Talk:Malawi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Africa Portal This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Africa, which collaborates on articles related to Africa in Wikipedia. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.
B	This article has been rated as B-class on the quality scale.
Top	This article has been rated as Top-importance on the importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Malawi.
Assessment comments This article has been rated for quality and/or importance but has no comments yet. If appropriate, please review the article and then leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.

	This article is supported by the WikiProject on Countries, which collaborates on nations and related subjects on Wikipedia. Please participate by editing the article Malawi, or visit the project page for more details.
B	This article has been rated as B-Class on its quality.

Malawi is included in the 2007 Wikipedia for Schools, or is a candidate for inclusion in future versions. Please maintain high quality standards, and make an extra effort to include free images, because non-free images cannot be used on the CDs.

This Geography article has been selected for Version 0.5 and subsequent release versions of Wikipedia. It has been rated B-Class on the assessment scale (comments).

WikiProject Echo has identified Malawi as a foreign language featured article. You may be able to improve this article with information from the Icelandic language Wikipedia.

Contents 1 British Central Africa 2 ŵ ? 3 Name 4 Area of water 5 Origin of "Malawi" 6 International Orgs 7 Cigarette Consumption 8 merge history? 9 Culture/First person 10 Missionaries and Aid Programs 11 Congo 12 Massive Editing 13 Orphans 14 Anti-Witchcraft issues in Malawi 15 Travel Brochure 16 Unreferenced 17 Scotland 18 Excision 19 Proposed WikiProject 20 Is there something missing? 21 Section on humanitarian problems 22 Scouting in Malawi 23 Zulus 24 pronunciation 25 The Role of the IMF and other Donor Banks

[edit] British Central Africa

British Central Africa needs linking into the history article somehow - 22/03/2005

Got it. El_C 06:47, 23 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] ŵ ?

What's the basis for the "ŵ" in "Malaŵi"? As a letter of the Chichewa language, it's not an English letter, and in general we use English names of countries, not native names (thus Italy and not "Italia"). I note that the scholarly Historical Dictionary of Malawi, one of whose authors is a native Malawian, does not use "Malaŵi". I also note that the Chichewa site at [1] does not itself use "Malaŵi" for the name of the country. ("Malaŵi" would be appropriate for the Chichewa Wikipedia of course.) Stan 05:43, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The accent mark shows the correct pronunciation but is often not included in informal writing.

[edit] Name

is it Dziko la Malawi or Mfuko la Malawi? Ybgursey 01:42, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

the latter is vandalism. I removed it Lycaon 06:31, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Area of water

I notice the sidebox gives 20.6% as the portion of the area that consists of water. The leading says a third of the territory is Lake Malawi. What could be the explanation behind this seeming contradiction? A-giau 16:32, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

There is an ongoing arguement between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania about who actually has rights to Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyasa). If Malawi owns the entire lake, 1/3 of the country is taken up by water. If Malawi does not own the entire lake, 20.6% is taken up by water.

[edit] Origin of "Malawi"

"The origins for the name Malawi remains unclear; it is held to be either derived from that of southern tribes, or noting the 'glitter of the sun rising across the lake' (as seen in its flag)." But: "Malawi derives its name from the Maravi, a Bantu people who came from the southern Congo." Could somebody make this internally consistent? --Spudtater 00:00, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

Just noticed the same thing. Anyone able to resolve this contradiction? Jamierc 06:52, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] International Orgs

Should the "Malawi is a member of the following international..." be better done as categories?

--BozMo[[user talk:BozMo||talk]] 11:14, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Cigarette Consumption

"as an alternative to the country's principal crop, tobacco, as cigarette consumption in the West continues to decline"

-should there be a footnote for this? I heard somewhere that the rates have actually increased, as the companies are pushing 'safer' cigarettes, thus giving more incentive to smoke.

[edit] merge history?

Definitely not. The Malawi page is already above the recommened article size and although there does as first glance seem to be duplication between this page and the History of Malawi page it would be far better to rewrite Malawi with a concise version of this history and keep all of the detail on the history page. This is the precedent set by all other country pages. Do not merge. Iancaddy 19:24, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

I made the suggestion because there seemed to be a lot of overlap in the material. Your suggestion to keep the "History" page and shrink the history section on the "Malawi" page makes just as much sense. --Iggle 08:50, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Neglected countries such as this one tend to have excessive overlap between main article and subarticles, nobody having pruned the main article or expanded the subarticle. I had a good reference for Malawi out of the library a while back, but alas didn't get to this before it had to be returned. Stan 13:01, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Strong oppose - per Iancaddy. --Ezeu 08:56, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Culture/First person

Given Wikipedia doesn't allow original research, I think this section needs to be deleted and re-done. --Cuomo111 09:05, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

I think this section needs information about foods, religion, etc., but unfortunately I know nothing about it. --Tyb525 00:26, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Missionaries and Aid Programs

What about making a consistent section for the different outreaches attempting to address the country's poverty and life expectancy? I believe this can be done with neutrality - without implying that the basic facts about this country would be in any way "negative."

