Creating the Vision

We sat down on the floor like little children in our new office. We the people of Baobab Health. It is our thing we are building it together. Every was in it. Everyone took part.
Tay, what can I say.
If I am to work in this place for 10 years what would I like to do. I thought about so many stuff that have hurt me. All the frustrations I have had in my life all the stuff I have seen done in mediocre way which I thought we could do better but wasn't able to do myself. I have never had a chance to say this out. I thought I might as well say it now. It might be that this will be my chance that these problems will now be completely solved. And I might find my joy. For if I don't say it they way I would love it how will I be happy working here? Will I keep on critisizing things I don't give a solution for? So I said it all my dreams, my vision and how I would love it to be. It was emotional and its effects stayed on till now.

The Word of God, Controversies and The Gospel

The Word of God

Does God speak today?

People even Christians say He spoke through the prophets and nowadays he does not speaks that way but he speaks with us through his word, the Bible.

In theology school they teach each other to interpret the Bible, they study different religions and philosophies in the end most preachers coming out of come out having forgotten what its all about and even most come out believing there is no God and perform their duty of Preacher to ensure that the community lives in harmony with each other. Not bad, but in the end when someday somebody comes and says religion is useless these people will be number one to stand for that.

There are so many divisions among us these days Moslems, Jews, Christians, etc and among Christians their even more subsets of Christian communities each believing their way is right. Some even have their own Bible.

I went to the Bible Society the other day to looking for a certain tumbuka Bible (the one my grandfather translated). They did not have it(maybe because it was done by one person and they perceived it not to be good enough to an extent the bible society had no copy) . I asked them what it would take to reproduce it. I got insight how they do things there. They are theologians. They have studied Greek, Hebrew maybe, the languages the bible was written.

I have heard how my grandfather translated the Bible to Tumbuka. He had to go to secluded place not in contact with any human. When they bring him food, they would break a twig to notify him that they have brought the food. Maybe that is why Moses was alone before God for 40 days being given the Law. The way we understand things depends on what environment we have been, what we hear, see and feel. Being in contact with the world during translating the Bible is very fatal if we are doing it the fresh: as if translating a book. I asked them if they pray when translating. The answer shocked me: They said the word was already inspired when it was being given to the prophets who wrote it so they did not need to pray again to translate.

I noticed that they go to their respective churches in this period of translation and they read news papers, they get in contact with people like me. In fact, I found them translating when, I was talking to them. And what we discussed certainly influenced their translation. I believe and I pray for good. For in the end they saw the importance of depending on God even when translating.

Controversies

Why are they there? Why do we differ and fight over issues in the Bible? I now understood it comes from our canal minds. I was given a bible in which they wanted to prove that there are some bibles which are obviously incorrect. This was when I asked how the process goes from translation to printing to publishing. The Bible was the one the Jehovah Witnesses use. It was a passage in John 1 where it says "In the Beginning was the word. The word was with God. And the word was God". This Bible said "the word was a god."

It suddenly came to me somebody had said in the Greek version there were three words used for “God” on this very verse. What if the three words were supposed to be interpreted as:

“In the beginning was the word. The word was among the gods and the word a god.”

That separates Jesus personality being the Son and God being the Father and their relationship being one as a family. There are verses that talk about gods in heaven: The Psalm Jesus quoted( Psalms 82). And another Psalms quoted by Paul in Hebrews 10:5-7(Psalms 40:6-8). These verses show Jesus as some other personality other than God himself who speaks to the other gods in Heaven in Psalms 82 and also in Job 1.6.

And the oneness: Jesus also says if we obey God then we are one with Him and the Father but physically we are not one. Food for though. Am I bringing another controversy?

I thought probably men translating the Bible thought: gods? a god? Jesus, a god? So they imposed their own interpretation according to the way we have always understood it. So now John 1 came to be as it is. The Jehovah witness maybe having their own agenda (maybe to bring confusion not believing that what they are putting it the correct way) interpreted it this way to portray Jesus as a god as their particular source text said. And with this discrepancy now comes the question: who is right?

Our conversation went on. Most of the times I am prompted to open on the Bible, some passage stands out and it talks about the situation that I am in. This time I opened the Jehovah Witness Bible and came to a verse somewhere in Isaiah where it says "these people have forgotten their God" and something like "they are doing things with their own way". Silently, I prayed for God to confirm it if it is Him speaking since it is coming from a bible that is seen not to be truthful. (we had been arguing about my question whether they should pray when I came across this Isaiah passage). I had just finished praying this when I was being told they don't need to pray again when translating as the scripture was already inspired. Now to speak about the controversies!

We people have been given one command if not two: A new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you. The other being Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul... In other words, Love God and Love your neighbor(Matthew 22:37-40). Pray for those you perceive as enemies. Do no harm to anyone even if they harm you. That’s the Law, the prophets, the sermon on the mountain, the gospels and the epistles. The Bible the word of God.

I was watching a Moslem Preaching on TV today that reminded me of all these things.

In todays churches we tend to overlook others who are not perceived to be believers

when we are in church. But when we go out of church they are our next door neighbors and we chat, we help each other out some life problems, we lend each other things because when we get out of church the message is not about who is a sinner and who is not. We protect each other from thieves. We go to each other's funerals to comfort each other. We love each other. It is not because we are of the same church but it is because we are neighbors. This is life. It is then better if God is in our lives than when He is at church.

There have been situations the church have rejected people because of their sins. But these rejected people are very dearly loved by their families and their friends. When they have died their families have cried for them. And even if these families have been faithful in the church, the church has most of the times shunned the funeral. And we could ask who needs the presence of the church at such a funeral. Is it the person who has dead or the parents who need to be comforted for the loved one they have lost?

When it comes to love I would rather be in the presence of my brother who is a sinner but helps me because I am his brother whether I have done wrong or not than the church who loves me only when I seem to be doing right (I could pretend anyway).

