Epiphany under the sun
Almost 40 years ago, Paul Theroux was an idealistic young teacher in Malawi. In this exclusive extract from his new book, he returns to find his former school in ruins and the country in crisis.
Paved roads ran where there had once been only rutted tracks; the train line to Balaka that I had taken in 1964 to a Mua leprosarium by the lake was defunct - and so was the leper colony. The ferry at Liwonde across the Shire River had been replaced by a bridge. All this was progress, but still on these new thoroughfares the Africans, buttocks showing in their tattered clothes, walked barefoot.
I did not arrive in the hill-town of Zomba until after dark. The main street was unlit, people flitting and stumbling in the dark. Zomba had been the capital of Malawi's British incarnation, the little tea-growing protectorate of Nyasaland.
The still small town was a collection of tin-roofed, red-brick buildings clustered together at the edge of Zomba plateau. The Zomba Gymkhana Club had been the settlers' meeting place and social centre in British times but, absurdly, membership was restricted according to pigmentation, whites predominating, a few Indians, some golden-skinned mixed-raced people known then as "coloureds". Even in the years just after Malawi's independence in 1964 the club was nearly all white - horsey men and women, cricketers and rugger hearties.
Back then, I was not a member of any club, but was sometimes an unwilling party to rants by beer-swilling Brits, wearing club blazers and cardigans, and saying, "Let Africans in here and they'll be tearing up the billiard table and getting drunk and bringing their snotty little piccanins in the bar. There'll be some African woman nursing her baby in the games room."
This was considered rude and racist, yet in its offensive way it was fairly prescient, for the rowdy teenagers now at the billiard table were stabbing their cues at the torn felt, the bar was full of drunks, and a woman was breast-feeding her baby under the dart board. But if the fabric of the place had deteriorated, the atmosphere was about the same as before. Some relics remained - the sets of kudu and springbok horns mounted high on the wall, the glass cases of dusty fishing flies. The calendar was months out of date, the portraits were gone, the floor was unswept.
Soon my friend arrived and greeted me warmly. He was David Rubadiri, whom I had first met in 1963, when he had been headmaster of my school, Soche Hill - Sochay, was the correct way of saying it. The shortage of college graduates at independence meant that Rubadiri was plucked from the school and put into the diplomatic service.
The prime minister, Hastings Banda, appointed him Malawi's ambassador to Washington. There, Rubadiri prospered until three or four months after independence, when there was a sudden power struggle. The cabinet ministers denounced Hastings Banda as a despot and held a vote of no confidence in parliament.
From a distance, Rubadiri joined in, but Banda survived what became an attempted coup d'etat, and he turned on his accusers. Those who had opposed him either left the country or fought in the guerrilla underground. Banda remained in power for the next 30 years.
Rubadiri was disgraced for taking sides, and lost his job. He went to Uganda to teach at Makerere University. After it became known that I had assisted him - I delivered him his car, driving it 2,000 miles through the bush to Uganda - I was accused of aiding the rebels and branded a revolutionary. I was deported from Malawi late in 1965, ejected from the Peace Corps ("You have jeopardised the whole programme!"), and with Rubadiri's help, was hired at Makerere.
One week I was a schoolteacher, the following week a university professor. The combination of physical risk, social activism, revolutionary fervour, Third World politics and naiveté characterised this drama of the 60s.
So our careers, Rubadiri's and mine, had become intertwined. We had been friends for 38 years. His fortunes had risen again with the change of government in Malawi. In the mid-90s he was appointed Malawi's ambassador to the UN, and after four or five years, was made vice-chancellor of the University of Malawi.
He had two wives and nine children, and was now almost 70, grizzled and venerable. It was wonderful to see him again. We went down the hill to the University Club, another glorified bar from the 20s. One man I recognised almost immediately as an old student of mine - the same chubby face and big head on narrow shoulders, the same heavy-lidded eyes that made him look ironic. His hair was grey but otherwise he was Sam Mpechetula, now wearing shoes. I had last seen him when he was a barefoot 15-year-old, in grey shorts.
He was now 52, in a jacket and necktie. He was married, a father of four, and a teacher at Bunda College, outside Lilongwe. So at least I could say that one of my students had taken my place as an English teacher in a Malawi classroom. That had been one of my more modest goals.
"Do you remember much about our school?" I asked. "It was a good school - the best. They were the best days of my life," he said. "The Peace Corps guys were wonderful. They brought blue jeans and long hair to Malawi."
"What a legacy," I said. "They talked to Africans. Do you know, before they came, white people didn't talk to us."
Dinner was at Rubadiri's house, the former home of the British High Commissioner - a sprawling one-story colonial mansion. His wife, Gertrude, stayed up late, drinking tea and monologuing. She was intelligent and, for her generation, highly educated, having gone to Fort Hare university in South Africa. Robert Mugabe, later guerrilla fighter and erratic president of Zimbabwe, had been one of her classmates.
"Mugabe was so studious - we called him 'Bookworm'."
Fearful of offering an insult, I at first tentatively suggested that on my return to Malawi I was seeing a country greatly reduced. Gertrude seized on this, for she too had been away for a long time - perhaps 25 years.
"Things are worse," she said decisively. "When I came back in 1994 the poverty here really shocked me. I could not believe the people could be so poor... The people were dressed in rags. The streets were littered with rubbish. The foreign charities here are doing our work for us - so many of them! What progress are they making? Will we have them for ever? There were not so many before. Why do we still need them after so long? David says I am a pessimist, but to tell the truth I am a bit ashamed."
I set off the next morning to revisit my school, 45 miles down the road from Zomba. I had been imagining this return trip down the narrow track to Soche Hill for many years. It was a homecoming in a more profound sense than my going back to Medford, Massachusetts, where I had grown up. In Medford, I was one of many people struggling to leave, to start my life; but in Malawi, at Soche Hill school, I was alone, making my life.
The African world I got to know was not the narrow existence of the tourist or big-game hunter, or the rarified and misleading experience of the diplomat, but the more revealing progress of an ambitious exile in the bush.
In Malawi I began identifying with Rimbaud and Graham Greene, and it was in Africa that I began my lifelong dislike of Ernest Hemingway, from his shotguns to his mannered prose. Ernest was both a tourist and a big-game hunter. The Hemingway vision of Africa begins and ends with the killing of large animals, so that their heads may be displayed to impress visitors with your prowess.
