Reading Promotion : a Must for All

It is said that Chris Rock, a Black comedian, once joked that Blacks don't read. And somebody is once quoted as having said that "The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book." Much as it hurts it is true that a good percentage of Malawi’s indigenous populace don’t enjoy reading. There is therefore a practical need to reverse this trend and make reading fashionable and joyous in this beautiful country.
Malawi is still at a point where access to up-to-date newspapers is still limited to urban areas. For most of rural Malawi where the majority of Malawi’s populace lives, one has to wait for days on end to have a peep at a newspaper. In most cases, such a paper would get to somebody as a donation. Even in urban Malawi, it is only a small fraction of people who have access to a paper. Frankly speaking, the will to buy a newspaper is quite minimal. Most of us would rather have a look at our friend’s newspaper than buy one for ourselves. One therefore can’t help wondering on the origins of this unwillingness to buy a paper. Sadly this is the case with almost all printed materials in Malawi. In fact publishing in Malawi is one of the most risky ventures. It is not natural for most Malawians to buy a book more especially a novel. Not so many Malawians would actually plan to go to a bookshop and buy some book for their child or friend. Even the people who can afford to buy would rather go and scramble with other readers for a single copy of a particular title available in their local library. This practice is in sharp contrast to what happens in virtually all industrialised countries or countries that seem to be doing very well. Take for example, Taiwan, USA, Britain and South Africa; one can’t help noticing that there is an inferno of literature of all sorts in these countries. This inferno is matched by an equally big appetite to read by the local populace. Reading is a favourite pastime in these parts of the world. The public frenzy as a book is being launched in these countries is felt even in countries as far away as Malawi. And yet our friends have an array of distractions.

This difference is to a great extent because nurturing the reading skill has from time immemorial taken a centre stage in all these great nations. Before 1871, Sweden had the greatest population where most grown ups could read. This didn’t just happen; the Lutheran church went as far as refusing the adults to marry until they could read.

Things are different when you take look at Malawi’s music industry and the public response. A good percentage of Malawians is willing to buy a musical recording regardless of their location and status. Chances are that a Malawian home that doesn’t have any reading material would have at least a single copy of some musical recording. I would dare say that a very high percentage of Malawians is so familiar with their favourite musical artists and their works. Coupled with this, many are willing to spend a dime to get a new album from their favourite artists. To the contrary, many are not aware of the many Jack Mapanje’s Malawi has produced. Does this tell of how much Malawi is entrenched in the oral culture as opposed to the reading culture? Should we leave things as they are or should we do something about Malawi’s reading culture? Many would agree that the status quo has to change. Who is to bring this change? I guess we all have to do it.

At present Malawi has so many organisations and individuals that have intensified the battle to improve the literate environment but I think the promotion of the reading skill has been left to a few. The battle has to involve all. The attack has to be concerted and regular. Reading promotion has to be a buzz word until Malawi becomes a natural reading nation. There is so much to be gained from promoting reading than not.

The point is that whilst we continue flooding Malawi with various reading and information materials on various issues, it is imperative that we consider reading promotion as an integral part of any information dissemination. Reading is a fundamental skill that every Malawian must have. The skill must be promoted at all levels and in all sectors. If well developed, the reading skill would have an invaluable social and economic impact on Malawi. The book would no longer be used to hide things from Malawians. As we provide books, magazines, newspapers and manuals, the hope is that people will read. It is therefore good politics to invest in the development of the reading skill. The fact of the matter is that all subject areas benefit from this skill.

Like Premier League teams in the UK and Toyota in the USA let us all engage in reading promotion.

History Knows the Truth – Malawi beware of propaganda


The Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines propaganda as information, ideas, opinions or images, often only giving one part of an argument, which are broadcast published or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people’s opinions.

There was a time in Malawi when the play on the 1915 Uprising led by John Chilembwe aired every 3rd March on MBC had a part where John Chilembwe is said to have prophesied that someone will come to continue with the struggle and according to the play this someone was no other than Kamuzu. We now know there was no such prophecy.

There was a time when we were told that other political parties that existed in the 60’s died a natural death. I bet that was a lie – they were strangled.

There was a time when I believed that Kanyama Chiume, Attati Mpakati, Masauko Chipembere and others were enemies of Malawi.

