Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you. – Luke 6:31 (CEB)
Driving through a residential neighborhood the other day, I saw a sign that has stuck with me, cautioning me how I drive through the streets.
The sign was inscribed: Drive as if you children live here! I immediately slowed down and have since driven slowly and more cautiously when going through residential areas.
With this major lesson on behavior, I was reminded of the lives my parents touched during their stay in this world: always caring for people, always opening doors of opportunities for friends, relatives, Malawians, and even Africans and other humans being as they waded through their lives in Ndirande, UK, USA, Ethiopia, and back in Malawi after a 14-year diplomatic tour. Our homes were always filled with people, some needing help, others just passing through. Whether for private or official business, my parents treated them well, like they were treating their own children.
It is a great travesty, a big pity really that many Malawians have not embraced this model of doing unto others as you would want them to do unto you or your children. One of the highlights of the benefits that my parents showed that always warms my heart, was welcoming a young boy from Thyolo, who was a friend of my uncles (Earnest, Jasper and Ronald) who were in primary school at HHI. He was a frequent visitor at our Ndirande house; he later met and worked with my Dad in the US when he was at the World Bank and later at the Economic Commission for Africa. Many years later, this man became president of Malawi; I got into some difficult times, and he lifted his presidential hand to help me. Without even batting an eye, the president helped lowly me!
The way Malawians in positions of power and influence behave and make decisions on their fellow Malawians, is pulling the country down. In a very big way. To shed some light on this, consider two examples: scholarships and international job openings outside the country. Many Malawian officials sitting behind government and even corporate desks, have often denied fellow Malawian opportunities by just putting their signature; many Malawians miss out in these two areas. The losers are the recipients of the scholarships or outside jobs. But the Big Overall Loser is the country called Malawi. While some examples are from my experiences, the situation is rampant in Malawi with many Malawians missing opportunities for further fully paid-for studies or outside jobs at an international organization.
Since the 1960’s after Malawi became independent, scholarships have been offered to Malawian scholars; while in the beginning these were awarded to the most qualified, sometimes along tribal lines, scholarships started being either denied along regional lines or denied altogether. I once received a Commonwealth scholarship to pursue an MA in 1981 at the London School of Economics (my father’s alma mater, 1963). An officer at the Ministry of Education, even after Minister Matenje advised her to give me every assistance to pave the way for me, just by signing the papers, my application documents were placed in a drawer and the official went abroad for three months. I missed the deadline and I never went to LSE Malawi lost the scholarship I was awarded.
I managed to get an MA many years later from St. John’s University (2015); I thank God no Malawian was needed to sign anything for the Pope Paul I scholarship I was awarded in 2013. And I made it possible for two Malawians to pursue and be awarded the Pope Paul I scholarship and received their MAs from St. John’s University in 2017. I did not lose anything by writing in their names to the list of Malawian applicants, BUT I gained two people that I know and that know me. Malawi gained Bigger with two more MA holders!
A Malawian getting an education overseas is a reward for all Malawians. As more Malawians get educated, the country becomes wealthier knowledge-wise. There was a time at the highest office we had a medical doctor, then we had a businessman, followed by an economist, a gender activist/businesswoman, followed by a lawyer, and a man of God. These are all educated persons who have led the country according to their knowledge gained through education. For all these, an official somewhere signed the documents for their education. Malawi, the Big Winner.
Today, there are many international organizations; all of these have reserved a number of persons from each country to be employed. These are known as quotas. From the very beginning of Malawi’s existence, Malawi as a country has never filled its quotas; these hence go to other nationals. International jobs denied for Malawians means less foreign exchange for the country, and thus increased national poverty. Again, the minimal number of Malawians in international organizations such as the UN and its agencies, the AU, SADC, the EU, and many others, is largely due to some officer in an office refusing to put his or her signature to the paper making it possible for the job applicant to proceed to the international job.
There is a wonderful story that is pleasing to retell again and again: One year the UN had a project in the Philippines; however, the UN could not raise the funds to proceed with it. Looking at the foreign exchange standing, the Philippines had a huge surplus (from remittances sent by Philippine citizens working in foreign agencies including the UN), so the UN borrowed money from the Philippine government and proceeded with the project! It can be assumed that the UN repaid the government plus interest. Imagine if among the millions of Malawians outside the country were in organizations that send a portion of earnings (called Remittances) to Malawi, and the huge surplus of foreign exchange the country would have!
Malawi would be a middle-income earning country! If only more Malawians gained the opportunity to work at international organizations in foreign countries, then the country of Stars on the Lake would leave the Halls of Impoverished Nations and scale up into the Ceiling of Economically Healthy Nations! There are many Ghanaians, Chinese, Philippinos, Russians, South African, Germans, Kenyans, Zambians in international organizations and companies. In some of these, when an international organization employs one citizen from a certain country, within a few years the number of citizens from that country doubles or triples; sometimes on a yearly basis!
There are so many foreigners from so many countries in international organization; except Malawians. Malawian officials in government and corporate offices must choose to make decisions on fellow Malawians seeking outside job opportunities and scholarships as if these persons are their own children; they must do to these persons as if they would want them to do for them.
Do you want Malawi to be a rich middle-income country? I DO!!! The benefits of the rise of Malawians working abroad are many! And the whole country Malawi becomes the Big Overall Winner!
aMalawi, just as you want other people to do for you, do the same for other people!