That kind of safari is easily come by. You pay your money and you are shown elephants and leopards. You talk to servile Africans, who are generic natives. The human side of Africa is an afternoon visit to a colourful village.
Of all the sorts of travel available in Africa, the easiest to find and the most misleading is the Hemingway experience. In some respects the feed-the-people obsession that fuels some charities is related to this, for I seldom saw relief workers who did not in some way remind me of people herding animals and throwing food to them, much as rangers did to the animals in drought-stricken game parks.
Fearing the draft, I had joined the Peace Corps and been sent to Nyasaland, an African country not yet independent. So I experienced the last gasp of British colonialism, the in-between period of uncertain changeover, and the hopeful assertion of black rule. That was lucky, too, for I saw this process at close quarters, and African rule, necessary as it was, was also a tyranny in Malawi from day one.
My work justified my existence in Africa. What I liked then was what I still like, village life, and tenacious people, and saddleback mountains of stone and flat plains. The road from Zomba had everything - vistas almost to Mozambique, the savannah of scattered trees, small villages, roadside stands where people sold potatoes and sugar cane - famine food, for the maize was not yet harvested.
I liked the sweet somnolence of rural Africa. I stopped at the nearby town of Limbe, which began abruptly, the edge of the town slummy, with outdoor businesses, bicycle menders, car repairers, coffin makers - the rest of it chaotic, litter and mobs, and a proliferation of bars and dubious-looking clinics. I went into a bank to get a cash advance on my credit card.
The clerk said, "This transaction will take three days." An African behind me in line sighed on my behalf and said, "That should take no more than an hour. That's disgusting."
He was a Malawian, Dr Jonathan Banda, a political science teacher at Georgetown, in Washington DC. He had left Malawi while quite young, in 1974, had travelled and studied in various countries but had finished his PhD in the United States. He had just come back to Malawi and he was disappointed by what he saw.
"It is dirty - it's awful," he said. "The people are greedy and materialistic. They're lazy, too. They show no respect. They push and shove. They are awful to each other."
I asked him about charities and aid agencies - the agents of virtue in white Land Rovers. What were they changing? "Not much - because all aid is political," he said.
"When this country became independent it had very few institutions. It still doesn't have many. The donors aren't contributing to development. They maintain the status quo. Politicians love that, because they hate change. The tyrants love aid. Aid helps them stay in power and it contributes to underdevelopment. It's not social or cultural and it certainly isn't economic. Aid is one of the main reasons for underdevelopment in Africa."
I walked up the main street to see if the Malawi Censorship Board was still operating. Indeed it was, still a government office in its own substantial building at the east end of town. I knocked on a door at random and found an African man in a pinstripe suit sitting at a desk, a Bible open at his elbow.
"I can sell you this," he said, and handed me a pamphlet titled Catalogue of Banned Publications, Cinematograph Pictures and Records, with Supplement, dated 1991.
"Please give me five kwacha." He then opened a ledger labelled Accounts Section Censorship Board, and filled out a lengthy receipt in triplicate, stamped it, and tore out a copy for me.
"Don't you have anything more recent than 1991?" "Please wait here. I will need your name."
This Malawian catalogue of banned books would have constituted a first-year college reading list in any enlightened country. Flipping through the pamphlet I saw that it contained novels by John Updike, Graham Greene, Bernard Malamud, Norman Mailer, Yukio Mishima, DH Lawrence, James Baldwin, Kurt Vonnegut, Vladimir Nabokov and George Orwell.
Animal Farm was banned, as well as - more predictably - many books with titles such as Promiscuous Pauline and School Girl Sex. Salman Rushdie's name was on the list - the president, Mr Muluzi, was a Muslim, that could explain it - and so was my name; after all these years, my novel Jungle Lovers, set in Malawi, was still banned.
The censorship officer was still down the hall. It seemed to me that the wisest thing to do was leave the censorship board before they linked my name with that of the pernicious author on their list.
I drove out of Limbe by a familiar route: uphill through a forest that had once been much larger, past a village that had once been much smaller, on a paved road that had once been just a muddy track. My hopes were raised by this narrow but good back road that ascended to the lower slopes of Soche Hill, for I assumed that this improved road implied that the school too had been improved.
But I was wrong, the school was almost unrecognisable. What had been a set of school buildings in a large grove of trees was a semi-derelict compound of battered buildings in a muddy open field. The trees had been cut down, the grass was chest-high. At first glance the place seemed abandoned: broken windows, doors ajar, mildewed walls, gashes in the roofs, and just a few people standing around, doing nothing but gaping at me.
I walked to the house I had once lived in. The now-battered building had once lain behind hedges, in a bower of blossoming shrubs, but the shrubbery was gone, replaced by a scrappy garden of withered maize and cassava at one corner. Tall elephant grass had almost overwhelmed it and now pressed against the house. The building was scorched and patched and the veranda roof broken. Mats lay in the driveway, mounds of white flour drying on them - except that falling rain had begun to turn it to paste.
To someone unfamiliar with Africa the house was the very picture of disorder. I knew better. A transformation had occurred, an English chalet-bungalow turned into a serviceable African hut, not a very colourful hut, even an unlovely hut. But it was not for me to blame the occupants for finding other uses for the driveway, or chopping the trees up for firewood, or slashing the hedges, or growing cassava where I had grown petunias.
I met two teachers standing in the wet road, chatting together. They introduced themselves as Anne Holt from Fife in Scotland, and Jackson Yekha, a Malawian - new teachers here.
"I've read some of your books," Anne said. "I didn't know you'd taught here." She was 22, as I had been here at Soche Hill, and so as a ghost I was visiting and haunting my earlier self, and seeing myself as I had been: thin, pale, standing on a wet road in the bush, with a foxed and mildewed textbook in my hand.
It was Jackson Yekha, not I, who bemoaned the poverty and disorder in the country. He said, "Things are terrible. What can we do to change?" I said, "First you have to decide what's important to you. What do you want?" "I want things to be better. Houses. Money. The life."
"What's stopping you?"
"The government is not helping us."
"Maybe the government wants to prevent things from becoming better."
I sketched out my theory that some governments in Africa depended on underdevelopment to survive - bad schools, poor communications, a feeble press and ragged people.
