Lack of public interest?

The reason for this dearth of science blogging may be related to the uneven development of scientific research on the continent; the need for more research is well-known. B. Ruelle explains on his blog [fr]:

Le niveau de développement atteint par l’Asie du Sud-Est devrait pousser les Africains à investir dans la science et la technologie ; la science et la technologie représentent la seule voie d’évitement de la perpétuation de la faiblesse de l’Afrique dans le commerce international ; c’est aussi, dans un monde inégalitaire où racisme et xénophobie perdurent, la condition de l’affirmation de la part des Africains dans l’un des phares de la connaissance humaine.

University of Cheik Anta Diop in Dakar Senegal by Myriam Louviot (CC-License-BY).

The continent is not short on talented scientists. Bernard Kom lists a few of the mosts prominent African scientists [fr] right now, and some of them are also active on the web.

Jacques Bonjawo is a Cameroonian engineer who chairs the Board of Directors of the African Virtual University (AVU). He explains the objectives of the institution [fr]:

L’UVA a été conçue comme un système d’éducation à distance à travers Internet dont la mission est précisément de former une masse critique d’africains à des coûts faibles, grâce à des économies d’échelle ; une formation moderne et de qualité au terme de laquelle l’étudiant devient immédiatement opérationnel sur le marché de l’emploi.

Mzamose Gondwe from Malawi recognizes the need to promote more African engagement with science. That is the objective of her blog, African Science Heroes. She explains what she aims to accomplish:

 I documented in print, exhibition and film African Science Heroes, Afrrican scientists who have made considerable contributions to science. In this way I hope to generate a sense of pride in our African science accomplishments and promote public engagement with science.

African research pigeonholed? 

When scientific news from Africa makes it to mainstream media platforms, it is usually related to environmental programmes, public health or research on exotic animals. A typical story that was shared many times on various online media was the recent research publication of the mating habits of the female gray mouse lemur in Madagascar. The title itself, “Costly sex under female control in a promiscuous primate”, was bound to draw quite a bit of interest from the non-scientific community.

As it turned out, the study draws interesting conclusion about strategy for the survival of the species as Sara Reardon from Science NOW explains:

Either a polygamous lifestyle confers some unknown evolutionary advantage for females, the team concludes, or girls really do just want to have fun.

African science and engineering has much to offer in other areas as well. The blog Afrigadget highlights innovative engineering projects aiming at solving specific problems. One of these projects is biogas installations in Kenya.

Paula Kahumbu explains how piki piki (motor bikes in Kiswhahili) can help distribute dung more efficiently:

The problem I face is common to many folks around here, we rent houses but we don’t have livestock. But there are huge cattle farms around us. So Dominic came up with a solution that creates jobs and moves poop quickly and efficiently. So we went to the local juakali welder on the roadside to create a dungmobile ..a trailer designed specially for cow dung!

The Africamaat project aims to document the full history of African science and its inventors. More precisely, it adds [fr]:

Notre démarche vise donc essentiellement à démontrer qu’il est profondément arbitraire d’exclure systématiquement l’Afrique noire de l’historiographie universelle lorsqu’il est question des sciences

In this video, YouTube user White African showcases an invention by Killian Deku, a Ghanaian engineer that came up with a device to dose the amount of chlorine to add to water:

Open access to publications 

Madagascar is accustomed to have its lemur population draw more headlines that its people. However, it should not go unnoticed that the scientific blogging community there is starting to emerge. Several projects aim to collect and make available to the public all the scientific resources about the country.

Ange Rakotomalala describes the objectives of website Thèses Malgaches en ligne [mg]:

Ho hitanao eto ireo vokam-pikarohana tontosa teto amin'ny firenentsika nanomboka tamin'ny taona 2002.

The scientific community blog MyScienceWork aims to promote the culture of sharing among scientists [fr]:

Pour construire la culture scientifique de demain, la science doit devenir toujours plus multidisciplinaire. Elle doit s’adresser aux amateurs de science, au public, aux professionnels de la recherche [..] En 2011, nous avons publié les textes d’étudiants en informatique des pays d’Afrique du Nord, de chercheurs en communication d’université belge, de doctorants en neurosciences, en agronomie, d’exobiologistes de renom [..] Parce que nous croyons que la culture générale doit inclure les savoirs scientifiques, nous vous remercions chaleureusement. Faites passer le message : « partager c’est vivre ».

The final words on science in Africa belong to Cheikh Anta Diop, one of the most prominent scientists in Africa, as posted by Africamaat [fr]:

En attendant, les spécialistes africains doivent prendre des mesures conservatoires. Il s’agit d’être apte à découvrir une vérité scientifique par ses propres moyens en se passant de l’approbation d’autrui, de savoir conserver son autonomie intellectuelle

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In her first national address Joyce Banda told Parliament that  her government will repeal laws that discriminates against people based on sexual orientation.
“The indecency and unnatural acts laws shall be repealed,” she said.

A map showing penalties targeting gays and lesbians in Africa. Image source: http://ilga.org/

Malawian religious groups have made it clear that same sex marriages cannot be allowed in God-fearing and cultural strong Malawian norms. However, human rights groups argue that minority rights, including those that encourage same sex marriages, should be promoted.

A court in Malawi sentenced Malawi gay couple to jail for fourteen years 2010. This was after the gay couple, Steven Monjenza and Towonge Chimbalanga, hosted an engagement ceremony. They were immediately arrested and thrown in jail.

Netizens reacted to the news on Facebook. Khalil notes:

She dnt have a choice

Isaac disagrees:

She had a choice of keeping quiet.

Abdulmalik suggests that the move results from donor pressure:

No wonder the late President quarreled with her. She is just a stooge of the West. We don't need such stooges in Africa

Joyce Banda speaking at the DFID conference in 2010. Photo shared on Flickr by DFID under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) .

Harutizwi asks, “Where is our African identity?”:

Western nations are pressuring African nations to legalise homosexuality in exchange 4 aid. Malawi's Banda is already playing 2 the western tune. Where is our African identity? If we allow homosexuality will we ever hv a future? Ndiyani achazvara 4 the next generation? I can't even say gone 2 the dogs coz dogs hv never heard o4 that. May the God o4 heavens save mankind.

