inspire

THE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE STUDENT MAGAZINE

HEROES
&
VILLAINS
JOHN
CHIPHANGWI
SHORT
STORY
MY INVISIBLE
VALENTINE
FEBRUARY 2014 FIRST ISSUE
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HEY DOC :
health tips
and tricks
PLUS: NEWS REVIEW, CROSS-WORD, SWAZI SECTION, ELECTORAL REPORT.
2 INSPIRE
Managing Editor
Hagai Magai
Editorial Team
Bright Mwafulirwa
Senior Banda
Design
Innovative Africa
E-mail
hymagai@medcol.mw
CONTENTS
3. Introduction
Earl Jay
4. Editorial
Hagai Magai
5. News Reviews
Symon Nayupe
7. Valentines Special
Treighcy
9. Short Story & Poetry

13. Hey Doc
Earl Jay
14. Cross-Word

inspire
15. Heroes and Villains
Zaziwe Fatsani Gundah
17. Faces of COM
Hussein Twabi
18. Swazi Republic
3 INSPIRE

Te stage is set. All preparations are made.
An idea conceives. and Inspire is born.
Enter Inspire.
Inspire: Ladies and gentlemen of the College of Mediciine
intellectual body. I, born of an Idea,
enter upon this stage for no other reason but to
serve thee. if then it seemeth pleasing unto,
thee use me to thy hearts content.
Introduction
4 INSPIRE
editorial
Dear Readers
Te issue you are reading right now is the frst Magazine from this generation of the
University of Malawis College of Medicine. Tis Valentines Day issue has been released
with the hope of keeping you interested and at the same time with the hope that we get
feedback on how we can improve in the upcoming printed edition of the Magazine.
Nonetheless, the quality of the Magazine, is in our opinion, defnitely one of the best Ma-
lawi has to ofer.
We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it. Tanks to all those who
have supported us, especially the sponsors of this issue, Mat Academy (Zomba).
To all those who are celebrating Valentines Day with their loved ones, I wish you a day
flled with peaceful waves of loves, and even the sky and the moon must testify to the
bonds of your hearts. Happy Valentines Day.
To the loners (ma Swazi), I wish you a happy independence day. Please, spend the day
in the warm embrace of your books to avoid romantic intimidation which comes when
you see lovebirds fying outside the window - with wings tightly wrapped around each
others waist.
Best regards
Hagai Magai
Editor in chief
5 INSPIRE
new reviews
OPINION: COULD COM STUDENTS BE COMedians?
Symon Nayupe( BSc Medical Labo-
ratory Sciences (Hons) Year 4)
It is very obvious that COM is not a place for
drama talk, less anything relating to it. Afer all we
do not do Arts here. But sometimes maybe observa-
tions have shown that we may be COMedians, or if
not, we are something related to that. Have we been
COMedy actors at one point? Or are we actors all
time? Could we be real COMedians?
Observations by some individuals on campus
have led to them making an assumption that College
of Medicine students could be COMedians. Indeed,
at some points we have seen emails in our email ac-
counts hosted by the College commonly known as
Webmail though it is no longer such today. Webmail
was the email system that the students were using
before the whole thing was transferred to Gmail.
Well, that is not what we want to address here
so let us focus on what we want to address. Indeed
we saw emails drop into our inboxes with titles like
To My Fellow COMedians or To all COMedians.
At times we wondered since when did we became
comedians as we were addressed in the emails.
Some of us gathered fury at points realizing that we
could never be comedians, or if anything like that,
we could be bad ones and therefore never wanted
to hear anything like being a comedian. I wonder if
the students sending the COMedian-titled emails
never got faming emails from an infuriated COM
community admonishing them never to call them
COMedians anymore. I am pretty sure they did.
Well. COM is famous for its more argumen-
tative but less action population. When an issue
arises one would be sure to see a trail of well docu-
mented, phrased and paraphrased emails in the
next few hourssome with Biblical references
others with academic references typical of a
COM student anyway. We are all the time sure
that when such an individual makes a comment
it is likely to be followed by a particular indi-
vidual or if not in that certain order one thing
we are sure of is the consistency of the names of
individuals who comment. Te funny and inter-
esting thing is how these argumentors argue
on things sometimes so straightforward that an
argument would not be necessary. Could that
be the defnition for comedy according to the
COMedian?
