Members, buying already made bricks and making your own, which is most cost effective/cheaper?. If you have an idea please advice

mekn ur own z beta but a big tym consumer.
yeah time consuming and I can imagine not very easy these days i.e. finding firewood etc
esp the firewood yes. watch out the rains!!
yes indeed, right now isnt a good time with the rains about to come...

Modding of bricks its cheaper but currently u just need buy

and why is that James, because of the rain? Guys, do you save a substantial amount when u mold them yourself? say u mold 40,000 bricks, is the difference in expenditure a big one in comparison with buying 40,000 bricks...because if the difference is small then one might as well just buy and save themselves the trouble of molding...

let me lay it down 4 u just did abt 55,000, in my case, molding costed K00.50/brick, water costed K00.25/brick. the issue that determines the overall cost is the firewood. In my case i was late and the pple do kno that u ll buy what ever the case since u afraid to lose out when the rains come. In my case 50,000 bricks = makomo 4, i was told i needed 10 tonnes of F-wood, 1st quote i got was K21,000 for a 10 tonne + aganyu okadula + transport, i opted to move around and just buy already preped wood, well it was crazy found lots of 7 tonnes, got 2, 1st lot K13,500 (chilengedwe trees) + 2nd lot K11,500 (mango and malaina) + transport two trips K17,000.00. now building the damn uvuni, K7,500, kumanga jekete K3,000, kuotcha K800/khomo = K3,200.00. Overall 55,000 bricks ended costing me around 100 - 125 (K1.00 - K1.25/brick) grand factoring in my car Gas + airtime in supervising the whole job. now this is nt a true reflection since i was doing it ku mudzi heavy, in town pple will tell u just molding K1/brick thats ok as long as u negotiate kuti madzi akhale awo. what you should do is to factor in the current cost yogula in ur ares say K4/brick, then ur after zonse should be atleast 40% cheaper. coz if u ll move the brick to some location u ll have to add in atleast K1.5/brick as transport. In my case a brick costed me K1.25/brick if i factor in transport say @ K1.50 that will bring my total cost to K2.75 to my project site, while buying would cost me K3.50 + K1.50 transport = K5/brick. On the other hand if u have money its better to buy but u ll have to make sure that u r moving the brick in a truck minimu 7,000 bricks/trip since u ll save on transport if u move alot at once. eg, a sm1 is buying brick frm chiradzulu to nyambadwe, buying K2.5 transport K25,000/10,000 bricks (K2.5/brick) giving the total price to K5.00. personally i think its easy to mold since u wont have to have a lot of money when doing it amatapa heavy by the time u done u wont even realize u have spent 100 grand...good luck

if you have the funds ,just buy the bricks and start building.making
the bricks is time consurming.

wow, thanks alot Darlington for sharing your experience it helps alot!!!!! and thanks also Betty! I think now I can make an informed decision :)

u welcome!

Thats a serious breakdown Darlington Chimutu.

Thanks these are the discussions we hope to have in this discussion, that will not only inform but also assist people as they make decisisons, thanks Darlington Chimutu for this

perfect analysis thanks. If you have money and want to build in a hurry Villa you might wish to buy...i explored both options really wanted to mould koma nkhani ya diesel imanditopetsa. Also in town the cost is K1.50 - K2 per brick kuumba. I am gllad - very informative discussion.

is also cumbersome, and too involving!... kulongolola with those guys, you need to visit them now and then.. koma with the rains just buy. and do so now because zikwera mtengo very soon ndi mvulayi mitengo ikwera.

If you will mould them right on your plot You will save on transport. It is better to mould. If you have to mould them elsewhere and then transport to your plot, it is not very economic. Whether you buy or mould the difference to the whole project is minimal. The most expensive items on a house are cement, reinforcement and finishes.This is where you should spend energy on how to save.

