Welfare is only bad when it goes to poor people

This year we got some dignity as a result of the good harvest. However just as Western donors resisted paying for antiretroviral (ARVs) drugs to save the lives of Africans because patients must take them for life, the Malawi government proposal to offer fertilizer at reduced cost to more than one million very poor maize farmers also received opposition from donors! It is now being said that the impact of free seeds and fertiliser has stunned even the skeptics and the doomsayers.

Commentators are saying the government investment in famine prevention through free seeds and reduced fertilizer costs is going to save many more lives than the hundreds of millions of dollars that would be needed in emergency food relief to achieve the same food outcome -I agree, in any case most of us don't like yellow maize anyway - or is it called 'corn'?

Mind you, although the subsidy represented a huge financial burden for our government, the amount of money government spent represents pittance for the rich world which gives subsidies to their very rich farmers. By just looking at the financial and material support that go to the "underprivileged" Western citizens, you wonder why the efforts of our governments to help the poor receive much opposition.

Allow me to illustrate my point in a very small way by saying that all my classmates are on bursaries. I am the only one in the class who had to pay for my studies at almost twice the amount my classmates would have paid. I am not complaining though. I like it like that kuopa kukumbidwa mawa. I should also say it is good that my classmates had their tuition paid for and got an allowance to help them during their studies. What a good way to encourage students to study!

Here is another one: In the UK if you are young or old you do not pay for transport fares. It delights my heart when old people board buses without paying for their fares. At the flash of their ID they are given a bus ticket! What about about the unemployed? They get the jobseekers allowance. This welfare extends to many people in different ways under different banners. This is a government with the welfare of people at heart. I am passionate about the poor and I beleive a good society must have the plight of the underprivileged people at heart (that includes the defenceless unborn children!).

Well, it seems the general rule of the thumb on welfare is that it is only bad when it goes to poor people in Africa.

The background to this entry is the forth coming G8 meeting where the issue of how to 'help Africa' will be tabled. The G8 meeting is an informal closed club where eight rich countries act as masters of the world. The next meeting will be held this year from 6-8 June in Heiligendam, Germany. The G8 members are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the United States of America, Canada (since 1976) and Russia (since 1998). Together, these countries represent about 65% of the world economy!

I got an interesting email from AMARC which said as the summit will be going on "the civil society organisation will formulate alternatives for climate protection, biodiversity and development and will denounce this informal summit by which the eight most powerful countries of the world have been imposing neoliberal policies that deepen the income divide, create unemployment and affect the livelihoods of millions of people, create cultural exclusion, war, insecurity, the destruction of the environment and climate change".

It looks like AMARC will have my full support.

Hutahaean

Lero ndi holiday kuno ku UK....ini ake amati bank holiday kumudziko timati public holiday. Ndiye ife tinapita kuntunda uko kukaona new born, Abigirl Hutahaean. Monga mukuonela uyo ndi Donalisa with the baby. Enawo ndi makolo ake a Abigirl Hutahaean. They are from Indonesia. Bambowo tili limodzi nawo pa university.

I wish President Mutharika divine strength

I have heard with sadness the death of the Malawi first lady. Ethel Mutharika passed away today after battling an unspecified illness. My condolences go to President Mutharika and his family. As the saying goes, "behind any successful man there is a woman" I wish Mutharika the divine strength not only to bear the loss of his longtime wife but also not to slacken from his good agenda of developing the country.

Make antiretroviral treatment readily available to the poor

In a country where to get hard statistics is difficulty, the difference between the death rate of members of parliament (MPs) between 1994 to 1999 and 2000 to 2004 tells the remarkable potential of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to AIDs patients in Malawi.

Today IRN reported that in Malawi, between 1994 and 1999, at the epidemic's peak, 42 Members of Parliament (MPs) died. The good news is that between 2000 and 2004, only 12 MPs died, and only five between 2005 and 2006. This is a very significant drop. The drop after 2000 is related to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment becoming "cheaper and widely available".

However, I want to argue that this is not a general trend among the poor Malawians. What we should not forget is that MPs have influence and money and therefore can easily afford access to ARV treatment than local Malawians who are hard hit by the epidermic. For local people ARVs are far for being cheap and widely available. My own brother passed away last year while on the waiting list for ARV treatment. He represents thousands of Malawians who die of AIDs while on the government ARV treatment waiting list.