But Phetie reminds critics that Malawi's system of government and even Christianity did not come from Malawi:

Its no prblm 4 Malawi legalising homosexuality…after all almost evrythn in our system of government copies 4rm western countries…even christianity came 4rm them

Clemans congratulates the president:

Wow Banda congrats

Lyson Sibande identifies five fallacies against decriminalisation of homosexuality:

Fifth fallacy: The Bible is the ultimate judge over homosexuality

It is an absurd fallacy ever, to think that every human being believes in the Bible. In this regard, it is a total disregard of the secularism of the constitution should homosexuals’ rights be criminalized on Christianity grounds. There is no rationale behind judging homosexuals with the Bible, which they may not believe in. It is like forcing a Moslem or Hindu to swear over the Bible. Nonetheless, if homosexuality is a religious catastrophe, then denominations have the right to deal with it among their memberships within their jurisdiction.

My conclusion:
According to Christianity, homosexuality harbors grievous transgression of God’s law and is punishable by death; Leviticus 20:13, as a Christian myself, I believe this Biblical teaching is irrefutable within its domains. However, non Christian homosexuals can not be denied their rights based on Biblical dogmas. Malawi as a secular nation that upholds democracy; where discrepancy arise as such that particular religious beliefs conflict with democratic fundamentals, democracy must prevail; because democracy is for everyone while religion is for those that espouse the respective teaching. Therefore, such a gesture as condemnation of gaysim based on Christian morals would symbolize crucifixion of democracy on the cross of Christian creeds.

Seba Space, LGBT blogger from Uganda, believes that Joyce Banda's heart is in the right place:

Bless her soul for taking a lead on homosexuality. Malawi‘s president has vowed that the gay law will be repealed.

Yes, Malawi’s Joyce Banda is swimming against the parliamentary tide but her heart is in the right place so we must applaud her stance. Africa needs a lot of conviction politicians like her.

On Twitter, the news quickly attracted attention.

@mugumya: #Malawi's president #Banda wants to overturn ban on homosexuality in country. Why do I think she will lose the next election?

@femianthony: In Malawi, Homosexuality is Punishable by 14 Years in Prison

@moronwatch: @gnixon88 @Original_Cindy I'm not - just returned from Malawi where a book on the evil of homosexuality was on sale at the airport

@moronwatch: @gnixon88 @Original_Cindy I'm not - just returned from Malawi where a book on the evil of homosexuality was on sale at the airport

However, the Africa producer for BBC News, @forbeesta, says that the President's Office in Malawi has denies the reports:

@forbeesta: Malawi Pres Banda's office have confirmed to me that they object to reports that she will repeal homosexuality laws. BBC will update #Africa

Early this year, Uganda re-tabled a controversial anti-gay bill introduced in 2009 that proposed the death penalty for homosexual acts. Former Liberian first lady Jewel Howard Taylor has introduced a bill making homosexuality liable to a death sentence.

Malawi will be the first country in Africa to lift ban on homosexuality since 1994. It is outlawed in 38 African countries and it can be punishable by death in Mauritania, Sudan, and northern Nigeria.

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Having started blogging in 2007, his blog now has about 5,000 visits each day. In this interview, Victor Kaonga sought to hear more from Munthali about his blogging life and the MISA award.

Victor Kaonga (VK): Did you expect to be Blogger of the Year noting this was first time in Malawi that MISA had this category?

Kondwani Munthali (KM): Many people told me so. I rarely enter competitions and this one too did not require me to submit anything. It was done through voting. I felt honored that my peers thought I was doing a good job. But as I said, there are excellent bloggers whom I felt deserved the award, but Journalists in Malawi  thought I was better and that is a humbling experience.

VK: Why did you start blogging?

KM: There were two Malawian bloggers, Dr. Steve Sharra and Victor Kaonga whom I followed much when I was on a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2007. They did not write much about news, but a reflection of issues that affected Malawi. I thought the blogs represented a freedom to share your opinion to a larger audience. But being a news person, over the years I do write less about my opinions and more news. It is a news blog now.

VK: Who have been your main readers?

KM: It is interesting that with time my blog has grown in terms of audience since I started linking my updates with my Facebook page and Twitter account. My blog visitors are mainly from Malawi which is very impressive. This is followed by the United States of America and for some reasons, I also have people in Romania who make part of the top 10 countries visiting the site. Individually, I am sure decision makers, diplomats, politicians and many ordinary Malawi read my blog. I get calls all the time or reminders that I have not updated the blog from various people. I feel honored to have many of these people visit my blog and pay attention to what I have to say.

VK: Do you ever feel scared because of blogging?

KM: Yes, Malawi went through political turmoil in the last 2 years. Even my company - Nation Publications Limited which has been very supportive at times thought some of us were being targeted by authorities because of blogging. The challenge is that people do not differentiate between opinion and facts. Very few people would accept that I have a right to express my opinion on any matter especially politics. I could get nasty reactions, comments or simply insults. I improved my security but thank God, nothing happened and now I am free to write what I want again!

VK: Would you share one or two highlights of the posts you written so far?

KM: The first one is an account of July 20. After Police beat us up alongside Civil Society leaders at Lilongwe CCAP, after seeing them chase and beat my camera man, that minute all I thought was running to survive. But later in the evening it dawned on me that we could have died and the situation did not look fine the following day. I started writing my account of events minute by minute. It has since been used as part of record of events of that day across the world.

The second is the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika and the suspense that engulfed the delay to announce his death. On Friday evening of 6th April after listening to speeches by then Cabinet Ministers claiming that then Vice President Joyce Banda could not take over, I wrote a piece around midnight appealing to those that had power that night to choose the constitutional way. I got a record number of telephone calls, some threatening but a majority thought I had written sense on the question of transition. When President Joyce Banda called for a Press Briefing that morning, I knew my country had evaded the worst. I would consider these two as my best pieces.

VK: Advice to bloggers especially in Southern Africa.

