Thomas Bello Blogging from Lilongwe, Malawi

On the way to Harrogate

2011-04-04T00:10:00.002+02:00

At Amsterdam Airport security checkpoint while connecting to Leeds Bradford, the officer asked me politely, "Sir, do you have any liquid thing in your bag?" "Yes, I have." I answered innocently and reached for my Nivea for Men bottle of body lotion. "Here it is, but I can't find my other bottle of deodorant," I said, always wanting to be on the right side of the law. "Well, don't worry about the deodorant," he said.

He took the body lotion bottle and said "Sir, you are only permitted to carry 100ml of this on the plane, this is 250ml."

"I see, but I have used up more than half of that, so that should be within the acceptable volume range!"

"Yes, but I'm not even supposed to hold this kind of discussion with you."

Seeing that arguing was not going to change anything, I said "OK, take it then, that's fine!"

He threw the lotion into the trash can - just like that! I quietly took my bags and proceeded to the gate to complete the last leg of my trip.

I must put on this blog the things I learn at this great event - UKSG2011

Attacked by Bandits at Dawn (28FEB2011)

2011-03-02T18:05:00.006+02:00

I woke up at 0425 on the morning of 28 February 2011, got myself ready for morning prayers at church. In ten minutes I was out of the house, but went in again to take a security cable lock, a 3 metre long plastic-coated metal cable. This was to protect myself against stray dogs who are a nuisance to morning walkers.

Five minutes into my walk to the church, I saw two young men in black, sitting on the edge of the road. At first, I thought it was a black dog standing because it was still dark, but as I approached, I noticed it was human beings. I was singing a song by – Mark Schultz - Love Has Come, and these guys heard me sing.

I walked past them but not too close to them, busy singing. Five metres away, I heard them agree with each other, “Inde, ndiyemweyu” ( “Oh yea, he’s the one”). Immediately they shouted, “Iwe taima pompo, ukapanda kutero ziyipa, tikubaya ndi mpeni” (“Hey you, stop right there, otherwise things will turn nasty, we’ll knife you”). I continued walking and thought to myself, “Are they really talking to me?, Is this really happening to me? This time?” It was about 0440 then. Yes they meant me! I fished my phone from my pocket, thinking I should call my wife or dial 997. I miscalculated it, it was too close. I begun to run for dear life but was in sandals – one can’t run that good in them. I put them off but it was on a tarmac road and I have not trained my feet to run barefoot, let alone on a tarmac road! My pursuers were in shoes! I still tried to run, while crying in desperation, “Mayo ine!!!”

When one of them got nearer, I suddenly turned and whipped him in the head with the cable that was in my hand, but it was I who fell down because I did not balance well the momentum I had gathered while running, the sudden turn and the strength with which I whipped - all in the rush of adrenaline. I was down and they approached, I whipped again, one of them tried to wrestle the cable out of my hand but failed, I whipped frantically and then threw my phone away. They rushed for it like dogs do food and ran away.

I stood up, looked for my bible – it was gone too. For a while, I reflected on what had just happened, thought about what I should do next, then went back home.

Now, the scriptures tell us to be thankful in everything, so let me be thankful:

Thank You Lord, I didn't receive any blows and they did not knife me as they threatened. My precious life has been preserved yet again.

Thank You Lord that it was me they attacked and not that defenseless man who passed through the same road a few minutes afterwards.

Thank You Lord, they took my bible, may be they will read it and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

Thank You Lord that I was the attacked not the attacker.

Thank You Lord, You have always been Jehovah Jireh to me, you will supply another phone, according to Your riches in glory.

Thank You Lord that I can go on and on and on, because You are good all the time and all the time You are good!! It is well with my soul!

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired

2009-05-06T14:58:00.005+02:00

It's that season of elections again! Presidential candidates and aspiring Members of Parliament (MPs) are in the thickets of campaigning. For those of us watching, listening and deciding who to vote for, it's like we're spectators in a game. I must say that with only two weeks to the elections the game is hot. I can see the contenders using whatever tool they can lay their hands on, appropriate or inappropriate, just as long as it adds one vote to another for them.

One of the tools that these competitiors are using is hate speech! My heart bleeds the moment a politician diverts from real issues and engages in name calling. This seems to be the norm in Malawi politics. Hear me you foul-mouthed politicians, "I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of your hate speeches!!" It's disgusting! Yes, nauseating!

