Poverty in Malawi

This is one of my old articles, I wrote this piece in response to Professor Kanyama Phiri’s reading that Malawians were living below United states 10 cents a day in 2006 and it was published in Malawi’s The Nation News Paper of 31st May, 2006 under a title Politicians’ tinted glasses. I thought of bringing it up again because of several reasons, firstly to preserve it and then secondly, as we approach the 2009 elections, it is imperative to have our politicians realize that they have a great responsibility to the poor Malawians, it is one of my duties as a bona fide citizen of my beloved country Malawi to contribute to the voices of reason.

The indication that Malawians live on the periphery of the poverty line—10 United States cents a day—and the denial by some officials of this fact, not only indicates to the nation the extent to which life has become a struggle for fellow country men but equally the gravity of which our government is not aware of a true Malawi and the plight of its people. This is pathetic. The extent to which poverty can be understood in Malawi should not be based on the politicians’ scope and, at the same time, they are not the best people to outline the gravity of this social ill. Their understanding of poverty is limited to where their plush cars can reach. Real poverty lies beyond. The only time politicians and the poor interact is when the former seeks the consent of the later to assume those positions that widen the gap between the two. When we talk about real poverty in our country, we do not need to observe it from the balcony of the houses in the suburbs. It is the thought of not knowing where the next meal is going to come from. The people who are in frequent touch with the communities in the periphery of the towns and cities would attest to the fact that Malawians are now extremely poor and more desperate than they were during the Dr Hastings Banda’s era. It is sad to see the extent to which poverty is killing the talent in the youths due to lack of education. How many people in the villages can consistently raise K20,000 for school fees apart from other costs? Yet this is the generation that is the future resource of our nation. The extent to which HIV and AIDS are tearing the society is another indicator of our problems. If real, meaningful development is to occur, at the macro level, then it is about time that we refocused our energies and start dealing with the challenges imposed on the nation by neo-colonization.

Our country is potentially very rich, with numerous natural resources which need to be shaped into a manufactured product that would bring about the much needed foreign exchange and pride. We need to refocus our energies. The country needs policies that will encourage manufacturing and at the same time policies that would protect the market of its products. This is the one way our country can come out of the economic shackles that the colonialists left us in. This is the time that we should start drifting away from running the economy and the country on taxes. Tax money doesn’t bring about development. It is circuitous and an economy based on taxes is suppressive to the social life of the people for it makes consumption exorbitant for the poor masses. An economy should serve the people and not the reverse. The dependency on donors is another challenge that we have to gradually detach from. We are a sovereign state but they have the power over us. Our choices and decisions are always under their microscope and all we do is lick their palms to please them. It is about time that we started being radical and pro-active in the management of our country. What we are making is history and all the generations to come will assess us by the quality of the nation that we will pass on to them. On the micro level, development being preached from political podiums does not reach the people. It goes over their heads into the abyss but for real development to be realized, we need to dismantle the political podiums. Politicians and their noise-makers on development need to be closer to people. We need to initiate-active communication which is not vertical or up-down but horizontal, talking at an equal level with the same motivation with a likely result to achieve integrated objectives, in the process realizing development for the people. It is important to indicate that if war on poverty is to be worn, it is important to understand poverty as a multifaceted problem that needs a multidimensional, holistic management which includes the poor themselves for they understand their needs better than others who either perceive the issue from book chapters or images of malnourished children conjured up by the media. Crucial again is the notion that it is normal to be poor as some religions claim. You cannot sing praise on an empty stomach. This alienates the masses from engagement in real, hard work that can move them from the pit of poverty. Faith should be practical. As Karl Marx indicates, religion serves as a poor substitute for social justice and happiness in the present world. It is about time that we started challenging our thinking and socialization for the greater good of the nation and the future of all the Malawians that will live after us. While we are looking up to government and its policies, it is of much value to start dealing with colonization of the minds that continuously haunts our nation. It is about time that we started appreciating what Malawi produces on all economic fronts. At the same time it is schizophrenic for someone born in Malawi, a Malawian to say for example, that they can’t dance to Malawian music. This is another major form of poverty that exists in our country that we need to defeat. To borrow the words of David Korten (1990) “poverty in Africa would not only be known by images of malnourished children but also through the ladies and gentlemen who dance in clubs in Kinshasa, Congo Brazzaville, Lilongwe and all the major towns of our continent when music is being played in Paris, New York and London”.-.

