Speaking with Ulemu Moffat who is the neighbor of the family said that he noticed the family vomiting while he was on his way to the farm, what was really strange was that everyone in the family was doing so, the family members affected was the father John Chisu 32, mother 29,and their children Chikondi, yankho and Mayamiko.

According to the reports, this was so because the family used maize flour that still had chemicals. In an interview with the village chief warned all the venders never to sell food that might harm the people and that they should make sure to check their products before selling them to the people, he added that “even though hunger is everywhere, everyone should avoid taking in unknown food that could affect their health”.

Written by Marvel Chifunilo Kamoto

Mulanje Mag

After donating pipes to namakhucha Village which is under Group village Head Nkhonya for safe water drinking, Kondwani  Nankhumwa Member of Parliament of Mulanje central constituency now maintains Migombe Bridge through his councilor of Chisitu Ward Isaac Brazio. The bridge was damaged on the 2^nd of May 2016.

Mulanje Mag

After noticing that the bridge needs to be maintained, Councilor Isaac Brazio said “the MP does not like to see his people struggling” he added by saying that the people in the village should take care of the bridge because if they damage they are the ones that will be affected.

Frank Kang’oma who is the chairman of Majawa village said that he is thankful for all the improvements happening in the village.

If I can recall in the past, Market places used to be one of the hygienic places but now as I speak things have completely changed. The increase in population has brought changes to our environment.

 Mr Junior Malizani one of the market keepers complained about poor working material as he cleans and takes care of the market with his bare hands at Laurderdale. In our interview He added saying that if the workers health is good that means the market will also be healthy.

According to Junior Mlizani, his Main problem he encounters is lack of gloves, working shoes and work suits, and they are not paid in a good time. Frank Jumbe another worker in his remarks said, they frequently suffer from various kinds of diseases due to lack of protective clothes, this is so dangerous to me as of now am thinking of quitting this job.

Written by Marvel Chifunilo Kamoto

It was around 1 am when the watch man noticed a man walking past the shop and suddenly the man disappeared since it was in the dark, then watchman heard dogs barking for quite a some time, and he thought of going to see for himself why the dog are making all that noise, as he went to face of the shop, he heard some footsteps showing that they is someone, so as he moved slowly then saw a man running away.

After that, the watchman went t inform the owner of the shop about and the things that has happened. Both the shop owner and the watchman went to the sight of the incident, when they put the touch on, that is when they found out that the robber was trying to get in the shop using the front part and he was stopped because of the dogs and the presence of the watchman.

Mr. Yussuf Chalowa the shop owner also said “the matter has not yet being reported to the police” and as I talked to him he added that he will maintain the shop on his own.

Written by Seth Inglis

‘This dam is over 60 meters deep. It is surrounded by old clay pots, said Kondwani Chamwala programs officer responsible for environmental education. He supplemented that this dam provides employment to the tour guides as a result it reduces cases of theft. It also increases the country’s economy through the money paid by the tourist. However, due to its steepness of the dam, once you have sink in it you can die at the same spot.

This dam was believed to have spirits before, as of now, the spirits have moved to some other parts of Mulanje Mountain. Kondwani confirmed that this is because it was observed that spirits dislikes noisy places.

Written By Marvel Chifunilo Kamoto

There are two main varieties of cedar tree and these are Mulanje cedar and Widdringtonia noddfllora. The widdringtonia noddfllora can be grown in different areas and it survives. This has been evidenced by  Mr. Matabwa who said that he managed to plant widdringtonia noddfllora in his woodlot.

The other specie of cedar tree is Mulanje cedar as already indicated. Mulanje cedar is Malawi’s national tree. This is because it is found in Mulanje Mountain only. It was declared to be Malawi’s national tree in 1984 by the first president of the republic of Malawi the late Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Its scientific name is widringtonia whytei.

Mulanje Mag

In an interview with Mr. Geoffrey Juwao who is responsible for Cedar forest reserves in Mulanje Mountain he said, 'cedar tree matures when it is more than 50 years and it can be 30-40 meters in height. Its leaves are needle shaped and there is a variation of leaves forms the shape of an umbrella which provide a shade for other small cedar trees which grows under it, It also has a romantic smell which makes tourists to forget to go back as they choose to stay closer to it.' He complete by saying that, this tree can only be grown in Mulanje Mountain.

 Mulanje cedar has a lot of uses but but it is commonly used for constructions and making curios, this is because it is resistant to termite attack and exposes to water. Though it is important, when it has been affected with fire it easily wilts and the most problem affecting this tree is that some bad citizens are cutting them down illegally.

Mr. Geoffrey Juwao reported that ,’people have tried to plant Mulanje Cedar but before reaching at a height of 3 meters  it dies this is because the climate that is found in Mulanje mountain differs from any other climate.

In his remarks, he said that, ‘as of know they have 13 nurseries of cedar trees which they want to increase the population of cedar mainly at our beautiful scenery of Mulanje Mountain’.  

   Written by Marvel Chifunilo Kamoto                      

  

Mulanje Mag - Tuck Shop

This is a shop was opened in the year 2014, to minimize the cases of accident that commonly occur along the main road which happens to be close to FOMO Independent Secondary school in Mulanje.