There was a time was a time when we had only one broadcasting house. Praising Nkhoswe Number one and his Government was something you heard of virtually all day. There was nothing good on the opposition of the Diaspora. Is this still happening?

There was a time when “Man of the People” and “Animal Farm” were banned in Malawi. Some of us never knew that these books existed.

There was a time when Malawi had only one daily newspaper “The Daily Times”

There was a time when women in Malawi were not allowed to wear trousers in Public.

There was a time when we were told that Malawians live in houses that do not leak and had enough food yet we knew that this was not true. We stayed quiet.

There was a time when women had a day to practice dances and songs for their Nkhoswe number one.

There was a time when the term “president” was reserved for His Excellency Ngwazi Dr H. Kamuzu Banda.

Things have changed!!!!!!

Today Women wear trousers; you can go for the whole month without listening to MBC and yet get all the news you need without blatant propagandist nonsense.

Our libraries now stock Animal Farm – A must read for all Malawians that can read and understand English. You will get to understand that there is really nothing new that our politicians are doing. There is more of the politics of an animal farm in Malawi.

Today I know that Kanyama Chiume and others were just democrats.

The question I have now is; will there be a day when Malawi's National Assembly will have representatives from one party only just like it was with Malawi Congress Party? Shall there be a day when one party will emerge the strongest and then we get to hear of the old song; natural deaths of other parties?

I hope not because Malawi cannot cope with a dictator. Further, removing a dictator is very very tough and can be disastrous. Let’s not forget that we create dictators by allowing them to break laws as they see fit because of some good they do. We had one dictator, we should not create another. Malawi was lucky that the one dictator that she had could facilitate a peaceful transition into multi-party democracy. We might not be that lucky next time. Beware of propaganda. Remember Zimbabwe is a sinking ship because of one dictator whom Zimbabweans created, Democratic Republic of Congo still has not found its peace since the removal Mobutu Tsetseseko and Iraq is in turmoil since the removal of its dictator. Malawi beware!!!! Don't create another dictator.

A Chance for Malawi to Practice Contact and Dialogue and emerge from politics of deceit.

Section 65 has generated quite an interesting debate; religious leaders, political leaders, traditional leaders, NGOs, Civil Rights Activists, writers and the general public are having their say especially on what should be handled first by our parliament -pronouncement on crossing the floor or the budget. Three schools of thought have emerged through the debate; those that feel budget should come first and section 65 later, others say section 65 first and budget later and then there is another group that says the rule of law should go in tandem with economic development: one should not wait for the other. Apart from the debate and the increased polarisation between the opposition and the ruling, this political impasse has created several golden opportunities. One of the opportunities is that our politicians have a chance to practice contact and dialogue thereby coming to an agreeable resolution. The second is that people of Malawi will have a chance to be witnesses to the fact that the truth shall prevail. Finally, with all the private media houses around, and not just the state-run media houses, the people of Malawi have the opportunity to tell liars from honest politicians. Propaganda is slowly dying and soon or later, truth shall be our guide.

So what should be done about the current political impasse?

First, justice should be allowed to take its course in parliament – those that are not supposed to be in parliament according to law should leave the house. It is the people that are not supposed to be in parliament that are causing the political impasse.

Second, our conduct of politics should change. There is a lot of character assassination, foul language and lack of true love among our politicians. Ever observed the behaviour of Honourable Aleke Banda between 2004 to date? The man is the kind of politician Malawi needs. I can listen and sympathise with Aleke. We don’t need the propaganda type of politician that feeds on the illiteracy of the poor people.


Revelations

Most of our politicians are liars
Some of our politicians regard Malawians as dumb people so they tell lies
Malawi has a long way to go to reach a balance between socio-economic development and the rule of law.
Most Malawians listen blindly to the politicians they love and trash all that is said by a politician they hate.
Malawi has a group of visionary and democratic politicians who are ready to stand for the truth no matter what.




Questions, questions, questions

There are many lingering questions in the wake of recent events in Malawi. For example, When should our laws be applicable or could these be used selectively – are the leaders really speaking the truth when they say they speaking on behalf of the poor people or it’s just one way of inducing sympathy and favour from the poor masses – is money not changing hands – are the chiefs speaking in support of the government because of the new perks - between the village headman and the chief who works more for the people? Until these questions and many more are answered truthfully, until there are no double standards, until our politicians stop currying favour with the president, Malawi shall never be free from the various wrangles that we are currently going through.

