malawilostyears.blogspot
Winding up the work in Karonga
From Wednesday to Saturday, November 20 and 23 we had a busy time in Karonga wrapping up this phase of the project. There were many practical things to finalise on the one hand and plan on the other. Our funding finally came through, we got our scanner working and copied some documents, organised some correspondence, introduced Flora to the computer and said our goodbyes. The next period is going to be very intense and with very short turn around before we are back on the ground together.
The good news of the last 2 weeks is that the funding agency, aware of our difficult situation, forwarded us the grant money even before all the hurdles had been cleared. This made our life so much easier. We were able to travel knowing we had money for fuel and meals as we moved about and we were able to reimburse some of our out of pocket expenses. It, nonetheless, took a considerable chunk of time to do the accounting and set up the bookkeeping. After everything was settled, there is a balance remaining to support some of our work in February to April.
More crucial was our laying out the plans for the next 3 months of writing and follow up research. We now have over 40 interviews with a wide range of people, and yet we still see some gaps and there remain some essential people we would like to interview to round out the narratives. The focus will be to write up what we have agreed is the essential text so far and be ready for the next phase in February to fill in the blanks, smooth it out, and produce a final printable copy.
Finding a publisher is also a challenge. Not everyone shares our vision, or values oral history, nor understands the urgency we feel and we have not been as effective at selling our product as we might have been. Many publishers want to see a manuscript copy, but we won't be at that stage until late April 2014, so for the publisher it is a bit of a risk buying into our work sight unseen. One option we are looking at is self-publishing should no other alternative present itself. It would cost about $3500 to print 2000 copies in Malawi and the book would then be available at a low enough cost to make them widely available inside the country. This is still a work in progress.
The real pressure now is to earn, beg or borrow the money to finance the work in February, March and April. It will be the last time I can invest such a long period away from my home in Montreal, so we want to be very organised. We have an offer from a Concordia history professor who is interested in our work and wants to piggy back his research on our work. That offer is for a trip from Karonga to Dar es Salaam to spend a week interviewing more people and introducing him to the world of the Malawian exiles who lived there in the seventies and eighties. That is an exciting possibility, but it is busy work and we often do not get much writing accomplished when we are on the road like that. Another week would have to be spent in Malawi's southern region and another in the centre to complete the picture.
The real issue comes back to cost. The ticket from Canada back to Malawi will be hard to find with such a short turn around time. Fundraising for the February trip over the next 2 months while I am trying to write is a major preoccupation.
The stories of people who suffered under the Banda regime come from the most unexpected angles and places. I was leaving Lilongwe through the renamed Kamuzu International Airport when my friend, Police Inspector Duncan Mtambo who works there, greeted me and introduced me to another 'homeboy' who had grown up in our extended village, Mlangali and had been at Chilanga Primary School with brother-in-law Frazer. Charles Mandala is now a senior manager with the Local Development Fund and was on his way to a World Bank course in Washington via Addis Ababa on the same initial flight as me. He knew of the work we have been doing around Makupo and Chilanga and was keen to meet me and learn about Nellie and our activities. As we chatted, he learned of the work we are doing on the history of those who suffered under the Banda regime. He revealed that he had spent two years detained at Maula Prison in Lilongwe for being too vocal about local issues when he was in government service. We did not have the time in our short stop over in Addis airport to record an interview but he assured me of his interest and willingness to cooperate when I return.
It is yet another instance that reinforces the frustration so many of us feel at the way Kamuzu's name is still waved about by the political opportunists who are still trying to profit from the image he foisted on the Malawian people despite the brutality of his reign.
More from Canada, once I can get settled in.
Winding up the work in Karonga
From Wednesday to Saturday, November 20 and 23 we had a busy time in Karonga wrapping up this phase of the project. There were many practical things to finalise on the one hand and plan on the other. Our funding finally came through, we got our scanner working and copied some documents, organised some correspondence, introduced Flora to the computer and said our goodbyes. The next period is going to be very intense and with very short turn around before we are back on the ground together.
The good news of the last 2 weeks is that the funding agency, aware of our difficult situation, forwarded us the grant money even before all the hurdles had been cleared. This made our life so much easier. We were able to travel knowing we had money for fuel and meals as we moved about and we were able to reimburse some of our out of pocket expenses. It, nonetheless, took a considerable chunk of time to do the accounting and set up the bookkeeping. After everything was settled, there is a balance remaining to support some of our work in February to April.
More crucial was our laying out the plans for the next 3 months of writing and follow up research. We now have over 40 interviews with a wide range of people, and yet we still see some gaps and there remain some essential people we would like to interview to round out the narratives. The focus will be to write up what we have agreed is the essential text so far and be ready for the next phase in February to fill in the blanks, smooth it out, and produce a final printable copy.
Finding a publisher is also a challenge. Not everyone shares our vision, or values oral history, nor understands the urgency we feel and we have not been as effective at selling our product as we might have been. Many publishers want to see a manuscript copy, but we won't be at that stage until late April 2014, so for the publisher it is a bit of a risk buying into our work sight unseen. One option we are looking at is self-publishing should no other alternative present itself. It would cost about $3500 to print 2000 copies in Malawi and the book would then be available at a low enough cost to make them widely available inside the country. This is still a work in progress.
The real pressure now is to earn, beg or borrow the money to finance the work in February, March and April. It will be the last time I can invest such a long period away from my home in Montreal, so we want to be very organised. We have an offer from a Concordia history professor who is interested in our work and wants to piggy back his research on our work. That offer is for a trip from Karonga to Dar es Salaam to spend a week interviewing more people and introducing him to the world of the Malawian exiles who lived there in the seventies and eighties. That is an exciting possibility, but it is busy work and we often do not get much writing accomplished when we are on the road like that. Another week would have to be spent in Malawi's southern region and another in the centre to complete the picture.
The real issue comes back to cost. The ticket from Canada back to Malawi will be hard to find with such a short turn around time. Fundraising for the February trip over the next 2 months while I am trying to write is a major preoccupation.
The stories of people who suffered under the Banda regime come from the most unexpected angles and places. I was leaving Lilongwe through the renamed Kamuzu International Airport when my friend, Police Inspector Duncan Mtambo who works there, greeted me and introduced me to another 'homeboy' who had grown up in our extended village, Mlangali and had been at Chilanga Primary School with brother-in-law Frazer. Charles Mandala is now a senior manager with the Local Development Fund and was on his way to a World Bank course in Washington via Addis Ababa on the same initial flight as me. He knew of the work we have been doing around Makupo and Chilanga and was keen to meet me and learn about Nellie and our activities. As we chatted, he learned of the work we are doing on the history of those who suffered under the Banda regime. He revealed that he had spent two years detained at Maula Prison in Lilongwe for being too vocal about local issues when he was in government service. We did not have the time in our short stop over in Addis airport to record an interview but he assured me of his interest and willingness to cooperate when I return.
It is yet another instance that reinforces the frustration so many of us feel at the way Kamuzu's name is still waved about by the political opportunists who are still trying to profit from the image he foisted on the Malawian people despite the brutality of his reign.
More from Canada, once I can get settled in.