We recently bot 60,000.00 bricks from St Theresa, Chiradzulu @ k1.90 per brick,transport was K20,000.00/ten thousand bricks.The cost of 1 brick was therefore K3.90 and total cost K234,000.00. The transport cost included aganyu wokweza ndi kutsitsa.koma anthu ambiri ku njerwako amakana kugulitsa njerwa zawo coz akufuna kukweza kuti zifike pa K3/brick.

I want to know if there is anybody who makes cement blocks. I would like to build mpanda using these

I dont know about blocks now with the increases in the cost of cement. And the issue of transporting Mchenga to site wont it cost just as much

In Kanengo there is a woman who makes these a Mrs Thombozi and inBlantyre at Chirimba Industrial Area there is a company can't just remember the name.

The last time I checked they were K10 each

Chabi's Construction has got the molds and capacity to mold concrete blocks. If you're creative, you can actually make the mold yourself. I recall one of my projects earlier this year (new Total filling station in Zomba) used only 3,000 blocks (1 bag of OPC mixed with quarry dust produced apprx 90 hollow blocks using mix of 1:10)for the entire building and it took 2 weeks to put up the walls. However, follow Engineer Greshom Sichinga's advice and "count the cost" of the whole project to see where substantial savings can be made. For those building houses, extensions, consider use of alternative walling materials e.g. cement sand blocks, stabilised soil blocks (SSB's). If you do chose to buy mold your own bricks and transport them to site, factor in 40% loss/breakages due to transportation and handling...

much as am not sure abt the cost in cement blocks, but the idea is great, faster and risk free. Plus guys, if we go cement blocks we go Green! I support the Motion. Its a go.

i wud also suggest that those that r close or work with Terrastone in Chirimba cud hav a beta idea, they mould these. Another guy hu can build a shopping mall without using a single *brick is Ian Sonke, the former MP. If anyone can cox this brain to ths platform we wil gain alot. #justanidea#

i think we should indeed look into concrete blocks, Washington U Chimuzu thanx man 4 the input i ll mos def look into this...

take note that kumanga cement and lime have also proved successful as alternatives to OPC in stabilized soil blocks (SSB's). Kumanga is cheaper than OPC and can actually be used in production of concrete blocks.

True that Washington. Will look for Jap he is on facebook

a very beneficial discussion guys, thanks alot!

Cool enough, remember your supervision in moulding the bricks costs you alot of productive time. I put it at 12.5% of the total cost...the only unfortunate thing is that we most of the times do not cost this element. However, moulding will give you an opportunity to come up with similar and properly sized bricks for yoor project. I'd prefer buying provided you are good at chosing the right qualuty bricks


You could also build the corners with Cement blocks and the space in between could be filled with a wall made of soil and cement( say 1:15) The structure will be quite safe if done properly. You can make your partitions with board and insulation which will allow you to modify the size of your rooms later.

This is a good discussion. I am looking for a plot in the NRC area and if I do get it, this analysis by Darlington will surely help in decision making when we start building. Thanks

can u get me in touch with Chabi Construction I m serious about the cement blocks The headache of buying Bricks and transport cost, loading and offloading, the costs pile up. My project is in LL around bunda turn off so everything has to around that area. I just need someone who has actually made those blocks to train my boys using the right mixture of sand quarry and cement

moulding your own is the best.. the size is bigger, no tpt cost bola nkhuni zokwanira basi

, am checking out the pamodziinvestment group, very impressive stuff!

I like this discussion. My observation, however, is that in the longterm, the one moulding is well-off. You have an opportunity to produce the type of brick you want. Have you ever compared the commercial bricks with the ones people do for their own use? 3 lines built with commercial bricks may be equal to 2 build with your own bricks. What does that tell you about cement consumption, time spent building e.t.c. I, therefore, insist that moulding has longterm advantages than buying.

, you can contact Chabi's Construction via chabiscon@globemw.net

Moulding bricks is very labour intensive. Bola kugula zopangapanga and you will ony buy the good ones. While when you mould your own you might run the risk ya oven osapsya or alot of breakages. In my view bola kugula.

Thanks for the info

Ladies and Gentlemen this is very informative..keep that info coming.