KM: The secret to writing is to keep writing, even when you don't understand what you write. The blog opens you up to a wider world. It helps us document our countries and region in our own words. We connect to the whole world and influence perception people have on our region. This is the time to keep blogging, until our story is told everywhere!

Global Voices Online and especially bloggers in Southern Africa wish to congratulate Munthali on this great award.

*Thumbnail: Kondwani Munthali receiving his award. Photo source: Munthali's Blog

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The report states that almost 5% of Africa's agricultural land has been bought or leased by investors since 2000, and emphasizes the fact that this is not a new issue, yet points out that the number of such land deals has increased tremendously in the past five years.

Many observers are increasingly worried that these land deals usually take place in the world's poorest countries and that they impact its most vulnerable population, the farmers. The benefits seldom go to the general population, partially because of a lack of transparency in the proceedings of the transactions.

An additional report by Global Witness, entitled Dealing with Disclosure, emphasizes the dire need for transparency in the making of land deals.

World's poorest nations targeted 

The Global Witness report lists that 754 land deals have been identified, involving the majority of African countries for about 56.2 million hectares.

Target countries of land deals from the Land Matrix Project

The nations targeted are usually some of the poorest in the world. The countries with the most deals in place are Mozambique (92 deals), Ethiopia (83), Tanzania (58) and Madagascar (39). Some of those deals have made headlines because they were conducted to ensure control over food imports, when the targeted regions faced major food crises.

The NGO GRAIN has already explained in detail the gist of their concerns in an extensive report released in 2008:

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production. On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue. As a result, fertile agricultural land is becoming increasingly privatised and concentrated. If left unchecked, this global land grab could spell the end of small-scale farming, and rural livelihoods, in numerous places around the world.

In Malawi, land deals have grown increasingly prevalent to the detriment of the local farmers. A report from Bangula explains the challenges faced by Malawian farmers, Dorothy Dyton and her family:

Like most smallholder farmers in Malawi, they did not have a title deed for the land Dyton was born on, and in 2009 she and about 2,000 other subsistence farmers from the area were informed by their local chief that the land had been sold and they could no longer cultivate there. […] Since that time, said Dyton, “life has been very hard on us.” With a game reserve on one side of the community and the Shire river and Mozambique border on the other, there is no other available land for them to farm and the family now ekes out a living selling firewood they gather from the nearby forest.

Land construction in Madagascar. Photo by Foko Madagascar, used with the author's authorization

Farmers in Madagascar share similar concerns because they do not own the rights to the land they farm and an effective land reform is yet to be implemented. The Malagasy association Terres Malgaches has been at the forefront of land protection for the local population. They report that [fr]:

 Les familles malgaches ne possèdent pas de document foncier pour sécuriser leurs terres contre les accaparements de toutes sortes. En effet, depuis la colonisation, l’obtention de titres fonciers auprès de l’un des 33 services des domaines d’un pays de 589 000 km2 nécessite 24 étapes, 6 ans en moyenne et jusqu’à 500 dollars US. (..) .  Face aux convoitises et accaparements dont les terres malgaches font l’objet actuellement, seule la possession d’un titre ou d’un certificat foncier, seuls documents juridiques reconnus, permet d’entreprendre des actions en justice en cas de conflit.

The association also reports on the practices of a mining company Sheritt, in Ambatovy, which have created a buzz in the local blogosphere because of environmental concerns for the local population and business malpractices (via MiningWatch Canada):

Sherritt International’s Ambatovy project in eastern Madagascar – costing $5.5 billion to build and scheduled to begin full production this month – will comprise a number of open pit mines (..) it will close in 29 years. There are already many concerns about the mine from the thousands of local people near the facilities. They say that their fields are destroyed ; the water is dirty ; the fish in the river are dead and there have been landslides near their village. During testing of the new plant, there have been at least four separate leaks of sulphur dioxide from the hydro-metallurgical facility which villagers say have killed at least two adults and two babies and sickened at least 50 more people. In January, laid-off construction workers from Ambatovy began a wildcat strike, arguing that the jobs they were promised when construction ended have not materialized. The people in nearby cities like Moramanga say that their daughters are increasingly engaged in prostitution.

Video of a worker's testimony in Ambatovy.

Solutions for the local population? 

The plight of Madagascar's farmers' plight may be slowly changing though. Land reform discussions are in progress, according to this report:

 According to a paper presented at the 2011 International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, about 50 agribusiness projects were announced between 2005 and 2010, about 30 of which are still active, covering a total land area of about 150,000 ha. Projects include plantations to produce sugar cane, cassava and jatropha-based biofuel.
To prevent the negative impacts of land grabbing, (The NGO) EFA has set up social models for investors, with funding from the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The goal is to help investors negotiate with the people in the area where they want to implement projects, as a way to prevent future problems.

Joachim Von Braun, formerly  of the International Food Policy Insitute (IFPRI), wrote the following regarding land deals:

 It is in the long-run interest of investors, host governments, and the local people involved to ensure that these arrangements are properly negotiated, practices are sustainable, and benefits are shared. Because of the transnational nature of such arrangements, no single institutional mechanism will ensure this outcome. Rather, a combination of international law, government policies, and the involvement of civil society, the media, and local communities is needed to minimize the threats and realize the benefits.

The need for transparency in land deals is further emphasized by  Megan MacInnes, Senior Land Campaigner at Global Witness:

Far too many people are being kept in the dark about massive land deals that could destroy their homes and livelihoods. That this needs to change is well understood, but how to change it is not. For the first time, this report (Dealing with Disclosure)  sets out in detail what tools governments, companies and citizens can harness to remove the shroud of secrecy that surrounds land acquisition. It takes lessons from efforts to improve transparency in other sectors and looks at what is likely to work for land. Companies should have to prove they are doing no harm, rather than communities with little information or power having to prove that a land deal is negatively affecting them.

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She was sworn in on Saturday 7 April, as Malawi's Head of State and Government, becoming first female president in the country and the SADCC region. Bloggers have generally received the transition with a lot of excitement.

