By Dumisa Mbano

What it means to be Malawian is one of the hardest questions to respond to. Others will have a conservative definition, others liberal and some, no response at all. It is difficult to figure whether their inability to respond is out of modesty or their finding the question irrelevant.

This article is not a research paper and it will not provide you with statistics. But if you listen to radio phone-in programs or read your opinion pages in the local newspapers you will realize that you will agree with this article.

In all societies you will find the conservatives. These are the ones that hold the moral ground for generations to come. This group can be quite adverse to change. They are the ones that will define a Malawian as someone who dresses responsibly, as in wears a suit to work; they will argue the women should not wear trousers for these are demeaning outfits and so on. They are so set in their ways in that if one is to say they are rich, this can only be acknowledged if one owns a Mercedes Benz. I find this definition naïve and constricting.

I believe in my liberal view that individuals should be able to understand that where culture is concerned, regulated terms of definition do not exist. Culture cannot be defined but created; therefore it cannot be imposed on society and its persons.  For those that do not have a response when asked, they worry me! One should have enough interest in one’s culture to be able to define oneself in the context in which they live.

I am not stating that defining the Malawian culture is futile! In fact it is something that anthropologists should be encouraged to do. We need to have both a historical and present context definition of our culture. Malawians need to have what they can call as their own heritage, a national identity, without it having to be accumulative of other societies. I need to be able to tell my grandchildren that being Malawian is blessed. We are a people of truth and warmth. Malawians are fighters and that poverty does not define us. I believe as nation we need to rebuild our self image and rise to a people that were once talked about. We are the people of the flames; we prosper and move with change. We are a great nation!

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