OF LIFE
In the last few days I find myself trying to imagine the life of a man who lived for over 80 years on this earth, tracing his life through his leaving his village in the northern part of Malawi after attending the Noma version of education then, walking by foot to South Africa carrying some rice in a piece of cloth at the end of a stick that he would occasionally dip into water to soften and feed on as his group travelled south towards South Africa in the early 1900's in search for a better life; being returned home by the horseback white South African soldiers despite his valiant attempt at speaking the queens language to access a welcome of sorts, his stubborn decision to continue by using a different travel route until he finally reached his destination and gained acceptance into that society.
What made him take this journey? what was he trying to escape from? what did his eyes truly see in terms of life?..... and what about the differences between home and his newfoundland? What was it like to walk all the way down to southern tip of Africa? how did the locals welcome them? what was the pain of missing his village and home like? what were his hopes for his future generations? oh! the anwered questions...
Decades passed, and the yearning for home dogged him incessantly, I suppose he thought: why did I travel so far? where are my people? how am I to share my success? how can I develop my motherland? and after convincing his family returned home in their 'wanthu ndiwu' motor vehicle, with children running behind it through every village he passed through, to find the country in the throes of trying to achieve self independence, was briefly thrown in jail for being a 'dissident', before being released, he invested his new wealth into real estate across the country, buying his first House in Blantyre from the then Chancellor of the Malawi University, some Ian Jones Esq., established a business to sustain his wealth, became the first Malawian Chamber of Business Chairman, always wore a suit, stood up to greet people, was a true gentleman, had grand children who as is usual in life brought him a fair amount of pain by lingering around the comforts of his wealth rather than make a life of their own, and even upon his demise at a truly ripe age, I am yet to see a truly greater man from such close proximity.
DPC Esq. I salute your life and cannot say enough or word effectively enough my respect for your life...........
