Every Day Is Special: June 14 – Malawi Freedom Day

June 14 – Malawi Freedom Day

Posted on June 14, 2015

Today the Malawian people celebrate the anniversary of the 1993 end of a corrupt totalitarian regime that had ruled their nation for almost 30 years.

So...what does “corrupt totalitarian regime” mean?

“Corrupt” means that, instead of the people in power following the rule of law, and governing for the betterment of the entire nation, they did things through bribery and other dishonest methods, and governed for their own gain.

“Totalitarian” means that the government had total control over society; people had few or no freedoms.

And a “regime” is another word for a government, but it is almost always used for a government that is rigid and repressive.

Sounds bad, right? Since 1993, the government has been a lot better, with democratic elections—but Malawi is still a very poor country. It is considered one of the least-developed nations in the world.

Here are a few of the nicer things about Malawi:

About a third of the small nation is taken up by Lake Malawi. This lake is about 360 miles long and 52 miles wide. (Can you guess why it's called “the calendar lake”?)

Lake Malawi is a great place to snorkel or dive. The water is clear, and there are thousands of species of colorful cichlids.

At Liwonde National Park, you can see elephants, hippos, crocodiles, loads of birds, antelope, and maybe even rhinos, lions, leopards, or jackals. One person reported seeing 266 different bird species in just two days and nights. I'm not talking about 266 individual birds – I'm talking about 266 different kinds of birds (and entire flocks of some species!).

Mulanje Mountain has little huts at the end of each hiking route; hikers who join the Mountain Club can use the cooking facilities stored in the hut and burn the cedar wood in the huts' fireplaces.

Likoma Island is in Lake Malawi. It is very close to the shore of another nation – Mozambique – and it is surrounded by Mozambique territorial waters – but it is still a part of the nation of Malawi.

The land is pretty much unspoiled, even though a lot of people live there and one of the largest churches in Africa can be found there. There are no paved roads, few motor vehicles and telephones. It's supposed to be very peaceful!