They needed poverty to obtain foreign aid, they needed ignorance and uneducated and passive people to keep themselves in office for decades.
"The NG0s pull out the teachers," Jackson said. "They offer them better pay and conditions."
That was interesting - the foreign charities and virtue activists, aiming to improve matters, coopted underpaid teachers, turned them into food distributors in white Land Rovers, and left the schools understaffed.
The library, a large substantial building, had been the heart of the school. It had never been difficult to get crates of new books from overseas agencies. My memory of the Soche library was an open-plan room divided by many high bookcases and filled shelves, 10,000 books, a table of magazines, a reference section with encyclopedias.
It was almost in total darkness. One light burned. Nearly all the shelves were empty. The light fixtures were empty too.
"What happened to the books?"
"Students stole them."
I thought: I will never send another book to this country. I also thought: if you're an African student and you need money, it made a certain criminal sense to steal books and sell them. It was a justifiable form of poaching, like a villager snaring a warthog, disapproved of by the authorities but perhaps necessary.
I looked around the dismal school and thought how I had longed to return here. I had planned to spend a week helping, perhaps teaching, reliving my days as a volunteer. This was my Africa.
"You're planting a seed!" Some people had said. But the seed had not sprouted and now it was decayed and probably moribund. I wanted to see some African volunteers - caring for the place, sweeping the floor, cutting grass, washing windows, glueing the spines back on to the few remaining books.
Or, if that was not their choice, I wanted to see them torching the place and dancing around the flames; then ploughing everything under and planting food crops. Until either of those things happened I would not be back.
On my return to Zomba I drove to Blantyre (named after David Livingstone's birthplace in Scotland) and stopped at a shop on a side street, Supreme Furnishers, to see another of my students, Steve Kamwendo. He was now branch manager, aged 51, father of six, a big healthy man. I told him where I had been. His face fell.
"You went to Soche?" he said. "Did you shed tears?" He lamented that the school was in a bad way, that crime was terrible and life in general very hard. His own business was good. Malawian-made furniture, and bedsteads and lamps from South Africa and Zimbabwe, were popular because furniture imported from outside Africa was so expensive.
"Your old students are doing well, but the country is not doing well. People are different - much poorer, not respectful."
"What about your kids, Steve?"
"They are in America - four of them are in college in Indiana. One is graduating in June."
By any standards, his was a success story. All his savings went towards educating his children elsewhere and, though he was gloomy about Malawi's prospects, he was encouraging his children to return to the country to work.
"It's up to them now," I said.
I returned to Zomba sooner than I had expected, with an unanswered question in my mind. Why were the schools so underfunded?
"I can tell you that," Gertrude Rubadiri said.
"The money was taken."
It seemed that two million American dollars, earmarked for education from a European donor country, had recently been embezzled by politicians in a scam that involved the creation of fictional schools and fictional teachers. The men were in jail, awaiting trial, but the money was gone.
After dinner one night, I sat with David Rubadiri. In his expansive mood he was a romantic. He had lived through the worst years of Malawi, he had occupied high positions, he had been an exile, and he was now powerful again, running the national university, though it was millions in debt and so behind in salaries that all classes had been cancelled. Students were threatening to hold demonstrations in Zomba. "Your children are doing so well," he said.
"When I was in London one of them had his own TV show and the other had just published a novel. Clever chaps."
"Thanks," I said. Though I was flattered, I found it hard to say more. My feeling of annoyance had turned into physical discomfort.
"What I would like," David said in an emphatic way, a little theatrical, "is for one of your children to come here for a spell."
After what I had seen since entering Malawi weeks before, I found the idea shocking and unacceptable, like Almighty God instructing Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Shock gave way to incredulity and bewilderment.
"What would either of my sons do here, for goodness sake?"
"He would work, he would teach, he would be a source of ideas and inspiration." It was the old song, but just a song. I said, "But you've had plenty of those people. Years of those people. Years and years."
"I want your son." What he meant as praise and, perhaps flattery, offended me. Now in his insistence he sounded like one of Herod's hatchet men, just before the Slaughter of the Innocents. I want your son. Why were these murderous Biblical metaphors occurring to me? Perhaps because Malawians were such a church-going bunch.
"How many children do you have, David?"
"As you know, nine."
"How many of them are teaching here?"
"One is in Reno, one in Baltimore, one in London, one in Kampala, another..." he stopped himself and looked tetchy.
"Why are you inquiring?"
"Because you're doing what everyone does - you're asking me to hand over one of my kids to teach in Malawi. But Marcel taught in India, and Louis was a teacher in Zimbabwe. They've had that experience - have yours?"
I was a bit too shrill in my reply. He took it well but he saw me as unwilling, someone no longer persuaded by the cause. He suspected that I had turned into Mr Kurtz. He was wrong. I was passionate about the cause. But though my children would be enriched by the experience of working in Africa, nothing at all would change as a result of their being here.
Still trying to control my indignation I said as quietly as I could, "What about your kids? This is their country. They could make a difference. They are the only people - the only possible people - who will ever make a difference here."
This was my Malawian epiphany. Only Africans were capable of making a difference in Africa. Everyone else, donors and volunteers and bankers, were simply agents of subversion.
Back in Blantyre, I saw a man on the sidewalk lying in wait for me. Seeing me, the man smiled and frolicked ahead, flapping his arms to get my attention. Then he crouched in front of me, blocking my path, and said, "I am hungry. Give me money." I said "No", and stepped over him and kept walking.
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Clinton, Geldof announce schools boost for Rwanda, Malawi
LONDON (AFP) — Four new teacher training facilities are to be built in rural areas of Rwanda and Malawi under a scheme announced Thursday by Britain, Kigali, Blantyre and charities involving Bob Geldof and Bill Clinton.
The 4.7-million-pound (5.9-million-euro, 9.3-million-dollar) initiative will see up to 4,000 new teachers trained within a decade, cutting existing class sizes and allowing thousands of children to go to school for the first time.
Geldof's Band Aid and The Hunter Foundation, set up by Scottish philanthropist Tom Hunter, will put in the cash to build and fit out the facilities, with Britain, Rwanda and Malawi funding the remaining costs.
