Driving through Mandala in Blantyre and going downhill from CFAO towards Masauko Chipembere Highway, I begin to panic as it is almost 12 o’clock and my visitor is touching down at 12.15pm at Chileka Airport. Thankfully, it is a Saturday and I, therefore, do not except an overflow of traffic on the highway.
As I join Masauko Chipembere, I notice that the traffic into Blantyre City Centre is flowing freely, and I heave a sigh of relief, but I quickly notice that the traffic going out of Blantyre towards Limbe is building up, that portion of the road visibly getting congested. I see traffic police officers and about two dozen people on the road carrying placards. They frantically waive down passing vehicles and those that stop are bombarded with requests for money.
I have come across such scenes many times before, and I know that this is an organisation of some description, perhaps a church, trying to fund-raise.
But wait a minute, who, in their right mind would willingly and joyfully donate to a mob of people that disturb the traffic flow? People involved in this kind of exercise will walk along major streets and highways, believing that their collection will be maximised by the sheer presence of many vehicles on such routes.
The so-called ‘Big Walk’ has become a much-loved way of raising funds, especially by churches or church-affiliated groups. I have one thing against the Big Walk: it is not productive. I do not see why people that are inconvenienced on our roads should give money to those that cause the inconvenience. By my reckoning, it should be the other way round, namely that those that block the highways should give money to the motorists that get inconvenienced by their action.
We ought to search within our communities and come up with more innovative ways of raising money. A fund raising activity must add value so that those that part with their money must, having done so, be satisfied that their money is falling into productive hands. To infringe on other people’s rights of passage is, in the view of this writer, not the best way to add value to a fund raising activity.
A fund raising activity must yield a win-win situation, both the donor and the recipient being satisfied with whatever exchange of money for something else takes place. If the donor feels punished or unduly inconvenienced, as normally happens during a big walk activity, the result is a win-lose situation. In the final analysis, any win-lose outcome is a loss for both parties. Neither party truly wins.
I urge that we do a careful search within ourselves and come up with innovative ways of raising funds, activities that will benefit both parties. In 2005 the Blantyre Joint Choir staged what was known as the “Sing Malawian Gospel Concert” in Njamba Room at Sunbird Mount Soche. The concert involved a presentation of music composed by Malawians and choreographed into Malawian traditional dances. Entry was by payment of a fee. Njamba Room was full on the night of the concert. The choir raised quite a bit of money and the patrons felt more than satisfied and requested for more of such shows. Many stayed on after the concert, hoping against hope that they would witness more music and dance. They had to be persuaded to go home because the show was over.
This is an example of an innovative way of raising funds. It is “give-and-take”, not “take-and-take”. With “take-and-take”, the entire world will get antagonised.
People need to take time and formulate ways of offering some kind of service in exchange for money. It is getting fashionable these days for choir groups to offer ushering services at weddings. That is the direction we need to take. Ushering would require less physical effort than walking (and blocking traffic) but it is more innovative and more desirable because it yields a win-win situation. The people being served will part with their money, but they will do so gladly because they will have benefited from the effort of the group seeking funds. A good search within ourselves will, no doubt, yield more of such innovative ways of raising funds.
