastructure is working in other countries, how Malawi could benefit from ICT programmes to mitigate the pandemic and to find ways and means of replicating such programmes in Malawi.
Since the 2001 call for universal access to HIV and Aids treatment and care, there have been a lot of innovative discoveries in the fight against the pandemic.
“These range from awareness to treatment and care, while other innovative ideologies include discoveries of scaling up the use of, and improving, Nevirapine and ARVs, in addition to clinical research and trials on HIV and Aids vaccines being conducted globally,” said Thole.
Research has also shown that adherence to ARV treatment stops HIV from reproducing. However, when patients skip their dose of medication, the virus reproduces quickly and increases their viral load, thereby putting the patient at risk of suffering from HIV and Aids-related conditions and even death.
The researchers have found that optimal suppression of the virus requires 90 to 95 percent adherence. But providing ART in resource constrained countries with limited human resources presents a living challenge to balancing the demand for treatment and maintenance of improved standards of care.
MHEN National Coordinator, Martha Kwataine, says even for those suffering from other diseases, health workers find it difficult to follow up on patients due to poor record keeping since patients’ records have been known to sometimes go missing.
“There is need to use and apply advanced technological innovations for health workers to ably keep information pertaining to their patients,” said Kwataine.
She added that if Malawi wanted to register positive change, through reduced HIV and Aids prevalence rates, new technological interventions needed to be applied, and quickly.
Terida Systems Inc is currently implementing a programme in Trinidad and Tobago, where a five-year long National HIV and Aids strategic plan has been developed.
Journalists should live by example
Not many people can dispute the fact that the Malawi media have played a significant role in educating and informing the public about HIV and Aids. But that is the bright side of the story; the downside to it is that not many journalists live by example.
Some journalists believe their duty is only to inform and educate the masses about HIV and Aids, but in the process, they distance themselves from it, thinking it does not affect them in one way or another.
Journalists have long being accused of practicing the ‘do as I say and not as I do’ syndrome. Not many journalists have gone for VCT, let alone declare their HIV sero-status openly. In Touch Magazine investigations further reveal that, to date, no Malawian journalist has applied to pursue further education in HIV and Aids-related studies or participated in any of the various HIV and Aids trials taking place in the country.
These include the Johns Hopkins HIV vaccine trial, among other interventions.
Granted, it is everyone’s right to decide to participate as the processes remain largely voluntary; but journalists need to look at the HIV and Aids situation as part and parcel of their lives.
This has prompted institutions such as College of Medicine’s Johns Hopkins Research Project to urge journalists to go beyond publicising and informing the public on HIV-related issues and start participating in various research interventions being undertaken in the country.
Field Coordinator for the project, Fatima Zulu, says it was high time journalists lived by example by playing a leading role in HIV and Aids initiatives instead of merely concentrating on the reporting aspect of it.
She noted that journalists were at a much higher risk of contracting HIV just as everyone else. That is why even doctors took precautionary measures in the course of their duty- a glove here, some antiseptics there- she enthused.
According to Zulu, the adage ‘nobody is above the law’ also applied in medicine, more especially when it comes to the issue of HIV and AIDS; nobody is above HIV and Aids!
“Journalists are as human as their target audience. They can, for instance, go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing with their partners and, once discovered that one of them is HIV-positive and the other negative, participate in sero-discordant couples’ studies,” said Zulu.
Just one such study is being carried out by Johns Hopkins Project, findings of which are expected to shed more light into the relationship between couples who live under one roof and sleep in one bed but live with two different realities in life. Such an experience can cause night mares to many, something Zulu and fellow researchers are trying to avert by increasing the availability of information.
National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) executive committee member, Wisdom Chimgwede, concurs with Zulu.
He says as much as Namisa encourages journalists to ensure that HIV and Aids messages are spread across the country in the language that can be best understood by the masses, journalists also need to exercise moral discretion beyond mere reporting.
Chimgwede observes that journalists should refrain from detaching themselves from HIV and Aids issues by putting themselves in the position of experts by merely analysing the situation without taking an active role in interventions.
Namisa, however, has no figures on the number of journalists who are living positively with HIV and that renders it inactive in terms of support rendered to infected journalists.
Some journalists believe their duty is only to inform and educate the masses about HIV and Aids, but in the process, they distance themselves from it, thinking it does not affect them in one way or another.
Journalists have long being accused of practicing the ‘do as I say and not as I do’ syndrome. Not many journalists have gone for VCT, let alone declare their HIV sero-status openly. In Touch Magazine investigations further reveal that, to date, no Malawian journalist has applied to pursue further education in HIV and Aids-related studies or participated in any of the various HIV and Aids trials taking place in the country.
These include the Johns Hopkins HIV vaccine trial, among other interventions.
Granted, it is everyone’s right to decide to participate as the processes remain largely voluntary; but journalists need to look at the HIV and Aids situation as part and parcel of their lives.
This has prompted institutions such as College of Medicine’s Johns Hopkins Research Project to urge journalists to go beyond publicising and informing the public on HIV-related issues and start participating in various research interventions being undertaken in the country.
Field Coordinator for the project, Fatima Zulu, says it was high time journalists lived by example by playing a leading role in HIV and Aids initiatives instead of merely concentrating on the reporting aspect of it.
She noted that journalists were at a much higher risk of contracting HIV just as everyone else. That is why even doctors took precautionary measures in the course of their duty- a glove here, some antiseptics there- she enthused.
According to Zulu, the adage ‘nobody is above the law’ also applied in medicine, more especially when it comes to the issue of HIV and AIDS; nobody is above HIV and Aids!
“Journalists are as human as their target audience. They can, for instance, go for Voluntary Counselling and Testing with their partners and, once discovered that one of them is HIV-positive and the other negative, participate in sero-discordant couples’ studies,” said Zulu.
Just one such study is being carried out by Johns Hopkins Project, findings of which are expected to shed more light into the relationship between couples who live under one roof and sleep in one bed but live with two different realities in life. Such an experience can cause night mares to many, something Zulu and fellow researchers are trying to avert by increasing the availability of information.
National Media Institute of Southern Africa (Namisa) executive committee member, Wisdom Chimgwede, concurs with Zulu.
He says as much as Namisa encourages journalists to ensure that HIV and Aids messages are spread across the country in the language that can be best understood by the masses, journalists also need to exercise moral discretion beyond mere reporting.
