He waited 86 years to meet his life-long dream: visiting the United States of America (U.S).
But, even after attaining that dream, Giddes Chalamanda is, simply, not ready to die.
“No! No! No! I am not looking forward to death. I am not ready to die. I am looking forward to enjoying my life to the best extent possible. Actually, my focus is to set my eyes on Mazuwa Village, Traditional Authority Mpama, Chiradzulu,” said Chalamanda Wednesday.
Apparently, he liked the land [U.S.] but not the food.
“I want to taste sweet potatoes and cassava grown in Malawi now. I cannot wait,” he added.
He had spent 86 years dreaming about stepping on American soil. He was excited when he got there but, as the days wore on, he apparently fell home-sick.
He had just alighted from a South African Airways bird around 12: 30 pm. It took another 12 minutes for Chalamanda, Edgar Kachere and Davis Njobvu to come out of the plane. It was Chalamanda’s highest moment; so, why rush it?
Chalamanda must be ready for the next chapter in his life; especially that he has made it clear that death is definitely not part of that chapter.
“You see, death has always been there. So, there is no point looking forward to it. I look forward to making the best out of my life,” said Chalamanda.
Maybe that is why he has bought a banjo.
Edgar was initially not so sure about the price but, when he asked one of the people privy to the issue, it was confirmed that the banjo had been bought at roughly $250 [about K180, 000 at yesterday’s exchange rate of K722].
Now, Chalamanda has not just come back home with a new banjo; he has developed a good sense of humour. His trip to the U.S. must have been a concoction of adorably sweet memories.
“Zinali boooo. Adatilandira bwino kwambiri ndipo ndidali okondwa kuwona anthu kumeneko akuvina ndi mtima onse nyimbo zanga monga ‘Ngondo Amao’, ‘Buffalo soldier’, ‘Che Meli’, ‘Linny’. [The reception was out of this world and I was happy with the reception accorded to my songs, among them ‘Ngondo Amao’, ‘Buffalo soldier’, Che Meli’, ‘Linny’],” said Chalamanda.
Although he showed signs of being physically worn out by the journey, Chalamanda responded to our question about what he would do with the banjo with good humoured contempt.
“Don’t you know what a banjo is used for? You definitely know how I will use it,” he said, tightly holding on to his banjo.
That banjo holds the strings for his next chapter in life.
Kachere, one of the duo in Edgar ndi Davis, said the nation of Malawi stands to benefit “immensely” from the highly personal trip.
“For example, we put Malawi on the map. We exposed our culture to outside influences. We even attended a fundraising church event in a church led by Ben Nkhonjera and raised $1, 500 for Chiradzulu District Hospital,” said Kachere.
He said Chalamanda performed at a number of events, among them in Washington, D.C., Indiana State, Library of Congress and at Black Rock Arts Centre in German Town. The German Town performance could, in a way, be said to be a Malawians-meet-Malawians affair as musicians Maskal and Third Eye— who are in the U.S.— performed alongside Chalamanda and Edgar ndi Davis.
Njobvu, too, had his impressions of the trip.
“I think all moments were great, but the greatest one, I think, was when we performed at the Library of Congress, which is an archive of sorts. It was pleasing to learn that Malawi music would be kept there after our performance. We were told that our music will be kept in the library for as long as it takes, even if it takes one million years. This means our music will be present in the Library of Congress for ages,” said Njobvu.
Malawi’s Ambassador to the U.S., Necton Mhura, arranged the trip to the Library of Congress.
“It was quite an honour for us. We performed before dignitaries and this gave us the opportunity to sell Malawi abroad. We even granted interviews to Fox TV, thereby increasing our chances of promoting Malawi abroad,” said Njobvu.
But not everything about the trip was related to music. A day after their arrival, they had a picnic and the Kenyan team they lined up against beat them 2-1.
Chalamanda, with his tired legs, even played soccer, too.
“It was fun watching him play soccer,” said Njobvu of Chalamanda, whose two tickets were donated by business man Mike Chilewe.
Well-wishers did their part. Chilewe provided Chalamanda’s air tickets; Mike Mlombwa of Countrywide Car Hire pledged K1 million and honoured half of it before Chalamanda’s trip; Blantyre City Mayor, Noel Chalamanda, who was patron of the trip and, like Chalamanda’s new banjo, pulled the strings, also donated K500, 000 towards the cause.
Ken Malongoza and Monace Chibambo were there for Chalamanda, too.
And, in the end, Giddes’ Chalamanda’s ‘Coming to America 2016’ trip came to fruition. Now, it is up to Chalamanda’s banjo to decide how he plays the strings of his post- American dream life.
So far, Chalamanda has showed no sign of being heartily ashamed of realising his dream too late.
“There is nothing like [something being] too late in life. That is why, after fulfilling my dream and being heartily welcomed in America, I look forward to better things than before. It’s those guys [pointing at Davis; he looks for Edgar but he can’t single him out of the crowd] who made it happen,” said Chalamanda as he boarded a blue Mercedes benz.
The driver and owner of the merc, Emmanuel Maliro, definitely drove him to sweet home, Mazuwa Village.
The perfectly aimed irony with Chalamanda’s journey back home was that, like the State President, he paused for some five seconds to wave goodbye to onlookers and men and women spotting white T-shirts emblazoned with the words ‘Giddes Chalamanda Coming to America 2016. ‘Mkazi ndi Mawaya’.
Mkazi ndi mawaya’ happens to be one of Chalamanda’s songs.
As he left Chileka International Airport in Blantyre around 01: 32 pm, he was burying an old dream. And, with the banjo, a new one could be born. One only hopes it lasts longer than 85 years.
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