A week of mourning

Last Friday I visited our NCA colleague Wellington who had been admitted at Kamuzu Central Hospital.  He was in fair spirit, surrounded by family and friends - as is the tradition.  The room was packed.  I left him, hoping to see him back in the office very soon.

Birgit and I left for safari in South Luangwa Natural Park in Zambia with visiting friends over the weekend.  On our way back Tuesday I received a call from my colleague Esther.  On a broken line I asked her to repeat her message, which I did not comprehend.  Her repeating the message left me still without comprehending, but not due to a difficult phone line.  Nevertheless, the reality sunk in: "We lost Wellington!" He had died some minutes earlier on that Tuesday.

The entire NCA team was in shock.  Wellington had been an important colleague for one year, challenging us with his academic strength, advising us on how to be more professional, and encouraging us to put words to what we had achieved but not been good enough to report on.  His contagious laughter was no more to be heard.

As employer NCA was expected to take lead in the preparations for the funeral rites,and the whole team was immediately put to work: including buying coffin, and bringing the body from the mortuary to his home in area 25 in Lilongwe. Our team facilitated the practical arrangements for bringing the body to his home village in Dowa, about 1 1/2 hours north of Lilongwe, and securing transport for the closest family and friends.  Food for the expected crowd to attend the funeral should also be in place before the funeral on Thursday.

Paying the last respect in Wellington's home village

On Thursday, in Wellington's home village, people trickled in during morning hours.  They were invited to pay the last respect, while the diggers were working hard to dig the grave in the village graveyard in the outskirts of the village. While waiting, all hundreds of mourners were treated with food.  After some hours the diggers and their supervisors entered the village in a procession, singing.  Time had come to start the ceremony in the square around which people had waited under the trees and wherever they could find shade for the blistering sun.

The diggers have completed the grave

The coffin was brought, and the speeches, including the village chief, the local parliamentarian, me as his employer, and his local church pastor were delivered.

Mourners gathered around the coffin

Wellington's life, achievement and character were highlighted.  Interestingly, the head chief of the area warned Wellington's family not to claim anything that he left behind:" Let all what he left behind go to his widow and his children, allowing them to grow up and go through school!"  He was obviously referring to the local custom that the deceased's brothers inherit the widow and his assets.

The local chief appreciating the life of Wellington

A local health worker seized the moment when this big crowd was together to share some important health messages, and to announce the arrival of a mobile health team.  The local community police urged people to help them bring to an end an upsurge of crime in the area, that had been experienced as of late.

Time had come to bring Wellington's body to his last rest.  The crowd followed the coffin to the cluster of trees under which the grave had been dug.

The village graveyard under the trees

After having lowered the coffin into the grave, the pastor administered the last rites.  Almost 20 wreaths were laid down as a last greeting.  The long row of mourners slowly made their way back to the village, as the diggers reappeared on the scene to finalize what they had started in the morning.

Returning from the grave, women... and then men

A community had taken farewell with a husband, father, son, friend, colleague, neighbour, member of the church...  The father could not be given back to his three children, but they were comforted and given support in their time of grief and sorrow.  In the midst of being a week for mourning, I was encouraged to experience that African culture has dimensions of solidarity and empathy.  Those vulnerable members of the community are reminded that they still belong to the community, and are not as fragmented individuals left on their own.

Recreation, environment - and conflict of interest

Last weekend there was no contribution on this blog.  The reason is simple:  Birgit and I spent the extended Mother's Day weekend in Mulanje Mountains and Zomba Plateau without internet-connection.  A small account of our experience is therefore following this weekend.

Beauty of the Mulanje Mountains

Mulanje Mountains is the highest mountains in Malawi, with its highest peak reaching just above 3000 meters above sea level.  The lower part of the mountains are moderate steep, and covered with a combination of indigenous and pine trees.

We stayed at a lodge belonging to the Presbyterian Church at the foothills of the mountain, in a self-contained chalet.  

While our hikes during the two days were limited to staying within the forest-covered lower part of the massif, we experienced the greatness of the nature.  The Waterfall, with its natural pool for swimming just below, was the playground for a group of scouts who stayed next-door to us.  Their joy of experiencing the nature, and enjoying swimming in the clear and chilly pond was refreshing.  Scouting is a global movement, and we clearly saw that Malawian girls and boys enjoyed life in Mother nature the same way scouts in Norway enjoy outdoor life!