Chimgwede observes that journalists should refrain from detaching themselves from HIV and Aids issues by putting themselves in the position of experts by merely analysing the situation without taking an active role in interventions.
Namisa, however, has no figures on the number of journalists who are living positively with HIV and that renders it inactive in terms of support rendered to infected journalists.
World Cup to stretch adoption system
Magistrate Esmie Tembenu of Blantyre Child Justice Court sits quietly in her office behind Soche Police, unlike a normal Tuesday morning.
Tembenu has never been known to be an enthusiastic soccer fan. Tell her about children, and you get all her attention.
“I have great passion for children,” said Tembenu.
No wonder, she knows pretty well why the eldest son is so often the first one to leave parents’ home. It’s not like the first born is escaping or disowning the family; it’s just that any great economic upheaval or orphanhood alters normal patterns and the oldest son begins to develop doubts about the capability of his parents to fend for the family. They then leave home early, out of necessity. They must find jobs quicker and quicker, different from the current generation.
That is Tembenu’s meal, everyday. Not this Tuesday, October 6, 2009: The child magistrate is thinking about the World Cup coming to South Africa in 2010.
Africa is happy that, for the first time in history, it will play host to the world’s largest soccer fiesta. Tembenu is happy, too, because she realizes the greatness of the event.
She is also worried.
“The World Cup will exert more pressure on the justice system, and I think the child justice system will be one of the most affected. Malawi should expect more adoption applications, most of which will not be in good faith. There will be people coming around, pretending to adopt our children for a better life when, in fact, they want to use them for sexual purposes,” Warns Tembenu.
She has observed the signals flashing back and forth, and wants Malawian parents and guardians to be on the lookout. The problem is that most people know little about adoption.
Other challenges include lawyers deliberately misinforming parents and guardians that their children would come back after growing up and attaining higher education. Some NGOs also cheat the courts, claiming parents or guardians have consented to adoptions when they have not.
That is where social welfare officers come in, to ascertain the truth. Those found on the wrong side of truth lose their adoption applications, and the children.
Child rights activists have called for amendments to the Adoption of Children Act, saying current provisions are replete with ambiguities and loop holes. At the moment, the main bone of contention is the provision that addresses the issue of ‘residence’.
“Is it merely the question of a foreign citizen coming to Malawi and booking themselves a room at an up market hotel, or the purchase of an old house in Nthalire?” The question of Maxwell Matewere, executive director for Eye of the Child.
Chief Justice Lovemore Munro did something to clear the air on the question of ‘residence’ in a Supreme Court ruling that went in favour of Pop star Madonna. Madonna’s efforts to adopt toddler Chifundo Mercy James were earlier thwarted by a High Court ruling that questioned her credentials as a resident of Malawi.
However, says Tembenu, most magistrates are yet to lay their hands on copies of that ruling.
Chances are that, with requisite amendments long-coming and the ruling poorly circulated, the World Cup may become just another big hole for child traffickers.
“We need to put our house in order well before the World Cup. Not only the World Cup, but in time for more international adoptions. We can see them coming really hard and exerting unnecessary pressure of our adoption system,” said Matewere.
Even Justice Edward Twea, a High Court Judge and Chairperson for the National Juvenile Justice Forum, knows the tangible benefits of locking the doors before the thief arrives pretty well. He offers three suggestions:
“There is need for the ministry responsible for children affairs to establish a national registry for children that can be adopted. This will serve as our adoption list and help prevent cases where foreign nationals come here and choose children they want to adopt; this time, it will go according to the Ministry’s registry.
“We also need to ratify the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption. This will help us monitor Malawian children adopted by foreign citizens, and our social welfare officers will be able to liaise with their counterparts. The last suggestion is that, due to the complexity of international adoption processes, I think it would be better if such cases were handled by the High Court,” said Twea.
The courts are currently seeking direction from the Office of the Chief Justice on whether international adoption cases should be handled by the High court only, or not.
Currently, adoption applications can be filed at subordinate courts or the High court. Only those who are 21 years or older can adopt children, though a single man or woman can not adopt a girl or boy child, respectively.
Twea acknowledges that most people know little about the implications of adoption. He cites Malawians who adopt foreign children. When the children become problematic, the locals complain to the natural parents they will send the children back! Back where?
“This contravenes the definition of adoption because this is a legal process of transferring natural rights from parents or guardians. If you were the mother or father, it means you are no longer the legal parent of that child,” he said.
Then, there is the case of a Malawian woman who married a foreign national. They took the wife’s children with them and crossed the borders, hoping the marriage would survive everything but death. The unexpected happened when the marriage collapsed, and the wife came home.
She has been struggling to have the children back. Ratification of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption would have helped, perhaps. Without it, her children are as better as lost.
Now the World Cup comes, in less than a year from now, without Malawi ratifying the Hague Convention. Fears are that it may turn out to be another hole through which children go and never come back.
Tembenu has never been known to be an enthusiastic soccer fan. Tell her about children, and you get all her attention.
“I have great passion for children,” said Tembenu.
No wonder, she knows pretty well why the eldest son is so often the first one to leave parents’ home. It’s not like the first born is escaping or disowning the family; it’s just that any great economic upheaval or orphanhood alters normal patterns and the oldest son begins to develop doubts about the capability of his parents to fend for the family. They then leave home early, out of necessity. They must find jobs quicker and quicker, different from the current generation.
That is Tembenu’s meal, everyday. Not this Tuesday, October 6, 2009: The child magistrate is thinking about the World Cup coming to South Africa in 2010.
Africa is happy that, for the first time in history, it will play host to the world’s largest soccer fiesta. Tembenu is happy, too, because she realizes the greatness of the event.
She is also worried.
“The World Cup will exert more pressure on the justice system, and I think the child justice system will be one of the most affected. Malawi should expect more adoption applications, most of which will not be in good faith. There will be people coming around, pretending to adopt our children for a better life when, in fact, they want to use them for sexual purposes,” Warns Tembenu.
She has observed the signals flashing back and forth, and wants Malawian parents and guardians to be on the lookout. The problem is that most people know little about adoption.
Other challenges include lawyers deliberately misinforming parents and guardians that their children would come back after growing up and attaining higher education. Some NGOs also cheat the courts, claiming parents or guardians have consented to adoptions when they have not.
That is where social welfare officers come in, to ascertain the truth. Those found on the wrong side of truth lose their adoption applications, and the children.