Interesting enough is the other fact that
COM community is a mixture of diferent
characters and lives. Tat would be true of any
institution with a big number of people from
various backgrounds, but the uniqueness with
COM is that both characters probably have
similar weight and infuence and when issues
arise they seem to be annihilating each other
and not producing anything benefcial at all in
the end. Let us take Chanco, for example. When
Chanco declares kayende it really happens
- kamayendadi. When the Polytechnic shouts
Poly Huwa! we are sure we will see them on
the Highway with tree branches and whatsoever
fts for a demonstration. Tese two have a sense
of one direction for a good or bad cause.
(Am not, of course, encour-
continued on next page...
6 INSPIRE
aging one direction-ness for acts with bad inten-
tions or bad courses. Am only admiring the sense
of having one direction at times, not all times for
it is impossible for all people to have a single des-
tination or aim or course of action at one similar
point). At COM its a diferent case all together.
When the vicious young men and women shout
kayende, we are sure Te Evangelist has already
dropped his long email calling for dialogue and
discussion, and we would be certain that interces-
sory prayers are already underway for the same
cause. Such is life at COMCould that be another
defnition of comedy according to the COMedian?
COMs student union leadership at times
has been more of comedy than serious business.
Unsynchronized rule with a president saying one
thing and the Secretary General saying the other
as directors and hostel representatives go their
own ways with their own gospel. But could this
also be a point to support the assumption that we
are doing comedy here and that we are eventual
COMedians?
Much as I understand College of Medicine
and the type of professionals it trains, I think our
conduct is just right for what we are being trained
to be. As medical professionals to be we ought to
conduct ourselves in a way that in itself sends a
healing message to our clients or whoever we may
call them. Afer all the clients themselves out there
already have a good perception of our character
before we even meet them. Frustrating such cli-
ents with our despicable behaviours would lead to
serious consequences like subsequent loss of trust
in these clients.
In the same line I think COM students must
also understand that they are living in a world
with a lot of ado where survival must be achieved
through braveness and arrogance at times. Sitting
down and waiting for things to happen would
yield nothing at all in a world where actions need
to be triggered and constantly be kept in motion
through active supply of force. Otherwise we
would continue to act like comedians one act-
ing this way, the other acting the other way and
would probably be rightly called COMedians.
Some faces of the new COMSU executive
Brany Titus Mithi
Vice President
Wanangwa Dovie
Treasure General
Taonga Banda
Secretary General
Felix Kaminyoghe
President
7 INSPIRE
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and the breadth and the height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everydays
Most quite need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my griefs, and with my childhoods faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
with my lost saints, --I love thee with the breath
Smiles, tears, of all my life!-- and if God choose,
I shall but love thee better afer death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

8 INSPIRE
Te pressure that comes every February is fnding the perfect present that will
just melt your partner. Personally, going an extra mile to make me happy would
be perfect. With Malswitch, it is unrealistic to expect a weekend away or dinner
at 21 Grill or designer perfume.
A card, box of chocolate and fowers are too ordinary but if you personalise them
for me my heart would melt under your charm like a bar of chocolate on desert
sand. Call me old fashioned but I love it when things are made specifcally for me
especially cards. A handwritten message would be sweeter pasted over the default
message that comes with the card. Knowing that the person put thought into
what they bought and actually considered my likes and dislikes alone is highly
appreciated. I like to be surprised! Like if we ever walked around by Queens and
I said I have always wanted to try chiwaya but never got to it and you took me
to a chiwaya, I would love you forever. You dont need grand gestures to make my
Valentines extra special. Simply going that extra mile to do something nice and
thoughtful will make a huge diference. So, for valentine, a simple sweet surprise
would melt my heart.