High rentals in Lilongwe

Finding a house in Lilongwe has become a nightmare, not only for people moving into the city but also for the residents. This is mainly due to the high rates of urbanisation the city is experiencing. There are other reasons that are fuelling the growth of the problem.

The reasons are numerous yet, the most pertinent one relates to the current Government’s decision to restore the capital city status to the City of Lilongwe, thus ensuring that all the Ministers and the President himself be operating from Capital Hill. This move alone meant that all the houses that were on the market were snapped up. Ordinary people like you and me started to compete with a landlord whose stature is government and that is no competition at all.

Following that, other companies like Zain have moved their headquarters to Lilongwe and their employees have to be guaranteed housing; they too compete for the house on the market and are able to support tenants who can manage 6 months upfront payments. International NGOs that were based in Blantyre like World Vision, Oxfam, and Habitat for Humanity have also moved to Lilongwe and this is also coupled by the growth of local NGOs (mostly headquartered in Lilongwe).
Over the past few years Malawi has had a few countries (France, Japan, and Iceland, amongst others) establishing their embassies and they are all based in Lilongwe, this is the same with several bi-lateral organisations who have also established offices in the capital. The growth of the economy has also created its own opportunities that have attracted entrepreneurs who are snapping up all the available homes and these include international citizens who now call Lilongwe home.

But that is just the demand side of the housing issue. Lilongwe City is a very young City having been declared as such in 1975, and has most of its suburbs and housing stock being developed in the 1970s and 80s under the stewardship of the Capital City Development Cooperation and the Malawi Housing Corporation. This is the time of the Area 18 ndidamanga fame and all the other recognisable suburbs were developed, and all this was done with the public servants in mind.
During this time, the Malawi Housing Cooperation and later the Lilongwe City Council was also opening up areas that are currently called the Traditional Housing Areas (THAs) where the poor could be housed at very low cost using traditional materials. Unfortunately, the pace of this kind of housing provision that was pub lic sector driven almost came to a halt in the late 1990’s when the Government embarked on the controversial home ownership scheme.

You might wonder why I’m calling it controversial. It’s because when Government decided to offload most of its housing stock to the sitting tenants, there was no programme whatsoever to go towards replacing such homes, thus supplying more homes into the market so as to meet demand. One might also say it’s not Government’s job to construct housing for its people. That is true; Government’s role is to facilitate the process. Unfortunately, the process of ensuring that serviced land is available to the populace has been very slow and when done, the job has been left halfway through, with people being allocated plots with neither roads nor any other essential service. This has not been conducive to the quick provision of housing that can meet the rising demand. A layman’s comparison of the housing status in the city of Lilongwe with that of Blantyre City, the number of suburbs in Blantyre is way more than that of Lilongwe yet the population is more or less the same.

There hasn’t been a paradigm shift on housing provision as we still expect a house to be on a plot. As land is finite, it is high time as a nation we started developing high rise buildings that will provide housing at a faster pace but also closer to the existing services. In the past few years, individuals have begun driving the process of house provision albeit at a very slow pace due to the challenges mainly revolving around failure to provide serviced land by the authorities especially the Department of Lands and the Malawi Housing Cooperation that have been tasked with providing land for the middle and high income bracket of the society. Before the astronomical rates of urbanisation, the Lilongwe City Council was ably providing plots to the poor in such areas as Chilinde, Area 25 amongst others and the poor were reached. With the high rates of urbanisation and demand for the plots by all sectors of the economy even the THA plots are now being invaded by the middle income (case in point being Area 25 Sector 3,). The people being ingenious as they are have also found ways of housing themselves and the solution has been found outside the formal housing areas and this is mainly in the outskirts of the city. This is working for both the rich and the poor. We now have slums for the poor and those for the rich in the City of Lilongwe and that has formed a ring around the city and for the rich the concentration is along the major highways especially the Lilongwe to Blantyre route and the Mchinji Road. In this area multi-million dollar homes have been constructed on mainly communal lands where the villagers in these areas have sold off their fields for very little only to realise that they sold the golden geese.