Child rights activists have called for amendments to the Adoption of Children Act, saying current provisions are replete with ambiguities and loop holes. At the moment, the main bone of contention is the provision that addresses the issue of ‘residence’.
“Is it merely the question of a foreign citizen coming to Malawi and booking themselves a room at an up market hotel, or the purchase of an old house in Nthalire?” The question of Maxwell Matewere, executive director for Eye of the Child.
Chief Justice Lovemore Munro did something to clear the air on the question of ‘residence’ in a Supreme Court ruling that went in favour of Pop star Madonna. Madonna’s efforts to adopt toddler Chifundo Mercy James were earlier thwarted by a High Court ruling that questioned her credentials as a resident of Malawi.
However, says Tembenu, most magistrates are yet to lay their hands on copies of that ruling.
Chances are that, with requisite amendments long-coming and the ruling poorly circulated, the World Cup may become just another big hole for child traffickers.
“We need to put our house in order well before the World Cup. Not only the World Cup, but in time for more international adoptions. We can see them coming really hard and exerting unnecessary pressure of our adoption system,” said Matewere.
Even Justice Edward Twea, a High Court Judge and Chairperson for the National Juvenile Justice Forum, knows the tangible benefits of locking the doors before the thief arrives pretty well. He offers three suggestions:
“There is need for the ministry responsible for children affairs to establish a national registry for children that can be adopted. This will serve as our adoption list and help prevent cases where foreign nationals come here and choose children they want to adopt; this time, it will go according to the Ministry’s registry.
“We also need to ratify the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption. This will help us monitor Malawian children adopted by foreign citizens, and our social welfare officers will be able to liaise with their counterparts. The last suggestion is that, due to the complexity of international adoption processes, I think it would be better if such cases were handled by the High Court,” said Twea.
The courts are currently seeking direction from the Office of the Chief Justice on whether international adoption cases should be handled by the High court only, or not.
Currently, adoption applications can be filed at subordinate courts or the High court. Only those who are 21 years or older can adopt children, though a single man or woman can not adopt a girl or boy child, respectively.
Twea acknowledges that most people know little about the implications of adoption. He cites Malawians who adopt foreign children. When the children become problematic, the locals complain to the natural parents they will send the children back! Back where?
“This contravenes the definition of adoption because this is a legal process of transferring natural rights from parents or guardians. If you were the mother or father, it means you are no longer the legal parent of that child,” he said.
Then, there is the case of a Malawian woman who married a foreign national. They took the wife’s children with them and crossed the borders, hoping the marriage would survive everything but death. The unexpected happened when the marriage collapsed, and the wife came home.
She has been struggling to have the children back. Ratification of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption would have helped, perhaps. Without it, her children are as better as lost.
Now the World Cup comes, in less than a year from now, without Malawi ratifying the Hague Convention. Fears are that it may turn out to be another hole through which children go and never come back.
Apempha Amalawi achenjere ndi2010
Woweluza milandu kubwalo laana m’boma laBlantyre, a Esmie Tembenu, adachenjeza Amalawi, makamaka okhala m’madera akumidzi, kuti asamale ndichikho champira wamiyendo chapadziko lonse chomwe chichitikire m’dziko laSouth Africa chaka chamawa.
Polankhula ndimtolankhani wathu sabata latha, aTembenu adati pomwe chikho champirachi chatsala pang’ono kuchitika pakhala anthu ena omwe adzibwera m’dziko muno kufuna kudzatenga ana Achimalawi ponamizira kuti akufuna akawalere bwino, chonsecho akufuna kukawagwiritsa ntchito zadama kuSouth Africa.
“Amalawi ayembekezere kuona anthu ambiri akubwera m’dziko muno kufuna kudzatenga ana, ndipo ndikupempha makamaka anthu am’madera akumidzi kuti asamale ndipo asalole kupereka ana kwaanthu osawadziwa. Pamene chikho champira chapadziko lonse lapansi chatsala pang’ono kuchitika, pakhala zinthu zambiri zomwe zizichitika,” adachenjeza aTembenu.
Iwo adati anthu ena afuna kutengera mwayi kusamveka bwino kwamfundo zina zokhudza katengedwe kaana kuchokera kwamakolo awo kapena owayang’anira kupita m’manja mwaanthu ena. Ina mwamfundozi ndiyokuti mzika zamaiko ena zofuna kutenga ana kuno kumudzi zikhale zoti zakhalapo m’dziko muno kwakanthawi.
Koma mfundoyi sifotokoza mwachindunji zanthawi yeni yeni, zimene adati zingapangitse anthu ena kumatenga ana atangokhala pamalo ogona alendo kwakanthawi kochepa.
Poyankhulapo pankhani yomweyi, woweluza milandu kubwalo lalikulu m’dziko muno, omwenso ndiwapampando wabungwe loona kuti chilungamo chikuchitika kwaana m’dziko muno, a Edward Twea adati mpofunika kuti dziko laMalawi likhazikitse kaundula waana onse omwe angatengedwe ndikuleledwa ndianthu ena kuti pasamachitike chinyengo.
ATwea adatinso mpofunika kuti dziko lino livomereze pangano lokhudza ana otelewa, lomwe adalikhazi kuHague, chinthu chomwe adati chidzathandiza kuti ana am’dziko muno omwe atengedwa ndimzika zamaiko ena adzitetezedwa m’maiko omwe apitawo.
Iwo adati zimenezi zidzathandiza kuti dziko lino lisaluze ana chifukwa chazinthu ngati chikho chapadziko lonse lapansi chomwe chichitike chaka chamawa
Polankhula ndimtolankhani wathu sabata latha, aTembenu adati pomwe chikho champirachi chatsala pang’ono kuchitika pakhala anthu ena omwe adzibwera m’dziko muno kufuna kudzatenga ana Achimalawi ponamizira kuti akufuna akawalere bwino, chonsecho akufuna kukawagwiritsa ntchito zadama kuSouth Africa.
“Amalawi ayembekezere kuona anthu ambiri akubwera m’dziko muno kufuna kudzatenga ana, ndipo ndikupempha makamaka anthu am’madera akumidzi kuti asamale ndipo asalole kupereka ana kwaanthu osawadziwa. Pamene chikho champira chapadziko lonse lapansi chatsala pang’ono kuchitika, pakhala zinthu zambiri zomwe zizichitika,” adachenjeza aTembenu.