How to spoil Me on valentine
Treighcy
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9 INSPIRE
I have been watching you a million times, I have
been wherever you have been, I have feared what you
have feared most and perhaps with faith felt what you
feel. For so long I have been procrastinating about
this, but a powerful surge within me has been arguing
me to let the cat out of the bag and expose its contents
to your virgin and innocent heart. For so long I have
been looking forward to your hug and perhaps an op-
portunity to whole-heartedly lavish your sumptuous
face and lips. My valentine, Rabecca, wherever you are
know that I am here incomplete without you.
It is not that I am a coward nor that I didnt have
a rich vocabulary that would make walls of Jericho
fall. A vocabulary better than that which has seen
many young men receive cold shoulders. But you have
to understandI have been looking for an opportune
time to let you know that you are my lost rib and that
I need you more than anything else here on mama
earth.
Let me start by apologizing for I have been in
love with you all this while, though without your
consent. If your memory serves you right, I have been
approaching you on several occasions; the frst one be-
ing when we were at High School back then in the late
1990s. On that particular day, for your information, I
built up all the confdence that I needed to convince
you how I desperately needed you in my life. Indeed I
was ready to walk where you walked and to eat what-
ever you ate. I resolved not to be like Peter who afer
hurdles and tribulations denied the Messiah; I was
prepared to drink from the same cup that you drank.
Nothing about school was in my head by then. Each
time a teacher was in class I was daydreaming. I recall
in one of those episodes how I visualized you and
me sneak out of the heavily-fenced school premises
during weekends and spend the weekends together at
Kande Beach. I approached you in no time. Your reply
was a blow unto my life. Te least I expected from you,
though I admit I regarded you in high esteem. You
said we must prepare frst for the examinations which
were in due course and you will you will tell me where
your heart is afer the examination results come out.
I must confess I lost direction because of you.
When the examination results were out I failed miser-
ably. Not that I was not intelligent, but I didnt know
it was the litmus test set before me to qualify for
enjoyment of all the heavenly treasures within you.
Your angelic smile, natural dimples combined with
the squinting brown eyes made me lose my mind at
times. Ten you came to me asking for my report card
which broke your heart much as the same you broke
mine. From that time it was never the same again as
you told me that I should be always on the frst or
second position for you to accept my proposal. Tis
news was shocking; it was as if I have been sentenced
to life imprisonment. I did not really understand the
mathematics behind all this, but all the same I tried all
what I could do to make my name so I could acquire
you. I have to take this opportunity to thank for you
made me work extra hard in my school, and am glad
to inform you that am one of the best engineers the
country has ever had. Ten I didnt hear from you
again as we went our separate ways.
We met again some years later as you came to
Kalanje College of Engineering, where I was doing my
Honours degree in Mechanical engineering, for some
sporting competition. At frst I did not recognize you
for you accumulated all the beauty for yourself. I was
in the horns of dilemma whether to approach you.
What if its not her? I kept asking myself. I managed
to swallow my pride and then we talked. Tis time I
did not waste much time but to tell what was troubling
my heart. Ten you told me to wait for your response,
which by all means I did. Afer a week of long waiting
you told me that it was too early and that we still have
a long way to get into a serious relationship that would
see us lead each other to the aisle. We were chatting
here and there, at least it was promising for I had hope
that it would fnally work.
Continued on the next page...
my invisible valentine
short story & poetry
Philmon M Mphande
10 INSPIRE
Ten you cut all contacts with me. I tried to
calling, writing and all other available means but
to no avail. Its been a long journey, still it is and
certainly a bleak one. I must tell you I have been
through trying times. Ten I fell in love with this
other girl. She was also beautiful, only in average
though. Beautifulness has no measure but I can tell
you, you are far above what people call beauty. She
was a fne lady though, deep down my ribcage, my
heart was still attached to you. I could not do oth-
erwise but to think of you every time I was with
her until one day she asked me what I was thinking
about so much. I broke the ice, and as I write the rest
is history for the relationship did not last long. I felt
very sorry for her as it hurt her much, just as you
cause pain unto my soul.
