Dec 05

A License To Speed

MalawiCulture, About Malawi


Obtaining A Mini Bus Passport

    Because so few people in Malawi can afford to own or operate a motor vehicle the chief means of getting around is by minibus. Minibuses are notorious for being junkyards in motion, and mini bus drivers often appear to be accidents looking for a place to happen. Add to this the fact that each driver will cram as many people into his vehicle as he can possible get in, and you have the formula for serious, life threatening accidents on Malawi roads. A police crackdown has been needed for a number of years.

    Adding to the safety problem with the buses is the fact that Malawi roads are infamous for their high accident rate in spite of the fact they have so few vehicles per capita. It can be concluded that a major part of the problem has probably been centered in the fact that the police were on foot instead of in vehicles that offered the opportunity to give pursuit to a wayward driver. In order words, there were almost no police vehicles to patrol the highways and everyone was aware of it and acted accordingly. There simply was no way to slow a speeder or even to know he was speeding unless he was stopped at a roadblock. Speeding became the rule of the road and the high accident rate followed.

    This all changed suddenly in 2006 with the introduction of a number of police patrol cars, motorcycles and speed detection equipment. Their introduction along the highways abruptly brought a change in driving habits by many a Malawi driver. Or, at least it did for most drivers. One minibus driver from Blantyre seemed to be an exception. It seems he was coming north out of Blantyre at a high rate of speed. In fact the police report clocked him at 140 km per hour(about 90 MPH). That is at the very top of most odometers. The police quickly gave chase in their new patrol car, and in spite of his speed they were able to overtake him and pull the bus over to the side of the road.

    When the police reached the vehicle crammed with human cargo the driver leaned out the window to announce it was all right for him to speed as he had already obtained his "passport" earlier in the day.

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Nov 14

The Cemetery that Kills People

MalawiCulture, About Malawi

    Highway M-1 from Blantyre to Lilongwe is long, straight and by African standards a good, well-marked tarmac road. Only south of the mountainous area near Dedza does the road climb into the mountains and present the traveler with some sharp, snake like curves and turns as it crosses the mountain range south and west of Lake Malawi. As with almost all of the paved roads in the country (which are very few) the traveler takes his life into his hands each time a trip begins. But of all of the dangerous parts of the highway system there is one spot that is worse by far than any of the rest. No, it is not on a hairpin curve. No, it is not at a major intersection or in a congested trading center. It is on a straight stretch of road a few kilometers north of Dedza where a driver can see clearly for a long distance ahead. Granted the road at this spot is in a slight grade, but for the driver of any vehicle this should cause no problem or concern. Yet, at a particular spot on this stretch of highway north of Dedza there have been more accidents and fatalities than on any other stretch of road in the country. It is so serious that on both sides of the road the highway department has installed a number of rumble strips to warn and slow the traffic before it reaches the spot.

    And there seems to be nothing in the location and geography to indicate why. Nothing except if you want to listen to the local residents who seem to have no doubt as to the cause of all of the accidents. For them the answer is plain, simple and conclusive. It is the work of the spirits and their explanation is this:

    When the Banda Administration constructed highway M-1 in order to offer a means by which a traveler can easily reach all three regions of the country this stretch of road was carelessly laid down over a cemetery. And now, so the story goes, the highway traffic running over the resting place of the ancestors puts them in continual torment. In order to persuade the government to move the road the spirits continue to cause the highway accidents.

Oct 03

An Obsession With Drawing

MalawiCulture, Mtendere, Be The Change

His Passion Reaches Into
Mtendere Children’s Village

    "Kingsley Maigwa is my name; I live for art and I paint to live. From the moment I received a slate and pencil at primary school, I became obsessed with drawing. I use oil or acrylic paint on canvas but I like to experiment using fabric and other materials to add a third dimension to the people in my portraits. In the painting here the little girl’s clothes stand out from the background. In other cases a man’s hat rim reaches right out of the picture at you, made of the real material that the paint elsewhere simply imitates.