Concluding

Whatever the case Malawi has a chance to refine its laws as well as change the way it conducts its business. Our leaders, be it political, religious and traditional risk losing our trust because of their inability to address issues truthfully. By accepting that things have gone wrong, by honestly approaching each other to work out things and putting Malawi first and not individual pride, shall Malawi be saved from the current political impasse.

Kamuzu talked of contact and dialogue. We have seen the Bakili administration pushing through various agendas popular and unpopular through coalitions. During the early days of Mutharika’s rule we saw what few might have imagined – NDA got dissolved, RP did the same and joined hands with UDF. I believe this was done in order to ensure that government was able to push through its agendas in parliament with relative ease. It is my humble belief that all this was possible because there was contact and dialogue. The political impasse Malawi is experiencing could melt away with a dose of contact and dialogue

Basically all our politicians are fighting for power. They need this power to push their agendas through. For example, during the last two annual budget sessions we have seen a lot of power play between the ruling and the opposition. This power play has ensured that Malawi gets a well refined budget and great commitment from Government to implementing the budget. Therefore the opposition cannot be dismissed as not having constructively contributed to whatever development has been registered during the past three years. The same applies to the ruling; they have to a great extent implemented what was agreed to be implemented. The government needs the opposition to develop Malawi. Two can play the game.

This Decree is not fair Mr President

Friday in Malawi is a day my fellow Moslem is sanctioned to work half day. In essence I have more working hours than my fellow Moslem for the same pay. This is not fair. A better deal would have been that we all be sanctioned to work half day on Friday or my fellow Moslem come and work for half day on Saturday.

Elsewhere on Friday, people start work a little bit late say 3:00 pm regardless of their faith just to allow our fellow Moslem to go for prayers. Our Government should reconsider this.

We Need to Re-invest More and Right

Despite all the hopes and the usual finger pointing, The Flames continue to be a punching bag for many African Teams. After reviewing all that people have said, I think this verse from the Holy Bible says it all "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully - 2 Corinthians 9 : 6. When compared to the teams that we have played against recently, which of them would we compare in terms of investment? So no wonder, despite all the short-term preparations that we usually have, our friends always seem to have an advantage over us. Malawi has the talent but talent alone without enough exposure through various highly competitive games both locally and abroad will get us nowhere. We need very heavy investments in the local clubs enough to allow several of clubs to participate in the CAF tournaments. At present, this is not possible because of poor investment or limited investments in our clubs.

Lessons from the West and elsewhere

The football clubs in Malawi can draw much from similar clubs in the West ; the clubs are a business entity with so many avenues for raising their own funds. This is the case with South African football clubs. Indeed, it is not easy to turn our clubs into such flourishing business entities but it is possible and Malawian Football clubs have to think seriously of going in this direction. Otherwise the Flames will continue to reap sparingly.

Lessons from the past

Ted Powell Era

Malawi was once the powerhouse of football in East and Central Africa. This was possible because Malawi invested right. Local player development programmes were well supported. Preparations for tournaments were more intense and serious. Records have it that the flames even travelled to UK for training during the Ted Powell Era.

Bakili Bullets (BB) Era

During this era sponsorship for BB went up, funds were made available for the team to participate in CAF Champions League. In preparation for the CAF Champions league, the team travelled to the UK. Though the BB did not make it to the finals, we saw something beautiful and promising. Being in the top eight in the whole of Africa was no mean feat. But it all boils down to investment.

Malawi has to learn from these past experiences and re-invest more and right if we are to claim the lost glory.

After delivery then what?

In one of its recent editions, The Nyasa Times featured an article entitled "Malawi Education System Falling Apart" by Ruby Suzgika. Having just come from a field trip visiting some primary schools, I was compelled to go through the article just to compare notes. And as I finished reading the article, I could not tell whether indeed the education system was falling apart or just experiencing some problems. I am yet to be educated. What I was able to appreciate very well is that the primary level of the education system in Malawi is hard hit by a shortage of teaching and learning materials. In its remarks on the issue, Government says the situation is set to improve very soon. However, I have my own concerns regarding these resources. How will the resources be managed after being delivered to the schools?

