When poverty courts hunger
When Elvis Sukali, communications and media officer for Oxfam Malawi, called me to say he had a British musician called Sandi Thom whom he wanted me to interview, the first question I fired at him was: Sandi who?
I must confess, I’m addicted to music and I know a fair number of musicians — local and international — but Sandi Brown was not the one name I could pretend I knew — a fact I, shamelessly, confessed to the musician when I met her last Wednesday evening.
Sandi Thom, born on August 11, 1981, is a Scottish musician with two albums to her credit, Smile... It Confuses People (2006) and The Pink & The Lily (2008). The first album reached number one in, among other countries, the UK and Ireland, number five in New Zealand, 11 in Australia and 43 in France while the single ‘I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)’ was number one in the UK, Ireland and Australia, three in New Zealand and 16 in Germany.
But Sandi did not visit Malawi early this month to promote her name and her music or, as some would assume, on a mission similar to Madonna’s.
Sandi is an ambassador for the charitable organisation, Oxfam Scotland and she was in the country to see for herself the hunger situation in Malawi so that she could raise awareness of the problem in Scotland.
In Malawi, the musician visited some areas in Chiradzulu, Blantyre rural and Lilongwe to see for herself the situation on the ground. To say she was confused by the paradoxes of Malawi and its people would be an understatement.
“It’s a beautiful country,” she said. “The land is vastly beautiful. The people I visited in the villages, in the school, I have admiration for their genuine strength in human spirit even though they are facing problems.”
Sandi has never been to Africa. She constructed her worldview of Africa from what she got from the media but even that did not prepare her for the situation that confronted her in Malawi.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I have never been to Africa before. I have been to so many places in the world through music but nowhere that is so highly impoverished. I had not imagined it would be that bad,” said Sandi.
But the shock could never have been greater for Sandi by the paradoxes she was confronted with: “Although they [Malawians people] are so much far worse off than anybody I know, they are more alive than the people I know who have everything. And that’s the thing touched me most.
“I’ll try and do my best to send the message to the people back home to reconsider [helping the people]. It’s our responsibility when you consider the reason why these problems [hunger] occur.”
Lately, there have been calls for the western countries to renegade on pledges of aid made to poor countries like Malawi so that the west, too, can solve its current financial crisis.
But Sandi, having seen the debilitating effects of hunger at close range, feels that abandoning the pledges made should be the last thing the west can do.
“I know the people are feeling the effects of the credit crunch and the financial crisis but the one thing I will say to the people back home is that we feel it in a small way compared to the way people feel it here, it’s completely different circumstances,” Sandi said.
Oxfam Scotland is today (October 16, 2008) launching Oxfam’s £15 million World Food Crisis Appeal. The purpose of the funds is to pay for the organisation’s international development and humanitarian work on food and agriculture, and to campaign for changes to the flawed trade and agricultural polices that have left poor farmers vulnerable.
In Malawi, fertiliser and seed subsidies have gone a long way in making sure that the people harvest enough. But Malcolm Fleming, media and public relations manager for Oxfam Scotland, says the situation in Malawi is complicated.
“Malawi has had surpluses for the last few years because of the fertiliser subsidies. But we have visited some areas which didn’t harvest enough,” said Fleming.
“The World Food Crisis is hitting the poorest hardest. Women and children are especially vulnerable. Many of the people we met in Malawi were already down to one meal a day, and it’s expected things will get worse in the months ahead, with food prices possibly rising further still.
“There are many factors behind the crisis, but it is clear from talking to subsistence farmers in Malawi, that climate change has affected their ability to get a decent harvest. Many spoke about erratic rains, and unpredictable seasons,” said Fleming.
But, if that were all, the situation would not be as complicated.
“People are facing rising costs of food and people spend a large part of their income on buying food,” he said.
Chipped in Sukali: “The benefits of the fertiliser subsidy are likely to be eaten up by the rising cost of foods.”
It is not a point far removed from the truth and unless some action is taken, Malawi could be headed for a situation Fleming is hesitant to refer to as a ‘crisis’.
“However whatever the reasons behind the crisis, it’s clear that financial donations made now will help save lives in Malawi and elsewhere around the world in the next few crucial months. I urge everyone to make a donation today,” said Fleming.
But what is Sandi’s last word on the situation she saw in Malawi?
“My visit to Malawi opened my eyes to the extent of poverty and the harsh reality of how some people live and how rising food prices are affecting them.
“You have to ask yourself what you would do if you were in the situation many Malawians face. If you had a family to feed but the prices were doubling or tripling. The people I met in Malawi, and many millions like them around the world, need people here to show generosity when they need it most,” she said.