In a detailed post titled ‘Joyce Banda I know and trust‘, journalist Kondwani Munthali chronicles his own admiration of Joyce Banda. Having known her from his youth, he states:

Joyce Banda speaking at the DFID conference in 2010. Photo shared on Flickr by DFID under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

The Joyce Banda I have come to know and respect, is the mother who speaks on empowering the poor from her heart. She does not read the script nor pretend she knows, she asks questions at every stage of her statement: 'sichoncho'.
The Joyce Banda who inspires me was the one who removed all the trappings of the Vice Presidency and went to sit down on a mat in Ndirande to condole a family of the victim of Police brutality.
The JB I know that well is the one who kept telling the people empowerment is possible even at grassroot sharing of livestock such as goats, cattle, small processing plants and mechanisation of farming.
The Joyce Banda I know is the one that could go and hug an old woman anywhere and feel confortable.
My favourate quotes of President Joyce Banda remain when she spoke after attacks on women in Lilongwe and someone tried to misintepret. She said it was a sympton of the larger problem among te youth.
When she walked almost a kilometre to see Atupele Muluzi, I asked her why she decided to walk, she said, “It is a necessary evil that we can be free.”

Richard Chirombo says that Malawians should expect more from Malawi's ‘accidental' President:

Malawi's ‘accidental' President, Joyce Banda, has set her feet to the peddle. Her first task, as it were, was to sack flamboyant Information and Civic Education Minister, Patricia Kaliati. For a woman who prides herself in gender emancipation, Banda set in motion the opposite instinct in her mantle. Malawians should expect more.

However, Gregory Gondwe takes a very different approach. After identifying key issues needing her attention such as foreign exchange, maternal health, media freedom, nepotism, propaganda and fuel, he makes a stinging attack on the president:

I am in deep doubt that you are any different fro your predecessors if going by your appointment of Dr. Benson Tembo is anything to go by. Here is a man who was in the management of MBC at the time Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda used it as a suppressing tool. Dr. Tembo is the same person who perpetuated his charge even under President Muluzi when he was the pioneer head of the then Television Malawi. You cannot describe how it operated then as professional. And this is the person you appoint again and knowing how you used to chastise workers at MBC when you were a cabinet minister for not covering you enough, I know we are back on the same circumstance for another vicious cycle.  The most unfortunate thing is that the grassroots are sensitive to any mistake that you will make and they will give you, your prize or God will do it on their behalf.

I wish you all the best your Excellency President Joyce Hilda Mtila Banda.

Yours Sincerely

Vitus-Gregory Gondwe

We must confess at this blog to being underwhelmed by the cabinet names that came out of Mudi House last Thursday. Only 13 names in the 32 member-cabinet are holding ministerial positions for the very first time. The rest, including President Banda herself and Vice president Khumbo Kachali – have either served in the Muluzi or Mutharika administrations. Meanwhile, eight of the ‘new' ministers have served in both the Muluzi and Mutharika cabinets.
While this gives Banda's cabinet a heavy dose of experience, it is not the kind of experience that inspires this blog, given the performances of our recent cabinets. Indeed, of the 19 members with prior ministerial experience, 15 have served, or were still serving in the late Mutharika's cabinet. Can we now expect these individuals to become better “performers” simply because their former mentor is no more? We have serious doubts about that.

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In a special interview with Global Voices Online on why he is so keen on using Facebook, Kita said that Facebook helps him connect with as many people as possible on important issues affecting the nation:

Being on social network is no longer an option these days. Updates which used to take days or months to come by are now accessible just within seconds. So just as I benefit from other people's updates, I also feel oblidged to update my friends likewise and if you are in a priviledged position where information easily gets you, why not share it if its is good for public consumption!

Wapona Kita, Malawi's most followed lawyer on Facebook. Image source: Kita's Facebook page.

Kita added that he has reached the maximum number of 5000 friends on Facebook and still has got 2000 friends requests to confirm.

I value all these friends for what they are and what I can give them in terms of  sharing information in an acceptable manner

Bloggers such as Mbachi Joyce Ng'oma posted messages in support of Kasambara. The arrest and detention of Ralph Kasambara, a former attorney general, came after a fracas at his law practice with people he says were hired by the Malawian government to attack him and petrol bomb his office .

Kita, a resident partner at Ralph and Arnolds Associates in Lilongwe, rose to fame when took on a case involving Jim Jumani Johannson who claimed to be the son to Malaw'si former President Kamuzu Banda. Last year, he challenged the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority on its fuel price hike which saw upward adjustments of more than 20 percent on the pump price.

According to Internet World Stats, as of 31 December, 2011 there were 716,400 Internet users in Malawi. Currently, there are 127,740 Facebook users in Malawi. Malawi ranks number 134 in the ranking of Facebook statistics by country.

Following the fuel shortage crisis in Malawi, one netizen, Frederick Bvalani, created a Facebook group as a tool for citizens to update one another on latest fuel supplies at gas stations.

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Hello World!

Welcome to the Global Voices podcast. In this edition we’re going to school. From extreme teaching on the Niger River, to hearing truths from our younger friends, and thinking back to some of the fondest or most memorable educational moments of Global Voices contributors.

So, what were school days like for Global Voices people?

An explosive memory

Paula Goes from Brazil is our multilingual editor. Here is one of her funnier memories from journalism school, where a “glow in the dark” potato-mayonnaise salad served at a superhero costume party caused a frenetic rush of students to the hospital, to the great amusement of doctors and passersby.

Everyone survived to laugh at the story years later.

Teaching the internet from a boat

In this episode we also have an amazing tale of teaching, boats and the river.

Eddie Avila, director of Rising Voices talks with Boukary Konaté in Mali about the Segou Villages Project that brought Internet to villages along the Niger River by boat. Read more about the journey that brought internet to 800 villagers and see Boukary's photos shared on Flickr.

An unforgettable teacher

Memories of school days may be closely linked to friends or enemies but they may also be related to places and of course teachers. Some say that it is both the best and the worst teachers that stay in your mind years after you have left school. Veroniki Krikoni in Greece shares a beautiful tribute to a time, place and a teacher.

Playground politics

These times of learning in our childhood can help to make us who we are today. Cyrus Farivar is a journalist, producer and author. He describes an impulsive moment in the playground that landed him in the most trouble he's ever experienced in school… after biting his friend.