Iwo adati anthu ena afuna kutengera mwayi kusamveka bwino kwamfundo zina zokhudza katengedwe kaana kuchokera kwamakolo awo kapena owayang’anira kupita m’manja mwaanthu ena. Ina mwamfundozi ndiyokuti mzika zamaiko ena zofuna kutenga ana kuno kumudzi zikhale zoti zakhalapo m’dziko muno kwakanthawi.
Koma mfundoyi sifotokoza mwachindunji zanthawi yeni yeni, zimene adati zingapangitse anthu ena kumatenga ana atangokhala pamalo ogona alendo kwakanthawi kochepa.
Poyankhulapo pankhani yomweyi, woweluza milandu kubwalo lalikulu m’dziko muno, omwenso ndiwapampando wabungwe loona kuti chilungamo chikuchitika kwaana m’dziko muno, a Edward Twea adati mpofunika kuti dziko laMalawi likhazikitse kaundula waana onse omwe angatengedwe ndikuleledwa ndianthu ena kuti pasamachitike chinyengo.
ATwea adatinso mpofunika kuti dziko lino livomereze pangano lokhudza ana otelewa, lomwe adalikhazi kuHague, chinthu chomwe adati chidzathandiza kuti ana am’dziko muno omwe atengedwa ndimzika zamaiko ena adzitetezedwa m’maiko omwe apitawo.
Iwo adati zimenezi zidzathandiza kuti dziko lino lisaluze ana chifukwa chazinthu ngati chikho chapadziko lonse lapansi chomwe chichitike chaka chamawa
Malawi BBA Revolution Finalists sparks cigarette-advertising debate
Malawian finalist to the Big Brother Africa Revolution Mzamose Chibambo has sparked a cigarette advertising debate following her recent advertising deal with newly formed Malawian cigarette manufacturer Nyasa Manufacturing Company (NMC).
The controversial debate comes barely a few days after the BBA Revolution finalist started appearing on beautiful advertisements of the company’s cigarette brands.
This is not the first time the BBA housemate has raised a serious debate in Malawi on tobacco.
She was recently in the media spotlights when some members of the Malawi council of Churches condemned her for her heavy smocking in the BBA house which they described as ‘un African and un Malawian’ for ladies.
“Mzamose is not behaving as a good role model in the BBA house,” said Agness Mkoka leader of the women grouping.
In the latest development, the Malawi ministry of health and the consumers association of Malawi are condemning the cigarette manufacturing company for placing beautiful adverts featuring Mzamose who has controversially become very popular as opposed to previous Malawian BBA housemates.
Acting Principal Secretary for the ministry of health Yusuf Hassan said cigarette advertising was illegal in Malawi and condemned NMC for placing the beautiful Mzamo adverts in the local press.
“The country’s laws do not allow cigarette advertising as Malawi is a signatory to the World Health Organisation conventions that make it illegal to advertise cigarettes,” he said.
Consumer Association of Malawi Executive Director John Kapito said it was not only Malawi’s laws that bared cigarette advertising.
“This is not only against local laws, but even international laws. It is even against media ethics,” said Kapito.
Media council of Malawi Executive director Baldwin Chamwaka said public interest has to be considered before publishers accept adverts.
However, despite all this noise over the Mzamo adverts, British American Tobacco (BAT) has been promoting its cigarette brands in the Malawian media but no one ever raised concern over the adverts.
The controversial debate comes barely a few days after the BBA Revolution finalist started appearing on beautiful advertisements of the company’s cigarette brands.
This is not the first time the BBA housemate has raised a serious debate in Malawi on tobacco.
She was recently in the media spotlights when some members of the Malawi council of Churches condemned her for her heavy smocking in the BBA house which they described as ‘un African and un Malawian’ for ladies.
“Mzamose is not behaving as a good role model in the BBA house,” said Agness Mkoka leader of the women grouping.
In the latest development, the Malawi ministry of health and the consumers association of Malawi are condemning the cigarette manufacturing company for placing beautiful adverts featuring Mzamose who has controversially become very popular as opposed to previous Malawian BBA housemates.
Acting Principal Secretary for the ministry of health Yusuf Hassan said cigarette advertising was illegal in Malawi and condemned NMC for placing the beautiful Mzamo adverts in the local press.
“The country’s laws do not allow cigarette advertising as Malawi is a signatory to the World Health Organisation conventions that make it illegal to advertise cigarettes,” he said.
Consumer Association of Malawi Executive Director John Kapito said it was not only Malawi’s laws that bared cigarette advertising.
“This is not only against local laws, but even international laws. It is even against media ethics,” said Kapito.
Media council of Malawi Executive director Baldwin Chamwaka said public interest has to be considered before publishers accept adverts.
However, despite all this noise over the Mzamo adverts, British American Tobacco (BAT) has been promoting its cigarette brands in the Malawian media but no one ever raised concern over the adverts.
Cordaid gives Humanitarian aid to Malawi
Cordaid Netherlands through its Malawian partners Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) has given a 100,000 Euro humanitarian aid to assist in the procurement of food supplies in the hunger stricken southern Malawian districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje.
CDECOM National Director Costen Mulume said the 100,000 Euro aid that had already arrived in the country has been used for procurement of food for people in the two districts that are currently facing the blunt of hunger due to a poor harvest season this year.
He said the two districts that lie in the lower shire were had hit by floods in the last glowing season and most of the area were washed away by the floods.
“We have already purchased the food items and plus some maize seed and we are expected to start distribution by charismas day,” said Mulume.
He said each family would be getting a 50 kg bag of maize flour, 10kgs maize seed,5kgs beans and 2 litres of cooking oil every month until February when the situation is expected to have eased.
Cordaid earlier this year held an international meeting on disaster risk management in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe that called international community to consider issues of poverty in disaster management
CDECOM National Director Costen Mulume said the 100,000 Euro aid that had already arrived in the country has been used for procurement of food for people in the two districts that are currently facing the blunt of hunger due to a poor harvest season this year.
He said the two districts that lie in the lower shire were had hit by floods in the last glowing season and most of the area were washed away by the floods.
“We have already purchased the food items and plus some maize seed and we are expected to start distribution by charismas day,” said Mulume.
He said each family would be getting a 50 kg bag of maize flour, 10kgs maize seed,5kgs beans and 2 litres of cooking oil every month until February when the situation is expected to have eased.