This family love, neighbor love, is what we need. This is what the word teaches. This is the word of God.

After all we are all sinners who are all going to heaven only because Jesus has paid the sacrifice for sins. And I believe if God is to make a choice among all sinners, He would chose those who loved their neighbors even though they did not know Him.( Romans 2:11-16; Matthew 12.7; Matthews 25:31-46) Since what pains God is the destruction of His creation and even more the hurting of another human being because of another(Cain and Abel: he punished Cain for Killing Abel but even then He put a mark on him that nobody kills him; The flood: He was hurt that the world was so sinful but in the end He vowed with himself that never again will he destroy all creation and men because their sins however sinful they might become. Genesis 6:5-8 & 8:21-22 ). When He dead on the cross it is said that Jesus went and preached to these people that they too might be saved at the end of the world.

In the Last days, it is said, the Spirit of God will teach the children of God about the will of God such that no one will need to teach another which is the way. It is said again, Jesus would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth. If we don't read the word but always depend on the interpretation of man we will always have controversies that divide us. Again if we read it without the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will always be in error as there are Bibles which have been interpreted with the canal mind. Still my comfort for such Bibles is that God works everything together for the good of all those who love Him. And also Some verse by Paul which says the Gospel cannot be bound by the chains of man.

The Gospel

The good news will always speak: That our sins have been paid for. That all of us are welcome before The Loving Father, however bad our sins might be. Even those who have backslidden and fear that they have sinned against the Holy Spirit (For this is the greatest/unforgivable sin). I would say, for I believe this is the way things are, have this hope:

If the prodigal son was accepted by his father who might not even have been a righteous man, how much more will the Father in Heaven, Loving and Righteous, accept us and loves us if we turn back to him. And Jesus the elder brother who gave his life that we might be saved?

And there is this mystery:

We say, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. If God is the Father, and Jesus the Son and Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit(overshadowing the virgin Mary). Who is the Holy Spirit? And is there love that is greater than the Mother's love?

My thought. Even if this might be wrong Hebrews 6:10-12 encourages us not to give up doing good and not lose our hope of being saved in the end. The persistent knocker gets help from an evil King how much more a loving Father? A humble and contrite Spirit God does not despise.

For I am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:31-39).

Can sin? While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us. Do we keep on sinning then? Hell, no! We are even ashamed of our sins why should we go back to it(somewhere in Romans)? Or we could say do you like falling down? If you keep on falling deliberately one day you will hurt yourself so much that you will not recover(It is better to fall accidentally and not to recover. It easy for people to feel sorry for you and help. It will take extra effort when you fall deliberately. Out of love they might still help you though but there in no guarantee).

The message is:

Take heart when you fall

Dust yourself up and go.

And again I must say it is not for us human beings to know who has fallen deliberately or not that is why we must always love even those who hurt us.

So then this is the word of God:

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind.
2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Its message is Love: Of God for us, of us for God, of us to our neighbors; God's comfort and healing for our hurts; To show us the way and to lead us to a place of rest at the end of it all.

Why Muluzu is Not Eligible to stand for Presidency - The Constitution

The conditions regarding the eligibility of a presidential candidate to contest in a general election are in Chapter VIII of The Constitution of Malawi in Section 80 subsections 6 and 7.
The arguments about Muluzi's eligibility that there is no law that bars him from standing for presidency come from their interpretation of Section subsection 6 and Section 83 subsection 3.

Section 80 subsection 6 says:

Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the contrary, a person shall only be qualified for nomination for election as President or First Vice-President or for appointment as First Vice-President or Second Vice-President if that person-

1. is a citizen of Malawi by birth or descent; and
   
2. has attained the age of thirty-five years.
   

They interpret the statement "Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the contrary" as "even if there is another provision of the constitution the bars him from being nominated" the person qualifies for nomination if he satisfies... 1 and 2 above

If this is the correct interpretation then we are not supposed to have section 80 subsection 7 which gives conditions of ineligibility as it becomes useless due to subsection 6.
Lets reread the subsection 6 again in paraphrase:

Regardless of any provision of the constitution a person shall only qualify for nomination of the if He is a Malawian Citizen by birth of descent and is 35 years old and above

And it should be interpreted as: if a person is not a Malawian Citizen or is younger than 35 years Old then there is no constitutional provision that qualifies him for the election as president or vice president.

In other words because I, Kondwani C. Hara, being a Malawian Citizen by birth and descent, but 25 years old, I am not eligible to stand for presidency this year nor will I be qualified in 2014 when I will be 30. And I don't have to seek another constitutional provision for me to qualify myself. However since in 2019 I will be 35 years old and turning 36 years old I will be qualified to stand.

This interpretation gives room for the person to be tested for eligibility using other provisions of the constitution. Like subsection 7 for example. And also Section 83 subsection 3 which disqualifies Muluzi as follows:

The President, the First Vice-President and the Second Vice-President may serve in their respective capacities a maximum of two consecutive terms, but when a person is elected or appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of President or Vice- President, the period between that election or appointment and the next election of a President shall not be regarded as a term.

Their interpretation seems to be based of the application of "consecutive terms" only other than the whole subsection. They argue that since Muluzi has served two consecutive terms and has had a break then he can serve another two consecutive terms and maybe this also means he can serve an unlimited number two consecutive term after breaks.

Suppose we might ask:
Q1- how many maximums of two consecutive terms can a president serve?
A1-The subsection say is "a maximum of two consecutive terms". And 'a' means one.

Muluzi has already served one maximum of two consecutive terms. Thus by this subsection he is may not serve another another maximum of two consecutive terms even if these terms follow each other or after a break.