Former US president Clinton, Hunter and Geldof were at the launch of the scheme with the ambassadors of Rwanda and Malawi at a ceremony at the headquarters of Britain's Department for International Development in London.
Achieving universal primary education by 2015 is one of the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals.
Clinton said the initiative would try to fill "a big hole in a huge need that Rwanda and Malawi have for 20,000 more primary school teachers."
The 4.7-million-pound (5.9-million-euro, 9.3-million-dollar) initiative will see up to 4,000 new teachers trained within a decade, cutting existing class sizes and allowing thousands of children to go to school for the first time.
Geldof's Band Aid and The Hunter Foundation, set up by Scottish philanthropist Tom Hunter, will put in the cash to build and fit out the facilities, with Britain, Rwanda and Malawi funding the remaining costs.
Former US president Clinton, Hunter and Geldof were at the launch of the scheme with the ambassadors of Rwanda and Malawi at a ceremony at the headquarters of Britain's Department for International Development in London.
Achieving universal primary education by 2015 is one of the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals.
Clinton said the initiative would try to fill "a big hole in a huge need that Rwanda and Malawi have for 20,000 more primary school teachers."
Jack Right Man For Both Jobs
FORMER first minister Jack McConnell is facing calls from the SNP to resign his Holyrood seat.
A committee of MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for him to continue as an MSP while preparing for his next job, as an impartial Government diplomat in Malawi.
And the SNP - who are licking their lips at the prospect of a by-election - urged him to go now.
He should feel under no pressure to quit.
McConnell is acknowledged on all sides as a great choice as the next High Commissioner to Malawi.
He forged the historic pact to make the land of Scots explorer David Livingstone Scotland's "twin country".
The move has not only boosted cash help for one of the world's poorest nations, it has created new and permanent ties between Scots and Malawians.
Both countries benefit.
McConnell will care more about his new job than a faceless Foreign Office mandarin no doubt disappointed to have been overlooked for a posting at the French embassy.
The fact that McConnell continues to represent the people of Motherwell and Wishaw has no bearing on the job he is about to do for the people of Lilongwe or Zomba.
It is not even as if he is a frontline politician any longer.
His critics should shut up if they cannot welcome the news that Britain is sending the right man to a country that has already won the hearts of thousands of Scots.
A committee of MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for him to continue as an MSP while preparing for his next job, as an impartial Government diplomat in Malawi.
And the SNP - who are licking their lips at the prospect of a by-election - urged him to go now.
He should feel under no pressure to quit.
McConnell is acknowledged on all sides as a great choice as the next High Commissioner to Malawi.
He forged the historic pact to make the land of Scots explorer David Livingstone Scotland's "twin country".
The move has not only boosted cash help for one of the world's poorest nations, it has created new and permanent ties between Scots and Malawians.
Both countries benefit.
McConnell will care more about his new job than a faceless Foreign Office mandarin no doubt disappointed to have been overlooked for a posting at the French embassy.
The fact that McConnell continues to represent the people of Motherwell and Wishaw has no bearing on the job he is about to do for the people of Lilongwe or Zomba.
It is not even as if he is a frontline politician any longer.
His critics should shut up if they cannot welcome the news that Britain is sending the right man to a country that has already won the hearts of thousands of Scots.
Tesa Gunby asks for help with completing science lab in Malawi
One of the world's least developed countries, Malawi, known as the "Warm Heart of Africa," is ranked 164th out of the 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. Only 11 countries are poorer.
Lincoln County native Tesa Gunby, who has been serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the African nation since October of 2006, has issued a plea for help with the construction of a science laboratory at the school where she teaches.
In an e-mail to The Lincoln Journal, Tesa wrote, "I am a teacher at All Saints Community Day Secondary School (CDSS), which is part of an Anglican mission in the town of Mtunthama.
"The school is in the midst of constructing a science lab - unfortunately, the project is at a standstill due to a lack of funds. Although the cement foundation has been laid and the brick walls have been erected, we do not have iron sheets for the roof, doors, window panes, and so forth."
It is estimated that it will cost approximately $11,000 or 1,421,852.38 in Malawi "kwacha" to complete the facility.
Appearing on the list of items needed for the project are:
.. 18-foot iron sheets, $1,455.
.. Timber, $699.
.. Q-2 steel tubing, $1,094.
.. Clear glass, $502.
.. Labor, $1,250.
.. Wiring, $2,327.
.. Fittings, $887.
"You are probably asking yourself why the government of Malawi doesn't step in and assist with the building of the science laboratory - it's a fairly easy question to answer," said Tesa.
"The government of Malawi gives very little assistance to community day secondary schools. For the most part, it's up to the communities themselves to come up with the capital necessary to construct whatever facilities are needed at their respective schools."
For example, the Mtunthama CDSS consists of four buildings: an administrative office; two classroom buildings, one for freshmen (Form 1) and sophomores (Form 2) and the other for juniors (Form 3) and seniors (Form 4); and a library.
"Of these buildings, two were constructed using donations from outside sources, and two were built by the school with monies from the development fund. Parents and guardians, whose children attend the school, pay an added fee to keep this fund solvent," according to Tesa.
"Unfortunately, the people in Malawi have very little money, and it is difficult for most parents and guardians to pay school fees, much less provide additional funding for construction purposes," she continued.
"The average Malawian family is made up of six people, with most workers making less than $35 a month. Moreover, no secondary school is free; only primary education in Malawi is free."
She noted that parents or guardians are required to pay school fees three times a year. It costs 2,190 MK (Malawi Kwacha) for the first term and 1,900 MK each for the second and third terms, for a total of 5,990 MK or $43. The fees do not include items such as notebooks, writing materials, and school uniforms.
There are 258 students at the All Saints Community Day Secondary School - 129 reside in Mtunthama, 43 live with families in the area, and 86 are considered transients, traveling from two to seven kilometers (1.24 to 4.34 miles) to get to school.
Tesa further indicated that there is a high level of unemployment in Mtunthama.
An employment breakdown for the parents and guardians of the students at the Mtunthama CDSS is as follows:
.. Greater than 90 percent are farmers with small holdings. Their average monthly income ranges from $17 to $35 (2,400 to 5,000 MK).
.. Less than one percent are Kamuzu Academy employees, with an average monthly income of from $50 to $71 (7,000 to 10,000 MK).