My request to you perpetrators of this malpractice is simply "stop it!" I wish you could understand just how we, peace-loving Malawians, hate this with perfect hatred. Do you think sticking to issues and speaking clean can cost you votes? I tell you, "no!" A resounding "no!" Actually, talking sense and speaking substance will gain you hearts, minds and votes! The only thing that will be lost is pride, bitterness and all those negative emotions. No one ever choked by swallowing their pride.

Some useful info on distances in Tanzania

2009-05-04T11:48:00.014+02:00

This info may come in handy when driving between Dar es salaam and Songwe Border.

When driving an imported car from Dar es salaam to Malawi, one has to go through four checkpoints that are placed along the way. You drive your car to the checkpoint, present your papers to the official there, he physically inspects the car, stamps and signs your papers and you drive away. The checkpoints are Mbezi - Chalinze - Makambako - Kasumulu in that order. Kasumulu is just at the border. Here is some useful information on distances:

Malawi Cargo Centre (Dar es salaam ) to Mbezi (first check point) about 35 km
Dar es salaam to Chalinze 109 KM
Mbezi to Chalinze 74 KM
Chalinze to Morogoro 82 KM
Morogoro to Mikumi 110 KM
Mikumi to Iringa 205 KM
Iringa to Makambako 166 KM
Makambako to Mbeya 170 KM
Mbeya to Kyela 123 KM
Mbeya to Kasumulu (border) 105 KM

This small piece of information may be useful if one day you are driving an IT-plated car from Dar to Lilongwe.

Trip to Dar es salaam, Tanzania (April 24-30, 2009)

2009-05-04T10:55:00.005+02:00

I volunteered to a good colleague that I would go to Dar es salaam and drive his car which he had imported from Japan because I was very familiar with the process and the road and its confusing checkpoints. Sitting in one bus from Lilongwe to Dar is a thing I can't imagine myself doing - same seat, seeing the same people, and perhaps listening to the the same type of songs for close to 2000 kilometres. And if one passenger has issues with immigration officials, the whole bus delays. So I like to slice my trip in bits taking different buses along the way, Lilongwe to Mzuzu, Mzuzu to Karonga Border. From the border I walk for twenty minutes into Tanzania to a bus station at Kyela from where I board a Mbeya-bound bus. Most of the times I am in Mbeya by 1 PM. I walk around, stretching my legs, take my lunch, see different things. One day a lorry with a blaring sound system playing Swahili gospel music and dancing young men and women pulled by the roadside and showed the people their dancing skills.

On this particular trip, I boarded a Toyota Coaster from Mbeya on my way to Dar. This is the longest leg of the trip, over 1000 KM. We left at 5 PM on Saturday. Just 2 minutes into the trip, the bus stopped at a gas station. A quarrel between the conductor of the bus and the dobadobas who helped bring passengers to the coaster ensued because of disagreements on payment. I could not understand what they were saying, but every one was shouting on top of their voice - this went on and on for nearly 30 minutes - while we, the passengers were waiting in the bus. I was really disgusted because the quarrel was taking forever. As a customer, I like to be appreciated by the one I am giving business to. But I felt we were being taken for granted. Anyway, we finally started off for real. I know Tanzanian drivers for their cruising, making me stay awake for much of the journey, but this one was going at a good speed by my standards and I could manage a long snooze. At around 11 PM we stopped at Iringa for 30 minutes to freshen up, eat and stretch a little. The journey continued afterwards.

Trapped and barely caught by bandits

After we finished driving down the mountains, around 1 AM on Sunday, we came to a spot where we found the left side of the road blocked by a huge tree. Our driver avoided it by going to the right hand side and back to the left, and the journey continued. In this part of the world we drive on the left hand side of the road and our cars are righ hand sided. At 2 PM we arrived at Mikumi Police road block and our bus was ordered to stop and park so that the driver and passengers should rest. This is by law - beyond 10 PM or 12 midnight (not sure which is which) passenger vehicles are not supposed to ply the roads of Tanzania. An hour later, a bigger bus arrived at the road block. Traumatised passengers and crew came out of this bus and headed straight to the police offices. These not-so-lucky people had passed through the same spot where we had avoided a big tree on the road, but they had found the whole road blocked by two big trees. When they stopped, criminals armed with knives attacked them, robbed them of their cell phones, money and other valuables. When the driver and conductor tried to resist them, they were hacked with knives, one in the head and the other on the arms. When I heard this, I was so touched and felt for these people, at the same time saying to myself, "it could have been me ... what have I done to escape this? Lord, help the victims. Soon after the police were informed, they drove to the crime scene to investigate while the injured people were taken to the hospital. We were supposed to be released at 5 AM but the police said we would leave at 6 just to avoid another incident. My lesson: next time, sleep in Mbeya and take early morning buses so that we pass through these crime prone areas while the sun is shining.