Q2-Can a president serve another one term after serving a maximum of two consecutive terms?
A2-I think maximum of two answers this question since one more term makes three.
Q3-Suppose a president has served one term and has not been voted for another term can he serve another term after the term he has not served?
A3-I think consecutive terms answers that. In other words his eligibility to serve expires after the two consecutive terms first of which he was president.
Q4-Suppose a candidate has contested in two consecutive terms but not been chosen as president, can he serve as president?
A4-I think he may or might not according to further interpretation and wishes of the people. But in the sense of the current provision it seems he may since he has not served before as president of the country.

In my opinion of Q4 he may not as this brings the same injustice at party level which the subsection tries to solve at national level. I think that it is best that the constitution of a party or any organization as long as it is in Malawi and is of/for Malawian people it has to conform to the Constitution of Malawi(which seeks to protect its citizens) otherwise it is illegal. For instance a child should go by the rules of his father as long as he is in the father's house but if the father's rules are that the child should not go to school then the rules of the father are illegal by the Constitution of Malawi which which wishes that every child be given a chance to go to school.

So section 83 subsection 3 should be interpreted as

A person can only serve as president for ten years(two 5 year terms) which are consecutive in his lifetime; unless he was serving as a successor to another president in the event of which he may serve the ten years plus the years which he has been successor.

For the sake of Peace and stability Muluzi does not qualify for nomination for election as president. Since even if he qualifies and has been he elected He MAY NOT SERVE in his respective capacity because this violates Section 83 subsection 3 of the Constitution of Malawi.

The current president, who

shall hold office until such time as his or her successor is sworn in. (Section 81 subsection 1)

and had sworn or affirmed that He

will well and truly perform the functions of the high office of President of the Republic of Malawi,
and that he will preserve and defend the Constitution,
and that he will do right to all manner of people according to law without fear or favour, affection or ill-will(Section 81 subsection 1)

he will have the duty, whether he likes it or not, to defend the constitution as sworn or affirmed and the power to declare that the elect president, who

shall hold office for five years from the date that his or her oath of office is administered

MAY NOT SERVE as president.

If a constitution of another country allows him to stand then that constitution has to be tested if it is in line with the wishes of The People of Malawi who adopted this constitution who:

recognizing the sanctity of human life and the unity of all mankind;
guided by their private consciences and collective wisdom;
seeking to guarantee the welfare and development of all the people of Malawi, national harmony and peaceful international relations;
desirous of creating a constitutional order in the Republic of Malawi based on the need for an open, democratic and accountable government;

adopted(and may cease to adopt) the current Constitution of the Republic of Malawi.

Our wishes as citizens of Malawi are for peace and stability during these elections. Muluzi contesting causes unnecessary breach of peace and instability. It also infringes upon other people rights who may rightly serve as president if they are elected. In the event that he wins the constitution does not allow him to serve as president and the current president will be called upon to defend the constitutional provision Section 83 subsection 3 of the Chapter 8 of The Constitution of Republic of Malawi, which he swore or affirmed under oath to defend and protect without fear of favour or ill-will. This will cause more unnecessary instability.

Let the courts rule that Muluzi violates a law relating to election of president being a person who has already served a maximum of two consecutive terms.

References:
http://www.sdnp.org.mw/constitut/intro.html
http://www.sdnp.org.mw/constitut/chapter8.html

Dad, my dad is gone!

On 17th January 2009, I recieved a call from my brother that my dad is no more.
First reaction was to cry out to God. "Dad, my dad is gone!"
I stopped in my tracks after realising I had called him "Dad". I call Him Father most of the times and this realisation reminded me that He is the father of the fatherless. Whatever need I had for my dad he is the one to fill it now.
I hadn't cried but I was feeling heavy whenever I thought about it. I needed to get it out. I needed to be comforted. I went into my room I couldn't cry still but could not stop groaning. John 14 comforted me and I wrote a song/poem:

I love you, Father.
You are my help in need;
You give me comfort;
You are now my dad.

You sent your word for me
Your word of comfort
"I am your father
You are now my child."

My heart was troubled
How am I gonna live without my dad?
You gave me comfort
"I won't leave as an orphan"

Your word was surest for me
I took it by faith and belief
It washed away my sorrow
My heart was at peace

When thoughts of despair take over
I am not that wise and strong
To help my family
Please don't be far from me

I love you, father.
You are my source of peace
Not as the world can give
I will rest in you.

Our Strength in Weakness

Can man manage to keep himself strong?
The strongest man cannot manage to keep themselves strong enough.
Samson had his Delilah, Achilles had his achilles's heal, Solomon had his pride. So many others even me.
Can one manage to hide his weaknesses? Can one manage to keep secrets?
One way or the other the fear that his secrets will be known will haunt him so much that he will reveal them even without knowing that he is revealing.
Just that mare fact that one is trying so hard to hide his secrets raises so much curiosity that his need for secrecy escalates indefinitely.
Even the best cryptosystem has a very fatal foolish weakness. The very fatal viruses have equally fatal weaknesses. Your very strength is your very weakness since that whats others will keep trying to fight at to take you down and some will not give up until they find a hole.
How can one be strong enough? How can secure himself enough?

The foolishness of God is wiser than men the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see brethren that not many wise according according to flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who become for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctified and redemption - that as it written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."
NKJV, 1 Corinthians 1:25-31.

Here is how our foolishness tells us. Lets keep the bad things we do in the dark for these things bring the work of God down. We say we can't attract other people to God if they see our bad works. However hard we try to hide them these bad things stink so much that they repel those who would have been saved because we seem so strong to be like us. Furthermore, what shall it profit a man to "save" the whole world and lose his own soul by hiding his sin? Leaders are in so much danger regarding this than mare Christians.
There is no denying that we are weak. Paul admitted His weakness before God. God assured Him that in our weakness is when God grace becomes sufficient:
In God's strength alone is where we are strong.
In Jesus alone are we saved.
In truth alone we find safety.
What we try so hard to keep we lose. What God gives no man can take away. We lose what God has given us by trying to keep it. How do we get what God has promised us? Is it in our strength? It comes at a time we don't expect. There are times we even refuse it but it comes with blessings. God's love is this great that He knows His gift is often refused and often despised yet He so cares that He doesn't even care about the destruction of His Son who should be in Heaven for sure but has to send Him to hell to set these people free who were not strong enough to fight the oppression and the lies to be set free.
They did not see Him as a father who has to care his family and give them good things. Nor did they see the Holy Spirit as Mother who grieves so much for His child. They did not see Jesus as the child who loved so much His gift, His lovely wife.