The scout group under the Waterfall

The last day of our weekend we spent on the Zomba Plateau, a steep climb up from the old colonial capital Zomba.  The Plateau is a forest covered area with rivers, dams and excellent roads and paths for both biking and walking.  Zomba Plateau is at the same time a symbol of conflict of interest between environmental and recreational needs on the one hand, and survival for the common man on the other.

During our hike we met several men who obviously cut trees and brought firewood back to the market in Zomba and surroundings.  Every day they were climbing the steep ascent from Zomba.  You will have an impression of the view from the "Emperor's Viewpoint", a place visited by Emperor Haile Sellaise in 1965.

View from the "Emperor's Viewpoint gives an impression of the climb from Zomba

Thomas, who is in the right side of the photo below, makes the 10 km. climb with his bicycle every morning, uses the day together with his friend Lawrence cutting and splitting wood, loads his bicycle and makes it back to Zomba and the market in the evening.  According to him, this hard work may earn him USD 7 - 8 per day.  This brings his income clearly above the average daily earnings of the masses of Malawi.  The fact that he, and hundreds of other wood cutters, are depleting the forest and disturbing the environment seems to be beyond their concern.

Heavy load of firewood on its way 

to the market

Thomas and Lawrence cutting wood for a living

Preserving precious forest areas is clearly in tension with creating livelihood for many families who do not see many other options for their upkeep.  Government and many good forces obviously need to work on policies and practices that can remove this tension and create win-win situations.

Embarking on student life in Malawi

Beatrice was excited and nervous as we approached the gate of LUANAR (Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources).  When we took her, and all her student life belongings from Lilongwe this afternoon, a bit less than one hour drive from our house, it was her journey to start her student life.

Academic life at LUANAR ahead!

Beatrice is the daughter of Emily, our housemaid, and she is eager to study hard and dig into the aspects of nutrition.  Her huge desire had been to study medicine, but the requirements were sky-high, and although she is a bright young lady, she did not quite reach there.  Now she is ready to put every effort into her degree in nutrition.

Beatrice represents 1% of tertiary school-age population of Malawi that is enrolled in tertiary education.  In Norway around 75% are enrolled, while the figure for Botswana is 18%.  The threshold is high to find yourself in a university or college campus in Malawi, and considerably higher if you are a girl!   Not only is the academic threshold high, but also the economic threshold.

We have witnessed unrest and demonstrations among students the last few months due to sharp hikes in student fees.  In some universities the fees were increased with more than 150% in one leap.  For LUANAR students were told only two-three weeks prior to semester start that fees had been increased with 50%.  Many students had made huge efforts to scrape together enough money to pay for tuition, fees, upkeep, ... through jobs, student loans, identification of sponsors and other creative approaches.  After having been successful and with great anticipation looking forward to start of the semester, they were faced with new financial demands that might be seen as impossible to meet.  No wonder that some students and students-to-be took to the streets!  One of the universities is still closed, since their case has been brought to the courts for resolution.

With her student-life belongs, Beatrice is assisted by mother Emily and family to locate her dormitory.

In spite of 50% hike on short notice, students at the Bunda campus, one of three LUANAR campuses, did not take industrial action, and registration for the semester could take place today.

It is beyond doubt that education is a main driver of development in any country.  The assumption is that educated youth will fill positions in the public and private sector and drive innovation and economic development.  With the current slow growth of Malawian economy, and with a starting point as number 163 on the Human Development Index list of the United Nations, jobs are not necessarily waiting for young graduates.  Much depends on their own initiative to create jobs.

Beatrice has some years of studies ahead of her. Expertise on nutrition is pivotal in a country with widespread abject poverty and malnutrition.  With her future expertise we should hope that she can contribute to the development of Malawi, reduce malnutrition and promote her own job career in the service of the Malawian people.

The proud mother sends off her daughter with great hopes and anticipations

A proud mother Emily followed Beatrice to her student life registration, and she can indeed be proud that she has been able to support her daughter to reach this level!  

Lilongwe drying up?

In earlier entries in this blog I have reflected around the food situation in the country.  Estimated 6.5 million people will be in need of food assistance during the next lean season up til April 2017.  Lack of timely rains is the main reason why crops failed and people are left with less than needed food. Most of the food needs are found in the rural areas, not least in the southern part of the country.