What is needed is to ensure that these life-prolonging drugs are freely available to the poor and the waiting time for treatment to start is scrapped by putting in place the necessary requirements. I believe the difference between a good and a bad society lies in how the underprivileged people are taken care of.

We have seen a shift of donor policy over the years. Western donors once resisted paying for ARVs on sustainability grounds, because patients must take them for life. But that stance was dropped. The severe staff shortage due to brain drain also forced IMF to abandone its policy by allowing a raise in health workers' salaries through the help of aid programs. In order to control the AIDs crisis in Malawi, other than funding salaries of nurses and doctors, there is a need to expand the administarion of ARVs to other health carers.

In the same story IRIN reported that in Zambia, every year for the last 10 years, the Zambian government's reports to the World Bank have shrunk in both length and quality. From 100 pages they are down to 25 and vital statistics are missing. Why? Some experts suggest the reason is the untimely loss of experienced civil servants as a result of AIDS.

My second year anniversary in the UK

Today marks the start of my third year in the United Kingdom. I joined Donalisa on 26 May 2005 in Bracknell only to reallocated to Bolton in July 2005. Two months later, on 1 September 2005 I was in class at Mattersey Hall in Doncaster where I read theology with the University of Wales, Bangor for over a year (I will go back to the Bible School next month for graduation). We moved again on 3rd September 2006 to the North East of England to study radio production and management at the University of Sunderland. In principle, I combined two courses of study for some months.

I can boldly look back on the academic achievements and thank God for helping me to achieve more than I expected within a short time under challenging circumstances (I am a testimony). I am also highly indebted to my dear wife for her support. She has been sweet.

FAQs:
Do I miss Malawi? Yes, especially my lovely sisters and brother. Shall I go back to Malawi? Definitely. When? After the completion of OUR studies and some work experience but we are not in a hurry. Why should we? Do I like the UK in spite of the horrible weather in Sunderland? Why not, it is a lovely country with lovely people koma sikwathu. What is so striking about the UK to me? The rule of law and respect for humanity.

Kuyesela kuyankha mafunso amene mumaponya kawilikawili.

Malawi has gold deposits

Energy and Mining Minister, Henry Chimunthu Banda, confirmed that Malawi has gold deposits in the Kirk Range area covering Ntcheu, Mwanza and Neno districts.

Malawi has a variety of mineral resources that have the potential of being developed like corundum used for making furnace bricks and found at Thambani in Mwanza and Makoko in Nsanje. Others are graphite at Katengeza in Dowa, phosphates in Mulanje, Zomba, Mwanza and Machinga, iron sulphide in Lilongwe at Malingunde, bauxite in Mulanje and uranium in Karonga.

Source: http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=21809

Fair Trade

In this world we have loads of challenges. However there a few people who are able to see their root causes. If only we can uproot the roots of our problems we will never be victors. One such a person who is able to see the root cause of poverty in poor countries is Hitesh Anadkat. According to the Nation Online Anadkat asked Britain to champion the course of the removal of agricultural subsidies that are provided to the farmers in the developed world. The rationale behind that is that such a move will give farmers in poor countries equal opportunities to international trade. Anadkat made the call during a reception of the Queen of Britain’s 81st birthday attended by the visiting Duke of Gloucester, a first cousin to the Queen, in Blantyre.

I want to agree with Anadkat that the removal of subsidies to the farmers in rich countries 'could have a far-reaching impact on the well-being of Malawians and Africans than all the aid we receive put together'. The result would be the much touted about ‘fair trade’. In one of my entries on this page I did point out that little has changed since Malawi was called Nyasaland despite Malawi being labeled ‘‘very prolonged users'' of IMF facilities. In fact we are poorer despite the aid we have received from rich countries for a very very long time. It is high time we stopped and think. Fair trade through a stop to subsidies to farmers in rich countries is the best compassion we can get from rich countries. Hopefully that could lead to equal access to international markets.

It is becoming increasingly clear to me that, to a large extent, the fate of the poor has globe solutions. We cannot always blame the poor for being poor. There are several world policies that conspire against us. It is high time we were realistic.