Matthew 13:24-30 Consideration

Tiligu <=/=> Nansogole

Kapena

Tiligu || Nansongole

mwina muchichewa 

Tiligu sangakhale nansongole ndinso Nansongole sangakhale Tiligu

Tsano m'mene ati "ukawona anzako atong'ola maso nawe utong'ole ako nukazinge"

Mudziwa bwanji atong'ola masowo ndi nansongole inu muli tiligu? Kodi akamazabwera okolola sadzakuwonani ngati nansongole nakuponyani ku moto?

Mudzikoli ndithu tidzafera zaeni.

On PHP and Programming

Just gave a my first PHP tutorial today at Mzuzu University to the Mzuni ICT Club .
Well, it was kind of a challenge to cover all the levels from year one who have few or no knowledge of Programming to the third year who want the advanced stuff to use in their course projects. Learned to involve the students though. And it was so much fun that I forgot the time and I had to be reminded that time is up.
It is my hope for the first years that this will have stirred up the passion for programming i.e. to find out more and not to look at it as difficult and a waste of time.
Computer programming helps solve a lot of problems in computing environments.
A few skills acquired early could be helpful: Somebody said the toughest job in programming is debugging. The clearer you write you code the easier it is to debug. Stuff like indenting which most of my classmates thought as a waste of time proved to be the most valuable time saver even to them later when they saw how easy it was to understand the code which is indented.
The other trick that helps understanding the code is the appropriate use of identifiers.
To them that attended the tutorial I would say best of luck.
A few links that could help further the knowledge of PHP:

• http://www.learnphp-tutorial.com/
• http://www.php-mysql-tutorial.com/
• http://www.phptutorial.info/

If something seems difficult, do the simpler stuff. It will improve your understanding and confidence.
I am always available for questions and directions. It aslo helps to remember that Google will also always be available with ready solutions. So my advice improve on searching skills as well.

Violence in South Africa

Wikipedia rightly says:

The history of South Africa is marked by migration, ethnic conflict, and the anti-Apartheid struggle.

I was thinking what's wrong with South Africa? Started with the mfecane, when some ngonis had to leave South Africa. Then apartheid and the struggle against it. It had seen new dawn in form of Mandela. I think it was blessed then. Now the xenophobia thing.
Somehow I think the land still needs healing from all the violence that has been on it. Around 2000 there was Transformation Africa started in South Africa with the theme:

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

I think their focus change somehow to getting the whole world pray... not a bad thing but maybe they needed to carry the same theme to the world. Each land pray for it healing.
If we remember why it all started if we could take this theme again and pray for healing of the land from the violence and the hatred that has been in the land. If we preach forgiveness and tolerance as Mandela did.
For how can we break this hatred and violence is it not when we let go? If we forget all that has been done to us and forgive?
It is not only South Africa that needs healing: look at Zimbabwe, even my own country Malawi; Our parliament is stalled. There is looming hunger which might have been caused by some ill thinking people.

If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

We have this promise all we need is humble ourselves and pray....

Yet another combinations algorithm

I have found this cool algorithm for calculating combinations(ⁿC_r). The conventional algorithm is like this

n!
---------
r!(n-r)!

and this is O(n³). as calculating each of the factorials is at least O(n)
The following is my new algorithm that saves memory and also running time written in C++:

long int choose(int n,int r){
//double ensures that precession is preserved
//when dividing as int rounds up the dividend in C++

double num,den,comb=1;

if (n == 0 || n == r){
return 1;
}else{
for (i=0; i<r || i<(n-r) ; i++){
num = double(n-i);
den = double(i+1);
comb *= num/den;
}
}
return comb;
}

This is O(n) because of the for loop.

Send SMS with Celtel at One cent only

I have been thinking why are services in Malawi so expensive? Is it really because they are expensive to provide?
No, I do not think so! An excuse would be: we have ignorant engineers. But the problem really is taking advantage of the fact that they are the only providers of those services. And if a potential competator comes in he does not come in to correct this problem he too comes and charges the same prices as already available service providers... so monopoly and no monopoly there is no difference.
Take a look at this contradiction:
I am subscribed to Celtel. I use two services Internet and SMS. I want to send a text messege to my girlfriend in Mzimba. Normal SMS I use $0.10. But I am subscribed to a free internet SMS service. I go to the site, login, type my message(All using my phone through WAP) send it. How have I used? $0.01
OK fine I am not saying the Celtel internet service is cheaper than normal probably somewhere else its cheaper that here in malawi. But SMS services this expensive?

Kibaki and Odinga(not the viruses)

Too much talk by the press. By the press, by the mediators, by everybody.

They are all acting like “bvundula-madzi” (some one who stirs water on a well so that when other people come to get some water they find the well dirty and think it is their friends who stirred the water and creates enmity).

I could say of a story of two good lovers Alice and Bob to illustrate what I mean. They were inseparable everybody envied them. For one such people Eve was it was too much for her that these two friends could each other so. She decided to separate the two. She went to Alice and said Bob was cheating on her when they are not together and Eve wasn’t supposed to tell but she is telling because she loves Alice so much to hide this information from her. She suggests Alice just leave Bob and find somebody else who would appreciate her. Alice says “Thanks for letting me know. You are a true friend.”