One of the materials, the Government intends to procure according to the article are library books. I was happy to hear about this but looking at the situation of our primary schools in terms of library facilities, several questions rushed through my mind. The first question that came to my mind was: "how will these library books be distributed?" I wondered whether the books would only go to those schools that have libraries or to all primary schools. I couldn't get answers to these and many other questions.

Most would appreciate that books cost so much. Malawi's financial limitations makes this to be felt more. As such, Malawi cannot afford to have such resources go down the drain. The resources have to be guarded jelousily.We have to ensure that the resources live through their life-span but most importantly, we have to ensure that our children and teachers can readily access the materials. This is why we have to aks all sorts of questions.

There have been cases where library books have ended up in Head Teachers Offices, inaccessible lockers or sealed up boxes or indeed anywhere else just for safe keeping. The primary beneficiaries have thus been denied access to the materials. It has to be pointed out that some school authorities are more inclined to keeping the library books safe than to providing ready access. Governmet has to ensure that this doesn't happen to the resources that are yet to be distributed.

We have a number of primary schools in Malawi that have well established libraries. The schools also have teacher-librarians who are trained to manage the library materials as well as making sure that the materials are being put to the best use possible. Examples include Likuni Girls, Guilleme Girls, Malavi and Thale. But these are very few - check with the National Library Service on the actual figures. Over 90% of the primary schools do not have something or a sytem worth calling a library; what will happen in these schools?

If there is no well laid plan yet, it is high time that the Ministry of Education thinks through this seriously. The goal behind provision of teaching and learning resources to the primary schools is that our children should get a good education. The resources are simply stepping stones towards achieving this. If after providing the resources, our children don't get access to the materials then the resources are a loss. The point is; let's ensure that resources provided to the schools are properly and professionally managed. Otherwise provision alone is not enough.

There are some district education authorities that have plans to train some teachers in their primary schools as teacher-librarians. This is a step in the right direction. Mangochi District is one such districts. The Ministry could urge all other educational authorities to do likewise. This would ensure that the library books are not a waste.

Finally, I would urge the Ministry to involve the Malawi National Library Service (MNLS) on the management of the library books and school libraries. MNLS has a vast experience in the management of various systems of school libraries. Such experience and collaboration would ensure that the library resources are properly managed and are put to the best use possible.

The Library Period: here to stay

Thousands of Malawi's Children attending primary schools probably have never heard of the term "Library Period". It wouldn't even come as a surprise if some official from the Ministry Education stated that they were not aware that some primary schools in Malawi had a library period. Some would even frown at the very idea of a library period in a primary school time table. But for some primary schools in Malawi, the library period has come to stay.

The year 2001 was the beginning of the second phase of the Malawi National Library Service(MNLS) library establishment project. The programme which aimed at improving the literate environment for Malawi's children, focussed on primary schools. A total of 70 schools from Chiradzulu, Machinga, Mangochi, Mzimba and Zomba were selected to be beneficiaries of the programme. Some of the selected schools had libraries but the libraries were struggling. Others were starting from a scratch. But all the schools had one thing in common; they all had no library period on their time table.

The first year of the programme mainly dwelt on procuring reading and information materials, procuring furniture for the libraries and training teacher-librarians in basic library management skills. All this was primarily aimed at getting the children in the selected schools and the surrounding community to read extensively. At the outset, the programme faced so many challenges ranging from attitude problems to lack of suitable rooms for the libraries.

After the establishment of the libraries in the primary schools, MNLS next major activitiy was to ensure that books and other materials in the libraries were being used and that the library was an integral part of the learning process in the schools.

To this end the MNLS requested all the participating schools to allocate a library period in the school time table. Those that could not do so, were requested to come with a mechanism that would ensure that all the pupils at the school had access to the books in the library. The hope was that as children got into contact with various reading and information on regular basis, their interest to read would be stimulated more and more. A few schools bought the library period idea and implementated the recommendation. With so many subjects competing for time and without prior authorisation from the education authorities - quite a good number of schools struggled with the idea. They did not implement the recommendation. Some schools who had adopted the idea, were soon stopped from countinuing with the implementation by officers from Local Education Authorities. This prompted the MNLS to start talking with concerned Principal Education Adviser on the importance of such periods.

By and by more schools started integrating the library period into their time tables - still it was left up to the school to come up with mechanisms to ensure that all pupils in their schools visited the library.