Paypal in Malawi

I hereby warmly welcome the news that Paypal has arrived in Malawi. By the way Paypal is a fantastic online payment system that enables its users to send money online and operates in almost all developed nations. For personal account holders, Paypal allows users to send or receive money online across countries for free! This has come after a long time of African users' exclusion.

Good as it sounds to Malawians there is a catch: users in Malawi and other African countries covered by Paypal, can only send, but cannot receive money. They cannot receive payments online even if they are online merchants. What this means is that those of us who toil in richer countries to support poor relatives in Malawi will continue to work and leave most of our hard earned money in the rich countries through the forbidding bank charges. Surely that does not sound like helping poor nations to me. If you continue to tell me that richer countries would like to see poverty alleviated in Africa I will have a hard time to accept that. If indeed its true, which I want to believe, then there is much more to be done.

Meanwhile Uranium Stocks announced that Paladin is 'by no means a small company anymore' as it will enjoy ten years worth of no taxation from Malawi government or royalty increases from our Kayelekera uranium project in Malawi. Is waving taxes good for a country to attract investors? The answer is YES. Is that helpful to improve the welfare of our people? I doubt. Surely from the little I know for any government to fulfill its civil service cannot do without taxes. The Kayelekera project in Malawi will be 85% owned by Paladin and 15% by the Malawi government. In short the proceeds of the Kayelekera mines are destined to benefit richer countries. If you tell me that Malawians are going to benefit in a big way from the project certainly I have a big problem to accept that as well. There is much more to be done by rich countries to improve the lives of the poor nations. I did state my scepticism clear on the benefits of the Kayelekera mines to the the poor in Malawi on another entry.. Most of the so called investments in poor countries are mere exploitations.

Studio 4

Pictured above is Rob briefing Adam and Lesley, our two actors, who came to voice our commercials. They travelled from Durham just to do us a favour. Fantastic folks! I am sure you can't miss me. We spent some time tonight in the university studios with these lovely people recording assessed commercials for this Friday playback. Ooops! In our rush home I forgotten my specs in the studios. Fingers crossed I will get them tomorrow. In any case the last thing anyone can nick is someones glasses. Hopefully they wont be disposed.

There have been anxious moments in my studies and 'through it all' I have learned to trust in Jesus. The biggest lesson has been to enjoy my peace and live one day at a time and that has worked so far. Honestly I see the grace of God through the support I get in my studies from my classmates. Rob organised the actors for us. He has been exceptionally helpful to me.

Radio students xmas meal 2006

A belated picture of the MA Radio class (of course with Donalisa in our midst)- an outing after the first term. I am learning slowly to be like the English....any slight excuse sends our class partying! Many thanks to Kirsty Heath who took the picture. I just got the picture today from her Facebook. The empty seat belongs to her. Also missing on the picture to make the whole class are Martin Hobbs and Paul Flaherty. In this photo moving around the table from the right: Tom Cotton, Sam Collier, Matt Harrison, Sandra Tang, Donalisa Chikoko, Cryton Chikoko, Rob Dowell, Siobhan O'Neil, Ruth Hastings and Neil Reynolds. We started with a class of 13 we are now 11 people.

A brief break from Sunderland

The newly weds hounded by paparazzi and above is Donalisa at the MetroCentre and you can see me taking her picture.

We had a brief break from Sunderland. We spent some three hours at a wedding in Gateshead. It was a moving sermon as we saw the two Brits being joined in holy matrimony with a clear prophetic call from three worshippers for the new couple to serve in Africa in future. We then proceeded to the largest shopping and leisure centre in Europe, the magnificient MetroCentre. We expected to be mobbed by thousands of shoppers in the Centre. At least the MetroCentre proved to be different from the Arndale Centre in Manchester. We had some space for ourselves. The place was a marvel to see.

However, in this text and screen generation, I did not miss the sad news that the ever gallant 10 man-Chelsea officially handed over the Premiership championship to United at Emirate Stadium with a draw. To further dent my outing were my two incomplete assignments due this Friday which kept on popping up at the back of my mind. Anyway the good news that Birmingham was losing at Preston as our own Sunderland was stumping their superiority in the Championship at Luton were made known to us during the wedding ceremony in the church!