For the poor though, traditional areas like Mtandile, Mbayani, and Chinsapo remain popular for housing provision and the midhadhas in the THAs continue to provide housing for the multitudes.

Housing crises for the urban poor in Malawi

(This is a re-post about to close the other blog)

Thursday, June 14, 2007
Housing crises for the urban poor in Malawi

Malawi is one of the highest urbanising countries in the world but with very little on the ground to alleviate the plight of the thousands of new immigrants into the cities and towns of Malawi such that the bulk of the people are living in deplorable condititons and the conditions are worsening. I guess someone could say that this is a phenomenon that is happening throughout the world but i guess around the world is urbanised whilst Malawi is not. It means that everything that can go haywire will, with informal settlements growing at huge rates and the slightly better off following on these people and displacing them, we are calling it salient evictions whilst the planners and the other professionals call it gentrification. If one was to look at the developments happening in Mchesi, 25, Kawale, Biwi etc the poor are definately on the move, to where, no one knows i guess there is need for a study on this but who would institute such a study, seems as if no one really cares anyway back to the issue, currently an average of 12 househols stay in one plot and when the landlord sales off the plot to a low middle income family (usually working with the Bank or kufodya (tobacco) they build one family home usually 3 bedrooms (mes) with a single quarters thus qualitatively 2 households displaces 12. The major problem is that most of these neighbourhoods are in close proximity to the sources of employment where people simply walk to work. As this is happening there are very few legal areas that are coming up for the poor to move to, very few though go back home as the bulk start renting usually in other low income communities. These issues are not just confined to Lilongwe, its throughout the country in all the cities, towns and small centres and as many more people move into the urban setting the problems are geared to get worse.

Its not all gloom though as the Malawi government is currently one of the most receptive in the SS region as it wants to be pro-active but i guess all the parameters are not in place for this to start making a difference especially for the people who have been waiting for over 43 years since Kamuzu Banda put shelter as one of the 3 basic needs that his people needed.

There is more though that can be done, but at this rate the problem far outweighs the solutions and if one was to look at countries with relatively bigger economies like Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa struggling with the housing problems one shudders on the thoughts of what will happen in Malawi where the problem is expected to be bigger and the poverty conditions to be worser.

To Buy or to Rent

The demand for housing in Malawi continues to outstrip of its supply. There is a need for at least 21,000 housing units per annum but the supply is far below that. Consequently, house rentals are soaring way more than the mortgage premiums.
Most families are obviously contemplating on buying so as to convert the rentals into assets but they are scared of a loan. I have heard countless times that ‘tikuwopa ngongole, tikazalephela kubweza, atilanda nyumba’. But these fears aren’t just out of the blues; in the 90s and early 2000s Banks repossessed people’s homes due to failure to adhere to mortgage requirements. As the rentals have sky-rocketed even those who can afford to repay the loans are finding themselves paying more in monthly rentals than they would have if paying their monthly mortgage premiums.

But as Frankllin Delano Roosevelt, the president who took USA through the turbulent waters of the Great Depression used to say, there is nothing to fear. Families have to consider the rentals they are currently paying, and cross check on the amounts the houses in a similar neighbourhood are being sold for. This can be done through Estate Agents or cross checking with the newspapers on the classified ads.

For example, houses in Area 18B in Lilongwe are currently being sold for around MK9,000,000 and if you were to get a loan from the Bank then your family needs a minimum of 10% (MK900,000) and for a 20 year loan you have to pay a minimum of MK118,000 with monthly insurance premiums being added as well. This assumes a base lending rate of 17%, assuming some of the Banks also reduce their rate by 2% following the reduction by the Reserve Bank.

As the rentals for an ordinary area 18B house are around MK70,000 per month as a family you might need to either spend more on paying for your house or consider purchasing a house in another neighbourhood. For example houses in Gulliver, Lilongwe, are currently selling at an average of MK5,500,000 and the expected monthly premium is at MK 72,500 after deducting the 10% deposit and excluding the insurance payments. In that case, your family might decide to move out of Area 18B and purchase a house in Gulliver and pay exactly the same rentals as monthly repayments for the mortgage. Google searches can provides good mortgage calculators to help in your decision making process.