Also recalling a formative moment on the playground, Juliana Rincón Parra from Colombia describes how she was forced to negotiate a minefield of gender politics in order to play a simple game of “house” with her friends.

How Ethan learned to type so fast

School can be a time where you realise where you may want to go later in life. But getting there is not always easy.

A boy named Ethan Zuckerman, who grew up to be the co-founder of Global Voices, tells how his struggles with handwriting in the 4th grade almost caused him to lose hope… until he learned to type. Fast!

Standing up to bullies

Having a hard time at school with teachers can lead to smart solutions as Ethan’s story proves. Unfortunately, some of us grew up surrounded with few friends and more enemies. Bullying at school is an international problem and finding the right answer is not easy.

One person who has suffered at the hand of bullies is Vuk. He’s a 12-year old blogger and son of Danica Radisic in Serbia. Together they explained what happened and what school is like under this type of pressure. If you’re facing a bully, don’t go through it alone and find someone you can talk to, he says.

Studying abroad

Francois-Xavier Ada-Affana is a writer and translator and describes himself on his blog as “a nice Cameroonian finding his way in the world.”

He tells us how studying international relations in Cyprus, Greece has helped shape his views on history and education, opening his mind to new cultures and people.

The long walk to school

For our final story we have a journey. A trip into the past, and the 3 kilometre path that Victor Kaonga walked to school each day in Malawi as an 8-year old boy, often in rain with banana leaves as umbrellas. Today, Victor is a broadcast journalist. Driving past the place where he used to go to school, he says, “The distance remains the same, it's only that now it appears much shorter.”

Thanks for listening

That’s all we have for this edition. School and educational stories are a reminder of the things that make us so similar no matter where we are in the world. The thing that brings us together are those years when we were all inexperienced. Now we can look back and wonder at what we have become.

Huge thanks to all of our contributors who took us back in their lives as well as those who shared a picture of education today. I think we all learned something!

Music Credits

In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. Thanks to Mark Cotton for his fantastic creations and thanks also to all of the wonderful voice over performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together. The Global Voices Podcast, the world is talking, we hope you’re listening!

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At the beginning of the year most Malawians did not expect that the fuel lines would be even longer at the end of the year. This has reflected the growing economic challenges in the country subsequently affecting people across the country.

The temperature in the political sphere became even hotter as the year progressed with campaign for the 2014 presidential election already set amidst a growing rift between the president and his vice president.

Several bad laws such as the Injunctions Bill, which restrains Malawians from getting temporary reprieve from courts against the government, were introduced much to the dislike of many Malawians.

Police versus academic freedom. Source: Joseph Banda's Academic Freedom in Malawi Facebook page.

Media practitioners became even more resolved to write and publish despite growing intimidation by ruling party functionaries. Some journalists decided to simply withdraw or demonstrate self-censorship.

Malawi's diplomatic relationship with its major donors, including Britain, hit a low point with the expulsion of the British Ambassador to Malawi.

The battle for academic freedom grew stronger and the intelligentsia finally won the battle when the Chancellor swallowed his pride.

The country's human rights record got worse with 21 people dead in July following anti-government protests, which were the first of their kind in democratic Malawi and resulted in the highest known number ever killed by security forces in Malawi.

As 2011 came to a close, few had reason to celebrate the festive season in style. Some have offered prayers for Malawi hoping for better in 2012. Others look back with pain, relieved it has gone.

Bloggers across the world have keenly followed the events in Malawi. Some decided to avoid posting about the problems but many had the courage to blog on Malawi.

Glad 2011 is going

Vincent Kumwenda stated:

Very bad decisions were made in the year like the expulsion of the British Ambassador, the bad laws which were passed by our honorable members of parliament. Malawi could have done better without these decisions and our governance and socio economic problems could have been averted.

While on Zachimalawi, journalist Richard Chirombo posted President Mutharika’s picture with a prayer:

As we prepare to enter the New Year, our prayer should be: ‘God, as you bless other nations, do not forget us. Do not forget Malawi”- Malawi's President, Ngwazi President Bingu wa Mutharika.

Fuel crisis

Boniface Dulani advised the government to discuss ways of solving the long-standing fuel crisis. In a blog post titled ‘zones zimatha nkukambirana‘ (Discussing issues can sort out the crisis), he suggested that Malawi should address the underlying concerns that led to problematic relationships with donor countries:

Going to the World Bank and the IMF with the sob-story that Malawi is hurting without addressing the concerns that led to the suspension of the Extended Credit Facility, ECF, in the first place is just wishful thinking. Merely meeting donors and asking them to resume aid when we have taken zero steps in addressing the concerns that led to the suspension of aid in the first place reflects myopia of the highest order.
Let us act and address the challenges and concerns that got us into the current situation. We can then have something to discuss. Until then, Mr Gondwe and your likes, you are increasingly being revealed to be the jokers that you are.

As the year was getting to a close, Ndagha was surprised that he could easily fill up the tank. He took this as a Christmas gift:

Today on my way from a Christmas church service, I saw a short fuel line at gas station within my residential location. I could not believe that there was petrol and the line was that short. I quickly dropped my family members home and rushed to the gas station. Anxiously on the fuel line, I kept wondering how much they were to allow me to purchase.

As my turn came, I told the attendant to fill the tank. I had just decided to borrow the money if I was to fill up, I could not believe he accepted and filled it. I paid and drove off. This was the shortest gas filling opportunity at a gas station in more than four months! Of course the shortest but expensive are those fuel vendors.

Academic freedom

As reported earlier, the fight for academic freedom was one of the major areas for low points for the Mutharika administration in 2011. While majority were not happy with his conduct during the crisis, he nevertheless had support from some including Malawi Broadcasting Corporation Director General Bright Malopa, whose position is no surprise.

Malopa, wanting to play good boy to the powers that appointed him, played down the academic freedom fight in his article titled ‘Disappointed with the conduct of Chanco staff Union‘:

It seems straight here that the current regime is tolerant therefore pausing no threat to academic freedom and democracy at large. The essence of the current regime it seems has always been a belief in human nature as distinct from abstract ideology. And the essence of human nature is adaptability, flexibility, ingenuity. I have no reason to doubt that the current adminstration’s policies throughout the last seven years have been designed to give these virtues room to grow. Now People have all the freedom they wanted on planet earth. The only trouble though is that they don’t know what to do with it.