Eve says “I could even help you find a good boy friend. I know Charlie is good christian boy and he is filthy rich not that pathetic Bob who could have guts to take your love for granted and cheat on you. You said yourself He was in love with you why don’t you give him a chance?”

Alice says “I know what you are do when I am not there”.

Bob is puzzled wants to say something but Alice is all knowing cause she trusts what Eve said and she cuts him in the middle and says “I am breaking up with you. Don’t talk to me again you liar! Cheat! Coward!” etc, etc, and storms off leaving Bob and Eve alone. She doesn’t care anymore but she so earnest and innocent she believes what Eve said was true. And she even cries as she storms off

Bob says to Eve “What’s wrong with that girl?”

Eve has an opportunity now “Open your eyes, boy. When a girl does that with no reason at all she has probably found another boyfriend trying to find a reason to break-up with you and putting on the blame on you so that it is easier”.

Reasonable. Bob thinks.

“Just wait a few days you will see what happens”. Eve says as she goes smiling to herself task one accomplished.

Alice goes and tells the Eve story to Charlie crying and says “I am sorry for I did not give you a chance but now I am willing if you still love me. It’s just that I was so blinded by my love for Bob that I did not see the better side of you.”

The next day Bob was supposed to meet Alice at their favourite park. Alice goes there with Charlie. And Bob meets them Alice ignores Bob looking at him as trash holding Charlie’s hand to make it obvious she is now Charlie’s girl. Bob stands there mouth open. Eve passing by says to Bob “You see?” Smiles as she goes: mission accomplished.

When there are too many mediators and too many words said and these said to each party separately, instead of reconciling them they might be taken further apart. An example would be how Muluzi and Bingu were broken up. These people were hearing only what the press said which was always exaggerated a simple matter(to make news) that could be resolved if these two could sit down and understand each other.

The press catches a phrase that one says and broadcasts without the context in which it was said. And this is usually said after the reporter has trapped the person to make him say what they want him to say. This repeated so many times makes people see whoever said it Bad or Good according to what the reporter wanted to accomplish because repeated so many times people forget what context they were said and the words start meaning something else. In other words the reporter has that power to build and break with the words they say. And sometimes they have good intentions but saying so many things and repeating them so many times worsens instead of making better. Proverbs 10:19 say “In a multitude of words there lacks not the presence of sin, but he who refrains his lips is wise”.

In Kibaki and Odinga’s case The BBC phrase says “Kibaki says is ready for government of national unity, but Odinga warily refuses” This is repeated so many times and usually in absence of what Odinga says that he has been through this before a government of national unity doesn’t really help (I am sure this was the case previously). It’s like he has tried to be tolerant with Kibaki for peace’ sake but his tolerance hasn’t made things better and the solution which he has been patiently waiting has been unfairly run in favour of Kibaki. The phrase seems to have been carefully said to make Odinga bad. While seeming to be covering both sides of the story by also quoting Odinga’s exact words repeating the phrase so much doesn’t help because that’s what is planted in peoples minds.

The press has been very vocal and often with misquotes of the two parties. The foreign mediators who may have a reputation that their wisdom has solved some problems somewhere go there with pride with what they may have learned in class (or pre-thought solutions) about what to say in such cases a case they do not really understand as the only information they have is probably what they have held from press. They go to Kibaki and suggest to Kibaki and suggests a government of national unity(GNU) a thing which Kibaki will obviously agree to (As this still puts him in power which he wants) and Odinga won’t. Odinga disagrees and that makes him bad because he doesn’t want a solution that the “wise” suggest. Odinga wanted a recount of the votes(Which is a fair solution). If Kibaki was confident he worn fairly he shouldn’t refuse a recount. There have been sayings that the announcement of votes in some areas wasn’t done transparently which makes Odinga doubt Kibaki’s winning. And this won’t go well with him until that doubt is removed. A wise mediator would pretend not to have heard anything the press is preaching and goes to investigate what really happened hear from both the two and bring them together let them talk. He referees letting the two agree on a solution. He should not suggest a solution. But if suggests a solution he does not go out unless the two agree to that solution. The problem comes from the press which would usually scratches on the healing words of the disagreement even when the two have reconciled. The mediator should make sure the press is clearly informed that the two have reconciled their differences before these two hear anything from the press again. And He shouldn’t shake hands and take pictures with one party before the other agrees to the solution as was depicted on the BBC. If he has failed to reconciled the too he should dust his feet and go silently. Shaking hands makes me feel like whoever the mediator was had already made up his mind he wants Kibaki should remain president. And having suggested a GNU which favours Kibaki, anyway, makes Kibaki feel justified in what he is doing to suppress protestors because the West whom most look at with high regard is backing him up(Still wants him to be president in suggesting a GNU). If the West kept itself out of this or just help by getting these two to talk and find a solution and not suggesting one it would turn better. A recount or revote is a better solution to me.

And the press, Please reduce too much talk.

Hello World!

My first post in the new year. BTW, Happy new year!
I have started on a busy note this year thats why i havent been able to find time and update my site.
There are some thoughts on stuff that's been happening that I wrote offline and I haven't found time to post on the internet. Though probably outdated I will still post them, probably some one would still find them useful.
I wrote something on the situation in Kenya just around the time the violence started.

What if...

Pluto no longer a planet. That was as of 24 Aug 2006 and I have known today. That gives an example how scientific "facts" can be faulty at times. The average teacher today if a student answers the solar system has 8 planets would they mark him right or wrong? Not all know this I think. That made me think about other things scientist say.
I read the bible. I am a scientist. The simplest definition of science that I was taught in primary school is the one that has stuck in me:

science is finding out the truth about something.