.. Less than two percent are small business owners. Their average monthly income ranges from $26 to $43 (3,600 to 6,000 MK).
One American dollar is equivalent to 140 MK.
According to Tesa, "Kamuzu Academy is the largest employer in the area. There are also four estates surrounding Mtunthama, but very few of our parents or guardians work on them. On the whole, the community is very poor."
Speaking to Lincoln County residents concerning the science lab project at the CDSS, the Peace Corps volunteer said, "I am asking the people in my hometown to open their hearts and help us complete construction of the new science lab. Little money in America is much money here.
"In advance, I would like to say that I greatly appreciate all of your kindness and generosity in making this science laboratory a reality. May God richly bless you."
Those wishing to help those less fortunate may send their contributions to The Episcopal Church of the Advent, 141 Advent Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302. Checks should be made payable to "The Assistant Rector's Discretionary Fund." In addition, the donor should specify on the check or on a separate note that the money is for the Malawi building project.
All donations are tax deductible.
Tesa's tour as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi will end in November of this year.
Before she left for Malawi, she told The Lincoln Journal: "Malawi is a developing country where the majority of the people lack the basic necessi- ties. I want to strengthen the feeble hands.
"I see the Peace Corps as a means of bringing hope to those who are destitute - it is my heart's desire to help the poor of the world."
The life expectancy for the entire population of Malawi is just 41.7 years.
Prior to joining the Peace Corps, the 1991 LCHS graduate, taught in the history and political science department at Paine College.
Tesa is the daughter of Jerry and Mattie Gunby of Lincolnton.
Lincoln County native Tesa Gunby, who has been serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the African nation since October of 2006, has issued a plea for help with the construction of a science laboratory at the school where she teaches.
In an e-mail to The Lincoln Journal, Tesa wrote, "I am a teacher at All Saints Community Day Secondary School (CDSS), which is part of an Anglican mission in the town of Mtunthama.
"The school is in the midst of constructing a science lab - unfortunately, the project is at a standstill due to a lack of funds. Although the cement foundation has been laid and the brick walls have been erected, we do not have iron sheets for the roof, doors, window panes, and so forth."
It is estimated that it will cost approximately $11,000 or 1,421,852.38 in Malawi "kwacha" to complete the facility.
Appearing on the list of items needed for the project are:
.. 18-foot iron sheets, $1,455.
.. Timber, $699.
.. Q-2 steel tubing, $1,094.
.. Clear glass, $502.
.. Labor, $1,250.
.. Wiring, $2,327.
.. Fittings, $887.
"You are probably asking yourself why the government of Malawi doesn't step in and assist with the building of the science laboratory - it's a fairly easy question to answer," said Tesa.
"The government of Malawi gives very little assistance to community day secondary schools. For the most part, it's up to the communities themselves to come up with the capital necessary to construct whatever facilities are needed at their respective schools."
For example, the Mtunthama CDSS consists of four buildings: an administrative office; two classroom buildings, one for freshmen (Form 1) and sophomores (Form 2) and the other for juniors (Form 3) and seniors (Form 4); and a library.
"Of these buildings, two were constructed using donations from outside sources, and two were built by the school with monies from the development fund. Parents and guardians, whose children attend the school, pay an added fee to keep this fund solvent," according to Tesa.
"Unfortunately, the people in Malawi have very little money, and it is difficult for most parents and guardians to pay school fees, much less provide additional funding for construction purposes," she continued.
"The average Malawian family is made up of six people, with most workers making less than $35 a month. Moreover, no secondary school is free; only primary education in Malawi is free."
She noted that parents or guardians are required to pay school fees three times a year. It costs 2,190 MK (Malawi Kwacha) for the first term and 1,900 MK each for the second and third terms, for a total of 5,990 MK or $43. The fees do not include items such as notebooks, writing materials, and school uniforms.
There are 258 students at the All Saints Community Day Secondary School - 129 reside in Mtunthama, 43 live with families in the area, and 86 are considered transients, traveling from two to seven kilometers (1.24 to 4.34 miles) to get to school.
Tesa further indicated that there is a high level of unemployment in Mtunthama.
An employment breakdown for the parents and guardians of the students at the Mtunthama CDSS is as follows:
.. Greater than 90 percent are farmers with small holdings. Their average monthly income ranges from $17 to $35 (2,400 to 5,000 MK).
.. Less than one percent are Kamuzu Academy employees, with an average monthly income of from $50 to $71 (7,000 to 10,000 MK).
.. Less than two percent are small business owners. Their average monthly income ranges from $26 to $43 (3,600 to 6,000 MK).
One American dollar is equivalent to 140 MK.
According to Tesa, "Kamuzu Academy is the largest employer in the area. There are also four estates surrounding Mtunthama, but very few of our parents or guardians work on them. On the whole, the community is very poor."
Speaking to Lincoln County residents concerning the science lab project at the CDSS, the Peace Corps volunteer said, "I am asking the people in my hometown to open their hearts and help us complete construction of the new science lab. Little money in America is much money here.
"In advance, I would like to say that I greatly appreciate all of your kindness and generosity in making this science laboratory a reality. May God richly bless you."
Those wishing to help those less fortunate may send their contributions to The Episcopal Church of the Advent, 141 Advent Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302. Checks should be made payable to "The Assistant Rector's Discretionary Fund." In addition, the donor should specify on the check or on a separate note that the money is for the Malawi building project.
All donations are tax deductible.
Tesa's tour as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi will end in November of this year.
Before she left for Malawi, she told The Lincoln Journal: "Malawi is a developing country where the majority of the people lack the basic necessi- ties. I want to strengthen the feeble hands.
"I see the Peace Corps as a means of bringing hope to those who are destitute - it is my heart's desire to help the poor of the world."
The life expectancy for the entire population of Malawi is just 41.7 years.
Prior to joining the Peace Corps, the 1991 LCHS graduate, taught in the history and political science department at Paine College.
Tesa is the daughter of Jerry and Mattie Gunby of Lincolnton.
Zikomo to visit Malawi and oversee charity projects
Three Galway based members of the Galway charity Zikomo Ireland go to Malawi this week to review community development programmes in the region and determine the best projects to pursue.
Margaret Geraghty (Corcullen), who was born and grew up in Malawi, Clare O’Sullivan (Clarenbridge), and Malawian Jane de Hora will work with the staff of partner organisations like Self Help Africa and The African Conservation Trust in assessing community needs.
