A Map Of Africa's Warm Heart
A small, neglected country, precariously placed in the world’s poorest region, Malawi has a troubled past and an uncertain future. Now, at a time of potential revolution, as a loathed leader gives way to their first female president, Hot Press meets Aidan Clohessy, an Irishman who is doing his bit to usher in an era of change.
Craig Fitzpatrick, 01 Jun 2012
It’s a sign you could have seen by the doorway of any traditional rural Irish home only a few generations ago. “DON’T tell other people your problems,” it reads. “¼ of them will laugh at you, ¼ of them will not care and the rest are worse off than you are.” So what are we to do instead? The hanging suggests that we talk to God. My eyes move from the lesson to its dismal surroundings and I start questioning the maths.
I’m sitting in a matchbox house in Malawi, proudly kept but bare beyond belief. A few chairs, a low table. A hanging sheet covering what must be a sleeping area. Stone floor. And, it must be noted, this is relative comfort. The residents seem well-fed and clothed. There’s a small TV in the corner. The worn walls are decorated with black-and-white photos of male family members in suits. Deceased.
And of the living – well, a handful of tiny children sit on the ground with no socks on their feet. One sick youngster nods off on a rug, his bare legs scarred from mosquito bites. Their mother, still a kid herself, sits alongside her own mother, an elderly lady who looks defeated by the world.
The imediate cause of her concern, another daughter, sits to my left, wrapped in a blanket, alternately thanking her visitors profusely for coming and weeping uncontrollably. A married woman in her 30s, she is suffering from psychosis. Today, she is comforted by a local nurse working with St. John of God. It is important work. As we leave, and drive past the other sun-drenched shacks in this Mzuzu neighbourhood, we’re told that she is responding to medication and may yet make a full recovery. But right now, for her the present is a bleak place to be.
They call it ‘Africa for beginners’. Landlocked to the south-east of the Sahara, the moderate title bestowed on Malawi owes much to its natural beauty and a climate that is as hospitable and temperate as its inhabitants. Despite their long history of troubles, these people still smile, not in resignation, but in faith. It is the ‘warm heart’ of the continent, and that’s no mere tourism ploy. And yet, all of that apparent serenity seemed to slip away last summer. Riots erupted in July, an explosion of latent frustration at the lack of fuel, and the ineptitude of the government and, in particular, of then-President Bingu Mutharika. Demonstrations drew police and army action, leaving 19 dead. The northern city of Mzuzu, one of the nation’s big three, alongside capital Lilongwe and commercial hub Blantyre, was the scene of nearly half the casualties.
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