The urban areas are faced with other challenges related to the low water levels.  Electricity is in short supply, and this is mostly impacting cities, towns and industries that are depending on electricity to make things go around.  Long spells with power cuts make refrigerators and freezers redundant, and perishable food cannot be kept properly preserved, businesses either have to invest in major generator sets or bring activities to a stand-still... with serious economic consequences.  An economy that is ailing at the outset is doubly hit when the water level prevent hydro power turbines from normal functioning.  As ever, we represent the privileged minority with a battery back-up system that keeps essential house equipment and light running for quite some hours.

Perhaps worse is the long hours without water.  I have been told that the Lilongwe Water Board cannot predict how long the main reservoir, Kamuzu Dam, can provide water to the city.

Kamuzu Dam, as it should be... but now it runs dry

Water shedding is a necessary move to prolong the period with at least some water from the tap. Chances are that Lilongwe city is drying up during the next one or few months.  Without water households, offices and businesses will be left in critical situations.  We already receive visitors from the neighbouring village who come with their empty containers and ask for water from our tap by the gate.  What if our tap dries up permanently?

Visitors from neighbouring Kauma Village fetching water from the tap by our gate

We live in a house and property that is owned by NCA, and therefore we have thought of measures to rescue the situation.  The answer is to drill a borehole and sink a solar panel run submersible pump. The existing elevated tank will be a useful reservoir that may provide continuous running water.  The problem will obviously also hit our office, and not least our staff colleagues.  Therefore we plan to mount a water tank on the NCA trailer and bring water from our house to the office.  This will rescue the office situation, and staff colleagues may bring their containers and bring home minimum quanta of water to their households.

The water tank in our back yard saves us from dry taps so far

The solution should be good for us, NCA office and our staff colleagues... because NCA has money to invest in a borehole.  What about the thousands of city dwellers without this opportunity to take precautionary measures.  Lilongwe Water Board is so far silent, and the City Council has not come out with proper information or contingency plans.  We are entering a critical period on many fronts.

Face to face with a mining company

Southern Africa is known for its mining industry, for better and worse. Gold, copper, uranium and a large number of valuable minerals and rear earth have contributed to economic growth in several countries in the region.  Being quite dependent on the world market prices, mining is at the same time keeping economies hostage to those variations.

Malawi has not yet developed its mining potential to a significant level.  Tobacco has been by far the main export earner, but the world trend is not in favour of this trade.  Mining is seen as one of the alternatives.  A satellite geological survey was carried out last year, and great potentials were heralded by the government.  Some investors are in place, and explorations are on-going in some places.  The relationship between local communities and mining companies are not always the best.  Local communities have high expectations, but they fail to see benefits coming their way when exploration machinery invade their territories.

NCA has together with a coalition of local partners engaged in extractive industries with the notion that extracting values from Mother Earth should give benefits to those who have possessed the land, those who should benefit from redistribution of revenue collected by the government, the investors… and Mother Earth through environmental concerns.

This week I participated in a face-to-face meeting with bosses of a mining company that is involved in exploration of rare earth in the south-eastern part of Malawi.  NCA invited representatives of the coalition and other civil society organisation, and government through the geological survey to an open dialogue with the company.  NCA had earlier commissioned a study in the communities affected by the activities of the mining company, and had engaged them in an interactive “village theatre” to highlight burning issues. The producers of the report joined us for the meeting.

Community members engaged in "village theatre"

The meeting, which was said to be the first of its kind, turned out to be extremely interesting and fruitful. In an open atmosphere we listened and contributed. The local communities had enumerated a wide range of problems and expectations related to the entry of the mining company. In spite of its comprehensive efforts to support projects that the community had requested, including  rehabilitation of schools, building bridge, drilling water the image of the company was still dubious.  

A "happy classroom" decorated by the mining company

A bridge built by the mining company

As the mining company was given the opportunity to share their side of the story, we quite clearly realized that we are faced with one main challenge:  COMMUNICATION.  As clarifications were offered across the table, it was clear that misinformation and misconception were obvious.  We further realized that inherent tensions and conflicts among and between local communities played out through the relationship and perceptions of the exploration activities that were taking place within their territories.

The joint conclusion was that such meetings should have taken place much earlier.  As we move forward with new dialogue meetings, the possibilities of developing better approaches for processes of interaction between communities and private sector that can result in “win-win” situations should be possible. Responsible extraction of natural resources can benefit all stakeholders. I was pleased that I as NCA representative could contribute to this face-to-face encounter.