Other netizens had own views most of which were contrary to Malopa’s view.

Human rights

Right from February, civil society wanted to lead demonstrations against growing economic and social problems in the country. The protests were banned while some of their civil society leaders were silenced. As the year progressed, Malawians could not remain silent. Possibly inspired by the protests elsewhere in the world, July 20 was set.

Even though the government tried to stop them, the justice system smiled on Malawians. The security forces handled this badly leading to deaths of about 21 people and over 300 injured following city-wide demonstrations in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Zomba and Karonga.

Journalist Kondwani Munthali chronicled the events as they happened in Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe on July 20. In a personal post titled ‘Malawi Violence: July 20: What I witnessed‘, Munthali gave account of the events of the day:

'United for Peaceful Resistance Against Bad Economic and Democratic Governance'. Image courtesy of 'DEMO YA TIYENI TONSE PA 20 JULY' Facebook page.

10.14 We arrive at Zodiak station and the offices are disserted, with Emmanuel Chibwana we start off to Lumbadzi where the riots are intense. We are warned 1km away from the trading not to proceed. We Abandon the vehicle and walk to the riot zone. A body is lying on the streets and PTC and other shops are on fire.

Eye witnesses say the man was a builder who had gone to watch the riots.
Police stop us from taking photos.

11.30 We get a call from a Circulation officer that another man has just been shot in Chilinde. I trace the man he was with my childhood friend Suzgo Kwelepeta and they were talking of business when a Policeman shot him on the mouth. He died instantly.

12.00 We return through Area 25, where we meet a Red Cross vehicle carrying a semi conscious man allegedly shot by Police. Everyone tells us of stories of tear gas being thrown at people’s houses.

Many feared for this day and it has since been a bad reference point for the Mutharika regime. Broadcast stations were ordered to stop covering the events live. It was tense.

Was the freedom of expression and the right to information assured? Following what happened, some journalists decided to take a low profile for fear of reprisals following threats from the ruling party sympathizers. What remains to be known is whether this trend will continue in 2012.

Bad laws

For reasons best known to the DPP-led government and its legislators, several bills were enacted into law in 2011. This led the Public Affairs Committee to describe the year as the worst in governance. Thankfully, the government has moved in to review bad laws. The zero-deficit budget was introduced last year, debated heavily and eventually passed. This was possibly the first time that most Malawians heard about the Zero Deficit Budget.

As Malawians enter 2012 it remains uncertain as to when the fuel, forex, economy, human rights, political and energy problems will be overcome. Certainly the majority would want this be a passing phase for a better Malawi in 2012.

Written by Victor Kaonga · comments (0)
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According to posts on Facebook, where the news first broke and reactions came in fast and furious, the play is titled “Semo” produced by Lions Theatre. The lead actor in the play is Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza, son of Malawi's best known playwright and actor, the late Du Chisiza Jr. The play was being performed at Nanzikambe Amphitheatre in the commercial capital, Blantyre.

First to break the news was Brian Banda, Malawi's leading radio host who works at Capital FM Radio. He was in the audience when the arrest happened and he posted pictures on his Facebook page. Banda's status update, a little after 3.05 pm Malawi time, read [the content is currently only available to friends]:

Actor Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza being led away for questioning. Photo courtesy of Brian Banda.

Police have just stopped a play ‘Semo' by Lions Theatre at Nanzikambe Amp Theatre.

Reactions flowed in immediately with people wanting to know the police's motive. Banda responded:

The play is reported to be too critical of Mutharika regime.

He later added:

We are all here. Nobody is moving.

For most people commenting on Facebook the scene was reminiscent of the one-party dictatorship when “president for life” Dr. Hasting Kamuzu Banda ruled Malawi for 30 years, from 1964 to 1994. The one-party era was characterized by heavy-handed censorship through a government agency known as the Censorship Board.

The end of one-party rule in 1994 brought democratic changes, and the Censorship Board no longer played its public censorship role. However despite Malawian activists questioning the presence of the board in post-1994 Malawi, censorship laws have remained, and the board continued existing, albeit in a low profile. It was renamed the Malawi Classification Board, but Chisiza's arrest and charging shows the law governing the board remains stuck in pre-1994 Malawi.

Commenting on Brian Banda's update, Joseph Nkhoma wrote:

Fast descending into a police state. Tiziopanso kutchula dzina la munthu. [Should we go back to being afraid to even mention somebody's name?] Wasn't 30years enough for this?

Another comment, on a separate thread, also alluded to the dictatorship era [the content is currently only available to friends]:

I heard of more or less similar stories from my late father, but i never thought I could live in similar times. Was his vote in 1993 and 1994 a waste? I am hurting bro.

Some went even further and alluded to the colonial era when Malawi was under British rule:

Bola welesnkey anali wobwera [At least Wellensky was a foreigner]

That reference was to Raphael Roy Wellensky, the last colonial Prime Minister for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The federation was fiercely hated and opposed by Africans, who fought it and won independence as modern day countries of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Another netizen wondered why arrest an actor when a play is authored by a playwright, but online newspaper Nyasatimes reported that Chisiza co-authored the play together with Robert Chasowa, a University of Malawi Polytechnic student activist who was found murdered on campus on the morning of September 24, 2011.

Blogger Ananiya Alick Ponje commented, also on facebook [the content is currently only available to friends], about the paranoia that seemed to be gripping the Malawi government:

By now, we all know what an insecure and pessimistic regime is like: it has to arrest anyone who rebukes it

More reaction appeared on a Facebook group known as Malawi at 50: Towards a New Crop of Malawian Leaders [Malawi at 50 is a closed group]. On Malawi at 50 the first update on the arrest appeared at 7.40pm Malawi time, from Taweni Gondwe Xaba. She wrote:

Playwright and actor Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza being led away by Malawi Police for questioning on the “subversive” substance of the creative material in his new play. I'd call it a great opening run;-) Free publicity provided by Malawi Police.