I know that the reputable organization Feed The Children has a mission center for children/people with special needs. I also remember hearing that Scotland donated a large sum to relief in Malawi. It seems that this kind of information matters - but I have not done adequate research to make changes. Anyone interested?? --Spesek 15:01, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Congo

A link for "Congo basin" but labeled "Congo" has no actual entry. Perhaps this will change in the future. However, I wonder if the link can be changed to Congo basin or Congo River basin to achieve a similar meaning while using existing entries. Any thoughts? For now, I will use my first suggestion. --SidP 22:00, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Massive Editing

I am going to start a massive editing of this page to make it A level. I have lived in Malawi for many years on and off, mostly in Blantyre and the South. If anyone objects please say so, if not, that's that. I will not go against any of the popular opinions, just shortening the history, making it presentable, adding to the sub-Malawi pages etc. M.manary 22:41, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

If you do please add that Blantyre used to be the countries capital city before Lilongwe was rebuild (new outside the original village of lilongwe). I did not find any reference to Blantyre being the old capital on any of the Malawi pages. User:Vdiest14:38, 23 october 2006

Zomba was the capital in colonial times, and Parliament sat there until the mid-90s. I don't think Blantyre was ever the capital. roundhouse 11:05, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

I think Zomba is part of Blantyre (like a suburb).Is is not?

Zomba is about 40 miles from Blantyre. You're probably thinking of Limbe, which is more like a twin town to Blantyre, with centres a few miles apart. Blantyre/Limbe is much bigger than Zomba, by a factor of 20 or so (edit - Zomba says its popl is now 100,000 so my factor of 20 is way out). In fact the Lilongwe article (which I hadn't looked at) settles the question. roundhouse 15:49, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Orphans

It would seem important to this disinterested reader to amplify the section Malawi and orphans. Given the catastrophic social consequences of AIDS deaths to the nation's future, the treatment herein seems a gloss. This article makes it seem like Malawi is a utopia of respect for elders and old ways, when a million orphaned children to AIDS speaks volumes about promiscuity and the decline of familial values. Wuapinmon 17:51, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Such a high mortality rate due to AIDS is NOT all about promiscuity and the decline of "familial values"! AIDS spreads rapidly when there is misinformation, lack of contraception and people so hungry they cannot spend time worrying about other things. Please don't press YOUR cultural values on the Malawi people, as they suffer from a horrible governmental rule and hunger. It is easy to judge others on a full Westerner's stomach. People with AIDS can have better values than you! 69.178.9.95 18:33, 18 October 2007 (UTC)- Arkerickson October 18

I wasn't talking about my values, if you'd get out of your fit, and go look at the article on the date that I wrote my comment, you'd see how much it has changed since then. The article then made it seem like Malawi was this paradise on earth where everyone was monogamous and lived in perfect harmony with each other and the environment. I wasn't pressing my cultural values on anyone, rather I was commenting on the apparent discrepancy between what the article was saying about Malawian values and the reality of their current situation. Wuapinmon (talk) 19:16, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

But you said "promiscuity and decline of family values". I just want to know if you have lived there for over 50 years to support this claim? Or is it an easy blanket statement that gives what seems like a probable explanation to the spread of AIDS? Or is it a prejudicial statement coming from the pedestal of a person who chooses to ignore the complexities of the problem? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.111.200.155 (talk) 11:41, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Anti-Witchcraft issues in Malawi

I found an article here: http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=19137

Which speaks about ongoing controversy regarding Witchcraft (which may or may not be seen as the Practice of Wiccans), and involves a death penalty.

I haven't edited a Wikipedia article before, so I thought it best to just post this and ask that someone find a way to include the information.

Thanks!