As per the say, love is in the air, it is my prayer
and hope that one day we will both grow wings and
fnd it wherever it is. My valentine, Rabecca, wher-
ever you are know that somebody is dying inside,
somebody is desperate for your love and somebody
wants you so much just to hold your hand, to laugh
at the un-laughable with you and to whisper into
each others ear while birds of the beautiful Lilongwe
Botanical Gardens sing silent melodies in our world.
Tat somebody is me.
Fin
short story & poetry
11 INSPIRE
short story and poetry
short story & poetry
Transplanted rib
I love the way you search my depth
With eyes so bright and blue.
Te way you kiss; makes me run out of breath
With lips so sof and smooth.
Like the fountain that springs happiness
you sofen me with waters of care.
I love the way you say, I Love You,
And the way youre always there.
Tat magical touch, leaves me enchanted
Sending chills down my spine.
You are the rib that God transplanted
And I am glad that you are mine.
Leonard Kambewa (Foundation)
CLOSER
I looked without seeing
Preoccupied with images of my fantasies
Hoping for a vermillion banquet of roses
In a seductive way that movies portray
So I shut you out when you came
Yet I felt your presence when you moved
closer
You are a treasure to hold for eternity
More worthy than diamond and gold
You eyes spark me with a desire of longing
Feeling the beats of our hearts in symphony
As I learn the verisimilitude of love
Just afer I let you come closer
You are a thousand reasons to smile
For it is just a whisper of your voice
Tat gives me courage to carry through
I wont try looking back; its a waste of my
time
I may trip and fall but I will hold still
As long as you are there; closer
Takondwa Malamba.
Winners.
12 INSPIRE
Seasons of love
A journey that started on hard ground,
a trail crowded with many a hound,
that spat a mound of taunts at us,
they spelt damn and doom,
but we remained frm and calm
Te hands endowed with dexterity,
you crafed my hearts love in fne art
You are a beauty - free of frivolity,
so in you I see and smell security
a trait that yields my hearts liberty
Now that love is in the air,
lets go and run a race at loves pace,
lets go and hike Tikondane peak,
so its tall grass can give
us a standing ovation,
while the birds chant a fanfare,
assuring us a life in full care,
as fowers ofer a guard of honour,
their fragrant scent perfuming our trip.
Mcferson Masida Msowoya
The Physics of My Life
You remind me Newtons third Law of Motion
Like the upward force you raise me to a climax
But with gravity I falter and fall.
Like friction, you oppose my motion to stupidi-
ty
But that just culminates my inertia.
When charged with happy moments
You wash my soul with calming torrents
When I drown in a sea of my own transgression
I am recharged by your energetic passion
Tey are guessing your name starts with A
For you seem to be the alpha of my radiant
smile
Your greatness is too surreal,
Maybe like the gravitational force
So I might mess things up
By my prolonged radius of words
So lets just say
You balance me on your beam of life
Simply put
You are the physics of my life.
Loviisa Mulanje
runnerups
13 INSPIRE
hey doc
Earl Jay
Nutrition Info for pears
Te mango season is over and the
pear season is just beginning. Well,
before you start having pear sand-
wiches for lunch and supper, here are
a few tips on pears to consider.
Macronutrients
One medium pear contains about 103 calories, 27.5
g of carbohydrates, 0.68 mg protein, and 0.21 g of fat
and 5.5 g of fber. Adults should eat a minimum of 14
g of fber for every 1,000 calories in their diets, ac-
cording to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Tat means a medium pear contributes 26 percent of
the minimum fber requirements for a 1,500-calorie
diet.
Pears have more fber than many other common
fruits, such as apples, oranges and peaches. When you
eat a pear, youll get soluble and insoluble fber. You
need the insoluble type to keep your digestive tract
regular, while soluble fber helps lower cholesterol.
Te soluble type has another important job: it slows
down the rate at which sugar enters your bloodstream.
Even though a large pear has about 34 grams of total
carbs, including 22 grams of sugar, the fber stops the
sugar from causing an unhealthy spike in blood sugar.