Cordaid earlier this year held an international meeting on disaster risk management in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe that called international community to consider issues of poverty in disaster management
Climate change goes Malawian
Malawi, like the rest of the world, was once regulated by the sun; everything revolved around the sun- time, animal and plant life.
Time when the earth was an integral part of man, and man a loving part of it. The perfumed flowers were man’s sister; the deer, the horse, the great eagle- his brothers. Humming insects evoked holy memories and experiences in people, just as rocky crests, juices of the meadows, the body heat of the pony and warm worms- all belonged to one family.
Before the famed Dziwe Lankhalamba on Mulanje Mountain turned violent and started swallowing human souls, shining water moved peacefully in such rivers as Linthipe, Shire, Mudi, Lilongwe, and lagoons like Chia without causing floods. The water was not just any other liquid to the then caring people of Malawi- it was the blood of our ancestors.
Mid-day ghostly reflections in the clear waters of the lakes- Lake Malawi, Chiuta, Kazuni and Chilwa- told of memories and forthcoming events in the lives of the people.
The water’s murmur was the voice of our ancestors, and the rivers and lagoons were our brothers and sisters because they quenched our thirst, carried our canoes and fed fish to our children. The Akafula, or Abathwa, the early inhabitants of Malawi, then gave the best treatment to the rivers, the sought of kindness you would give to your only brother or sister.
The earth and its people were connected like blood which unites one family. Whatever befell the earth befell the sons and daughters of earth. It is as simple as that and a web: man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
For a long time, this realization remained the settled conviction of a larger group of people, at least until the formation of independent nation states of people begun to take effect because, not long after, things went haywire.
Take language vocabulary, for instance. It is a fact that the British word ‘scheme’ quickly translates to the American ‘plan’ or ‘proposal’. Yet the two countries were once one, when Britain was an unmistakable colony of the United States of America.
They say the world has conflict built into it; a factor that continues to haunt the modern world.
December 2009 will go down the annals of our world story as a month when world leaders, both from developed and developing countries, as well as experts from different fields, met in Copenhagen, Denmark, under this carpet of on-going confusion, disagreements and conflict. They gathered under the United (?) Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) to draw the way forward on tackling climate change and its associated impacts.
Issues tackled included land use, changes in land use, forestry and rising global temperatures, all manifestations of man made concoctions. Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, did not make it to the high level meeting as he wanted to serve the country’s drying foreign currency reserves. Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Minister Grain Malunga wore his shoes.
However, Mutharika was home talking about climate change. He went to Chiradzulu and planted two trees when the country launched the National Forestry Season on December 15, 2009.
He remembered his good ole days, when the rains honoured their Southern region promises early November, keeping those (promises) for the Central and Northern region for somewhere between late November and early December, respectively. Always, before the word ‘excuse’ crept into the language of the rains.
“The story is different now. We have prolonged dry spells, which have already started affecting districts like Chiradzulu. These are the effects of climate change,” said Mutharika.
Mutharika felt so sorry that, as the children of ‘ancient’ Chiradzulu and Thyolo used to run and bathe in the rains on days like December 15, there was nothing but the sun and a dry spell for children of modern-day Chiradzulu and Thyolo!
Sentiments echoed by Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Principal Secretary, Dr. Denis Kayambazinthu. He bemoaned that climate change was fast becoming part of the warm-heartedness that is Malawi.
“The country has experienced a number of adverse effects of climate change. The most serious have been dry spells, seasonal droughts, intense rainfall, river line floods, flush floods and unpredictable rainfall patterns,” said Kayambazinthu.
The scary part of it, he said, is that these are impacting negatively on food security, water quality, energy and sustainable rural communities’ livelihoods.
Malawi is at a crossroads. Some of the events attributed to climate change include the severe drought conditions of the 1991/92 agriculture season and extreme flood events in 2000/01.
An Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change report reveals that Malawians cut an average 70, 000 trees each year and that, while more trees are planted during the National Forestry Season, only 60 per cent survive.
While climate change and global warming are global phenomena, a US National Environmental Trust report indicates that Malawi is paying an exorbitant price for the activities of rich nations such as USA, China, and Britain. The report says Malawi emits less than a quarter of a million metric tones of carbon equivalent a year, as compared to over 1,500 million tones emitted by the USA in 2002 alone.
Yet, this is no time for finger pointing, enthuses Elina Mkululanga- Head of Public Weather Services in the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services at the Meteorological Services Department.
“We are really seeing the effects of climate change, but this is no time for finger-pointing It’s time to bear responsibility and act,” says Mkululanga.
Time when the earth was an integral part of man, and man a loving part of it. The perfumed flowers were man’s sister; the deer, the horse, the great eagle- his brothers. Humming insects evoked holy memories and experiences in people, just as rocky crests, juices of the meadows, the body heat of the pony and warm worms- all belonged to one family.
Before the famed Dziwe Lankhalamba on Mulanje Mountain turned violent and started swallowing human souls, shining water moved peacefully in such rivers as Linthipe, Shire, Mudi, Lilongwe, and lagoons like Chia without causing floods. The water was not just any other liquid to the then caring people of Malawi- it was the blood of our ancestors.
Mid-day ghostly reflections in the clear waters of the lakes- Lake Malawi, Chiuta, Kazuni and Chilwa- told of memories and forthcoming events in the lives of the people.
The water’s murmur was the voice of our ancestors, and the rivers and lagoons were our brothers and sisters because they quenched our thirst, carried our canoes and fed fish to our children. The Akafula, or Abathwa, the early inhabitants of Malawi, then gave the best treatment to the rivers, the sought of kindness you would give to your only brother or sister.
The earth and its people were connected like blood which unites one family. Whatever befell the earth befell the sons and daughters of earth. It is as simple as that and a web: man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
For a long time, this realization remained the settled conviction of a larger group of people, at least until the formation of independent nation states of people begun to take effect because, not long after, things went haywire.
Take language vocabulary, for instance. It is a fact that the British word ‘scheme’ quickly translates to the American ‘plan’ or ‘proposal’. Yet the two countries were once one, when Britain was an unmistakable colony of the United States of America.
They say the world has conflict built into it; a factor that continues to haunt the modern world.