I came to believe in God's because something about the explanation in science couldn't hold up: existence of a living thing by chance.(Do people still hold to this belief? Scientist shouldn't). Suppose a better explanation could be brought up could it weaken my belief? I see so much beauty, consistence and design in creation to just come into being by itself. What do I seek to find out? How did God create the earth? This will surely be known if not by me somebody will find out. He spoke words and things were. But how did they become from words(The process of changing nothing into something)? This is the question i ask as a scientist. Perhaps it could have been thoughts, conceived, planned, visualized and spoken into being as I would plan, write, run a computer program to automatically do something I want to do.
What do I want to say? Age of the earth. Is it multi-billion years ago or few thousands?
Formation of fossil fuels. And presence of fossil dinosaurs. Is there any other time in scientific history, archaeological history, biblical history when the conditions were so right?
I read the bible conditions required by scientific observations to me coincide with Noah's flood. 40 days and 40 night rain. 15 cubits water up covering the mountains. 150 days later the land is dry again.(Gen. 6).
This is why radio-dating could be wrong: Carbon-14. whatever happened seems to have affected carbon so much. The fossil fuel content is mainly Carbon and Hydrogen which confirms the possibility of mass death of carbon rich living things and abundant water reacting by whatever conditions probably heat which could account for the quick drying of the water. It seems undeniable that the conditions at that time affected the content of carbon in the fossils thereby making them seem as if they have decayed for a longer time than they actually have. Are fossils that old then?
Isochron dating. Something does not hold up:
comparing with meteorite radiation: meteorites may give different results taking into account the exposure to radiations and other conditions in space different from earth prior to their existence on earth;
determining the original content of radioactive isotopes: the half-life is usually thousands and milli0ns of years. The gradient of a curve seems to be constant when observed over a short range. In fact the dy/dx at a point is gradient of a tangent line. Exponential functions tend to change rapidly on one extreme and very slowly on the other extreme. how could we decide the change is constant? how long would it take for radioactivity to be low enough to allow the existence of first living things? What if the radio active content was actually already low at the beginning and we have projected it to be like "100%" uranium. That really wrongly projects it to billions of years before doesn't? If the radioactive decay is indeed constant, should there be existence of stable "decay products"? How do we determine the time these elements became stable? Is this accounted for in when dating?
The thing is we don't really know what really happened when first living things existed. We are all trying to find out the truth. Whatever we think might be right or wrong. If there is evidence things can't come into being on their own we search for what could have started everything. And I am sure there still isn't even now. An experiment was able to produce some protein. But did lightening strike the protein and produced a living cell? No body has ever produced a living cell from an experiment. if they will it will be a copy of a living cell that is already there. Does the fact that he is able to produce a copy of a cell prove that the cell existed on its own? Did the cells decide on their own to come together and be a human being? DNA-a series of instructions, a program that instructs the cell to be different from others and work together with other cells to makeup a human being. Did this program write itself? Somebody said the Bible said a woman was created from a rib and some fresh. What could be taken out of a man to create another DNA? some long strand of code. Moses saw this He thought ah, that a rib because probably it was taken from Adam's side where the ribs are.
One thing I find fault with experiments done in a controlled conditions. The results cannot always be as accurate as the way things really work in nature. Thats why we end up creating more problems with things we come up with.
What do I achieve anyway believing there is no God who loves me(John 3:16) who can give His only Son to die so I can have life? I may walk on my own but I eventually come to a dead end when everything in life doesn't add up and because I have disregarded so much that would have given me hope. It's all depression, hopelessness.
I wish you wouldn't always go by what the teacher marks right or wrong but what convinces you to be true. Investigate. Search. Read wide. If you never read the Bible give it a chance search through it whatever questions that have been bothering you. Read science, philosophy books find out what they are "really" saying. Usually reported speech is what distorts things. You will then stand confidently against what they say if you know their faults.
Surely you wouldn't be afraid to speak out to your teacher if he marks you wrong that the solar system has 8 planets now that you know will you?

Global Warming and Our solutions

Early 1900's we thought we have found solutions to transportation, manufactoring, etc because we could now make our own machines and we thought we don't need God any more(We thought if we depend on Him we want progress). We decided that He does not exist, not that He really doesn't but because we thought if we kept to the truth of His existance we thought we won't progress. Little by litte we started finding excuses, though our consciences not willing, to deny His existance. We said Darwin can explains the observations we see. True but He does not know everything still. He suggests a way he thinks things came into being. Should we say because his observations are true therefore his suggestion of existance of things is also true? Its like making a wrong conclusion on the right observations. And we accept it?
So we thought there is no God we started our way. By and by the gases from machines we thought were a solution accumulated and global warming was a result. And now we are looking for solutions. One of them is using ethanol. Here is what a classroom solution brought up:

During ethanol fermentation, glucose is decomposed into ethanol and carbon
dioxide.
C6H12O6 → 2C2H6O + 2CO2
During combustion ethanol reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide,
water, and heat: (other air pollutants are also produced when ethanol is burned
in the atmosphere rather than in pure oxygen)
C2H6O + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
Together, these two equations add up to the following:
C6H12O6 + 6O2 →
6CO2 + 6H2O + heat
This is the reverse of the photosynthesis reaction, which shows that the
three reactions completely cancel each other out, only converting light into
heat without leaving any byproducts:
6CO2 + 6H2O + light → C6H12O6 + 6O2

What did we forget? Photosynthesis is a natural process which we may not fully control without introducing another imbalance in nature. That leaves a lot of H2O and CO2 in the atmosphere and more globe warming? may be floods when the H2O condenses.
How do we overcome this? Do we fully understand how nature works? How can we understand the design if we deny the existance of the designer?
2 Chronicles 7:21 says it very clearly:

If my people, who are called my my name, shall humble themselves, and pray,
and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from
Heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their
land.

