Social media has become a minefield spiked with sexual scandals, nudity, violence, slander and financial fraud. However, the rising tales of Malawians utilising the open market of ideas to mobilise aid for people who need it most show how the nation can use the web to connect like-minded people and create a better world for all, our Correspondent CHRISPINE MSISKA reports.
It all started with a photograph of a roadside vendor selling green mangoes and a bunch of bananas along the newly constructed Lilongwe Bridge which attracted widespread ridicule on social media.
However, for one Malawian living thousands of kilometres away, the vendor did not cut an image to laugh about. The picture was a call for people of goodwill to help.
The photograph showed Mtchona Sawasawa sitting beside his modest merchandise in the scorching sun as he tried to make ends meet through his small business.
Clean money
To an ordinary eye, the picture showed nothing more than a breadwinner hard at work to eliminate his struggles, earn an income and feed his family.
While the viral image was a laughing matter to some social media users who took turns mocking his business, with some questioning whether it could really lift someone out of poverty or impoverish him even more, UK-based Madalitso Chinguwo saw a man struggling to earn an honest living in a country where it has become easier for the corrupt to get richer and earn undeserved praise.
The social media enthusiast and philanthropist says that the demeaning comments that accompanied the touching photo prompted him to consider how he could make a difference in the vendor’s life.
Moved by what he saw, he took to social media, asking followers to help him locate Sawasawa so he could give him K200 000 to boost his business.
After successfully tracing the vendor, Chinguwo went beyond his initial pledge.
He mobilised friends and well-wishers who joined him to raise K1.6 million for Sawasawa.
“Our expectation is to see him doing something that brings more money to him and his family. Helping a stranger without expecting anything in return is fulfilling because good deeds do not go unnoticed by God,” Chinguwo told The Nation.
The givers hope their contribution would help the vendor improve his business, earn a better income and provide for his family.
Chinguwo believes it is better to give than to ignore those who need help.
“There is something therapeutic about being kind. The more you give, the more blessings you receive. It heals the world where it has become fashionable to laugh at people in need,” he says.
Chinguwo and his team pledged to keep supporting the vendor by “following up on progress”.
This is not the first time he has reached out, as he has done it countless times.
For overwhelmed Sawasawa, the gift gives him a reason to smile.
“At first, I thought there were hidden strings behind the offer, but I was assured that the money was freely given to help boost my business. My family and I will forever be grateful to those who made this happen,” he says.
Sawasawa said he intends to use the money as capital to establish a mobile money business to grow his income and build a more sustainable source of livelihood.
For a man whose business had attracted public scorn, the unexpected support has opened a new opportunity to improve his livelihood and provide for his family.
A season of giving
The gesture comes at a time when Malawians are increasingly using social media to help each other instead of promoting obscenities, nudity, sex scandals, scams and cyberbullying.
Recently, the Tabwera Appreciation Initiative, led by photojournalist Lameck Luhanga, raised over K6 million for Lilongwe-based G4S security guard Redson Mtsilo, who serves ATM customers with respect and without expecting any rewards.
Tabwera crew also mobilised K3.8 million for Geoffrey Mafia, a security guard who controls traffic at the congested Khama Trading Centre in Machinjiri Township, Blantyre.