Later Xaba alluded to her fears about what happened to a young Malawian political activist when the police questioned him, a reference to University of Malawi Polytechnic student Robert Chasowa who was murdered after getting involved with police intelligence gathering. Xaba wrote:

I understand he was frogmarched off stage by police 11 minutes into the performance. I'll post the rest of the pics just now. He appears unperturbed by the whole thing but I am worried guys. The last time these people questioned some youth he ended up “committing suicide.” I also recall a recent Nation newspaper interview with him which mentioned that some of the content or lines in the play were contributed by Robert Chasowa who was also into drama and acting etc. I have no idea if these issues are linked.

A Malawian human rights lawyer, Habiba Osman, who created the group Malawi at 50 responded:

I am not surprised that they'd do such thing..it pisses me off that the Police are the ones perpetrating such acts when in fact they know that they will never win this battle..and that others who are limiting this constitutional right will leave office and this right will remain with us..

A subsequent post from Habiba Osman suggested action, making references to another court case on Monday for five human rights activists who were arrested on October 14 for staging a protest in the Malawi capital Lilongwe:

Taweni, I need more information..we need to mobilise fast..we are in court tomorrow. So hopefully, we can address others too.

While the reaction was quickest on Facebook, online newspaper Nyasatimes published the story on their website on Sunday evening. On Monday the print media also carried the story. As of Monday evening Brian Banda reported on his Facebook page about Chisiza's charge and release on bail:

Thlupego Chisiza fined K5000. He has paid and he is free now.

Facebook page Towards Malawi Elections 2014 also posted on Monday evening and stated what Police charged Chisiza with:

Chisiza convicted and asked 2 pay K5,000.00 or face 2months for staging a play without permit

Other comments on Facebook have pointed out how Chisiza's arrest is now backfiring and giving free publicity for the play “Semo,” its main actor Thlupego Chisiza and the drama group Lions Theatre (until this incident on Sunday afternoon, I had never heard of the play, the actor nor the group). On Monday night Dannie Grant Phiri posted on his facebook page:

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the police and the censorhip board because without their actions some of us would've been blissfully unaware that Thlupego Chisiza had produced a play that has powers that be very very uncomfortable.

Now we're seriously looking for the script.

His friends reacted to his observations. Peter Namphande said:

I used 2 pay less attention to plays, but now my interest has been rekindled. I have 2 watch this one!

Taweni Gondwe Xaba wrote:

one young man has shaken Bingu and his cronies in a way opposition has failed to do!

The pen is indeed mightier than the sword, noted Taweni Gondwe Xaba:

the pen is mightier than the sword… proven true yet again!! i love what is unfolding;-)

Thlupego Chisiza was on Monday found guilty of staging a play without a permit from Censorship Board and was fined K5,000 (approx. US$30) or in default six months imprisonment with hard labour. He paid the fine.

After his release, Chisiza asked his Facebook friends:

Now that am out WHAT NEXT?

According to Nyasa Times reporter, Semo is a Moses-like leader who saved a historic nation from oppression. The play is set in the increasingly undemocratic Republic of Kwacha which is plagued by learned advisors who praise an increasingly oppressive king to safeguard their positions.

Written by Steve Sharra · comments (1)
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In this interview, Steve Sharra talks about the Malawian social media space, his professional background and his interest in education, teaching and writing.

Linda Annan (LA): Can you briefly tell us about yourself?

Steve Sharra (SS): I was born in a place called Bawi, in Ntcheu district, Malawi. At the time my father was attending a police training college, so my mother went to live with her parents. My grandfather, a reverend, was teaching at Bawi Primary School. We moved to Zomba Police Camp when I was about a year old. That’s where I grew up. Zomba was the capital of Malawi going back to the colonial days in the 1890s, until 1975 when Malawi’s first president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, moved it to Lilongwe. I attended Police Primary School, St Stanislaus Prep School, Nankhunda Seminary, and Police Secondary School. After secondary school I went to Lilongwe Teachers’ College, from 1990 to 1993, where I qualified as a primary school teacher. In 1994 I left teaching at became an editorial assistant of educational materials at Malawi’s national curriculum centre, the Malawi Institute of Education. In 1998 I went to graduate school, first the University of Iowa, and later Michigan State University, both in the United States. At Iowa I studied English Education, while at Michigan State I studied Teacher Education, and wrote my dissertation on curriculum aspects of peace studies in education. My doctoral thesis argued for the adoption of a concept in the school curriculum which I termed uMunthu-peace, a type of social justice based on African definitions of being human, and our interdependence as human beings. I returned to Malawi in May 2010, after spending three years as a visiting assistant professor of peace and justice studies in the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State.

Malawian blogger and Global Voices Author Steve Sharra. Photo courtesy of Noelin Zawazawa.

SS: Literally “Afrika Aphukira” translates as “Africa will be reborn.” I chose that Chichewa name for my blog as my way of expressing optimism for Africa; optimism for an African Renaissance.

LA: What is the state of Malawian blogosphere?

SS: I think the Malawi blogosphere, in the narrower sense of just blogs, is lagging behind the larger Malawi social media sphere. I wonder if that’s exclusive to Malawi alone. On a number of times a Malawian blogger has broken big impact news, for example Boniface Dulani who was the first person to write about the University of Malawi academic freedom struggle just hours after it broke. That was February 12th, 2011, when the Malawi Police Inspector General, Peter Mukhito, summoned a university lecturer, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, to question him about a lecture in which he had used the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt as an example to illustrate a point. More recently, Mabvuto Jobani has been blogging breaking news about police involvement in the murder of University of Malawi Polytechnic student, Robert Chasowa, on September 24th. Otherwise, it’s facebook mostly, and twitter to a lesser extent, that’s the most thriving form of new media in Malawi.

Steve Sharra dancing at a wedding. Photo courtesy of Mpatso Chabwera.