In 2002 poor rains in Southern Africa meant the maize crops failed and there were widespread food shortages throughout the region. Margaret, Clare, and Jane organised fundraising activities to send emergency aid to Malawi and the emergency food supplies were distributed to those most in need.
From November 2002 a decision was made to generate money for projects beyond emergency relief and to work towards putting something sustainable in place. Since then Zikomo projects have ranged from purchasing and installing over 600 water pumps in rural villages, providing rural clinics with medicine, building community centres, and subsidising villagers to buy goats and bees.
During their time in Malawi the group will be reviewing the effects that these projects have had on the locals’ lives as well as assessing the progress of their latest project; a multi-facetted malaria prevention programme on the southern shores of Lake Malawi.
Projects that Zikomo are looking to start up in Malawi this year include micro financing, integrated aquaculture agriculture, forestry initiatives and AIDS prevention education centres.
The group wishes to thank everyone who has supported the work of Zikomo over the years and the success of their projects is a tribute to the people of Galway. Furthermore all travel and administration costs are met by the volunteers so that all money donated goes directly to Zikomo’s carefully selected development projects in the poorest areas of Malawi.
Margaret Geraghty (Corcullen), who was born and grew up in Malawi, Clare O’Sullivan (Clarenbridge), and Malawian Jane de Hora will work with the staff of partner organisations like Self Help Africa and The African Conservation Trust in assessing community needs.
In 2002 poor rains in Southern Africa meant the maize crops failed and there were widespread food shortages throughout the region. Margaret, Clare, and Jane organised fundraising activities to send emergency aid to Malawi and the emergency food supplies were distributed to those most in need.
From November 2002 a decision was made to generate money for projects beyond emergency relief and to work towards putting something sustainable in place. Since then Zikomo projects have ranged from purchasing and installing over 600 water pumps in rural villages, providing rural clinics with medicine, building community centres, and subsidising villagers to buy goats and bees.
During their time in Malawi the group will be reviewing the effects that these projects have had on the locals’ lives as well as assessing the progress of their latest project; a multi-facetted malaria prevention programme on the southern shores of Lake Malawi.
Projects that Zikomo are looking to start up in Malawi this year include micro financing, integrated aquaculture agriculture, forestry initiatives and AIDS prevention education centres.
The group wishes to thank everyone who has supported the work of Zikomo over the years and the success of their projects is a tribute to the people of Galway. Furthermore all travel and administration costs are met by the volunteers so that all money donated goes directly to Zikomo’s carefully selected development projects in the poorest areas of Malawi.
Radio lessons for students and teachers in Malawi
With 50% of students dropping out by fifth grade, overcrowded classrooms, and a lack of training and resources for teachers, the government of Malawi decided to try a new approach.
It introduced an innovative national curriculum, which today is rapidly gaining in popularity among teachers and students alike.
Called Primary Curriculum Assessment Reform (PCAR), the curriculum was initially met with some resistance.
Teachers lacked training and were unfamiliar with the concept of more active, student-focused classrooms. But thanks to radio broadcasts developed by EDC, more teachers and students are now embracing PCAR.
“In Malawi, there are schools, teachers, and a functioning ministry, so instead of building a system, we are complimenting what is already there,” says EDC’s Simon Richmond.
The radio broadcasts, which are called Tikwere! (“let’s climb” in Chichewa, one of Malawi’s national languages) are based on PCAR and include interactive activities such as songs, games, and group work to engage students and teachers.
“In Malawi’s second major language ‘Tikwere’ also means ‘to pass’ as in to pass an exam. We settled on the name because it had a double positive meaning in different languages,” says Richmond.
Tikwere! broadcasts daily 30-minute lessons on literacy, numeracy, English, and life skills. The broadcasts reach 800,000 students and 8,000 teachers in 5,300 schools across the country.
In addition to helping popularise PCAR, Tikwere! aims to improve learner achievement, increase school enrollment, and close achievement gaps for girls and for those who live in remote areas.
As Olive Masanza, deputy minister of education, told Voice of America, “With the coming of this radio programme I think Malawi will benefit. In the classroom you [are] only able to teach a hundred children but on the radio you are teaching millions.”
Although the programme has only been on the air since January 2008, it has already begun to produce positive results. There has been an increase in attendance among students, and a number of older students are repeating the lower grades in order to receive the benefits of the radio lessons.
“For teachers, a light comes on as they realize PCAR is not that hard to teach, and they are very quickly adopting the program into their classrooms,” says Richmond. “They thank us for making their jobs easier and for giving them better ideas for how to teach a concept.”
This three-year project received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
It introduced an innovative national curriculum, which today is rapidly gaining in popularity among teachers and students alike.
Called Primary Curriculum Assessment Reform (PCAR), the curriculum was initially met with some resistance.
Teachers lacked training and were unfamiliar with the concept of more active, student-focused classrooms. But thanks to radio broadcasts developed by EDC, more teachers and students are now embracing PCAR.
“In Malawi, there are schools, teachers, and a functioning ministry, so instead of building a system, we are complimenting what is already there,” says EDC’s Simon Richmond.
The radio broadcasts, which are called Tikwere! (“let’s climb” in Chichewa, one of Malawi’s national languages) are based on PCAR and include interactive activities such as songs, games, and group work to engage students and teachers.
“In Malawi’s second major language ‘Tikwere’ also means ‘to pass’ as in to pass an exam. We settled on the name because it had a double positive meaning in different languages,” says Richmond.
Tikwere! broadcasts daily 30-minute lessons on literacy, numeracy, English, and life skills. The broadcasts reach 800,000 students and 8,000 teachers in 5,300 schools across the country.
In addition to helping popularise PCAR, Tikwere! aims to improve learner achievement, increase school enrollment, and close achievement gaps for girls and for those who live in remote areas.
As Olive Masanza, deputy minister of education, told Voice of America, “With the coming of this radio programme I think Malawi will benefit. In the classroom you [are] only able to teach a hundred children but on the radio you are teaching millions.”
Although the programme has only been on the air since January 2008, it has already begun to produce positive results. There has been an increase in attendance among students, and a number of older students are repeating the lower grades in order to receive the benefits of the radio lessons.