If our scientist humbled themselves and acknowledged God, won't He reveal the design of his creation to them and let them find a solution to our problems?
I think we have been like teenagers going through adolesence rebelling against God cause we thought we thought we have now "grown up" we know everything and can stand on our own. So God said "laissez faire". And we destroyed everything in our world and we are now afraid how are we gonna live on? God's laissez faire was 'cause He loves us and wanted us to understand Him. He says if we let go of our pride go to him say "Father forgive us for we never knew what were doing". He will forget that we did not acknowledge Him and heal our land.

Of Politics and Political Solutions

I watched a play by Nanzikambe on monday 3rd in the main hall at mzuni. It was a nice play touched my heart. I had been prejudiced against these guys their acting shakespeare play in the beginning put me off kind of like I thought they lacked creativity. But watching "Accidental death of Democracy" made me see how much I have missed. their acting is superb! Much, much better than the plays I have watched before by other groups. It wasn't like movies but it touched my emotions.
Thats not the issue here. What I learned from it is. Whatever government we might try to build there will always be a Mr Red-Suit Man(what was his name? Ponyamoto?) who will be jelousy and power hungry and always try to pull down those who fight for the good of others. So whats the solution?
It is sunday today but I do not think what I am going to say has been influenced by what was preached in church. I would have written this days ago but had no time as I was trying to prepare for my end semester exams. But here is what I say:
Daniel 4:25 says :

the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He
wishes.

Romans 13:1 says:

For there is no power but of God. The powers that exist are ordained of
God.

Matthew 6:33 says:

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His rightiousness and all these things
shall be added unto you.

If we ask God to give us good leaders won't He give us? There are always people saying its being lazy to find solutions from God but God is our father and like a father is always please when we ask Him for our needs.
Jesus says(Matt. 7:9-11),

What man is there among you whom if his son asks for bread, will he
give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask
Him?

He who gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall have life(John 3:16). Will He refuse us a good leader if we ask Him? No, indeed!

Encounter with Kibaki(The Virus)

I have dealt with several viruses but Kibaki virus was different from them.
Intelligent virus? It seemed to be learning: I delete one file to kill the virus after some time it replaces the file i deleted. From then on it replaces it instantly. I try to rename works the first time but I forgot to do something and I have triggered something else. The renamed file is replaced. Then on every time I rename the file it is replaced instantly. Seemed like some form of intelligence to me. Keeps truck of every file belonging to the virus.
Being made by africans, instead of being angry at it I smile wow! a virus that can give headaches to antivirus makers and its from Africa! So africans can do wonders.
I never used to like Visual Basic programming though I used it in my degree project. But this virus made me love VB(not to create viruses but do do wonders with it).
Anyway, I came up with a script that kills the virus and removes the registry values set by the virus and all one needs to do is scan and remove the remaining files with an antivirus like nod32.
You can download the script here. And you need to download the antivirus(nod32) too to remove the virus completely(need to do a full scan).

James Phiri vs Anonymity

I was looking at what are called metasyntantic variables 'cause now and again I am meeting foo and bar as identifiers when learning a new programing language. In my cryptography course we also often use Alice and Bob as communication parties and Eve as the eavesdropper. I have also come across names like "Jane Doe" in novels. So this all led me to the article on the use of these names especially "John Doe" with this:
The Doe names are often, though not always, used for anonymous or unknown defendants. Another set of names often used for anonymous parties, particularly plaintiffs, are Richard Roe for males and Jane Roe for females (as in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe v. Wade).
It reminded me that we have a case here in Malawi which has raised a lot of controversy.
Look at it this way: You want to speak out against somebody who is a bully and you know once you are known that you spoke out you are in trouble. You don't wanna die young. But you know somebody has just to speak out if things are to be OK again for you and for everybody. There should be something in the law to protect you if you take that person to court. Something like hiding your true identity with a name like John Doe(Pseudo-Identity according to Grijpink & Prins). There should be a provision in the law that allows a person to "speak out" provided there is a third trusted party who knows the real Identity of James Phiri(our John Doe). If there isn't such a provision in our constitution it could be we never thought of such a case where somebody's freedom of speech could be exercised if he has a pseudo-identity.
There is also a possibility in which a representative name could be used to advance a "some cause" as we have seen in the quote above Roe v. Wade in which some group of people were speaking out on abortion. I see the case of James Phiri as a representative "Person"(I don't know what best word to use here) trying to question the legality of Muluzi standing again or not. It shouldn't be wrong to have such a representative person. We have had cases by "friends of the court". What's wrong with some 'People' representing themselves as 'James Phiri' to fight for some cause that is to question the legality of Muluzi standing again.
Whether James Phiri is using a pseudo identity or whether he is a representative person the question that I think we should be asking is: Is the cause he is fighting for constitutional(legal or whatever)?
I believe it did not matter if Roe was a real person in the Roe v. Wade case. I also believe there is nothing wrong for a person to sue somebody anonymously as long as he is safe in being anonymous. What about witnesses? They are allowed to testify without the public knowing their identity. Why should the public be interested in knowing the identity of James Phiri now? Lets wait and see what James Phiri has to say in court and support his cause if it is your cause too.

Plans for m-hi.org

It might have come to your mind why I got a .org for my site being more of a personal site not a non profit organization. m-hi.org that is "aim high" was initially thought up as a forum to stir up ideas especially for young malawians to achieve great things for our nation. My greatest desire is to have Malawi successful in all areas be it health, faith, economy, ICT, etc. I can't think up these things alone I need people with brilliant ideas to come together share them and help each other implement them. Sometimes it might need only one statement that revolutionizes the mindset of a generation and solutions to problems that have been there for a long time could be found. Our Education system is well structured: some do engineering, some do agriculture, some do ICT, some are medical doctors. Each of these can benefit from the other. For example, those who study agriculture could share a design problem for some irrigation pump(eg. Treddle pump) and an engineer could be able to help design the pump for him. An economist with the help of a computer scientist could be able to devise an ICT solution that is fit for our economy(just a thought: Is it economical to buy a computer Quad Core, 180Gig just so that you can create word documents?).
I can use my logic/reasoning I learned from programming in some other areas too. They say some concepts are the same quantum physics, quantum mechanics, quantum computing, quantum cryptography, quantum me(take me as a computer scientist I will give a computer science solution, as a Mathematician, a maths solution; a thinker i will think you up any solution if you give me basic facts. So thats the quantum me measured in different 'bases').
For those of you interested you could email me at ideas@m-hi.org