    For the past three years I have been preparing paintings for the American teams that come to Malawi to help the people. I have painted a number of scenes on the Blessings property, and I was able to paint the entire children’s part of the new wing of the hospital. Now I am spending a lot of time helping the children at Mtendere learn to paint. I volunteer and come to their homes each week to encourage them. Some of them are quite good and a number have real talent to paint and draw.

    When I am not helping the children I paint the scenes of everyday life that I find around me, both in my home village of Zomba in the southeast part of Malawi and in the capital city of Lilongwe where I now live with my wife and son.

    Life is not easy in Malawi but I work extra hard and, God willing, I will be able to continue making a living as an artist."

    The Malawi Project is pleased to be working with Kingsley and have him making this contribution to the future of the children of Mtendere. For more information about Kingsley and his work as a painter contact him at KingMaigwa[at]yahoo.co.uk.

Orphans learning to draw.

 

Sep 07

Mouse Salesman - Holi Phiri

MalawiCulture, About the Malawi Project, Economy of Malawi, People of Malawi, About Malawi

A Cultural Experience - Mouse on a Stick

      It is a solitary spot 15 kilometers north of the city center of Lilongwe. A white Isuzu Trooper races north from the capital and darts past the small boy standing dangerously close to the edge of the tarmac road. It is the 9thBoy selling Mice on a Stick vehicle that has sped by the empty stretch of road in the past hour. A short distance beyond the boy the Isuzu signals a left hand turn and begins to slow for the turn off that will take it to the international airport.

    The occupants of the vehicle, like those of the previous 9 had paid scant attention to the boy or to the food he was offering for sale. Holi lowers his split bamboo poles that sandwich in the fried mice and looks longingly toward the south for the next potential customer.

      The boy, Holi Phiri is sure he is 13 years old. He comes from the Kulamula Village in the Lumbadzi area. The tribal chief over his village is T. A. Chitukla.

His Only Education Is Holding A Hoe

    When an interview is arranged between Holi and an Azungu (white person) a translator is needed since he is one of the hundreds of thousands of village children who will never see the inside of an educational classroom. As Mama Cecelia Kadazamira describes it, “The only education most of the village children have is how to hold the handle of a hoe for working in the garden.”

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Aug 29

Mponela Trading Center

MalawiCulture, Malawi Healthcare, About Malawi

     Because of its population that is higher than most other communities, and with its proximity to the capital city, the Mponela Trading Center enjoys a wide variety of local outlets and trading booths. Dried fish arrive from the lake several times a week, sugar and other cooking supplies and foodstuff arrive with the same frequency as can be found in a cash and commodity poor country. Fuel at the two petrol stations is available most of the time. Even electricity and phone service is available to some of the residents, most of the time.  Almost anything can be found in Mponela that is available in any other parts of the nation with the possible exception of these things being in more abundant supply in the four largest cities. Mponela has a definite African flair and hospitality, and the visitor is welcomed throughout the region.

An Unsure Trip to an Unknown Location, for an Unsure Outcome

    The Mponela Rural Hospital sits along a dusty back road behind the Peoples Trading Center grocery store in the center of the town. It will not be noticed by the highway traffic unless someone knows to turn and look off to the west side of the road.  It seems reflective and representative of most of the rural hospitals in the nation. It has no doctor, only two or three nurses, and almost no working equipment. It has supplies only part of the time, and the patient count rises and falls with the availability of the needed supplies. Patients who come to the hospital cannot expect much in the way of service, and if the case is serious the patient will probably be referred to the Dowa District Hospital or into the capital city of Lilongwe to Bottom Hospital or to Kamuzu Central Hospital. In this case the problems will arise with the patients inability to pay for the transportation costs, and the problem with friends or family traveling with them to care for the patients needs during the stay in the hospital. For many it will be an unsure trip to an unknown location, for an unsure outcome.

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