“For teachers, a light comes on as they realize PCAR is not that hard to teach, and they are very quickly adopting the program into their classrooms,” says Richmond. “They thank us for making their jobs easier and for giving them better ideas for how to teach a concept.”
This three-year project received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Rafters help keep church's Malawian mission afloat
Community encouraged to support Allentown Lake events June 26-29
ALLENTOWN - Not many rafts float on Allentown Lake, which makes the one that will be launched on Thursday evening even more special.
Four team members planning a mission to the African nation of Malawi in August will launch the raft to raise awareness about their trip. They plan to spend 72 hours on the lake from June 26-29.
Those interested in learning more about the mission of the Allentown Presbyterian Church can visit the information table that will be set up near the lake. The rafters have also planned a variety of other events to spark community interest and participation, including a wine and cheese tasting at a lake house, music at Pete Sensi Park, a water balloon catapult aimed at the raft and a Sunday morning sunrise worship service.
Allentown's Robert Rhoad, who will float on the raft, said the event aims to raise awareness of the intergenerational team of seven people from the Allentown Presbyterian Church that will depart for Malawi on Aug. 2 and return on Aug. 15. The team members are Rhoad and his father, Ed, and 13-year-old son, Ethan, Ann Darlington, Charlie Lyons-Pardue and Hal Boston and his son, Hal Jr.
"Also, Karen Collins is a member of the team and will be on the raft with us, but is not able to go on the trip with us to Malawi," Rhoad said.
The team going to Africa plans to work with village leaders and members to assess their needs and implement long-term, sustainable programs designed to help address the effects of the crushing poverty that exists in Malawi.
"With the help of the larger Allentown community, we hope to make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe," Rhoad said.
The mission team will follow the footsteps of the church's pastor, the Rev. Stephen Heinzel-Nelson, and his family, who went to Malawi in January and will remain there through December.
"The Heinzel-Nelsons have been hard at work, developing relationships with local leaders and charitable organizations and determining which programs have proven most successful in helping to alleviate the poverty and other multi-faceted needs that exist in Malawi," Rhoad said.
Located in the southeast quadrant of Africa, Malawi is considered to be one of the four poorest countries in the world, with unemployment estimated at 60 percent or more, nearly half the population surviving on less than $1 per day and approximately 65 percent of the population living below the poverty line, according to Rhoad.
He said the statistics about medical conditions in Malawi are hard to fathom, with the average life expectancy less than 40 years old and more than 13 percent of children not reaching the age of 5. With rampant HIV/AIDS, Malawi has a staggering number of orphans and child-led households. He said there are more than 500,000 children under the age of 14 who are orphaned as a result of their parents dying from HIV/AIDS.
In addition to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS, Malawi is also plagued by malaria and malnutrition. Throughout Africa, 3,000 people die from malaria every day, which is tragic as the disease can be prevented relatively inexpensively with the use of $10 mosquito nets, he said.
With regard to malnutrition, Rhoad said most Malawians consume about 1,400 calories per day, which is far below the amount necessary for living a normal, healthy life. The resulting malnutrition stunts the growth of children and has other far-reaching impacts on the health and welfare of the Malawian people, he said.
The severe medical issues combined with food insecurity caused by severe economic conditions in Malawi make it extremely difficult for Malawians to pull themselves out of poverty. According to Rhoad, the Allentown Presbyterian Church has a vision to have the Allentown community partnerwith and adopt a Malawi village to provide broad-based
assistance designed to enable the village to lift itself out of poverty.
"We will be partnering with the DevelopmentOffice of the Presbyterian Church in Malawi, and with them have identified a rural village an hour outside of the city of Blantyre, near the town of Zomba, which is currently not receiving outside assistance," he said. "Further meetings with leaders from the village need to occur before our plans are finalized, but we hope that this opportunity will become a reality."
The church intends to provide a variety of forms of aid, including constructing a mission center that will serve as a preschool/ feeding center for orphans and a training center for agricultural and other programs to enhance the food supply for the village. The church would also like to purchase and distribute mosquito nets for children and families, provide funding for fertilizer and seed to enhance next year's harvest, purchase needed materials and supplies for orphanages and the preschool and establish programs to provide sustainable sources of food.
Rhoad noted that the community response to the church's mission has been fantastic and uniformly positive. Many local business owners have already offered help.
In order to raise more money for the mission, the rafters seek to have people sponsor their time on the raft. Prior to the event, they had already raised $4,000 in donations.
For more information about the Heinzel- Nelson family's mission in Malawi, visit www.apcmalawi.blogspot.com.
ALLENTOWN - Not many rafts float on Allentown Lake, which makes the one that will be launched on Thursday evening even more special.
Four team members planning a mission to the African nation of Malawi in August will launch the raft to raise awareness about their trip. They plan to spend 72 hours on the lake from June 26-29.
Those interested in learning more about the mission of the Allentown Presbyterian Church can visit the information table that will be set up near the lake. The rafters have also planned a variety of other events to spark community interest and participation, including a wine and cheese tasting at a lake house, music at Pete Sensi Park, a water balloon catapult aimed at the raft and a Sunday morning sunrise worship service.
Allentown's Robert Rhoad, who will float on the raft, said the event aims to raise awareness of the intergenerational team of seven people from the Allentown Presbyterian Church that will depart for Malawi on Aug. 2 and return on Aug. 15. The team members are Rhoad and his father, Ed, and 13-year-old son, Ethan, Ann Darlington, Charlie Lyons-Pardue and Hal Boston and his son, Hal Jr.
"Also, Karen Collins is a member of the team and will be on the raft with us, but is not able to go on the trip with us to Malawi," Rhoad said.
The team going to Africa plans to work with village leaders and members to assess their needs and implement long-term, sustainable programs designed to help address the effects of the crushing poverty that exists in Malawi.
"With the help of the larger Allentown community, we hope to make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters on the other side of the globe," Rhoad said.
The mission team will follow the footsteps of the church's pastor, the Rev. Stephen Heinzel-Nelson, and his family, who went to Malawi in January and will remain there through December.
"The Heinzel-Nelsons have been hard at work, developing relationships with local leaders and charitable organizations and determining which programs have proven most successful in helping to alleviate the poverty and other multi-faceted needs that exist in Malawi," Rhoad said.