Rice-pudding saga

While our bus parked at the police road block, I went to the nearest restaurant to look for rice pudding, because I was feeling hungry but wanted something very light. I was with a Tanzanian youngman who could barely speak English. Actually, a majority of Tanzanians do not speak English - communication is a challenge. I told this guy that I wanted rice pudding, I mentioned rice porridge, and then said "phala la mpunga" hoping that he would pick one of these. I was happy when he said "OK, yes, yes." When we got to the restaurant, my friend made the order on my behalf. Then a Kenyan guy arrived on the scene. This guy spoke English and Swahili so I told him I was expecting rice pudding and he sat down and we talked. 5 minutes later ... two plates arrives - one with beef stew and the other with rice suitable for lunch/supper. When I asked who they were for I was told they were for me. Oh, no! My Kenyan friend explained to the waitress that this Malawian asked for good and hot rice pudding, not this lunch. She was angry, but I never let that influence me in any way because it was not my fault. I left, hungry but not angry, and laughing in my mind.

At 6 AM on Sunday, we were released and drove off to Dar where we arrived at 10.30 AM. I went straight to a hotel in Kalya Koo and slept.

On Monday, I went to Malawi Cargo Centre and did all the formalities. I wanted to leave the same day but then was told the computer network was down, therefore, customs could not process some documents, so we should come again the following day.

"Driving with your sandals on is a crime here"

Come Tuesday, everything was moving smoothly but very very slowly, and boringly so. While the documents were being finalised, another man from Mzuzu who had come to collect a vehicle asked me, "will you drive with your sandals on or do you have shoes in your bag?" "I can't stand driving with shoes on for a 2000 KM journey. I don't do that at home when driving from one town to another!" was my answer and I asked him, "how about you?" He said after all the processes are over he would take his sandals off, put them in his bag and put his shoes on and then warned me, "get ready to pay the policemen on the roads because driving with sandals on is a crime here." How I hate to be stopped by traffic policemen on the roads! Actually, I fear them. I grew up with fear of policemen - that time they were called Malawi Police Force. They have since changed the name to Malawi Police Service - but I still fear them. One of them in Lilongwe is in jail now for shooting a defenseless lorry driver to death. When this guy told me about this "crime", I knew I was a "criminal" because all I had as footwear were my one pair of sandals. Since there was no time for me to go and look for shoes in Town, I told myself that if I found someone walking by the roadside wearing even tattered shoes on, I was going to negotiate with him to buy them, just to avoid these policemen. Finally the customs papers were ready and at 4 PM on Tuesday, I drove off from the Cargo Centre compounds heading to Lilongwe. I came to the last round about in Dar where we turn left, join Morogoro Road and head off home to mother Malawi. There was heavy traffic jam here, our cars did not move for nearly 30 minutes and there was a vibrant market right here. I thought about buying the shoes, but did not know how long the jam would last. At last, I called out to a banana seller, bought two of his bananas and asked him to look for a shoe seller for me. I said "shoes", he did not understand, then said, "nsapato", he seemed to get it, but he did not move. Lastly I shouted "nsapato", while lifting my left leg and pointing at my foot, and he said "ok" and ran fast. In no time he brought a shoe for me and I said "yes", but told him "size eight" and he ran fast again. Before he came with another shoe, the cars began to move and I drove away without my shoe. I drove through the night, so the opportunity for a strange (not new) pair of shoes was missed. Fortunately, no police man stopped me on the road to ask for anything - just the normal road blocks. Driving through the night helps run away from the corrupt officers.

"Mapiri akwathu akuonekera"

I arrived at the border at 9 am on Wednesday and twenty minutes later I was on the Malawian side where I stayed for nearly two hours processing insurance and vehicle clearance. I stayed in Karonga for nearly two hours - I had to get a certain young man clean the car, while I looked for a restaurant wich had Chambo fish. I found none. By 5PM I was in Mzuzu. I rested and took a hot bath at my sister's place in Chiputula township. At 7.20 PM I was on the road again, on the last leg of the trip to Lilongwe. Thirty minutes into the drive, I suddenly became too exhausted to drive and I slowed down, going at 30 - 40 kph. I felt so sleepy that I began to see the road signs as people walking. I'm told that if I had not taken the hot bath, I would probably feel stronger. I was supposed to be in Lilongwe by 11 PM, but I was arriving at Jenda at about 10 PM, some 80 KM before Kasungu. I pulled by the police road block, parked the car and slept. 3 hours later, I was on the road again. I arrived home at at 4.45 AM on Thursday.