Things Retarding Development

Our national anthem rightly puts njala, nthenda, nsanje(hunger,disease, envy). I think the root of the former two could is also nsanje. For if there is no nsanje there is progress which means food availability better standards of living therefore no diseases.
I am doing my Masters of Science Information Theory, Cryptography and Coding but it seems people don't appreciate the course even though its being done in very few countries in Africa(I know Malawi and South Africa so far). And as a Malawian I feel privileged that I have done it right here in Malawi while students from other countries have to come here to Malawi to do the Masters Programme which others take it 'Father Ryans programme' and are not willing to take it as their own and so support it.
This is not the only thing. The opposition ,I think for the same reason nsanje, can't work together with the government. But they take every opportunity to frustrate what the government is doing. This would make one think the one party system is better. We could make democracy work too.
The following things contribute to nsanje: greed, pride, lack of patriotism, selfishness and these may be induced by competition(which is it seems defines democracy which shouldn't be the case). To us the people in a democracy we are trying to find a person who can help us. But to the politician(at least the present politicians) they are competing (for whatever reasons) for presidency which in their greed, selfishness and pride they see it as an opportunity to make money(I want this mindset to go. I don't want it in Malawi at least). Because they see it this way whoever becomes the president they wouldn't want to help(Its never in their intentions most of the times). I think the two 5-year term presidency should be applied in the parties too. And I would also love it if the continuance of the party presidency on each term should be determined by how much that leader has helped the government. This would help promote the desire for the Opposition(I think a better word should be used) to help the government in developing.
On the term "opposition": it is duty defining name. If one forgot his duty he is reminded by this 'label' that he is supposed to oppose the government thats why maybe we are having problems with the opposition here in Malawi. I would rather think of them as the helping hand of the government. co-governers/co-government thats what I think the opposition should be.

On Muluzi whether he should stand again: The constitution is meant to protect. Muluzi so far in his presidency has made so many things worse for Malawi. And most of his actions have shown him more of an exploiter than a helper. His intentions for continuing to rule is more for selfish reasons than helping Malawi. Because he has money and lies the constitution is supposed to protect Malawi from his exploitation. Supposed we have a good leader, should he be given a chance to rule again? I think NO! He doesn't need to be the president to help. In fact the succeeding president would be more willing to receive advice from a leader who has been good and has given himself respect by letting others rule. Besides there is a saying "too much power corrupts". Every human is corruptible. We do not know if he will continue being the good leader he has been. And he can't be the only good leader: new people bring new ideas. So Dr Muluzi, sir, mupume otherwise I pray for Red Sea(Exodus 14)

ICT Development in Malawi

We got brains whats our problem?
I keep on asking myself why nobody doesn't seem to find a solution for so many things wrong in our ICT sector. Is it greed(for Service Providers)? Is it fear for the people to speak out.
I wrote once on my first personal website that I wanna be able to browse the internet from my home village in Mzimba. Thanks to Celtel I am able to do that now on my phone though I am still limited to checking a few pages and emails only. Still I wanna browse everything and be able to download software on my laptop when I am there so that my software development isn't limited to location.
High Cost of ICT Services. I wonder why something that somewhere else is very cheap could cost so much here? I don't get it. A domain name. I bought mine about $9 which here is $35 and in Malawi it doesn't matter if it is .org .net or .com. OK at least we gotta promote ourselves but still .mw you get it $50? Are we Malawians so poor to cover the cost of promoting ourselves? Think about the benefits we will get after promoting oursevels. Is that so impossible? Think about about .tk a small Island Tokelau somewhere in the pacific is known world over and I knew about it because they offer their domain free. Of course its a URL redirection but it would allow Victor Kaonga (and me and many others) blog with an identity of a Malawian if we had a free .MW URL redirection to our blog for instance ndagha.blogspot.com(too long) would now be ndagha.mw or at least ndagha.co.mw (as is co.nr and co.cc) and Victor Would be very proud to carry a malawian identity.
My understanding of SDNP as the registrar of . mw would have been the first one to lower the prices and so set a standard on provision of ICT services in Malawi. But despite being a non profit organization they are also trying to compete with other services providers in charging the prohibitive prices. I don't get it? Are they managing to develop ICT in Malawi? How are they justifying their pricing?
Poor service provision. Even though these companies charge so much for their services their services are still so poor that most companies prefer to have their software or other services developed by foreign companies. Money going outside of Malawi. When are we going to stand up and aim high for our nation?
Poor e-commerce facilities. I would like to be able to sell my services outside Malawi through the internet. But how do I get paid for my services? I was hoping pay265.net would materialize into something but I wonder where the good dream has gone(or is it working? I can't use my account).
National Bank allows one to cash credit cards why not allow me to receive money paid through credit cards as well? I think its just a matter of partenering with foreign institutions which offer these services, is it not?
Malawian Policies maybe would not allow money to go outside Malawi any how but it should be able to allow Money to come in. With a Paypal account in some nations one is allowed to recieve money but not to buy that's good enough for me If I am being paid for Technical Support I offer to people from other nations through the internet. But we could do better. I should be able to buy tools that will help my software devlepment so that the quality of software that I develop is at par with those developed outside Malawi and So be exportable. This will now let Bingu ask me to develop the Government Website and keep Malawian Money in at the same time I am bringing in More Money.
Whoever implements ICT Policies please think about these things. Time is not waiting for us. We need to catch up.