Family and mental health

The world health organization defines health as the state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of a disease. The attainment of which is what people believe to be fullness of life- this to many appears illusive and shrouded in fantasy due to multi factorial impingement on the growth and development process. At the foremost, it is imperative to highlight the tendency to equate mental health to mental illness- an illusion which stems from the stigma associated by the latter and while acknowledging that the tendency is deep rooted in us, it is worthwhile to indicate that lack of attention and neglect of this health paradigm by the government- as evidenced by budgetary allocation and the state of dis-repair of its two mental health institutions in Zomba and Lilongwe- heightens this perception. Mental health is the fulcrum of individuals and society’s heart beat and fullness- it is the daily ability that enables us to reason, function and relate rationally with ourselves and others plus the environment. It is thus at the centre of our successes and failures.

The family as an institution is the central piece in this jigsaw puzzle of human life, while acknowledging that the family plays a pivotal role in nurturance, molding and inculcating values and norms in its subsystems- it again as, Robin Skynner (1992 in Sewpaul, 2003) indicates, ‘has enormous creative potential, including that of life itself, and it is not surprising that when it becomes disordered, it possesses an equal potential for terrible destruction’. Thus the need for policies, and economic, political and social systems that would foster the integral development of the family and its fulfillment of its entitled virtues and fundamental responsibility- an integral development, fulfillment and nurturance of life itself. With the current social economic and structural mishaps, it is worthwhile to evaluate the position of this beacon of mental health- the family.

The current free markets ‘copied’ ideologies that have led to the closure of a number of industries and small businesses alike; have triggered untold miseries on micro-systems including the family itself. Families have to adjust and readjust to suit and cope with the economic virulence- the result is high levels of stress in people- both in the parental and children sub-systems. Parents have to work with their ‘teeth out’ to fend for their children and the entire family’s survival but at the same time children have to bear the enormous load and consequences of being in a struggling family structure. Thus the unending long queues in hospitals with presentations of head-aches, hyper/hypotension, insomnia and that entire long list that general practitioner come across. It is imperative to say that with the current status of our nation on the economic front and on the political arena, the peoples mental health needs and the family’s struggles to cope with the ever changing market terrain, is an indictment on the state and its political bed fellow, for failing to adopt ‘people centered’ policies and for a political system that its immaturity lies in old men’s hormonal inadequacy- not the poor average Malawian whose socio-economic and mental health needs are as complex as the direction in which they might re-route if there is no multi- directional and multi- dimensional plastering on their causes. At the same time it is imperative to conscientize our people that much as their problems originate from the greater socio-economic and political hegemonic influences, they have the greater responsibility to advocate for themselves and take part in the development and social change of their own lives. It is again imperative to advance here that assessment of mental health problems should be inoculated in every general health practitioner’s assessment plan of every patient to ably, competently and holistically manage the presenting problems that they come across, for often times these problems are a symptom an existing conflictual relationship between the individual and environmental factors. It is therefore important to recognize the integral participation and contribution of the family in nation building and development – thus we will not only empower families but also create an enabling socio-economic and political premise that would promote blossoming and unchain family’s creative potentials and again we will know our real problems and re-direct our attention into the right perspectives.

NB: I was inspired to write this article after reading an article by Pro. Sewpaul bearing the same title.