Letter from mother to son

2009-04-22T12:50:00.002+02:00

This is the letter I talked about in my previous posting:

Dear Paul:
This is the most important letter I have ever written to you, and I hope you will take it as seriously as it is intended. I have given a great amount of thought and prayer to the matter I want to convey, and believe I am right in what I’ve decided to do.

For the past several years, you and I have been involved in a painful tug-of-war. You have been struggling to free yourself of my values arid my wishes for your life. At the same time, I have been trying to hold you to what we both know is right. Even at the risk of nagging, I have been saying, ‘Go to church,’‘Choose the right friends,’‘Make good grades in school,’‘Live a Christian life,’‘Prepare wisely for your future,’ etc. I’m sure you’ve gotten tired of this urging and warning, but I have only wanted the best for you. This is the only way I knew to keep you from making some of the mistakes so many others have made.

However, I’ve thought all of this over during the last month and I believe that my job as your mother is now finished. Since the day you were born, I have done my best to do what was right for you. I have not always been successful - I’ve made mistakes and I’ve failed in many ways. Someday you will learn how difficult it is to be a good parent, and perhaps then you’ll understand mebetter than you do now. But there’s one area where I have never wavered: I’ve loved you with everything that is within me. It is impossible to convey the depth of my love for you through these years, and that affection is asgreat today as it’s ever been. It will continue to be there in the future, although our relationship will change from this moment. As of now, you are free! You may reject God or accept Him, as you choose. Ultimately, you will answer only to Him, anyway. You may marry whomever you wish without protest from me. You may go to U.C.L.A. or U.S.C. or any other college of your selection. You may fail or succeed in each of life’s responsibilities. The umbilical cord is now broken.

I am not saying these things out of bitterness or anger. I still care what happens to you and am concerned for your welfare. I will pray for you daily, and if you come to me for advice. I’ll offer my opinion. But the responsibility now shifts from my shoulders to yours. You are a man now, and you’re entitled to make your own decisions - regardless of the consequences. Throughout your life I’ve tried to build a foundation of values which would prepare you for this moment of manhood and independence. That time has come, and my record is in the books.

I have confidence in you, son. You are gifted and have been blessed in so many ways. I believe God will lead you and guide your footsteps, and I am optimistic about the future. Regardless of the outcome, I will always have a special tenderness in my heart for my beloved son.
Sincerely,
Your mother

(taken from "Hide or Seek, How to Build Confidence in Your Child" by Dr. James Dobson)

Interesting Excerpts from "Hide or Seek, How to Build Confidence in Your Child".

2009-04-22T11:39:00.005+02:00

I am reading Dr. James Dobson's "Hide or Seek" in which he exposes the value system which reserves respect and esteem for only a select few and presents some comprehensive strategies to cultivate self-esteem in every child. I bought this book five years ago, but only read a few pages and put it down. Now that my girls are growing (Mulinde, 5, and Rebecca will be three in five months), I have reached for it again. It has snippets of parenting wisdom that I will need in raising these queens. I must learn from the best.

On page 123, I came accross a moving letter which a mother wrote to her 20 year-old son who was not obeying her as she thought he should. She was told by Dr. Dobson that the Paul's day-today behaviour was no longer her responsibility and that she should set him free because her nagging and begging were accentuating Paul's defiance since she was playing an inappropriate mothering role which he resented. She was advised to write her son a polite and loving letter, telling him emphatically that she was letting him go - once and for all. The letter she wrote her son is in my next posting.

Women Get Raw Deal from Small Loans — Welfare Officer. By NATION REPORTER (2/4/2009)

