WE. ARE. MALAWI

Ekari Mbvundula

Author of short story eBook “Montague’s Last”.

Female
29 Years Old
2nd Prize Winner of Nigerian Writing Competition “The Writer 2016”.
Currently Nominated 2017 Campbell Award

“Writing has always been a part of me. The need to write down ideas that come to me all the time, just cannot be switched off. It’s a part of me.”- Ekari Mbvundula

Ekari has always loved reading , it was more than a passion , it was a part of her identity, it was part of who she was.

As author of short story eBook, “Montague’s Last” and many others such as “The Elephant in The Room”, Ekari is mainly a speculative fiction writer, which involves fantasy and science fiction.

However any genre which explores the impossible or the yet-to-be-possible has always fascinated her, hence never giving herself any restrictions, allowing herself to be open to exploring as many genres as possible.

Ekari writes fiction as she believes, fiction explores how individuals see themselves and the ideas that come across the minds of Malawians on a daily basis. Which is why she finds it very vital to write stories that actually consist of Malawians and Africans as the main character, making it easy for readers to connect with the writer and the characters.

Taking such a spectacular step, definitely comes with obstacles. Some of the challenges faced with writers in Malawi would have to be distribution. It is not easy as writers to get stories to Malawian readers and beyond.

Ekari has recently released an eBook “Montague’s Last”, on Amazon.com , and many Malawians have lent her their support, however Malawi currently is behind on modern technology development such as using MasterCard and visa credit/debit cards to make online transactions, making it difficult to purchase the eBook.

Even though there are smartphones and tablets available in the country, there are a lot of online services that are not available in Malawi. Hence showing not only challenges faced in the literature industry, but a far greater problem such as the modernising of our infrastructure as a whole.

There are also challenges when it comes to printing and distribution of hard copy books, as well as having agents, publishers, publicists, promoters and book designers to work with, in order to get the books into readers hands.

Ekari’s vision is to make Malawians to become readers, whether through reading electronic books, or hard copy, because without readers there can be no writers. She would like local bookstores to become the popular hotspots for people of all ages to hang out and exchange productive and effective ideas. She would also like for books to be more affordable.

Ekari believes in writing for Malawian readers first and the rest of the world second. She believes there are many ways, to develop and make Malawi better.

She earnestly believes that through developing a reading culture into Malawi and its people, it will help Malawians become more innovative and see themselves beyond what they believe they are, as well as be able to give them a special type of confidence to be daring enabling them to take a step further beyond just wishing and dreaming but, actually put ideas into tangible foundations.

Ekari is a Malawian writer that though facing many challenges, continues to do what she loves and what she believes is a part of her. And through her work she will stir Malawi up, and help change and develop Malawi, making Malawians greater readers and innovative individuals.

To see the works of Ekari,

Follow her on Facebook @EkariMbvundula and her bibliography page on her blog www.ekariwrites.com

You can also purchase her eBook short story “Montague’s Last” on www.amazon.com

We.Are.Malawi

Malawi Tech

Rachel Sibande

Founder, mHub.

Female
30 years old
Mother of incredible 3
Bachelor Degree in Computer Science
Master of Science in Information Theory, Coding and Cryptography (The art of writing and solving codes).
PhD in Computer Science, Rhodes University, South Africa as of 2015.

As written on www.lionsafrica.org , Rachel always had a passion for gadgets from her childhood. As a young girl she stated how much she enjoyed opening up old radios, as well as curiosity on anything innovative in the area of science and technology. She always thought she would become a laboratory scientist, however with time her passion grew and transcended to computers.

Career Pathway

Rachel jumpstarted her career as a programmer then moved on to teaching and lecturing for 3 years at Kamuzu Academy and Mzuzu University in Kasungu and Mzuzu Malawi.
She later on joined the development industry , where she worked with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Flanders International Cooperation Agency (FICA) and Deutsche Gesellschaft Für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for 5 years. She did so in the wonderful quest to use technology to make a difference in the life of the common Malawian.

mHub is an open space where young technology enthusiasts thrive and are nurtured to grow their ideas into viable technology solutions that can transcend into sustainable business models. mHub targets young people, male and females with a passion and skillset in software development, hardware building and maintenance. It facilitates the engagement of the young technology entrepreneurs with the industry and communities to understand the challenges that exist and develop relevant solutions to the key bottlenecks that exist. Mhub conducts hack-a-thons, which are competitions where young technopreneurs pitch various technology applications in a competitive process. It also facilitates linkages to assignments and job opportunities between the industry and the technology entrepreneurs. The goal of mhub is to become a leading ICT think tank in Malawi and the region.

Rachel describes the ‘technopreneurship’ environment in Malawi as young and challenging due to some constraints like high cost of Internet access.

Rachel is very confident and optimistic of the future of technology and innovation in Malawi. She believes that within mhub and beyond there are very skilled young technopreneurs. mHub recently hosted the first ever tech-fest where such unique and talented technopreneurs emerged with their tech-applications. At the tech-fest the following technopreneurs showcased their applications: a local social media platform, Malawi’s own ebay, a credit loader application, a local simplified accounting package, a stadium management system and an e-tourism application.

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Malawi Entertainment

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Malawi AgriFeeds

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Malawi Entrepreneurs

Precious Huwa

Founder, P.HSuits

Male
24 Years Old

Precious Huwa, has always had a passion for fashion.

His sense of style always swayed towards blazers. In order to have them perfectly up to par he usually preferred having his blazers tailor-made and would even think of putting his initials however a thought always came to him saying “Hey that’s going overboard”.

Until the end of the year 2015, when he met founder and president of Redeemed For A Purpose Ministries, Pastor A. Mwasinga, who asked him if he had ever thought of establishing a clothing line, to his amazement Precious said yes he has always thought of it, as he has always had a love for custom-made suits.

That was when Pastor Aubrey told him, that if it something he has always thought of and loved to do, he should start right away. And ever since then Precious got the courage and motivation to get P.HSuits started, and it has been an upward journey for them since then.

With such an establishment, there is definitely no perfect road. P.HSuits faces some obstacles with availability of raw materials in Malawi, but still they push on and find ways to obtain them enabling them to grow as a brand.

P.HSuits as a growing brand, plans on working with establishments such as hotels, as a unique way to promote both the company and the hotels.

Precious Huwa is an example of how one can turn from ordinary to extraordinary, by loving what they do and bringing their passion to life. Through faith,determination, motivation and perseverance.

It is not easy but that does not mean it can not be accomplished.

To see the works of P.HSuits,

Follow them on Instagram @P.HSuits and on Facebook @P.HSuits

We.Are.Malawi

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Malawi Education

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Did You Know?

DID YOU KNOW?

Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa due its kind, caring and ever smiling citizens.
Malawi is located in southeast Africa
Malawi is a landlocked country surrounded by Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Malawi gained its independence for the British 6th July, 1964
The capital of Malawi is called Lilongwe, the commercial capital is called Blantyre.
The dialing code for malawi is +265
The Malawian currency is known as the Malawian Kwacha MWK (Ku-Wa-Cha).
Official languages of Malawi are Chichewa (Chi-Che-Wa) and English.
As of 2013 population was 16,407,000
In malawi driving is on the Left.
The chambo fish is one of Malawi’s most delicious delicacy
The chambo fish is best prepared (Not proven, my opinion 😀 ) and found in Malawi as it is an endangered species.
Lake Malawi was once known as Lake Nyasa and Lake of The Stars.