20 billion dollar boiled maize cob

Traveling between Malawi and South Africa is a journey of many tales. In the present day however cholera dominates the stories in the buses as you cross the wide Zimbabwe from Mozambique to Beit Bridge border post. Often times the bus host would warn passengers not to buy food and water in Zimbabwe to prevent picking up the cholera bugs. On my recent trip however, it was rather difficult to resist buying anything especially fresh boiled maize, this happened because we had a breakdown which took over twelve hours to fix and by then almost everyone was looking for food to eat. At this time what caught people's attention was rather the price attached to the maize cob. One was going for a whooping 20billion dollar. The mention of this figure triggers the millionaire feelings in people, for a billion dollar is quite a huge sum of money which a lot of people do not even think and dream of ever possessing but in Harare this is possible. Like one man from Mzimba put it 'ndalama izi kukaya nizakuti tikuzizunula yayi, panji kuzighana ghanako yayi" (this type money is never thought of ). However the real monetary value of this amount is what should make us really realize to what extent is the economic melt down crampling the social life of the people in Zimbabwe. When i asked one of the traders in the fresh boiled maize cobs how much i would be paying in Rand (ZAR), he stated that 20 billion was by then equivalent to R5, in Malawi this would be about K75. These figures made me to ask how much a teacher receives in this country, the response to this was that a teacher gets about 300Billion. What it means then is that if a teacher decides to buy one maize cob at 20billion, he is left with about 280billion. In South Africa, if a teacher gets R7000 and decides to buy a similar maize cob for R5 out of his/her salary, the difference is almost negiligible.

What this means is that with all honesty our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe are heavily repressed by this economic melt down. Although the current global economic crisis may equally be a culprit in the current socio-economic problems in Harare, the political leadership of Zimbabwe should take responsibility for the suffering of the millions of people in that country, people who have got no escape routes from this economic upheaval. While the elite often times cross the border into Musina to purchase the groceries, the poor person on the ground has no means and resources to do the same. On the other hand, the government has authorised trading in foreign currency in a bid to reduce inflation, at the same time, this is completely relegating the poor person on the ground into the forgotten chambers of living, condemning their existence because they have no means of finding the foreign money.

Yesterday the civil society here in South Africa lauched "Save Zimbabwe campaign", this ought to be supported by all people of good will; the suffering of millions of Zimbabwe's people is no longer a problem of a few people, it needs a collective approach which demands all of us to join hands. At the same time while appreciating the sovereignity of Zimbabwe, the universality of the human race is beyond our political borders, it is thus the responsibility of all people of good will to rethink their position on Zimbabwe, so that millions of suffering women and children can be spared the burden of carrying the load of suffering which is predominantly brought on them by egotistic and selfish leaders, thus these people's suffering is totally an indictment on the politicians

My tears

The Obama's evening today presents another challenge to me, since morning i have been asking myself if i will cry again or not. It always happens to me that when there are big impressive occassions like Obama's day i usually shed tears. When i watched a movie in India by Aamir Khan, Taare zameen par, i could not hold back my tears, the performance by the young boy in this movie makes you shed litres of tears. Again last month i was home in Malawi, on one afternoon, i was invited to be the guest of honour when young boys and girls in one of the programmes run by St John of God Community services-Umoza childrens programme, a programme for street children in the town of Mzuzu- orgainzed a cultural afternoon in which they were showcasing different dances to their parents and invited members of the community. On this day when i saw how the young boys danced ingoma, my tears drifted down my cheeks and i thought ohh again.

Barak Obama's day presents to me one of those moments in which i will not hold back my tears, Obama to me is a symbol that all men can actualize beyond the limits that are structurally and socially constructed to oppress and cripple the growth in all humanity. He shows to all of us that no matter what challenges, it is possible to achieve our higher goals if we work towards them, go my man we are with you all the way, your life presents to us in the social work profession that explanatory angle into the possibilities that lie in all men. Bravo Obama! Bravo America!

Barak Obama's day

Today is the big for all progressive minds, the day in which America will see the coming in of a new president and a president of rare occurence and that is Barak Obama. This is the man that carries the hopes of all people, a man who is a dream for the new dawn of a new world. That is a world in which men and women live side by side appreciating each others strength and abilities without necessarily dwelling on subtle issues like race, gender, religion and cultural differences.