December 2009 will go down the annals of our world story as a month when world leaders, both from developed and developing countries, as well as experts from different fields, met in Copenhagen, Denmark, under this carpet of on-going confusion, disagreements and conflict. They gathered under the United (?) Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) to draw the way forward on tackling climate change and its associated impacts.
Issues tackled included land use, changes in land use, forestry and rising global temperatures, all manifestations of man made concoctions. Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, did not make it to the high level meeting as he wanted to serve the country’s drying foreign currency reserves. Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Minister Grain Malunga wore his shoes.
However, Mutharika was home talking about climate change. He went to Chiradzulu and planted two trees when the country launched the National Forestry Season on December 15, 2009.
He remembered his good ole days, when the rains honoured their Southern region promises early November, keeping those (promises) for the Central and Northern region for somewhere between late November and early December, respectively. Always, before the word ‘excuse’ crept into the language of the rains.
“The story is different now. We have prolonged dry spells, which have already started affecting districts like Chiradzulu. These are the effects of climate change,” said Mutharika.
Mutharika felt so sorry that, as the children of ‘ancient’ Chiradzulu and Thyolo used to run and bathe in the rains on days like December 15, there was nothing but the sun and a dry spell for children of modern-day Chiradzulu and Thyolo!
Sentiments echoed by Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Principal Secretary, Dr. Denis Kayambazinthu. He bemoaned that climate change was fast becoming part of the warm-heartedness that is Malawi.
“The country has experienced a number of adverse effects of climate change. The most serious have been dry spells, seasonal droughts, intense rainfall, river line floods, flush floods and unpredictable rainfall patterns,” said Kayambazinthu.
The scary part of it, he said, is that these are impacting negatively on food security, water quality, energy and sustainable rural communities’ livelihoods.
Malawi is at a crossroads. Some of the events attributed to climate change include the severe drought conditions of the 1991/92 agriculture season and extreme flood events in 2000/01.
An Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change report reveals that Malawians cut an average 70, 000 trees each year and that, while more trees are planted during the National Forestry Season, only 60 per cent survive.
While climate change and global warming are global phenomena, a US National Environmental Trust report indicates that Malawi is paying an exorbitant price for the activities of rich nations such as USA, China, and Britain. The report says Malawi emits less than a quarter of a million metric tones of carbon equivalent a year, as compared to over 1,500 million tones emitted by the USA in 2002 alone.
Yet, this is no time for finger pointing, enthuses Elina Mkululanga- Head of Public Weather Services in the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services at the Meteorological Services Department.
“We are really seeing the effects of climate change, but this is no time for finger-pointing It’s time to bear responsibility and act,” says Mkululanga.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Mzamo now on tobacco adverts
Mzamose Chibambo, Malawi's representative to this year's Big Brother Africa Revolution House, looks so beautiful in new tobacco adverts.
The adverts are the by-product of Malawi's new tobacco manufacturing kid on the block, Nyasa, and promises new aromas.
However, the Consumers Association of Malawi and Ministry of Health have voiced out concerns over the new adverts, admitting they are too beautiful and romantic they would woe more into smoking.
However, the new cigas carry the usual warning label warning smokers of the adverts health effects of smoking.
Mzamose was renowned for smoking like a Ninja in the BBA House.She simply seems hard placed to change as she evidently enjoys shapeless smoke.
The adverts are the by-product of Malawi's new tobacco manufacturing kid on the block, Nyasa, and promises new aromas.
However, the Consumers Association of Malawi and Ministry of Health have voiced out concerns over the new adverts, admitting they are too beautiful and romantic they would woe more into smoking.
However, the new cigas carry the usual warning label warning smokers of the adverts health effects of smoking.
Mzamose was renowned for smoking like a Ninja in the BBA House.She simply seems hard placed to change as she evidently enjoys shapeless smoke.
Wishing you a Merry Chrismas and Prosperous New Year
Thanks all the people who were following www.zachimalawi.blogspot.com during the past two years. It has been a wonderful year and experience.
For all those who frequented Zachimalawi, I say also thanks.
Let's be together again next. Others have been asking for pictures on the blog; well, those plans are in the offing. For those with questions I say, continue asking them.
Thanks once again. Lots of love.
Regards,
Richard Chirombo
For all those who frequented Zachimalawi, I say also thanks.
Let's be together again next. Others have been asking for pictures on the blog; well, those plans are in the offing. For those with questions I say, continue asking them.
Thanks once again. Lots of love.
Regards,
Richard Chirombo
Friday, December 18, 2009
Patricia Kaliati, Olive Chikankheni have never been in good books
The outbursts emanating from Gender and Community Development Minister, Patricia Kaliati, against senior ministry officials who boycotted a ceremony she presided over is no news at all.
The issue is that Kaliati and the Ministry's Principal Secretary Olive Chikankheni have always been in bad books, even before Kaliati joined the new ministry.
When Kaliati was Information and Civic Education Minister before the May 19, 2009 elections, the acrimony between the two was there for all to see.
For once, Chikankheni has always been open about her feelings for Kaliati.
Zachimalawi even wondered when Kaliati became the new gender minister how the two could work together.
The Central region incident is, to say the least, disappointing.
I have never seen a minister in my whole life as hardworking as Kaliati.
The other officials should not put spanners in her way; she is a gem of a woman, Kaliati.
The issue is that Kaliati and the Ministry's Principal Secretary Olive Chikankheni have always been in bad books, even before Kaliati joined the new ministry.
When Kaliati was Information and Civic Education Minister before the May 19, 2009 elections, the acrimony between the two was there for all to see.
For once, Chikankheni has always been open about her feelings for Kaliati.
Zachimalawi even wondered when Kaliati became the new gender minister how the two could work together.
The Central region incident is, to say the least, disappointing.
I have never seen a minister in my whole life as hardworking as Kaliati.
The other officials should not put spanners in her way; she is a gem of a woman, Kaliati.
Rising above average hopes
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.
“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.
Malawi: the tourism haven
Not only friendly people but also a big billboard with the inscription ‘Exit the land Jeito welcome to the land of Chishango’ greets you as you enter Malawi from Mozambique through Mwanza.
As a first traveler to the southern Africa country, you would be surprised why a country proudly aligns its identity to condom brand.
However, despite the condom advertisement, Malawi just as its neighbor Mozambique has hardnosed measures regulating sex work.
Realizing that the sex industry can not be controlled the two countries make sure they warn tourists in advance of the importance of safer sex during their days of stay in the country as they are some of the countries having a high HIV and AIDS prevalence rate.