Most mortgage lenders in the country (most of the banks now have a mortgage facility) would want to know about your financial history. This is not just your pay slip for the past six months but your bank statements where most of your income is directed as they will use this as the basis of your application. Some of the lending agencies will only consider you only if you have banked with them for the past 6 months. This of course is unrealistic. Fortunately, with the multiplicity of agencies offering this service, that requirement might be lifted. Some of the banks might consider combined incomes, for example if you and your spouse are working, they will combine your incomes so as to determine if you can be eligible for the amount your family is applying for.
Wanting to purchase a house is one thing, but you have to brace for a fight.. There are very few houses on the market and many buyers, and with the advent of more banks offering mortgage more people can manage to buy through a loan. Some Landlords do not want to wait for you as you process your mortgage, they would rather sell their house to someone who can pay cash or the one who can pay a bigger deposit. This means you have to start saving not only for the 10% the bank will not give you but for the other amount your landlord might request, some go as far up as 50%, and this leaves out so many families out of the buying market.

As can be noted, buying a house only makes sense if you were to pay the same amount towards repayment or if as a family you can top up and pay more in repayments. The advantage with purchasing your own home is that every little investment you make into the house as you turn it into a home, counts and will add towards the appreciated value of that particular house. Whereas, when renting you are always wary of the water bills. As the lawn gets green, you worry that once your landlord sees the improved home he/she will increase the rentals. As mentioned above the downside with mortgage is that you have to pay your premiums as per the dotted line of the contract as you cannot talk about the funeral or problems you might or might not be having as we always do with the landlord and living in fear kuti nyumba atilanda is real as well.

Air Malawi: My FOOT!!!!!!!

Having to attend a meeting at Goedgedacht Farm near Malmesbury, a small town in the Western Cape located 90km from Cape Town, I couldn’t leave Monday for the meeting because I would have travelled till mid night from Lilongwe, JHB, Cape Town then Malmesbury. We then decided to depart Sunday but due to the World Cup craze, Sunday’s SAA was fully booked so I had to depart Saturday and being Lilongwe had to go Air Malawi that day as SAA departs from Blantyre. Had reservations about but wasn’t worried as we were not in a hurry. There was drama at the Airport in Lilongwe as they had overbooked so the Air Malawi ground staff were running around checking if there would be anyone interested to travel the following day and they would give them a free return ticket at a later date, I refused and all the people close by refused too. I don’t know what they did with the debacle.

The whole trip was ok but had an understated delay in Lilongwe as the Blantyre – Lilongwe Flight had been delayed, but we still managed to get to JHB within the 30min of the planned arrival and connected well to Cape Town. We proceeded to Malmesbury on Monday after a lazy Sunday where we had to roam around the Mowbray area, had a slight shock though Monday morning during breakfast when I met my former colleague Robertson Khataza staying at the same Medindi Lodge and was attending some Training with UCT, he now works for IITA at Chitedze. We left early just after Breakfast and were greeted by the ghastly winds at Goedgedacht, it was soo called and rained during the week, I mean ice cold I can’t remember being exposed to such cold. Had been warned that the area had no internet access but alas there was some signal and unfortunately had to occasionally out of the room to cure tis interne addition where the access was better and once you boot you go back to the room and access is there.

The reasons we were there went very well, and besides the cold, Goedgedacht is a beautiful, place I could say picture perfect indeed, with water (beautiful adam, pine and olive trees and the Mountain) I guess during summer the place is indeed lovely. I was shocked on Wednesday when I was informed that Air Malawi had been rescheduled meaning instead of flying directly back to Lilongwe we would have to fly via Blantyre, I immediately sensed danger. I just knew that once this starts it just gets worse. I requested to move my flight from Air Malawi to SAA, and once the travel agent checked she mentioned two complications, one being the fact that the two airlines where not in a relationship, thus I had to purchase a new one way ticket costing 6,500 Rands and the Air Malawi ticket was none refundable and the second being that since I would be departing from Cape Town I would have to Board the very early light 6am s as to connect in JHB with the10.30am SAA, LLW flight. The first complication was enough to quieten me and the second was just the icing. We drove back to Medindi as we needed to be at the Airport by 7am on Friday 16th July.

