Great is not Necessarily Big

Benedicto Wokomaatani Malunga is known for a number of skills in the world of art; he is a powerful poet, a translator, short story writer and essayist. Many times the fact that you are a writer straight away qualifies you to be a great thinker. Many people know Achebe as a writer, but dig deep in his writings, you will dig out a thinker, a great thinker. Ben Malunga is a great thinker, and this is the case with all those writers I respect and adore in the country—Steve Chimombo, David Rubadiri, Jack Mapanje, DD Phiri, Sam Mpasu, Vera Chirwa, Alfred Msadala, Maureen Mlenga, Joe Mlenga, Bright Molande, Zondiwe Mbano, Temwani Mgunda, Stanley Kenani, Wisdom Nkhoma, Harry Kamwaza, Shadreck Chikoti, Mike Mvona, Jack McBrams Chirwa, Hoffman Aipira and the list is long. Many a time when I am before such people, I admonish myself to talk less and listen more—I have learnt a lot by listening more. I am not saying that every time one is before such people one must never speak at all; what I mean is: as much as possible, where the subject is such that will benefit you most by listening, doing so proffers a lot of advantages.

One day, Ben was teaching me something about development of poetry in the country. In the course, he said something to do with the reason he ensures he presents himself whenever young people are reciting.

“Kingsley,” he said, “do you know why I so much respect youth?”

“No,” I replied, as usual, expecting some lengthy explanation.

“It’s because I was once a child.”

It wasn’t the sort of answer I had expected from him; I had expected something with some telling carrying capacity, a long paragraph at least. Although the explanation had fallen short of my expectation, I never requested a clearer answer; I felt it not important to pester him for a better explanation.

A few days later, I decided to relive the conversation, as I still felt something wasn’t on a powerful poet of his stature giving me a response not so adequate. Then something lunged in—some explanation arrived, and what Ben had told me began to make sense.

When I was a student at Chancellor College in the early 1990s, I was lucky to come across a poem entitled “Soul of a Child”. I got it in a magazine Reverend Johnson, a College Chaplain then, had given me. I found the central message in this poem edifying. It taught me that if I would fight with all the energy in me, GOD was willing to give me room to greatness. Am I saying I’m a great man now? No, not yet, but, like you my good reader, I strive to one tomorrow.

The magazine from which I got this poem said the poet was anonymous. Recently, I searched on the internet in case there should be some owner, it never exactly came straight the owner. However, I found lots of people quoting it for its strength in the advocacy regime for children. I think I should give you some taste of this work first, and let me ask you to pay particular attention to the last but one stanza and even the last stanza itself:

The Soul of a Child

The soul of a child is the

loveliest flower

That grows in the garden of God.

It climbs from weakness

to knowledge and power

to the sky from the clay

and the clod.

To beauty and

Sweetness it grows under care,

Neglected ‘tis ragged and wild;

‘Tis a plant that is tender and wondrously rare,

The sweet wistful soul of a child.

Be tender, O gardener, and give it its share

Of moisture, of warmth and of light;

And let it not lack for painstaking care

To protect it from frost and from blight.

A glad day shall come when its bloom shall unfold;

It will seem that an angel has smiled,

Reflecting a beauty and sweetness untold,

In the sensitive soul of a child.

In the breast of a bulb is a promise of Spring,

In the little blue egg is a bird that will sing;

In the soul of the seed is the hope of the sod,

In the soul of a child, is the Kingdom of God.

Now that you have a feel of this work, what do you think should be its central message? Well, I find the following as its central message: great is not necessarily big. When we celebrate the birth of a child it is not the small life or size we celebrate; it is the value or potential embedded in that life that we celebrate.

One definition of a child I once came across described a child as a father or a mother of a father and a mother. Simply put, this child today will become a father or a mother of someone tomorrow. In short, in this small size is invested untold enormity and potential for a world of tomorrow. All we have to do to realize such potential is to ensure we give every child the best of care so it lacks nothing.

After reflecting on this poem I came to understand Ben’s reasoning on why we must respect youth—size must not fool us; we must always go for the value in an object.

My reflection went on onto Malawi as a country. In all my writing about Malawi, I never derelict from my duty of describing this nation as a Great Nation. I have heard many Malawians describe Malawi as a useless nation, and some come to the extent of regretting their being born in this nation. Such people give ‘convincing’ arguments why Malawi should be labelled a failed state, a cancer on the Continent. I can never describe the best GOD gave me in such terms. Everyone else will describe Malawi using such reckless adjectives, not me. For me, Malawi is the best place to born in. The only problem we face, and it is not insurmountable, is that we still, up to now, refuse to own our problem and work with the efficiency of a military unit to address all our problems once and for all.

Malawi’s first head of state, Dr Hasting Kamuzu Banda built what he christened The Great Hall for University of Malawi students. This building is at Chancellor College in Zomba, the country’s old capital city.

At the time Dr Banda was building The Great Hall, the University of Malawi was blessed with the genius of a Vice-Chancellor, David Kimble, may his soul rest in peace. Dr Kimble was well travelled besides his great education. I am sure he must have known that what Kamuzu christened The Great Hall was by no means the greatest hall in the world let alone in Africa at the time. When opening The Great Hall, Dr Kimble confessed to this, saying he asked the President why he had christened this building The Great Hall. Kimble said that Kamuzu told him, ‘Great in not necessarily big’, i.e. what defines greatness is not necessarily the size; it is the value that a people put in their object. In short, according to Kamuzu, the Great Hall was a symbol of status for anyone entering the University of Malawi. Whether the people today understand and preserve this great status is a different question.

Malawians, individual Malawians, that is, must learn that one does not become great because of how much he or she controls or acquires; one becomes great by doing the best for his or her country in the time the nation entrusts in him or her with its resources and authority. I am not saying that acquiring goods is a curse in Malawi; it is great to acquire goods, but one must deserve what one owns. Malawi can realize its greatness if each one of us realizes that self should come later. The greatest principle in life is to live for others. A great people will always live for others, live for those in need, live for the generations unborn.

Sometimes greatness takes the very pattern of growth, i.e. takes time to blossom. Today, nobody seems to value the power of time in gathering; everyone wants to get all the riches within the shortest time possible. No fuss, but one must understand that if one wants to acquire everything within a short span of time, one must do so via channels that will never turn on his or her conscience later. I believe that if we would all value the power of work and time, we would understand that there’s imbedded in each one of us some greatness, and the only way to materialize that is by working hard while waiting for time, the right time.

We can make Malawi live this accolade by doing the best we can in building our nation and in protecting those being preyed upon by individuals filled with ignorance and voracious appetite for riches. There is no room in Malawi for the madness of killing a fellow brother or sister all because nature gave them a different skin colour to mine. Anyone indulging in such practices is picking a fight with GOD Himself, and that is dangerous.

Malawi might not be big, but Malawi is certainly a great nation, and those who live in it must learn to live by this blessing, must learn never to despise themselves. Above all, must learn to deserve and to live each for the other. I see no better nation I would born in than this great nation, Mother Malawi.

Thank you GOD for this wonderful place we call home, Malawi, our Malawi.