I must confess, I’m addicted to music and I know a fair number of musicians — local and international — but Sandi Brown was not the one name I could pretend I knew — a fact I, shamelessly, confessed to the musician when I met her last Wednesday evening.
Sandi Thom, born on August 11, 1981, is a Scottish musician with two albums to her credit, Smile... It Confuses People (2006) and The Pink & The Lily (2008). The first album reached number one in, among other countries, the UK and Ireland, number five in New Zealand, 11 in Australia and 43 in France while the single ‘I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)’ was number one in the UK, Ireland and Australia, three in New Zealand and 16 in Germany.
But Sandi did not visit Malawi early this month to promote her name and her music or, as some would assume, on a mission similar to Madonna’s.
Sandi is an ambassador for the charitable organisation, Oxfam Scotland and she was in the country to see for herself the hunger situation in Malawi so that she could raise awareness of the problem in Scotland.
In Malawi, the musician visited some areas in Chiradzulu, Blantyre rural and Lilongwe to see for herself the situation on the ground. To say she was confused by the paradoxes of Malawi and its people would be an understatement.
“It’s a beautiful country,” she said. “The land is vastly beautiful. The people I visited in the villages, in the school, I have admiration for their genuine strength in human spirit even though they are facing problems.”
Sandi has never been to Africa. She constructed her worldview of Africa from what she got from the media but even that did not prepare her for the situation that confronted her in Malawi.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I have never been to Africa before. I have been to so many places in the world through music but nowhere that is so highly impoverished. I had not imagined it would be that bad,” said Sandi.
But the shock could never have been greater for Sandi by the paradoxes she was confronted with: “Although they [Malawians people] are so much far worse off than anybody I know, they are more alive than the people I know who have everything. And that’s the thing touched me most.
“I’ll try and do my best to send the message to the people back home to reconsider [helping the people]. It’s our responsibility when you consider the reason why these problems [hunger] occur.”
Lately, there have been calls for the western countries to renegade on pledges of aid made to poor countries like Malawi so that the west, too, can solve its current financial crisis.
But Sandi, having seen the debilitating effects of hunger at close range, feels that abandoning the pledges made should be the last thing the west can do.
“I know the people are feeling the effects of the credit crunch and the financial crisis but the one thing I will say to the people back home is that we feel it in a small way compared to the way people feel it here, it’s completely different circumstances,” Sandi said.
Oxfam Scotland is today (October 16, 2008) launching Oxfam’s £15 million World Food Crisis Appeal. The purpose of the funds is to pay for the organisation’s international development and humanitarian work on food and agriculture, and to campaign for changes to the flawed trade and agricultural polices that have left poor farmers vulnerable.
In Malawi, fertiliser and seed subsidies have gone a long way in making sure that the people harvest enough. But Malcolm Fleming, media and public relations manager for Oxfam Scotland, says the situation in Malawi is complicated.
“Malawi has had surpluses for the last few years because of the fertiliser subsidies. But we have visited some areas which didn’t harvest enough,” said Fleming.
“The World Food Crisis is hitting the poorest hardest. Women and children are especially vulnerable. Many of the people we met in Malawi were already down to one meal a day, and it’s expected things will get worse in the months ahead, with food prices possibly rising further still.
“There are many factors behind the crisis, but it is clear from talking to subsistence farmers in Malawi, that climate change has affected their ability to get a decent harvest. Many spoke about erratic rains, and unpredictable seasons,” said Fleming.
But, if that were all, the situation would not be as complicated.
“People are facing rising costs of food and people spend a large part of their income on buying food,” he said.
Chipped in Sukali: “The benefits of the fertiliser subsidy are likely to be eaten up by the rising cost of foods.”
It is not a point far removed from the truth and unless some action is taken, Malawi could be headed for a situation Fleming is hesitant to refer to as a ‘crisis’.
“However whatever the reasons behind the crisis, it’s clear that financial donations made now will help save lives in Malawi and elsewhere around the world in the next few crucial months. I urge everyone to make a donation today,” said Fleming.
But what is Sandi’s last word on the situation she saw in Malawi?
“My visit to Malawi opened my eyes to the extent of poverty and the harsh reality of how some people live and how rising food prices are affecting them.
“You have to ask yourself what you would do if you were in the situation many Malawians face. If you had a family to feed but the prices were doubling or tripling. The people I met in Malawi, and many millions like them around the world, need people here to show generosity when they need it most,” she said.
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