Very early in the morning we were up and ready for the pick up at 6.30am, we began to panic after 6.45 when there was no sign of the driver and we realised that he had been lost and had spent almost an hour driving up and down Campground road in Mowbray. We were lucky as he finally picked us up at 7am and travelled to JHB with no scene at all except I couldn’t visit the VAT office to claim my paltry VAT due to the delay. We arrived at O.R. Tambo and checked at the Air Malawi booth even though there was a long queue and there was confusion on the destination of the flight as Air Malawi had forgotten to inform the Airport Company that it had changed its destination from Lilongwe to Blantyre. We all proceeded to Gate 11, where the flight promised to be full and we started wondering at around 12 noon, as Boarding had still not been called for the 12.30pm flight. We were then informed that the flight had been delayed to 13.30pm and well we weren’t that worried event though the overzealous attended called us back saying the flight is ready. Within a minute she realised her mistake and apologised, and we all went to the small café close buy to buy tea to ward off called for some of us who had exhausted all our Rands were lucky to have some people we knew who accepted to change our Kwachas for Rands. At 13.30pm there was still no sign of Boarding and our worst fears were confirmed when we saw the cabin crew coming out of the plane and off to where only they knew. We were told that the plane was being towed to the Hanger where mechanics were to fix it, and well we were then informed that the flight will be ready after two hours. There was no proper relay of information, so we all mobbed this unfortunate lady everyone firing questions and instead of calling everyone together and providing information for everyone it was all disorganised and some people were left uninformed. The drama ensued again when the Lady informed the people that even if the plane comes after 2 hours the flight would be for Lilongwe instead of Blantyre because the plane could not land at Chileka (Blantyre), the reason being that Chileka Airport sill does not have runway lights and thus forbidden to land after 6pm. We were then given a complementary lunch at the NewsCafe which was way better than the other place (Ekhaya). As I write, the time of boarding has been changed on the scroll from 4pm, to 4.30pm, to 5.45pm to indefinite and the gate changed from Gate 11, to Gate 6 to Gate 29.

As I post we are still stuck at O.R.

Update 2 We were informed during flight by the Captain that the Plane had developed fault with 2 of its 3 generators failing. We were glad to fly and arrive safely though.

As I post this final update for the day, we have not gone home to LILONGWE but we are sleeping over in Blantyre, as some where somehow the staff managed to convince the Chileka people to switch on the lights. You can imagine the confusion with people in Lilongwe being sent back and forth to the airport for pick up and being recalled as the schedule kept changing. When at first the Blantyre people had been informed of their stay in Lilongwe the overzealous staff in JHB ‘promised them’ that they will sleep at Crossroads (Lilongwe’s premier hotel as we await the Chinese constructed 5 star) so when the plans re-changed that the flight goes to Blantyre and LLW the following day, the people went berserk after being told that they are staying at DORVIC hotel. So we are staying in Mbayani if you might stay where the famous Amakhala ku Blantyre song was coined from. We still experienced the problem of Information in Lilongwe, instead of informing people before disembarking that those going to Lilongwe the following day these are the procedures we were left to be fed by word of mouth and unfortunately this was easy for us Malawians as we had each other to confer to but for the other foreign visitors they were totally lost. As people were fighting for their rights to be accommodated at Mt Soche (Blantyre’s premier hotel) the Air Malawi staff member could not manage so he went to check with his ‘Boss’ when the boss finally came he told the passengers that whether they liked it or not they would sleep over at DORVIC and there were scuffles as the people felt that their concerns had not been taken into account. He managed to pull the final ace off his sleeve, and he said ‘we cannot send you to any other hotel in Blantyre because no one accepts Air Malawi business anymore except DORVIC’ with those words we all filed into the Limbe – Zomba coaster (minibus) that was waiting outside. As I post we finally arrived at the DORVIC at 11 pm and for someone who woke up at 5.30am it has been a very long day.