SS: That’s an interesting question, Linda. We have a Chichewa proverb that says “Nankununkha saadzimva.” It means something like one doesn’t detect one’s own smell. But I think my conspicuous advocating for Malawi comes from a particular personal history and identity politics. A number of my early classes in graduate school, 1998-1999, required us to do serious intellectual self-reflection. Once I started looking back to where I was coming from, I started noticing a number of very peculiar aspects of what it meant to be a Malawian and an African. I had never had occasion to do so when I lived in Malawi. I guess leaving your country and going outside your continent seems to do that to a number of us. That’s when being of Malawian and African identity started taking on a big significance. It made me very conscious and sensitive to any suggestions of identity deficiency and racial denigration. I think it was tied to being a black person, and an African. That’s when I also began reading Pan-Africanist theory, so it all started coming together. I have come to see it as part of my responsibility, as a Malawian, a black person, and an African, to promote and advocate for a more complex understanding of Africa. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza calls it the imperative of every African intellectual. I see much of what ails Africa today as originating in the image that has been constructed for the continent in the 500 years that Europe has enjoyed global supremacy.

LA: Why do you choose to approach your musings from an “African epistemological perspective” as your blog suggests?

SS: Somewhere along my studies, I read about ways of knowing, knowledge systems that mediate the process of producing knowledge. It dawned on me that what was categorized as school knowledge was a product of a particular way of knowing, a European epistemology. Much knowledge is human knowledge, but Europe has developed a way of producing and consuming knowledge that privileges European heritage and civilisation. This would not be a problem, were it not for the manner in which that privileging process undermines and denigrates other societies’ ways of knowing. In my doctoral research I read Malawian philosophers such as Harvey Sindima, Augustine Musopole, and Gerard Chigona, who have worked on uMunthu as an African epistemology, and political scientists such as Richard Tambulasi and Happy Kayuni who have argued for uMunthu as an African political ideology. I learned from these scholars that what ails Africa is a direct consequence of being at the receiving end of Eurocentric epistemology. In order to address that problem, I think we need to learn African epistemologies, so as to understand the world from an African perspective. It’s what Mahmood Mamdani calls “dealing with the global from the perspective of the local.” Right now we are doing it the other way round, and Africa is suffering terrible consequences. But things are looking up now, I think. I see more and more people realising why Africa must develop self-confidence and deal with Europe, America and Asia from the vantage point of Africa. But it will take a lot of intellectual effort and political will; a radical change in the leadership.

LA: Tell me about “Fleeing the War.” I know it was a children’s book but what was it about and what inspired it?

SS: Fleeing the War was a children’s story I wrote in 1995. It is about a group of Malawian adolescents who are hunting along the Malawi-Mocambique border, which is where their village is located. They are surprised to meet two little children, a boy and a girl, who are apparently lost. They have been fleeing from Mocambique’s civil war. They set off in the night, with their parents, but soon they get lost. The parents go one way, and the children go another. The Malawian children take the Mocambican children home, and make them comfortable. After six months of searching, the children’s parents make their way to the Malawian village, and find their long lost children. The story was inspired by true events. There was civil war in Mocambique between 1976 and 1991. A million Mocambicans fled into Malawi and settled down. Many of them spoke Chichewa already, a common language along the border between the two countries. Many of them returned after the war, but many also stayed behind and became Malawian citizens. The first school where I taught in Ntcheu district served as a rationing centre. UNHCR officials came and delivered supplies to the refugees. They came from far, and on their way to the rationing centre they would sit down to rest under a huge tree next to my uncle’s grocery store in the village. I would sit down and talk with them about their experiences. I crafted the story from those encounters.

LA: You are involved with the Malawi Teacher Professional Development Support (MTPDS) project aren’t you? What is it and how did you get involved?

SS: It is a project of the Malawi Government, through its Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. We are establishing a teacher professional development system for primary school teachers, most of whom have no such opportunity once they graduate from teachers’ college. I got involved through my participation in a prior, related project.

Steve Sharra at work. Photo courtesy of Speaker Nkhonjera.

LA: Why the interest in education and teaching? Why not something else?

SS: The teaching came rather by accident. I failed to make it to the University of Malawi, the only university operating in Malawi at the time. About 36,000 students sat the secondary school leaving certificate examination in those days, but there were 700 spaces in the University. My father suggested teaching. I was away vacationing in my my father’s home village when the government advertised for a teacher training programme. He mailed me the advert, and I applied. I realized I had a passion for teaching. It gave my life meaning. I particularly enjoyed being in control of the process of learning new things, and helping children learn. Since then, I look at the world through the eyes of a teacher.

LA: It’s obvious that you’re drawn to academia. Why is that?

SS: I was initially drawn to creative writing; that was my first intellectual calling. One of the earliest lessons I learned, in secondary school, was that literature provided powerful ways of making sense of complex realities. I learned this from Malawian poets Jack Mapanje, Anthony Nazombe, Garton Kamchedzera, Frank Chipasula and Steve Chimombo, among others, and their influence rubbed off on me. They all wrote poetry, but being literary scholars, their writings, both the poetry and the scholarship, opened a window through which I saw Malawi quite differently. Particularly, it was the political oppression, social injustice and inequality that made me realize that a better Malawi was possible. All of this happened as I transitioned from being a secondary school student to being a student-teacher. I became a teacher, and together with the passion for writing, academia became a compelling interest.

LA: What do you do now as a profession and where are you currently based?

SS: I am a teacher educator and educational researcher. I’m based in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital.

LA: If you had an empty schedule one Saturday, what would Steve Sharra be doing?

SS: Ha ha. Saturdays don’t come empty anymore, as they used to. I would probably be reading some really good fiction, or creative non-fiction, which I haven’t done in years. Or I would be playing chess with my kids.

LA: Did you get accepted into the Shuttleworth Fellowship? What did you wish to accomplish with that?

SS: I was very disappointed when I didn’t get accepted for the 2011 Shuttleworth Fellowship. It’s such a unique fellowship where somebody asks you to describe what you think is wrong with the world, or at least in your society, and then gives you as much money as you require to go about addressing that problem. I was hoping to design a project whose sole aim would be teacher empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa, through global dialogue with teachers elsewhere, and through teacher-led intellectual production. I still hope to get funding to do this one day.

Written by Linda Annan · comments (0)
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