Colleen Burroughs
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(ABP) — As our group of 22 boarded a plane to return home from Malawi this week, organized protests began making world news. Malawians had grown tired of petrol shortages, the rising cost of commodities and perceived government inaction.
Malawi is a majority Christian nation with few natural resources to claim, but it does have something most African nations do not have: a history of peace.
Just days before Hawa Ndilowe, the former Ambassador to the United States, had spent an evening with us. “Peace is one of Malawi’s greatest assets,” she said. When is the last time you heard about an African nation characterized by “peace?”
She also spoke about the importance of the freedom for people to speak up about how they wish to live and be governed. It’s not a statement that would have been made 35 years ago, but Malawi’s young democracy is off to a strong start.
I was glad to hear her say this, since our group had just marched through the streets of the capital city on behalf of thousands of school children.
Hundreds of students, teachers, reporters and one Minister of Parliament gathered at Biwi Primary School, where 1,800 students shared three broken bathrooms. We walked six kilometers from Biwi’s school to another school where almost 9,000 learners shared six worn-out bathrooms and no faucet to wash their hands.
Our team represented thousands of U.S. students who, through their contributions to Watering Malawi, made possible the installation of new bathrooms and hand-washing stations at both schools.
Mr. Mapulanga, event organizer and executive director of the only NGO working on urban water issues in Lilongwe, posed this question to five reporters: “If students in the United States can do this, then what is Malawi’s responsibility to our children?”
Watering Malawi marchers leave Biwi Primary School.
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People looked up from their shops and came to their doors as we passed by. As our numbers grew so did the traffic jams and the chaos. Like everywhere else in the world, people have flocked to the city looking for work to support their families.
These government schools and related infrastructures have been swamped by the masses of people. Now their children, who have dreams just like mine, are more likely to become violently ill due to the shocking lack of access to clean water, a safe bathroom and place to wash their hands. So we walked with those who, in the words of Mr. Mapulanga, hoped to “improve learning environment for our dear children.”
Just days later Malawians gathered in these streets again. News reports said 18 people died when protests turned violent — one person is too many to lose. What the news reports failed to communicate is that there were hundreds of people in three cities who were peacefully protesting for change.
There are some really boring videos on YouTube to prove it: Crowds milling about, smiling, laughing, shaking hands and feeling good about being in agreement that change needs to happen. A peaceful gathering of the masses indicates that there is truth to be heard.
This is not to minimize the violence, pain, injustice, the silencing of the media or the arrest of journalists, but I am convinced that peace is still one goal of these protests. It probably is the goal for most protests around the world. It’s just that sometimes peace gets lost in a desperate shuffle for the truth and because speaking the truth tends to threaten those in power.
Thoughtful protests are good. It’s why we have integration and women voters and female preachers. Our moderate Baptist kids happily marched in Malawi (along with three Methodists). They walked through the dirt for six kilometers and no water breaks on behalf of these children. Speaking up for the voiceless is about justice, kindness, dusty shoes and dry mouths. It’s Isaiah 58 kind of mission work. I am certain we saw the face of Christ in those we walked alongside.
Christian communities should speak up for those who have no voice. It is a part of what Jesus meant when he said, “if you have done this for the least of these, you have done it unto me.”
So as our plane lands in the U.S. again, I pray for peaceful Malawi to find the petrol it needs to keep moving toward a stronger democracy and safe water solutions for their children.
I also pray for eyes wide open to see where Christians need to walk on behalf of the voiceless school children right here in the neighborhoods of Alabama, Georgia, Utah, Florida and Arizona.
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Colleen Burroughs is vice president of Passport, Inc., and current moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
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