205.250.238.42 09:56, 20 October 2006 (UTC) Apple Ament (ladyament@gmail.com)

[edit] Travel Brochure

The 9.5 section reads like it's taken from some travel brochure. Malawi is not heaven on earth. 1 of every 16 citizens is an orphan; in 2003, 14 out of every 100 people were HIV positive. This entire page needs reworking to achieve an NPOV

[edit] Unreferenced

What in particular is unreferenced? roundhouse 15:18, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Easy way to find citations: Check out the external links, press F3, type in citation-needed pharse. Find it, add the website it was on's in place of the "citation-needed" symbols. Note: may just work on Windows XP's version of Internet Explorer(that's what I use). 75.38.109.107 05:20, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Scotland

Malawi's links with the UK are mentioned, but it particularly has increasingly strong relationship with Scotland (birthplace of David Livingstone), and the Scottish executive are continuing to give financial and practical help to Malawi. Should this be mentioned here? raining_girl 13:53, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Excision

I did a little research re the recent excision (which I reverted). The material removed was inserted en bloc on or around 2 Aug 2006 (see history) by User:HQCentral, a sockpuppet of the notorious User:Primetime. Primetime's raison d'etre appears to be the insertion verbatim of material found elsewhere. (I suppose anyone who has contributed since 2 Aug to sections of the deleted material is welcome to reinstate such sections.)

Anyway, given this background I have reverted my revert. roundhouse 12:08, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Eastern Africa at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Eastern Africa whose scope would include Malawi. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:25, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Some person edited this page in the history section of this entry, inserting parts of the 'Star Wars' mythology as part of the Malawi history. For example, the history portions begins 'The earliest inhabitants of the area were jedi. They were largely replaced by sith lords during the Republican uprising. The first significant Western contact was the arrival of Luke Skywalker along the north shore of th Death Star in -2089, and subsequently Tattooine inhabitants establishing cantinas. In 1883, a consul of the British', which then launches into verifiable history. The Jedi version needs to be removed and the accurate information inserted. I am by no means a savant of Malawi history, and I would fix it myself if I knew. 09/01/2007 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Goingwiddershins (talk • contribs) 02:07, 10 January 2007.

[edit] Is there something missing?

The first line of the history seems to be a bit of a non-sequiter. Has something been removed?

Yes - seems to have been missed - well-spotted. roundhouse 13:55, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Section on humanitarian problems

I find the section POV because of its unsourced statements that the government and climate change are partially responsible for humanitarian problems. I'm sure that such statements, if found in an article on the USA, would be considered POV, and POV is independent of geographical location. Of course, the addition of sources would be sufficient to correct this. Nyttend 16:44, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

Also, the article is inconsistent again: the Humanitarian Problems section says "(the mean per capita income in Malawi is less than $1 per day)", but the Economy section says "Malawi has a GDP per capita of 596 US dollars." $596 / 365 days > $1/day. The CIA World factbooks says GDP is $600 (2006 est.), so I'm inclined to believe the Humanitarian Problems section if factually inaccurate. It could be that the median per capita is less than $1 per day, due to an uneven distribution of wealth, but unless someone can verify this that point needs to go. I'll change it Tuesday unless someone responds first. 152.23.101.108 17:56, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Here's another one: From Humanitarian Problems, "Life expectancy in Malawi is now as low as 36.5 years", but in Health it says "Their life expectancy is 41.75 for men and 41.2 for women.", with both tagged as Citation needed. The CIA World Factbook lists life expectancy at birth as 42.98 years for the total population: 43.35 years for males, and 42.61 years for females: (2007 est.) I guess I'll remove the low estimate and add a cite for the high estimate on Tuesday as well unless someone responds first, but it would be better if someone more knowledgeable about Malawi could hit this. 152.23.101.108 18:16, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Scouting in Malawi

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Chichewa? Thanks! Chris 03:43, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Zulus

"...The Chewas constitute 90% of the population of the central region; the Nyanja tribe predominates in the south and the Tumbuka in the north. In addition, significant numbers of the Tongas live in the north; Ngonis—an offshoot of the Zulus who came from South Africa in the early 1800s—live in the lower northern and lower central regions;..." Isn't it rather the other way around? That the Zulus descended from people that migrated from the great lakes region. Nguni is the upper name for Zulus, Ndebeles, Swazis and Xhosas in Southa Africa. There is also cattle that is called Ngunis. You may confuse that with the Matabeles who break away from the Zulus to Zimbabwe... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.242.207.217 (talk) 15:07, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] pronunciation

(mə-lä'wē) SaltyBoatr (talk) 15:46, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The Role of the IMF and other Donor Banks

Hello All,

I am new to the Wiki community, but I noticed a pretty startling disconnect between the description of poverty and the food crisis in Malawi as it stands here, and the NYT article from last year, which explained how Malawi was constricted by the donor banks from growing their own food.

I think that should have a stronger mention.

Original article is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/world/africa/02malawi.html?scp=5&sq=ignoring+the+experts&st=nyt

Should I just edit the page myself? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaida22 (talk • contribs) 17:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Yep, go ahead and edit (WP:SOFIXIT, WP:BOLD) - but you'll probably want to go through the WP:WELCOME tutorial first, so you know how to write appropriately for the article, how to cite sources and what conventions to use. —Vanderdecken∴ ∫ξφ 18:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)