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| Columns |
| The D.D. Phiri Column |
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by
Desmond Dudwa Phiri, 10 January 2007
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06:48:29
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Kamkwatira, spirit of self-help
The death of Gertrude Webster Kamkwatira on December 18, 2006 is one of the national tragedies of the year. It is a tragedy for several reasons.
In the first instance, let us recall the poem: “For whom the the bell tolls...it tolls for thee”. The death of every citizen, nay every human being, diminishes us all.
Secondly, Gertrude was a superb actress and entertainer. She was a prolific writer of dramatic sketches. She spoke English fluently, with a beautiful accent. She was certainly a talented person. She was indirectly popularising mastery of the English language, which is a good thing.
Perhaps, above all, Gertrude was a role model as an achiever. Like her mentor, who predeceased her, Du Chisiza Jr, she was self-made, resourceful and tireless. These are qualities which all young people who seek a place in the sun ought to cultivate. There are certain successes which are due to “affirmative action” or the favour of the boss.
In callings in which Kamkwatira was engaged success is a matter of satisfying one’s clients. If your scripts make no appeal, no one can force the audience to hang around or come back to see you again. The fact that threatres were often full when Kamkwatira was acting is testimony enough that she was an achiever.
Success comes through doggedness. You have to persevere despite the odds against you. When Du died, Gertrude carried on acting using the name Wakhumbata. But, apparently, some members of the Chisiza family were not happy with her. She founded a drama society of her own and called it Wanna-Do. At first the name did not seem to promise much, but it was under it that she started blossoming, she was even invited to act in neighbouring countries.
He or she who wants to succeed in life must have a good dose of self-reliance. Real success is never brought to a person on a silver platter. Help from friends and well-wishers may come but people must most of the time make use of what they have to get what they want. They may not have capital to start with but if they have the will they will find the way to success.
When I compare Malawians of today with those of pre-independence days I get shocked by the pervasive decline in the self-help spirit. Those days whenever people formed an association of whatever nature, they funded it from subscriptions. It was with small donations from members and sympathisers that the Nyasaland African Congress and the Nyasaland Chiefs’ Union raised enough funds to send delegates to England in 1952 and 1953 to go and oppose the proposal to federate the Rhodesias and Nyasaland.
With the approach of independence wealthy foreigners who were sympathetic to our causes started making donations to our association. Now the country is replete with NGOs which donate funds to all types of organisations. Indeed some Malawians form societies or clubs with the specific purpose of soliciting funds from donors. The size of membership is not their concern, but that of donations.
In the past evidence of membership of a society was a membership card indicating that the bearer had paid his or her monthly or annual fee. These days political parties seem to be mainly funded by a few wealthy individuals who indirectly own these parties.
We have to drop this dependency syndrome. While it is not wrong to accept or solicit donations, it is certainly undesirable to depend on charity. If we do not reactivate the spirit of self-help one day we will discover that we have made a great mistake. It is people who practise self-help that appreciate help when it comes from someone.
It is said God helps those who help themselves first. Those who help themselves first later receive help from others. It was because Gertrude believed in and practised self-help that God used to send her help as, for example, when President Bingu wa Mutharika attended one of her shows in Lilongwe and presented Wanna-Do with a sizeable cheque.
I believe they are right those who say life begins at 40. Most people who achieve a lot while they are in their 20s or 30s achieve much more when they are over 40. What Gertrude could have achieved if the Lord had let her live beyond 40 we cannot tell. But what she did was great enough to warrant her name in the book of ‘Who’s Who’ if not a full biography.
Thomas Carlyle, the 19th century Scottish man of letters said that the history of a nation is composed of the biographies of its heroes. By heroes he did not mean just those who excel on battlefields but all those who excel in any form of human endeavour.
Though many Malawians have made debuts into writing, few are writing about our nation’s great achievers. This is a pity. A lot of our history is being interned with the bones of our great people. Even if we do not write their full biographies, we should at least include them in a book of Who’s Who. Gertrude, Du, the Paseli brothers, scholars, sports men and women, doctors, lawyers, theologians and people of many other disciplines deserve to be remembered for a long time.
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