Vulnerable children of Malawi

A recent survey that was published in today's Sunday paper put once more Malawi at the bottom of the scale of "most poor and most underdeveloped nation in the world".  Most reports from UN, World Bank and other reliable sources put Malawi towards the bottom of such lists, but not at the very bottom.  It seems the newspaper wanted to make a political point of putting the country at the very bottom.  What is very true is that vulnerable groups in Malawi are quite vulnerable, and perhaps the most vulnerable group is the children.  Today I will not go into lack of education or health services, but visit the challenge of sexual abuse of children and children trickling into the streets of urban centres.

Maxwell Matewere, a colleague and Director of the organisation Eye of the Child has just published the book "Betrayal of Trust" in which he describes aspects of sexual abuse of children in Malawi.  He describes some horrific cases that have been brought to the attention of his organisation, and that subsequently have been referred to the justice system through the courts.  Those who should be the protectors of children are most often the perpetrators.  Fathers, step-fathers, half-brothers, step-mothers... abuse children as young as three-four years.  Courts are hearing heart-braking stories of acts that should never have happened.  Children are quite resilient, but many young girls and women go through life with deep emotional and physical scars!

Why is this happening?  Maxwell lists a number of causes.  Poverty pushes mothers to offer their children for money, traditional beliefs include that sexual intercourse with virgins will give prosperity, divorce and remarriage create tensions, alcohol and drugs bring about domestic violence .... the list is longer.

Women Judges Association of Malawi is another partner of NCA, and they are aggressively fighting the ills of sexual abuse of children, and call for stiff punishment of the perpetrators.  Depending on the nature of the offence, sentences vary between 12 - 20 years imprisonment with hard labour. Police claims that stiff punishment has resulted in reduced number of cases, but they agree that this is not the solution to the problem.  This is a much broader social and cultural issue, for another blog entry...

What about the victims?  The children?  Local organisations, together with the local social care authorities are having projects to support the victims through counseling, offering transitional periods in institutions and assistance in re-integration into their families and communities.  Chisomo Children's Club is one such organisation that tries to stop abuses through preventive awareness work in local communities and through offering activities for the children through the Community Based Children's Clubs

Children are given food, opportunities for social interaction and play, and initial education through the Community Based Children's Clubs.

Those young boys and girls that have already ended up in the streets of the cities, either through forced trafficking or by following older youths, are offered temporary stay and life-skills training in the urban centres.   Chisomo Children's Club has a centre in the middle of Old Lilongwe.  Children and youth can stay for some weeks or months, going through sessions of life skills training, being offered basic vocational skills training and being assisted in attempting to return to their families and communities.  

Chisomo Children's Club uses many approaches to help children and youth to gain self-confidence, prepare for a life off the streets and return home.  Traditional dance and songs is one of them.

Rythm of Rain forest 2016

After a long spell of silence, I will take you back to a place I have described earlier:  Nthchisi Rain Forest and Ntchisi Forest Lodge.  This weekend Birgit and I and two friends experienced the "Rythm of Rain forest 2016", which was a music festival in the Ntchisi Rain forest.  A small group of around 25 people stayed at the lodge and "walked through" a number of concerts in different locations and different musical tradition.  Efforts are made to protect the rain forest, and this festival was another attempt to raise awareness of the pearl in the central part of Malawi. Musicians and the listeners were brought together into a dynamic group that enjoyed nature, good food, inspiring music and social encounters.

I will take you through the festival with some photos.  The evening concerts were conducted in candlelight, and my camera could not sort out the light conditions sufficiently to be able to share images from Friday evening "Afro Funk", in which traditional Malawian music was fused with funck-rock, and the Saturday evening which was a reggae set.

Saturday started with a guided tour in the Ntchisi Rain Forest by Eston, a dedicated retiree who devotes almost all his time to protect the rain forest. While we had a good walk, we were provided with rich variety of facts and stories about the forest and life inside and around the forest through history and today.

The afternoon was spent by the waterfall deep down in the rain forest.  Yount singer and song writer Jaco Jana, just returned from music studies in Trondheim in Norway, shared World Music.

At the Sunset Rock, Chavala Mangwenya and his student Patrick took us through Traditional Malawian Music as the sun was magically setting.

The festival ended Sunday morning with singer and song writer Neil Nayar with his combination of popular songs and Afro Country.

Malawi is not only about drought, corruption and poverty.  Malawi is about magical nature, culture and social awareness.