A GROUP of young Christians will experience what life is like for people living in poverty in Birmingham’s twin dioceses of Malawi.
The 13 youngsters, from churches across Birmingham, will set out for two weeks in Africa tomorrow for the first visit of its kind. Organisers said it was being launched in the International Year of the Child and to give the youngsters the chance to see everyday life.
While there they will work alongside local workers picking tea and coffee, drying fruit and fishing for Chambo, at the Zoa Tea Estate in southern Malawi.
They will spend most afternoons in Mwaya, a village on the estate, where they will meet children and young people and take part in games and crafts.
The group, aged from 15 to 20, each raised £1,000 to fund the trip by organising head shaves, bike rides, cake sales, bell-ringing peals and quiz nights.
Helen Tomblin, the Bishop’s adviser for Youth Ministry who has arranged the trip, said: “We hope this trip will be life-changing for the young people from Birmingham as well as for those they meet in Malawi.
“The city and the Diocese of Birmingham have had a long relationship with Malawi and we hope this trip will build on those 40 years of friendship.”
In their second week the group will travel to Blantyre.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Malawi: Beauty contest to promote tourism
Malawi is planning to market its national tourism facilities at the Miss Tourism Queen International, which will be held in the Chinese Zhengzhou City on August 7, 2009.
Malawi photo by Klaas Krottje
“For us Malawians it is time to depict the significance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup closer and the initiative is set to effectively market and promote the country’s tourism growth overseas,” Culvin Mavunga, coordinator for Miss Tourism Malawi, auditions for the national event told media.
“We have to start putting in use all our available resources and utilizing and channeling all the funds available in order to make a national investment in tourism. This will not only bring financial freedom but above all it will bring a national investment that can enhance our heritage and uplift our national pride as Malawians,” said Mavunga.
By hosting the event Malawi will send in the winner to the world’s biggest modeling showcase, which will take place for 24 days in China. Through the Miss Tourism Malawi event, the country joins over 100 countries that respectively host the event annually.
Following Miss Tourism Malawi event, other auditions took place at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe and at Anne’s Lodge in Zomba.
Third Eyed Models further observes that just like any other nation, Malawi has its own beautiful and marketable resorts and tourist attraction places across the map.
“We have amazing natural features such as Lake Malawi and the Mulanje Mountain. It is a positive conjecture that during the World Cup soccer showcases, a lot of tourists and soccer loving fans would like to take advantage of this showcase to try and sightsee around countries nearby the host nation.”
As indicated by the organizers of Miss Tourism Malawi, whose finals will be held on July 23 at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre, the panel of selectors shall short list a total of 60 applicants during the regional contests.
“In each region there shall be 20 models. These models will then go through regional casting and only 4 models from each region will qualify, which means in total there shall be 12 models at the national finals where the judges will decide the top 4.
“Winners shall include the Queen, her two Princesses and Miss Personality. The judges shall also choose Miss Photogenic and Miss Cat Walk,” states Mavunga.
The Malawi Queen, with a delegation that shall include local journalists, is scheduled to leave the country early next month for China, where among other things she will market the country’s scenic tourism areas, cultural heritage, clothing designs as well as hotels.
She will also be part of the modeling team that will be showcasing international fashion designs.
With each country’s tourism ambassadors gathering together, Miss Tourism Queen International is an annual Chinese-based international beauty contest established in 2004. It aims at enhancing the tourism development, the friendship among different countries, and international culture exchange.
Malawi photo by Klaas Krottje
“For us Malawians it is time to depict the significance of the 2010 FIFA World Cup closer and the initiative is set to effectively market and promote the country’s tourism growth overseas,” Culvin Mavunga, coordinator for Miss Tourism Malawi, auditions for the national event told media.
“We have to start putting in use all our available resources and utilizing and channeling all the funds available in order to make a national investment in tourism. This will not only bring financial freedom but above all it will bring a national investment that can enhance our heritage and uplift our national pride as Malawians,” said Mavunga.
By hosting the event Malawi will send in the winner to the world’s biggest modeling showcase, which will take place for 24 days in China. Through the Miss Tourism Malawi event, the country joins over 100 countries that respectively host the event annually.