I would say that because there is no competition at all, Air Malawi is able to treat people like this and had we a case where other players were allowed into the market customers would be getting a very fair deal and because of this SAA has just trebled their fares. There is indeed a high demand for air travel now that the economy has finally started coming out of its slumber people will be travelling and more and more people are able to afford to fly. I don’t know really why other players are not allowed into these air spaces. I do hope though that tomorrow morning we travel home as planned with no more drama and some effort towards better customer service by Air Malawi. I would say the major problem was that we were not informed and there was no due care to the passengers it was as if Air Malawi was doing us a favour.

The Ugly of the Road Construction in Lilongwe's urban communities

There has been a drive over the past five years to improve roads in Malawi, the Main Highways and Low Density area roads have been targeted. Over the past two years though, this focus has also been towards community roads, not only in the usual Area 10, 43, 9, 11 etc but poorer communities such as Area 25, Kawale, Mchesi. In these areas roads are currently undergoing a long overdue face-lift. This is not just the patching of the pot holes of the past road maintenance schemes but the actual overhaul and resurfacing of the roads. Shoulders for the pedestrians and cyclists have been added and the drainage system (using either bricks or stone facing) is being constructed.

One might ask about where the ugly is coming from, am not referring to the inconveniences road users face when roads are closed or when there are dust storms as they pile mounds of soil for road construction. I am referring to the apparent lack of contact and dialogue between the Roads Authority (through its contractors) and the Lilongwe Water Board. As the graders zip through the old tarmac and try to find a base not only do they pull out dirt but they rip through water pipes. These pipes are usually connecting plots from both sides of the road. For days on end water uses from these communities are inconvenienced as water oozes from pipes with such velocity not only creating a nuisance for the road users but also causing a shortage for the affected households. These households are thus cut off from the water service and have to rely on a 'public water point' that is in the middle of a road. As there is no communication with the Water Board this goes on for days, women and children are left to fight for road space with cars and cars always win.

Very early in the morning as the well to do motorists drive by, poorer residents of these communities have to tend to the mud sprays and also tend to their children whilst trying to secure the water. As this goes on for months on end, the biggest loser is the Lilongwe Water Board as it increases its already unaccounted for water from the estimated 16%. The Secondary losers are the other community members living downstream, faced with very low water pressure (reported over the weekend newspapers) as the water is totally cut off at times. The households that have been cut off are the most affected (facing immediate effects) as they have no water on end and have to spend time on the roads fighting for water. Residents of Lilongwe will have to pay in the long run for these losses.

The beneficiaries (if any): It is not all bad though as some of the households whose plots might not be affected start benefiting from the free water. These are the households near these burst water points that are getting free water. They have an immediate benefit as they dont have to pay for water until this problem is solved, not all those crowding the middle of the roads have been directly affected by the cut off. One wonders where such savings are channeled towards, hopefully home improvement ventures.

All in all, the ugly is not that ugly for some.

Thina esakhulela ekhaya: Indaba yemasimini

Ngifuna ngibhale ngempilo yethu thina esakhulela eKhaya, kithi kuse Zhombe Mission ko Chief Gwesela, abazali bami babengamatitsha eZhombe Mission Primary School. Ngazalelwa (1977), ngakhulela eZhombe ngasuka ekhaya okwesikhathi ngisiya e Loreto - Silobela (Form 1-4: 91-94), ngasengisiya eThekwani - Plumtree, (form 5-6: 95-96), ngasengisiya e UZ - Harare (BSc Hon. RUP 97-01) ngemva kokwenda ngasuka eZhombe for good ngeza ngapha eLilongwe - Malawi laphengihlala khona. Impilo engiyaziyo mina ngeyeZhombe lapho engahlala khona okwesikhathi eside ukudlula kulozonke indawo.