Reaching the border post on the Malawian immigration side you would have already started feeling as if you chose a wrong destination for your holiday.
Occasionally you see children begging; however, these are just some of the few-orphaned children that survive from the arms they get from the several travelers going in and out of Malawi.
The blur of some reggae music from the bars just near the border post will soon greet you to the warm-hearted nation. As you wait for the immigration and customs officials you probably will be enticed to go and try one Malawian beer and even food as most of these bars also have restraints serving a wide range of Malawian and Portuguese cuisines.
“The first time I traveled to Malawi from south Africa I found the border at Mwanza very boring. I felt like I had landed my self at a wrong holiday destination over my home in Ontario,” said Christen Hoffman a Canadian national based in Johannesburg South Africa.
She recalled that whilst she was regretting having chosen Malawi out of all tourist destinations in southern Africa, she was approached a black market forex vendor who asked her if she wanted some local currency.
“I did not have any local money at that point and I was feeling very hungry having traveled the whole day from Johannesburg to Mwanza and the polite way he approached me just made me feel like I was in my second home,” she recalled.
She said as opposed to young men from other countries she has traveled, the young vendor treated her very politely that she instantly fell in love with Malawi.
“The good thing about Malawians is that they are very polite and usually happily come to your assistance when you need help,” she said.
Driving from Mwanza towards the commercial city Blantyre a 110-kilometer drive takes you about two hours and as you drive in the December heat, the cicada tweeter greets you as you enjoy scenery of Malawi’s natural beauty.
The traditional mud huts along the m6 that connects Malawi to the rest of southern Africa will make their way in your camera even before you reach the shire river, one of the would not miss spots taking a shot to show back home.
However never be worried by the rude treatment you will receive from police officers at the police check as they undertake their routine search.
A tour guide, Edward Sakwata said in interview police officers are usually very hard on tourists when dreadlocked tour guides accompany them. He said they suspect them of drug peddling.
“When a police officer sees a European tourist accompanied by a young dreadlocked tour guide their impression is that the two are involved in a drug deal,” he said.
Arriving in Blantyre you will be feeling very tired. However, you have just started your Malawian adventure for nightlife in Blantyre is the most thrilling experience to many tourists.
If you did not have advance bookings for accommodation, there are several backpackers’ packs offering a variety of affordable prices for tourists.
Most of these clubs do not close until the early morning hours and you will actually realize why the condom billboard greeted you at your entry in Mwanza when you are at such clubs.
Girls that earn their living through commercial sex would not leave the bar counters until they drop or they have hooked one client for the night.
Chris Johnston British national on two-week vacation to Malawi said his first day in Malawi was the most interesting one.
“Upon arriving in Blantyre I did not have an idea of where I would sleep for the night as I was proceeding to Mulanje Mountain the following day, however when I went to the Blantyre tourist market I met this young girl that showed me the other side of Blantyre,” he said laughing.
Ironically, Johnston almost mistook the Soche hill that is just within the city premises for Mulanje Mountain.
Mulanje Mountain is one of the Malawian tourist attractions one would not miss while in the country. The mountain has a rich cultural history.
To some hikers most of the myths attached to the mountains Sapitwa peak would sound as fairly tales, however when the locals advise you take notice of their counsel.
Recently a Brazilian hiker, Gabriel Bushman got lost on the mountain peak and was only found 10 days latter dead.
Some locals said Bushman was found because the spirits in the mountain liked him released him so that he meets his people, but he might have been unfortunate to have fallen on his way back.
People of Mulanje have different theories on people that go missing on the mountain. Others say these people might fall into the Ruo River just near the mountain and get washed away.
However, the spirit tales dominate.
“When one wants to go to Sapitwa he needs to offer special prayers other wise he will not return,” said Maxwell Chifika a local from the district.
After Mulanje, the Malawian adventure will not be complete if you have not tasted the warm of the fresh waters of the Lake Malawi.
The bus drive from Blantyre to Mangochi will take you four hours. The road from Blantyre to Mangochi has a rich variety of Malawian tradition.
All along the way you will see women wrapped in the traditional Malawian Chitenje ‘Wrapper’ and by the roadsides you are not to miss the arts and craft that are skillfully displayed in roadside kiosks.
Zomba would be the next good stop over even for a night as the town that used to be the administration centre during the British rule has some interesting tourist spots.
Most of the Victorian houses that used to house the British administrators have now been turned into lodges.
However of much interest would be a visit to Ku-Chawe just on top of Zomba plateau.
The trout farm on the plateau and the Chingwes hole have been some of the wonders that have made the Chawe adventure a must not miss for tourists in Malawi.
The emperors view just on top of the plateau can give chance to view to places as far as Mozambique, many tourists have looked the view in the evening when the dark night can give you a fair chance to admire the twinkling light of distant towns below.
“My Malawian experience could not have been complete without the Kuchawe sojourn the climb on the plateau on a fair evening gives you an opportunity to enjoy the Malawian romance,” said Catherine Pereira a Canadian tourist.
As you go to your final destination, Mangochi, you will find lots merchandise that would be good for a home take back.
However, Namwera turn off offers a wide variety of sculptures and paintings of high quality.
For Catherine Tamayenda a Malawian national staying in the US she usually has time to stop at Namwera to buy her friends some African crafts from this place.
“Every time I come to Malawi for holidays I make it a point that I visit Namwera to buy some arts I can give friends back in the US,”she said.
She said the unique thing about the arts and crafts at Namwera was that they had straightforward themes.
By the time you arrive in Mangochi, you really would have understood why the accolade the warm heart of Africa befits Malawi.
The beautiful lake birds and the nice people you will meet on the way could have long made their way in your camera and the beauty of Malawian culture should have by now bewitched you.
However, the best time at Mangochi is in the evenings. Most resorts at the lake shore district organise cultural activities targeting the tourists.
Dances as Gule wa mkulu that UNESCO recognizes as one of the protected Malawian heritage dominate in the evenings.
But take care not to flit with the so many sex workers that flock into thse area looking for some pleasure, fun and money from tourists.
Malawi has a high HIV and AIDS prevalence and sex workers have been the major transmitters of the infection.
As a first traveler to the southern Africa country, you would be surprised why a country proudly aligns its identity to condom brand.
However, despite the condom advertisement, Malawi just as its neighbor Mozambique has hardnosed measures regulating sex work.
