The ICT Association of Malawi

If you ask me how this association came about I'll be a bit murky and yet in it's current incarnation I have been there from the very start.

Ah yes, it all comes flooding back, I joined a Malawian IT yahoo group and somewhere along the line we debated starting up an official association.
We heard about past attempts & failures and almost gave up at our first hurdle (VERY poorly attended meeting) but somehow stuck on and now... headway!

The association has been registered in Malawi and our Executive committee met the the Minister responsible for ICT and hse booked us an appointment with the National TV carrier, Television Malawi!
We'll have a stand at an upcoming IT fair to espouse our vision and more people join everyday.

As we build up to the inaugural General conference I feel this tremendous sense of belonging...
Truly the pioneering spirit is an arduous but very rewarding one.

For the Malawians out there in the diaspora, or the Malawians here and in hiding, or the ICT boffins who wanna help us out and are not necessarily Malawian, all those with an interest with things related to Information & Communications Technology particularly relating to Malawi, you can join the yahoo group here and find all the relevant info about the ICT Association of Malawi (ICTAM) there.

The ICTAM site is just a registration form right now soon to develop into a lot more so we'll let that be for now.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step goes the Chinese proverb.

Already I have lost sight of where we took that first step and am dazzled by the vision of where we are headed and what we shall do for this Nation...

Let it be

Revisiting Malawi

I've just been trawling through the Blogs listed under/as Malawi and am quite shocked to find how fragmented we are.

A hodgepodge of young Malawians, foreigners working in Malawi, people visiting Malawi or just passing through...
No real coherence.

It's nice to see the conributions from Malawians in the diaspora, taking ownership of issues back over here.

I realise I'm a culprit in that since the birth of my blog I've posted nada about Malawi or the goings-on here.

Primarily because I've always thought of this as my personal space, to vent my emotions, MINE.
Then again, only got on the whole blogging bandwagon because of someone special who inspired me to gretater heights that I haven't quite gotten around to...

However.

Seeing as I do appear on the list, I must do my part for the Eagle,Lion & Leopard

So I henceforth undertake to post my take on issues Malawian at least once a week.

My debut post follows...

Tiyeni nazo anthu!

Being Me

Today I take a trip.
In many ways a transcendental one because my purpose is to define this being that is so much more than just bodily tissue & fluid.

I remember what it's like to be friends with oneself. Not in the schizophrenic manner but more in the being-able-to-live-in-your-own-skin kind of way.

My life has become a complex knot of decisions, Gordian almost.
I'm at that crossroads in life where society (at least here in Malawi) demands that I 'Settle Down', marry, have kids, make those who know me proud.
All of which I have no problem with to be honest.
I've pretty much ran the gamut of irresponsible bachelor-behaviour, the bohemian lifestyle, bad eating habits, promiscuity, religious confusion... and some.

Just about to graduate Summa Cum Laude into Senior bachelorhood.

So the year begins and I accept some family-wide responsibilities, accomodate so & so, educate so & so, handle this, handle that and find myself adapting to this new role almost effortlessly.
The prodigal pariah of the family, nutcase extraordinaire has come full-circle and all are joyous at this momentous transformation.
I revel in their praise, their respect, carry out my DUTIES emphatically and look down upon those who still squirm in the chrysalis of misdirection that being in your twenties is.

And yet... somewhere between all this, I lose touch with my inner chi, I'm running on battery, the fountain diminishes.

Now, at it's lowest ebb I search myself for answers, memories even, I grasp weakly for WHO I AM.

I learn (and hopefully not too late) that one's life can neither be lived for others nor without them. In this dissected state I realise how ME; I; am really just a montage. Of experiences, comparisons, attitudes gleaned from all I interact with.
Powering this, the inner light, the GLUE, holding it all together, the all too elusive X factor... what-who-when-which-how

is it?

am I?

can I?

And so to the crux of my dilemma. Self identity, contentment, MEANING.
Just another pulp philosopher, ah so, leave me be.
These musings are all that convince me that there is a way through the morass.
They pave the way.

Back to being me