Today it is a different story altogether. Virtually all the schools under the programme have introduced a library period in their time tables. It is heartening to note that children in the schools actually look forward to the library period as well as the library open hours. This is the time that they have a chance to look at picture books, readers, magazines and newspapers of their choice. It is also a time for them to enjoy reading as the reading is not exam oriented. When one visits the schools especially those that have various reading promotion programmes, one can't help feel that the libraries have become alive and are an integral part of the schools. Examples of such schools include Thale, Ekwenden, Madise, Luwawa in Mzimba. In the South, you have Malavi, Chiradzulu, Namazizi, Namandanje Songani and St Martins.

Let the children read, build libraries.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way : the Rise of Namandanje Primary School Library

In Malawi, and I guess in many other parts of Africa, it is quite unthinkable for a primary school to have a library,let alone a purpose built library. If there is no library near your school or neighbourhood, the only chance you will ever have to set your foot into a library is probably when you go to a secondary school. This is how the educational planners in those days thought it should be. But things are changing, thanks to projects initiated by the National Library Service with the support from partners such as CODE and Book Aid International. Libraries are becoming an integral part of the learning process right from the primary school. At least this is how it is at Namandanje Primary School in Machinga District.

From very humble beginnings but with lots of determination, Namandanje today boasts of a beautiful, spacious and living library a primary school in a rural area could ever have. The first time I visited Namandanje in 2003, the school had no library of its own. As part of the CODE funded project schools, the school had agreed to establish a library but there was no room to spare for the library. With the help of the Principal Education Advisor (PEA), it was decided that the library should be housed in a nearby Teacher’s Development Centre (TDC). Meanwhile, the local community agreed to mould bricks for the construction of a purpose built school library. The bricks were ready for the construction of the library at the time of my visit. From the discussion I had with the Head of the school; Mr A.G. Chimasula and the teacher-librarian; Mr A. Sani, I was convinced without doubt that in the long run, Namandanje would have a purpose built library. It was clear to me that the local community as well as the school believed they needed a library. The PEAs acceptance to offer some room for the library in his office and the moulded bricks testified to this. Another thing that struck me most was the pupils' willingness to pay a library membership fee for them to be able to borrow books. In a rural area like Namandanje and especially in Machinga, for parents to accept to part with some money just to enable their child to borrow a book was something I never imagined. But through probing, I learnt that the parents also benefited from the books that their children borrowed from the school library. It was therefore easy for them to pay for their children's membership fee.

Recently when I visited Namandanje, I saw what every one who has put their efforts into ensuring that children in Malawi have access to reading and information materials would be proud of. It was on the 7th of March, 2007 – four years since my last vist to the school that I and two colleagues visited the school. This was part of our annual monitoring trips to libraries under the CODE sponsored project and the time was just after 1:30 in the afternoon. At the time pupils had knocked off but we found a group of children- boys and girls- sitting on the verandah of one of the classrooms. As expected, we asked them where the library was and if they could call the teacher-librarian for us. Some of the children led us to the library whilst others went and called the teacher-librarian for us.

Once we got to the library, I realised that there was no way one could miss the library. On the door into the library was a label with the words "library" inscribed on on it. This was the first sign that things were going in the right direction as far as the library service was concerned. Again on the part of the children, it was quite evident that they aware of the existence of the library.

Upon entering the library, I immediately sensed that the library was alive – you could feel that people came and read in the library. The place was clean and books arranged to class and the walls were well decorated. On one wall was a copy of Malawi Congress Party membership card which reminded me of the Kamuzu era - a chance for the children to see what they only heard of. To crown it all, as we entered into the library, the children followed us. It was then that we discovered that the children that we found at the school were actually waiting for the library to be opened so that they could read and borrow books. I felt satisfied as I saw our mission being accomplished right before our eyes - children reading and borrowing books. One couldn't ask for more than this.

The library was not as I had imagined back in 2003, it was bigger and well constructed. I couldn't help wondering how Namandanje could come up with a structure like that. Later it was learnt that one good priest had spotted the school's commitment to offering a good library service and offered to help with the construction of a purpose built library. That's how this library came to be. As the saying goes “Heaven helps those who help themselves first”.

This is just one of the examples of the many good things that have come about as a result of CODE funded projects.