Vitamin C for Immune Support
You will get about 10 milligrams of vitamin C from
eating one large pear. Vitamin C neutralizes free rad-
icals formed as metabolic byproducts, which prevents
them from damaging healthy cells. White blood cells
in your immune system synthesize free radicals, which
they use to kill bacteria. Ten these free radicals must
be neutralized by vitamin C before they damage the
white blood cells that produced them. Vitamin C
also promotes immune health by stimulating the
production of white blood cells.
Vitamin K for Bones, Blood and Brain
Vitamin K helps produce proteins your body needs
to make blood clot and to regulate bone density.
Emerging research reports that vitamin K may also
support your brain, where it helps produce special-
ized lipids, according to a review in the March 2012
issue of Advances in Nutrition. Vitamin K may also
have an anti-infammatory efect in the brain. One
large pear provides about 8.6 micrograms of vitamin
K, or 9 percent of a womans and 7 percent of a mans
recommended intake.
Minerals
Like most fruits, pears are high in potassium and
low in sodium. A single medium pear has 212g of
potassium and only 2 mg of sodium. Other minerals
include 16 mg of calcium, 0.3 mg of iron, 12 mg of
magnesium, 20mg of phosphorus, 3.9 mcg of fuo-
ride and 0.2 mcg of selenium.
Keep in mind that even though pears are a rich
source of a good number of nutrients they are still
lacking in several nutrients essential for a healthy
life. So supplement your diet and eat a larger variety
of foods.
Lastly happy Valentines to all.
references:
http: //www.li vestrong.com/arti
cle/527955-nutri ti on-i n-green-pear/
http: //www.li vestrong.com/arti
cle/522337-nutri ti on-i nformati on-for-large-
bartlett-pears/
14 INSPIRE
Down
1 Sense Organ(3)
3 Muscle pain (5)
5 Solid Water (3)
7 Same (4)
8 State of sickness(3)
9 Pattella region (4)
10 Anatomical specimen (7)
11 Inventor of the compound microscope-
Robert --. (5)
13 pain (4)
14 Slang term for a mental health professional
(6)
15 Nutrient (7)
16 Swell (6)
20 Person involved in medicine (5)
Across
2 Second person plural pronoun; you. (2)
3 Basic Unit of life. (4)
4 Analgesic drug. (10)
6 Roman god of desire, sexual love, & attrac-
tion and afection(5)
10 People requiring medical services. (5)
12 Pioneer of medicine in Malawi. (14)
15 Vex. (3)
16 A strong Feeling of attraction. (4)
18 Joint. (4)
19 Surgeons honor title. (6)
21 Help. (3)
22 Valentines was named afer --Valentine.(5)
23 Basic length unit. (5)
24 Concerning the ear. (4)
Cross-word
15 INSPIRE
Zaziwe Fatsani Gundah
heroes
&
villains
Zaziwe Fatsani Gundah considers the founder of Malawis
College of Medicine
JOHN DAVID CHIPHANGWI 1936; 2001
Going around the Mahatma Ghandi Campus, no one fails
to notice the inscription of the name John Chiphangwi
when passing through the anatomy department build-
ings and at the core of the sole medical school in Malawi,
stands the John Chiphangwi Resource Centre. An archi-
tectural grandeur of the state of the art resource centre to
have been built in the commercial city of Blantyre.
On the 17th of December, 1936, Professor John
David Chiphangwi, a very singular and extraordinary
human being was born at Luchanza, 30 miles east of Blan-
tyre. He was born to an estate clerk father and a school
teacher mother. Educated at Dedza Secondary School in
the central Part of Malawi, he proceeded to study Medi-
cine at Aberdeen University from 1960. He furthered his
career to do his postgraduate at Makerere and London
University.
Chiphangwi never lost his love for his motherland
and in the early 1980s, he played a pivotal role in establish-
ing the only medical school in Malawi. His apprehensive
direness saw Mahatma Ghandi campus doors opening in
1991, and Chiphangwi himself as its medical director and,
later in 1995, became its principal. Upon the frst gradua-
tion ceremony, those in attendance witnessed his appeal-
ing joy of awed devotion when he was giving the certif-
cates to the Malawi premier medical doctors-a memory
they will eternally cherish.
