The debate is flagging

Not the new dawn any more?

A hot discussion topic in the country this year has been the plan by the Government to change the design of the national flag, replacing the one that has been in use since independence in 1964.

The two designs are shown on the right (current version at the top).  The Flag Bill passed in Parliament this month, in part because of a series of opposition boycotts and walk-outs during the last Parliamentary session after the budget and some other bills were allegedly rushed through.

The Government's argument, as reported in the press, is that the original depiction of a rising sun was fine for its time (reflecting the exciting new dawn for the country), but Malawi has moved on since then and so a full sun would be more appropriate.

The opposition says that this is not a sensible use of resources when the economic situation is not strong, and so many Malawians are living on less than US$1 per day.

The impact, hassle and cost of the change will be significant.  Time alone will tell when the debate and argument will die down.

Headin' South....

Pacific Hotel, Lilongwe: 06:15hrs

Back to Blantyre today.  The coach was supposed to leave Lilongwe at 6.30 this morning from the Pacific Hotel quite near the house, before going on to the “coach station” in the old town for 7am, and then south.  So I set my alarm for 5am to make sure that I could pack up and have a coffee before leaving.  Lawrence got me to the right spot in plenty of time, and we sat in the car to wait.  6.10 came and went.  6.20 came and went.  Some other people arrived for the coach, but sadly the coach didn’t.  

Departure time: 06:30hrs; no people, no bus

6.30 came and went, and so it was decision time.  Do I wait there on the  assumption that the coach would turn up eventually, or should we head over the the old town in case they’d decided not to leave from the first stop for whatever reason.  I tried calling the phone numbers on the ticket wallet, but neither of them worked.  In the end we drove over to the old town, and caught sight of the bus going towards the first stop after all – it was just running quite late for some reason.  In any event, I got on it when it eventually arrived.

I’d thought there’d be a free for all, but it turned out the seats were pre-allocated.  My heart semi-stopped when I was told that my seat number was #13!  The coach was OK – they have a “bus hostess” who serves you a little tray containing a vegetable samosa and a small muffin, and a soft drink of your choice.  They also have a music player and a video machine, so once we were well underway she played The Matrix.  But I’ve never seen such a huge crack in a windscreen as there was right in front of the driver’s eyline.

The coach in Blantyre

Thankfully I’d got my IPOD and so was able to listen to my own stuff in peace with my eyes shut.  About an hour from Blantyre we had to stop at a police roadblock and everyone had to get out while the bus was checked over.  I’ve no idea what they were looking for, but it happens every time there, I’m told.  The local villagers even have barbeques set up roasting sweetcorn to sell to the coach travellers – I didn’t partake myself.  In the end I got to Blantyre at around 11:30.  I got off the bus having spoken to Peter who offered to pick me up in Daisy, but stupidly I'd got off at a different stop to the one I was supposed to, so Peter had to drive over to get me.

I'll get the hang of this one day.

This evening, Natasa, Peter and I went out for a curry at a place opposite Ryalls Hotel.  A nice chicken dish for me - medium-hot with jeera rice and a plain paratha, all washed down with a Carlsberg Green.  Very pleasant.

Spreading The Word

On Monday afternoon and evening I had to plan and prepare a 60 minute presentation on marketing for a small business Forum at the Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe that had been organised by Henry, the MD of Business Consult Africa.

Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe

Despite a few technical glitches (e.g. the quite new, modern,  business-oriented hotel decided that the screen for our projector should be a white, unironed sheet hung up on the wall, and that the p.a. system should have a mind of its own), the presentation went fine.  We aren't necessarily looking to do too much business in Lilongwe (unless there's another substantial opportunity) due to the significant incremental costs involved, but it was a useful chance to support our host organisation in Malawi (BCA), and to spread the marketing gospel.

Back in Lilongwe

Doreen

After the fascinating visit to Zambia at the weekend, it's back to Lilongwe to press on with work on the Business Plan.

Doreen Chanje who has been working on the supply side of the document (she's an expert in food security and quality issues) returned for a review session.  She, Richard and I went out for lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge.  Doreen's section is just about completed now, so that's great.

Towards the end of the week, other members of the Business Plan team had to disappear off to a variety of parts of the world, so I'm more or less left in Lilongwe to get the draft into shape.  To help focus the mind, I've decided to go to the lake over the weekend for some peace and quiet, and settled on the Livingstonia Beach hotel, which I'd visited on my second day in Malawi.

Room at the Livingstonia Beach

Lawrence the driver took me over to Senga Bay, and I checked in to my very nice room, on 3 levels, with a door and patio situated right on the lake shore.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to fully enjoy the experience, partly because I was there to work (and spent the vast majority of my time on the computer), but also because being the middle of winter, it was just my luck that the weather took a turn for the worse - the wind got up and the lake got rough, to the extent that the noise of the waves breaking on the beach gave me something of a broken night's sleep.  I suspect that there aren't too many people reading this that feel too much sympathy, though.

View from my patio!

So I couldn't swim in the lake, and just kept my head down and worked.  But at least I managed to get the job done so I could send out the next draft Plan document on Monday.