Following Miss Tourism Malawi event, other auditions took place at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe and at Anne’s Lodge in Zomba.
Third Eyed Models further observes that just like any other nation, Malawi has its own beautiful and marketable resorts and tourist attraction places across the map.
“We have amazing natural features such as Lake Malawi and the Mulanje Mountain. It is a positive conjecture that during the World Cup soccer showcases, a lot of tourists and soccer loving fans would like to take advantage of this showcase to try and sightsee around countries nearby the host nation.”
As indicated by the organizers of Miss Tourism Malawi, whose finals will be held on July 23 at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre, the panel of selectors shall short list a total of 60 applicants during the regional contests.
“In each region there shall be 20 models. These models will then go through regional casting and only 4 models from each region will qualify, which means in total there shall be 12 models at the national finals where the judges will decide the top 4.
“Winners shall include the Queen, her two Princesses and Miss Personality. The judges shall also choose Miss Photogenic and Miss Cat Walk,” states Mavunga.
The Malawi Queen, with a delegation that shall include local journalists, is scheduled to leave the country early next month for China, where among other things she will market the country’s scenic tourism areas, cultural heritage, clothing designs as well as hotels.
She will also be part of the modeling team that will be showcasing international fashion designs.
With each country’s tourism ambassadors gathering together, Miss Tourism Queen International is an annual Chinese-based international beauty contest established in 2004. It aims at enhancing the tourism development, the friendship among different countries, and international culture exchange.
Fiona Parker in Malawi: A genuinely sorry sight
I always worry when I see men carrying babies. Invariably it seems to mean that something is horribly wrong with the mother.
We live quite close to a hospital but I only really notice it about once a week....still, it's enough. Once we were driving to work and noticed two men, one carrying a baby and one with a very large child strapped to his back. Look closer, it wasn't a child but a skeletal woman slung up in a bit of tattered fabric. This morning on the way to work I noticed a woman curled up on the grass lying with her head on the kerb. I thought, she is crying and might have just lost a child. Moments later I drove past a man walking down the street towards a local clinic, with a baby strapped to his back and a couple of water bottles with what looked like milk in his hand. I don't know if they are connected, but I am so sorry to see it.
15% of the adult population have HIV/AIDS here. Some reports say it is coming on for 20%. That is one in every 5 people. There are literally millions of orphans. But if you are Malawian HIV/AIDS is just another thing to add to the list of stuff that will kill you. Most people have malaria, many have bilhartisa, there is cholera and TB and dysentery. I understand a Malawian's life expectancy is around 45 (a recent improvement from 38).
I do not know what to make of all that.
F x
We live quite close to a hospital but I only really notice it about once a week....still, it's enough. Once we were driving to work and noticed two men, one carrying a baby and one with a very large child strapped to his back. Look closer, it wasn't a child but a skeletal woman slung up in a bit of tattered fabric. This morning on the way to work I noticed a woman curled up on the grass lying with her head on the kerb. I thought, she is crying and might have just lost a child. Moments later I drove past a man walking down the street towards a local clinic, with a baby strapped to his back and a couple of water bottles with what looked like milk in his hand. I don't know if they are connected, but I am so sorry to see it.
15% of the adult population have HIV/AIDS here. Some reports say it is coming on for 20%. That is one in every 5 people. There are literally millions of orphans. But if you are Malawian HIV/AIDS is just another thing to add to the list of stuff that will kill you. Most people have malaria, many have bilhartisa, there is cholera and TB and dysentery. I understand a Malawian's life expectancy is around 45 (a recent improvement from 38).
I do not know what to make of all that.
F x
First Merchant Bank of Malawi’s First-Half Profit Drops 18%
First Merchant Bank, a Malawian lender, said first half profit fell 18 percent on competition among banks for deposits and a shortage of foreign exchange.
Net income declined to 732.9 million Malawi kwacha ($5.2 million) in the six months through June from 894.9 million kwacha a year earlier, the bank said in a statement published today in the Daily Times newspaper. Net interest income, the money banks make from interest charges on loans, grew 40 percent to 1.2 billion kwacha.