Realizing that the sex industry can not be controlled the two countries make sure they warn tourists in advance of the importance of safer sex during their days of stay in the country as they are some of the countries having a high HIV and AIDS prevalence rate.
Reaching the border post on the Malawian immigration side you would have already started feeling as if you chose a wrong destination for your holiday.
Occasionally you see children begging; however, these are just some of the few-orphaned children that survive from the arms they get from the several travelers going in and out of Malawi.
The blur of some reggae music from the bars just near the border post will soon greet you to the warm-hearted nation. As you wait for the immigration and customs officials you probably will be enticed to go and try one Malawian beer and even food as most of these bars also have restraints serving a wide range of Malawian and Portuguese cuisines.
“The first time I traveled to Malawi from south Africa I found the border at Mwanza very boring. I felt like I had landed my self at a wrong holiday destination over my home in Ontario,” said Christen Hoffman a Canadian national based in Johannesburg South Africa.
She recalled that whilst she was regretting having chosen Malawi out of all tourist destinations in southern Africa, she was approached a black market forex vendor who asked her if she wanted some local currency.
“I did not have any local money at that point and I was feeling very hungry having traveled the whole day from Johannesburg to Mwanza and the polite way he approached me just made me feel like I was in my second home,” she recalled.
She said as opposed to young men from other countries she has traveled, the young vendor treated her very politely that she instantly fell in love with Malawi.
“The good thing about Malawians is that they are very polite and usually happily come to your assistance when you need help,” she said.
Driving from Mwanza towards the commercial city Blantyre a 110-kilometer drive takes you about two hours and as you drive in the December heat, the cicada tweeter greets you as you enjoy scenery of Malawi’s natural beauty.
The traditional mud huts along the m6 that connects Malawi to the rest of southern Africa will make their way in your camera even before you reach the shire river, one of the would not miss spots taking a shot to show back home.
However never be worried by the rude treatment you will receive from police officers at the police check as they undertake their routine search.
A tour guide, Edward Sakwata said in interview police officers are usually very hard on tourists when dreadlocked tour guides accompany them. He said they suspect them of drug peddling.
“When a police officer sees a European tourist accompanied by a young dreadlocked tour guide their impression is that the two are involved in a drug deal,” he said.
Arriving in Blantyre you will be feeling very tired. However, you have just started your Malawian adventure for nightlife in Blantyre is the most thrilling experience to many tourists.
If you did not have advance bookings for accommodation, there are several backpackers’ packs offering a variety of affordable prices for tourists.
Most of these clubs do not close until the early morning hours and you will actually realize why the condom billboard greeted you at your entry in Mwanza when you are at such clubs.
Girls that earn their living through commercial sex would not leave the bar counters until they drop or they have hooked one client for the night.
Chris Johnston British national on two-week vacation to Malawi said his first day in Malawi was the most interesting one.
“Upon arriving in Blantyre I did not have an idea of where I would sleep for the night as I was proceeding to Mulanje Mountain the following day, however when I went to the Blantyre tourist market I met this young girl that showed me the other side of Blantyre,” he said laughing.
Ironically, Johnston almost mistook the Soche hill that is just within the city premises for Mulanje Mountain.
Mulanje Mountain is one of the Malawian tourist attractions one would not miss while in the country. The mountain has a rich cultural history.
To some hikers most of the myths attached to the mountains Sapitwa peak would sound as fairly tales, however when the locals advise you take notice of their counsel.
Recently a Brazilian hiker, Gabriel Bushman got lost on the mountain peak and was only found 10 days latter dead.
Some locals said Bushman was found because the spirits in the mountain liked him released him so that he meets his people, but he might have been unfortunate to have fallen on his way back.
People of Mulanje have different theories on people that go missing on the mountain. Others say these people might fall into the Ruo River just near the mountain and get washed away.
However, the spirit tales dominate.
“When one wants to go to Sapitwa he needs to offer special prayers other wise he will not return,” said Maxwell Chifika a local from the district.
After Mulanje, the Malawian adventure will not be complete if you have not tasted the warm of the fresh waters of the Lake Malawi.
The bus drive from Blantyre to Mangochi will take you four hours. The road from Blantyre to Mangochi has a rich variety of Malawian tradition.
All along the way you will see women wrapped in the traditional Malawian Chitenje ‘Wrapper’ and by the roadsides you are not to miss the arts and craft that are skillfully displayed in roadside kiosks.
Zomba would be the next good stop over even for a night as the town that used to be the administration centre during the British rule has some interesting tourist spots.
Most of the Victorian houses that used to house the British administrators have now been turned into lodges.
However of much interest would be a visit to Ku-Chawe just on top of Zomba plateau.
The trout farm on the plateau and the Chingwes hole have been some of the wonders that have made the Chawe adventure a must not miss for tourists in Malawi.
The emperors view just on top of the plateau can give chance to view to places as far as Mozambique, many tourists have looked the view in the evening when the dark night can give you a fair chance to admire the twinkling light of distant towns below.
“My Malawian experience could not have been complete without the Kuchawe sojourn the climb on the plateau on a fair evening gives you an opportunity to enjoy the Malawian romance,” said Catherine Pereira a Canadian tourist.
As you go to your final destination, Mangochi, you will find lots merchandise that would be good for a home take back.
However, Namwera turn off offers a wide variety of sculptures and paintings of high quality.
For Catherine Tamayenda a Malawian national staying in the US she usually has time to stop at Namwera to buy her friends some African crafts from this place.
“Every time I come to Malawi for holidays I make it a point that I visit Namwera to buy some arts I can give friends back in the US,”she said.
She said the unique thing about the arts and crafts at Namwera was that they had straightforward themes.
By the time you arrive in Mangochi, you really would have understood why the accolade the warm heart of Africa befits Malawi.
The beautiful lake birds and the nice people you will meet on the way could have long made their way in your camera and the beauty of Malawian culture should have by now bewitched you.
However, the best time at Mangochi is in the evenings. Most resorts at the lake shore district organise cultural activities targeting the tourists.
Dances as Gule wa mkulu that UNESCO recognizes as one of the protected Malawian heritage dominate in the evenings.
But take care not to flit with the so many sex workers that flock into thse area looking for some pleasure, fun and money from tourists.
Malawi has a high HIV and AIDS prevalence and sex workers have been the major transmitters of the infection.
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