Mr. Butao who is a deputy principle at this school said ``the school department thought it wise to establish this tuck shop, so that the students should buy some school materials within the school campus, this was so, to protect the students from accidents caused by cars, bicycles and the like’’. From there he also added that, when he compares the percentages of the students who were going out now and then is so low due to the introduction of the Tuck Shop, and as of now, no accidents have being records.

Mulanje Mag - Tuck Shop

``I am very happy with the business, because it is like a part of my professional at FOMO. Even though, the business is fine, there are some problems such as shortage of money that mostly occurs due to the customers that buy goods on credit and not pay back in good time brings risks on my work’’, Famous Mavila who is a shop keeper said. Besides that, he also supplement that, apart from the students, there are also some people from out side the school compass, come to buy some groceries, which contributes to the shops high profits.

`Establishment of the tuck shop has made us to be well protected from unnecessary accidents which can happen if the students are just going out the school compound all the times, because the school is near the main road’,. Rhoda Katungwe contributed during the same day.

According to suggestions, it has also proved that, the students are concentrating so much on education in the sense that the time that they could go some other place to buy some groceries elsewhere, they can get what they want within the school tuck shop giving them more time to study

Written by Empraim M'mora.          

   

Mulanje Mag

Mulanje Mountain is the biggest mountain in Malawi. It is found Sixty  kilometers away from commercial city of Malawi, Blantyre. It is a combination of Twenty six Mountains and ninety six peaks. Some of these peaks are Chambe, Manene, South and North Namasire, Sapitwa . Sapitwa is the highest peak from them all and is the only highest peak in the Southern part of Africa and third in Africa. The peak is 3002 meters above the sea level said Kondwani Chamwala who is the program Officer for the Environmental and Educational Department.

Mulanje Mag

‘According to our survey as Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust (MMCT), the Mountain occupies 640 kilometers per square and Sapitwa is almost at the centre of the Mountain. He supplements to say Mulanje Mountain is unique, in that it has some plants that we can not find elsewhere.’ It is also an Island in the sky in the sense that it rises like an ice berg.

For this peak to keep it beautiful, we are caring for our reserves to avoid land slides and erosion which can exhaust the Mountain as well as the peaks. Apart from this, we are protecting all the endemic plants and animals so that they should keep on attracting tourists.

Though Sapitwa increases the country’s economy, you can not go there when the rock is slippery. During July end in the morning yearly, the peak gets wrapped with some ice.

Another mode of transport system in Malawi, which was introduced some few years ago, and consists in carrying out people and some light luggage from one location to the other.

These bicycles have got good and interesting appearance because they have a flexible and the handles on the carrier to attract customers. MR MMORA the bicycle taxi said ‘‘some of these have got a radio which express music while moving. Mostly these bicycles are stand on the bus deport and stage to carry the passengers and their luggage to the home villages‘`.

Apart from parking in the bus deport, we also find other drivers who choose to drive around Mulanje and pick up passengers within short distances, Because they don’t have a parking space inside the bus depot.

In order to use a bicycle taxi, the passenger should get from the bus depot or stop them in the main road near any trading center.

KABAZA is the code word for calling for a bicycle taxi.

The price of the bicycle taxi varies depending on distances. Passengers find the obligation to use bicycle taxis to reach highly remote areas, through small roads, which can not be reached using other means of transportation.

It can also be used as a transition mean, until the passenger manages to reach the main road, and therefore be able to catch a bus or a taxi, towards their work and business places

Mostly men choose to enter this transport system because it demands high physical effort.  Consequently this system became very important and interesting in Malawi, because from an economic point of view, bicycle taxi has managed to reduce unemployment level.

However the challenge with the system is that, it attracts boys to venture into the business for money and end up by dropping out of school, which is affecting the development of the country.  

Written by Ephraim Pim'mor

Seasonal farming consists on choosing the right seed to plant, according to the season or time of the year. By the month of November, it has been raining and farmers are getting ready to plant.

First, before harvesting, they follow some structures on how they can take care for the seedling. In the season of farming, if it is vegetables, and when the rain season is over farmers also do water the seedling, mulching which is done after sowing bed. November is the most adequate month for planting the seed, mostly the maize. In preparations of planting the seeds, farmers in Malawi perform activities such as harden-off, weed control, pricking out, pest control and disease control.

Seasonalfarming

Farmers choose that month to plant their seeds, due to the favorability of the conditions, as well as the rain. When the seed has approached, there should be transplanting after one month old. This should be done if the planted seeds are grown, because they might cause them to not survive or even be stunted. Transplanting should be done at the beginning of rainfall season in the afternoon or evening, when weather conditions are cooler, so they can get used to the environment, especially sunshine. This is the season of farming that is mostly very important to farmers. If the planted seeds have grown more or two on one place, they need to be uprooted.

 Land preparation which involves the practices carried out, to create a suitable soil tilt in readiness for planting. This creates favorable condition for easy management of subsequent field practices such as weeding.

The best time to prepare seedbed is during the dry season when there is optimum moisture in the soil to accelerate decomposition and facilitate mineralization of vegetable materials. After all activities have been done, there is harvesting of the seeds planted or sowed.

Agriculture is an applied science that puts scientific principles or theories learnt in class into practice in Crops and livestock production. This helps students to develop an enquiry making learning more interesting.