Net income declined to 732.9 million Malawi kwacha ($5.2 million) in the six months through June from 894.9 million kwacha a year earlier, the bank said in a statement published today in the Daily Times newspaper. Net interest income, the money banks make from interest charges on loans, grew 40 percent to 1.2 billion kwacha.
Fresh appeal on 2004 murder
GARDAÍ LAST night made fresh appeals regarding the murder of the daughter of the chief justice of Malawi, whose decapitated remains were found in Co Kilkenny five years ago today.
The body of Paiche Unyolo Onyemaechi (25) was found wrapped in plastic bags near a stream under Brenor bridge, 4km (2.5 miles) north of Piltown, Co Kilkenny, on July 23rd, 2004. Her severed head has not been found.
Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi, the mother of two sons, had been missing for three weeks before the discovery.
The daughter of Malawi chief justice Leonard Unyolo, she had been living in rented accommodation in St Herblain Park near Waterford city centre. Her Nigerian husband, Chika Onyemaechi, then 31, went missing days after the discovery of the body.
In August 2004, Mr Unyolo met then minister for justice Michael McDowell to discuss his daughter’s murder.
Gardaí in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, yesterday made a fresh appeal for the public’s assistance on the murder.
Up to 40 detectives were involved in the investigation. The Garda Technical Bureau carried out an indepth examination of the house Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi had been renting, and many family and friends were interviewed. Up to 500 statements have been taken.
A Garda cold-case unit in Dublin is investigating the killing and a Garda source said Interpol has been involved. Insp Kevin Bohan of Clonmel Garda station said yesterday a “co-ordinated incident room” was set up in Clonmel regarding the inquiry.
Insp Bohan described Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi’s murder as “absolutely horrific”.
“The investigation is still ongoing . . . we are appealing for any witnesses regarding Paiche’s death to come forward,” he said.
“We are also appealing for Paiche’s husband, Chika, to come forward. And we are appealing for anyone else who may have information about his whereabouts; we are still concerned for his welfare.”
The couple’s children, Anthony and Andrew, were three years and 18-months-old at the time of their mother’s murder.
In April 2007, a man tried over withholding information regarding the murder was cleared.
Three men arrested in Dublin soon after Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi’s murder were released without charge.
Anyone with information can contact Clonmel gardaí on 052-6177640, any Garda station, or the Garda confidential line on 1800-666111.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
The body of Paiche Unyolo Onyemaechi (25) was found wrapped in plastic bags near a stream under Brenor bridge, 4km (2.5 miles) north of Piltown, Co Kilkenny, on July 23rd, 2004. Her severed head has not been found.
Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi, the mother of two sons, had been missing for three weeks before the discovery.
The daughter of Malawi chief justice Leonard Unyolo, she had been living in rented accommodation in St Herblain Park near Waterford city centre. Her Nigerian husband, Chika Onyemaechi, then 31, went missing days after the discovery of the body.
In August 2004, Mr Unyolo met then minister for justice Michael McDowell to discuss his daughter’s murder.
Gardaí in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, yesterday made a fresh appeal for the public’s assistance on the murder.
Up to 40 detectives were involved in the investigation. The Garda Technical Bureau carried out an indepth examination of the house Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi had been renting, and many family and friends were interviewed. Up to 500 statements have been taken.
A Garda cold-case unit in Dublin is investigating the killing and a Garda source said Interpol has been involved. Insp Kevin Bohan of Clonmel Garda station said yesterday a “co-ordinated incident room” was set up in Clonmel regarding the inquiry.
Insp Bohan described Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi’s murder as “absolutely horrific”.
“The investigation is still ongoing . . . we are appealing for any witnesses regarding Paiche’s death to come forward,” he said.
“We are also appealing for Paiche’s husband, Chika, to come forward. And we are appealing for anyone else who may have information about his whereabouts; we are still concerned for his welfare.”
The couple’s children, Anthony and Andrew, were three years and 18-months-old at the time of their mother’s murder.
In April 2007, a man tried over withholding information regarding the murder was cleared.
Three men arrested in Dublin soon after Ms Unyolo Onyemaechi’s murder were released without charge.
Anyone with information can contact Clonmel gardaí on 052-6177640, any Garda station, or the Garda confidential line on 1800-666111.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
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