That is a world in which equality is embodied in the very nature of being human. The wisdom and ability to mobilize young people who are often time apathetic, especially when it comes to involvement in political issues and as well as his leadership style in which he has not allowed a gulf to be created between his party and his adversaries, allows him to have the much needed resource in his new term as an American 44th president. Young people are the future, thus their involvement in decisions about their countries always ought to be captivated. The selection of his government team in which he has managed to coolly allow himself the freedom of engaging the republicans in his cabinet makes this man a president that is defining history- appreciating that the republican party has largely failed, mostly due to poor international relations, with two wars being simultaneously faught in Iraq and afghanistan. These are some of the political decisions that had been the focal points during the campaign. Areas which made the two camps look at each other with red eyes, yet at this moment, Obama has managed to reach out, indicating that America is for all without necessarily dwelling on little issues of party affiliation. Together America will rise out of its troubles- yes, this will happen! the journey might be long but if all are awakened to take part in the process, young and old, women and men, America has a future and Obama will forever be a figure to be reckoned with in the walls of history

Democracy a market ideology and misunderstood

Democracy a market ideology and mis-understood.
As we approach the general elections, a lot of political parties are trying to build their popularity in the grassroots population. It is however interesting to note that all the major parties are preaching the virtues of democracy, UDF, DPP and MCP, have embraced this concept as a market tool to the people. Muluzi has often times stated that he is a true democrat, a Bingu nawoso chimodzimodzi, however for John Tembo, it is an interesting case, as a person he preaches democracy, trying to sell himself as a changed leader, but his personality refuses to change, he still threatens his juniors, his party on the other hand, has greatly embraced the democratic values, Majoni's case being an example of such.

UDF and DPP on the other hand are the parties that i felt should have read the signs of time pretty well but lo! DPP is saying no governing council elections during its convention, protecting the elite of the party, UDF on the other hand is saying no primaries in certain constituencies, where there are sitting UDF MPs.

MCP, has in my opinion built up the right tempo of approaching the election, unification of its leadership at all levels has been the key, through people's vote, although John Tembo has been bull dozed into the affair. For DPP their conventions would result in frustration among the aspiring elite of the party, the same applies with UDF, its aspiring MPs who are being repressed would not be helpful to the party as it approaches the general elections. Just like any organization in which there is oppression, apathy becomes dominant, which is antithetic to progress. If these political parties knew what they were doing, they could have realized that true democracy belongs to the people, let the people command, let the people take control of the party decisions, for it is these people that have the power to vote, otherwise handpicking individuals without the grassroots consent breeds failure and is a symbol of political immaturity and lack of political acumen.

The case of Barack Obama, is a classical example of what lies in potent when true grassroots involvement is enacted. Otherwise our politicians though embracing the paradigm, democracy, do not know what it means and what it entails, they do not even understand that potential that lies within its fold. Our political masters are in themselves retrogressive to the development of our nation, they embark on campaigns that ride on tribalism, regionalism and personalization of their very organizations which rely on the very people they neglect when it comes to decision making. Malawians have lived like divided people as a result of these politicians who never grow and read the time, our Malawi needs political maturity, the kind we see in other countries in the region, like Botswana.

It is imperative to indicate that a leader who does not have grassroots popularity will always remain threatened, and thus promote undemocratic systems of governance, the 2009 elections as already it appears, will bring more divisions among Malawians as a result of these leaders who do not have political insight, they do not have the best interest of the people. For them democracy is a market ideology to buy the people’s vote but within them and their parties, they are as dark as ‘the party’ that governed us in the first epoch of our independence. While appreciating that most of these leaders were previously MCP cadres, and may be that is where they learned their leadership styles, they should have however appreciated that MCP has moved on to the people although still with some dents.
If this country has to develop, it is really upon us Malawians to critically assess these people who claim to be our leaders, upon serious critical reasoning, we will appreciate that most of them just want us to employ them through our vote but they seriously do not have that capacity to be our leaders, they come to us now for our vote but they are as unethical as they were some few rains ago. Our leaders need to know that beyond the jobs that they want there is a vote of that Malawian who toils day in day out to eke for a living, yet within that he finds time to go and deep his/her finger in ink and throw that important vote in the ballot that gives these people the power and jobs. That person needs respect and protection for that is where real power lies.