Located in the southeast quadrant of Africa, Malawi is considered to be one of the four poorest countries in the world, with unemployment estimated at 60 percent or more, nearly half the population surviving on less than $1 per day and approximately 65 percent of the population living below the poverty line, according to Rhoad.
He said the statistics about medical conditions in Malawi are hard to fathom, with the average life expectancy less than 40 years old and more than 13 percent of children not reaching the age of 5. With rampant HIV/AIDS, Malawi has a staggering number of orphans and child-led households. He said there are more than 500,000 children under the age of 14 who are orphaned as a result of their parents dying from HIV/AIDS.
In addition to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS, Malawi is also plagued by malaria and malnutrition. Throughout Africa, 3,000 people die from malaria every day, which is tragic as the disease can be prevented relatively inexpensively with the use of $10 mosquito nets, he said.
With regard to malnutrition, Rhoad said most Malawians consume about 1,400 calories per day, which is far below the amount necessary for living a normal, healthy life. The resulting malnutrition stunts the growth of children and has other far-reaching impacts on the health and welfare of the Malawian people, he said.
The severe medical issues combined with food insecurity caused by severe economic conditions in Malawi make it extremely difficult for Malawians to pull themselves out of poverty. According to Rhoad, the Allentown Presbyterian Church has a vision to have the Allentown community partnerwith and adopt a Malawi village to provide broad-based
assistance designed to enable the village to lift itself out of poverty.
"We will be partnering with the DevelopmentOffice of the Presbyterian Church in Malawi, and with them have identified a rural village an hour outside of the city of Blantyre, near the town of Zomba, which is currently not receiving outside assistance," he said. "Further meetings with leaders from the village need to occur before our plans are finalized, but we hope that this opportunity will become a reality."
The church intends to provide a variety of forms of aid, including constructing a mission center that will serve as a preschool/ feeding center for orphans and a training center for agricultural and other programs to enhance the food supply for the village. The church would also like to purchase and distribute mosquito nets for children and families, provide funding for fertilizer and seed to enhance next year's harvest, purchase needed materials and supplies for orphanages and the preschool and establish programs to provide sustainable sources of food.
Rhoad noted that the community response to the church's mission has been fantastic and uniformly positive. Many local business owners have already offered help.
In order to raise more money for the mission, the rafters seek to have people sponsor their time on the raft. Prior to the event, they had already raised $4,000 in donations.
For more information about the Heinzel- Nelson family's mission in Malawi, visit www.apcmalawi.blogspot.com.
McConnell refuses to be hustled
FORMER first minister Jack McConnell yesterday dismissed a row over the timing of his departure to Malawi as "hype".
A committee of MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for Mr McConnell to stay on much longer as an MSP while preparing to become British High Commissioner in Malawi.
But Mr McConnell said: "I think there's a need to be realistic about this and not get too caught up in all the hype.
"There's a practical job to be done, and I'm looking forward to doing it."
Mr McConnell said he had no doubt the Foreign Office will choose "the right time" for him to get started and confirmed that there would be a by-election in his Motherwell and Wishaw constituency when he moves on.
But Mr McConnell added: "There will be absolutely no time when I'm still a member of the Scottish Parliament and High Commissioner in Malawi."
John Wilson, an SNP back-bench MSP, claimed today that if Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, had held an election last October Mr McConnell "may have been long gone".
He added: "That Labour is running scared of a by-election in one of their strongest constituencies shows just how much politics in Scotland has changed in the past year."
A committee of MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for Mr McConnell to stay on much longer as an MSP while preparing to become British High Commissioner in Malawi.
But Mr McConnell said: "I think there's a need to be realistic about this and not get too caught up in all the hype.
"There's a practical job to be done, and I'm looking forward to doing it."
Mr McConnell said he had no doubt the Foreign Office will choose "the right time" for him to get started and confirmed that there would be a by-election in his Motherwell and Wishaw constituency when he moves on.
But Mr McConnell added: "There will be absolutely no time when I'm still a member of the Scottish Parliament and High Commissioner in Malawi."
John Wilson, an SNP back-bench MSP, claimed today that if Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, had held an election last October Mr McConnell "may have been long gone".
He added: "That Labour is running scared of a by-election in one of their strongest constituencies shows just how much politics in Scotland has changed in the past year."
McConnell dismisses Malawi post ‘hype’
Former First Minister Jack McConnell yesterday dismissed a row over the timing of his departure to Malawi as "hype".
A committee of MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for Mr McConnell to stay on much longer as an MSP while preparing to become British High Commissioner in the African country, but Mr McConnell today told STV's Scotland Today: "I think there's a need to be realistic about this and not get too caught up in all the hype.
"There's a practical job to be done and I'm looking forward to doing it."
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Mr McConnell said he had no doubt that the Foreign Office will choose "the right time" for him to get started and confirmed there would be a by-election in his Motherwell and Wishaw constituency when he moves on.
But Mr McConnell added: "There will be absolutely no time when I'm still a member of the Scottish Parliament and High Commissioner in Malawi.
"There will also be no time, I'm sure, when Malawi's without a High Commissioner."
The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report that Mr McConnell and the Foreign Office should publicly announce a starting date for taking up the post within the first half of next year.
SNP back-bench MSP John Wilson claimed today that if Prime Minister Gordon Brown had held an election last October Mr McConnell "may have been long gone".
A committee of MPs said it would be "unsatisfactory" for Mr McConnell to stay on much longer as an MSP while preparing to become British High Commissioner in the African country, but Mr McConnell today told STV's Scotland Today: "I think there's a need to be realistic about this and not get too caught up in all the hype.
"There's a practical job to be done and I'm looking forward to doing it."
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Mr McConnell said he had no doubt that the Foreign Office will choose "the right time" for him to get started and confirmed there would be a by-election in his Motherwell and Wishaw constituency when he moves on.
But Mr McConnell added: "There will be absolutely no time when I'm still a member of the Scottish Parliament and High Commissioner in Malawi.
"There will also be no time, I'm sure, when Malawi's without a High Commissioner."
The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report that Mr McConnell and the Foreign Office should publicly announce a starting date for taking up the post within the first half of next year.
SNP back-bench MSP John Wilson claimed today that if Prime Minister Gordon Brown had held an election last October Mr McConnell "may have been long gone".
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