John David Chiphangwi, an artistic and elegant
speaker and witted writer, lived his life under the most
hostile and terrifying atmosphere orchestrated by the late
Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Dr Banda, himself a medi-
cal doctor, seeing himself as unpopular fgure in Africa,
he had set himself to controlling every aspect of in the
republic of Malawi. In so doing, many of Chiph-
angwi peers had resorted to feeing the country
seeking a more secure living, yet Chiphangwi
endured the artifcial calamity. Dr Banda had told
doctors that Aids was not in existence and that
alone made life a living hell for the nurses, teach-
ers and doctors more particularly for men with
astute medical skills and administrative calibre
like that of Chiphangwi.
In the 1998, Chiphangwi was yet again
instrumental in the erection of Malawis second
university in the northern part of Malawi.
Few men can march the un-attenuated
efort of Chiphangwi, Malawis arch specialist in
obstetrics and gynaecology, who worked tirelessly
organising debates about diseases and the then
banned birth control topics in the 1983. At the age
of 65, Professor Chiphangwi died on the 29th Oc-
tober, 2001, having served at the Commonwealth
science council and as Africas regional represen-
tative on the coordinating board of the World
Health Organisation/United Nations Development
Project/World Bank programme for research and
training in tropical diseases, among many others.
Reference:
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/
jan/29/guardianobtuaries1
http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/
aberdeen/john-chiphangwi
16 INSPIRE
All great men had their beginnings. After all, their begin-
ning made them what they became.
Tat is why at MAT Academy we specialize at giving your children great beginnings. Afer all a
strong foundation is the backbone of Greatness.
Give your children a great future. Take them to MAT Academy.
MAT Academy, where green pastures bloom.
We offer : Reception and grade 1-3,
lim-ited spaces available ( Zomba)
contact : 0888580558
17 INSPIRE
faces of COM
Hussein Twabi
18 INSPIRE
swazi republic
A LETTER TO THE FAITHFUL SWAZI
Te Swazi Association of College Of Medicine
(SACOM) .
Private Bag 360 ,
Mahtma Gandhi Campus, Blantyre .
13 th February, 2014 .
Dear Swazi,
I am very anxious to warn you on the new development that has arisen to our surprise.Tis is simply
the decrease in the number of the faithful swazis in hostels of Anadkat ,Soche, Chambo, Mlambe
and Nyasaland. Te development has seen multitudes of our followers leaving the Swazi Bus Group
of companies opting for the Romeo and Juliet Bus Company. It is because of this, that we would like
to strongly advise you to remain intact and keep your personal shares with our bus company as we
are passing through this tough time called the season of Valentine. We really treasure your commit-
ment, support and good will. I also would like to tell you that some of your friends who lef us and
joined Romeo & Juliet Bus Company have failed to drive such buses yet alone earn a proft from
their shares. Tey are out of business as they have been booted out by their competitors. Tis in sim-
ple Swazi language means chawaluma chakuda.
Finally, let me remind you that SACOM has been around for so long that it has seen premeds that
were 25 years of age who did not need to be under our responsibility. Today, at this very moment,
this very sentence, we are seeing premeds that are 15 years old that are joining the institution with
the priority of falling in love rather than the academics which saw them through to this level. It
is very sad that such relationships do not last a week, day, an hour yet even a minute. I have been
a Swazi for this long due to the fear of the sentence to fall in love, if it was to rise in love may be I
would have been the frst one to abandon the SACOM. Te management of SACOM currently is
trying to establish another wing at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) which
will be opening its doors later this year. Our friends from Chanco, Poly, LUANAR and the most
faithful ones from KCN greet you.
Yours faithfully,
Professor Swazi
(Te Incumbent President)
Thindi muula
19 INSPIRE
The inspire management
would like to thank all the
people that took time and
contributed to this magazine
and we thank the com com-
munityfor tolerating us.
Thankyou and
Happy Valentines
For the next issue contact us
to make your cotributions.
Tell us what you would like
us to cover. We would like
to hear feedback from you.
contact
managing editor:
Hagai Magai
e-mail:
hymagai@medcol.mw