Bengifuna ngiqalise ukube ngibhala ngempilo yami eyeZhombe. Lamuhla bengifuna ngibhale ngendaba zokulima, ngithemba ngizathola elinye ithuba lokuthi ngibhale ngezinye izigaba zempilo yethu thina esakhulela ekhaya. Ngizaba lentokozo enkulu nxa linga commenta ngendaba le, lifake amacomment enu, ukuthi sibone ukuthi indaba lesiyikhangela ngelihlo elifanayo. Okunye nje ngifuna ngingakhohlwa ukubhala lokukhuluma isindebele, phela ngaphaangilaye umuntu engikhuluma laye esakithi.

Mina indaba eyayingizwisa ubuhlungu ngeyokuya emasimini especially nxa sisiya lima. Ubaba wayesivusa phakathi kobusuku sisiya lima. Minangangihlutshwa kakhulu yindaba yokuvuka. Sasiqalisa umsebenzi ngama 4, ngama 10 itiye ibuye sinathe sibuyele emsebenzini. Kwezinye iziikhathi sasisebenza iisitshwala sisithole khonangale emasimini sibesesitshayisa ngama4, kwezinye insuku sasitshayisa siyekudla ekhaya siphenduke ngama 4. Ngoba sasihlala lezihlobo ezinengi amankazana sasibanengi, yikho sasintshintshana abanye baye emasimini oyedwa esale ekhaya ethanyela epheka. Mina ukusebenza kwakungangihluphi nje. Kwakuthi nxa kulu suku lwami ukudla kwakungaphuzi nje ukuya emasimini. Kodwa ngangithi nxa ngisemasimini ngangingakuzondi nje ukubamba ikhuba ngoba ngangitshiya indima phakathi engahwabhi nje ubaba, ngangithanda ukuhlanyela lokuthela ifertilizer.

Kwakusithi nxa sokuyisikhathi sokuvuna, umsebemzi wawumunengi kodwa wawungafanani lowasekulimeni sasingavuki phakathi kobusuku, lalisithi nxa livuna ngapha lisidla imfe lamakhabe lobanje itiye yayiphuza indlala yayingababi kakhulu njenge skhathi sokulima. Ukudla okwakubuya kuvela ekhaya ngalesisikhathi kwakukunengi. Thina kithi eZhombe impilo yayinjalo ngithemba lokhe injalo. Ngesikhathi sebusika sasingawuthandi nje umkhemeswane amabizo angkhona sengiwakhohliwe nje. Thina abazali bonke babengamatitsha lapha eZhombe Mission kodwa bakhetha ukwakha emzini kababa, abantu ababengomakhelwana bethu babengasebenzi babe phila ngokulima. Kwakungamangalisi ukuthi thina esasileyinye indlela yokuthola ngayo imali sasisebenza gadalala emasimini kodwa abanye bonke ababengabalimi kuphela babefika emasimini sesiqalise indima yesithathu kumbe eyesine. Ngesikhathi sokuvuna babesehluleka lokugcwalisa inqola eyodwa nje.

Thina esaba lenhlanhla yokuya eBoarding impilo yayinganzima nje nxa selivala ngoba abanye basebesiya phumula ezindlini zabo thina sasithola abantu besimelele emakhaya ukuthi sengezelele izandla, sasibuyela esikolo iziganga sezingaka bakithi siqalise ukuguxuza. Ngikhumbula omunye unkazana eLoreto kasihlekanga nje mina lomngane wami ngelanga lokuvula siziguxuzela esinkini. Kodwa unkulunkulu ngowa bantu bonke akulamntwana owakhetha abazali bakhe kodwa umunthu uyazikhethela impilo azakuba layo. Ngemali yemasimini laleyo ababeyithola emsebenzini abazali, sonke endlini yethu safunda silama Certificate atshiyetshiyeneyo, ngithemba ukusebenza gadalala kwemasimini sakusa esikolo.