2009-02-05T16:18:00.007+02:00

Source: http://www.nationmw.net/newsdetail.asp?article_id=2839
The Lilongwe District Social Welfare Office has said small loans women get from micro finance lending institutions in the country are contributing to the increase of poverty among most of them. Lilongwe district social welfare officer Martha Longwe made this observation on Friday during the annual general conference of the Lilongwe Urban Women’s Forum at Lilongwe Community Centre Hall.
“The small loans just impoverish us [women]. They do not enrich us. They just give us headache,” said Longwe. She said women need to be engaged in income generating activities by forming groups through which they can learn various skills to boost their financial capacity instead of borrowing from the institutions.“Can you tell me how many of you got rich because of these small loans?” Longwe asked.
In his remarks, Abson Mpunga, the chief community development officer in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, said government wants to see the women learn entrepreneurial skills to grow big in business cycles. Jenipher Thauzeni of Tithandizane Group under Group Village Headman Chatata in Lilongwe said ActionAid provided to the group, sewing machines, carpentry, production of briquettes and technical support.Action Aid is bankrolling the women in their respective groups through financial and technical support.
The women’s forum consists of groups of women affected and infected by HIV and Aids, widows, women and girls at risk and other vulnerable women groups in Lilongwe’s peri-urban communities. The Forum was established in April 2008 as a network of poor and vulnerable women groups in the Capital City.

"Gondwe Speaks on Civil Service Loans", Reports The Nation dated 18 December 2008

2008-12-20T11:13:00.004+02:00

Taonga Sabola, writing in the business section of The Nation newspaper of 18 December 2008 reported that "Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe has said government stopped guaranteeing civil servants' loans from micro-finance lending institutions ... for allegedly fuelling poverty among civil servants in the country through charging of exorbitant interest rates on loans."

A friend of mine showed me a letter written by a secondary school teacher in Blantyre addressed to someone appealing for funds to settle a loan he took from one of these lending institutions. He said from the time he took the loan, life has been very difficult to him, his immediate and extended families. This teacher says in his letter that he is now failing to take care of his sisters who are in school and that he stopped sending help to his mother in the village, among a host of other problems.

The friend whose plight gave me the passion to write the article called "New Lending Institutions Reaping off Ill-paid Civil Servants" has his own daily problems to tell. The woes that these two civil servants are going through because of loan deductions from these micro-finance lending institutions are just representative of what a multitude of their colleagues are facing.

I am certain that this is exactly what the reporter means when he writes that the loans are "fuelling poverty among civil servants in the country." I am happy that the cries of the suffering public servants have reached the desks and ears of those in authority and that action has been/is being taken to stop this unnecessary suffering.

When the link to this article becomes available on Nation Online, I will provide it on this blog.

New Lending Institutions Reaping off Ill-paid Civil Servants

2008-12-18T11:03:00.004+02:00

(I first posted this article in another forum in February 2008. Since then, I have seen many articles in the local dailies on the same subject. I am impressed by the positive results of the earlier posting)

The other day I went to post a letter at City Center Post Office in Lilongwe. As I approached the post office, I was amazed to see a multitude of bicycles and thought to myself, “surely some politician is addressing a rally not far from here”. When I finally got to the Post Office, I found it subdued by crowds of sweating and tired civil servants, men and women, most of them teachers from various distant areas of Lilongwe, and some of them from Capital Hill and other government offices in the city.

Curious to know what was going on, I enquired from one of them who told me that they had come from far and wide to get easy loans from Greenwing Capita Ltd. I believed that these must really be easy and cheap loans just by looking at these throngs of poorly paid civil servants. Seeing that this was a money issue, I got interested, peradventure I also might benefit from the same one day!

The company had displayed a list of possible amounts that people could borrow and their associated monthly deductions and repayment periods. I just could not believe what hefty deductions these were! To quantify my disbelief, I went to my computer and did a loan amortization in Microsoft Excel. The interest rates were in excess of a whooping 75%.

What has stimulated me to write this article is what a good friend of mine working in the government is going through. This guy borrowed MK100,000 from this same lending institution. He showed me his payslip to see for myself the monthly deductions that he is having to endure – it is slightly more than MK8,600.00, to be deducted in 3 years – yes 36 months. I pulled out my laptop, opened a loan amortization template in MS Excel and entered the figures. It revealed that the interest rate on this loan is at 97 percent. The total interest is MK209,874.32

I know that at the National Bank of Malawi for instance, interest rates for their general loans are 25.5%. The maximum repayment period is 2 years. Therefore, if my friend had gone there to borrow MK100,000, he would be deducted MK5362.27, total interest being MK28,694.52. This is MK3,238 less than what my friend is paying back for 24 months less, and the difference in total interest is MK181,179.80! These differences are more than significant indeed!

What is ironic about these loans is that they are targeted only at the civil servants. Every one knows that civil servants are poorly compensated. The question one asks is, “why did the government allow its servants to be reaped off like this?” When I asked my friend why he did not go to borrow from his bank he told me that the government of Malawi issued a circular to the commercial banks not to dispense any loans to its servants. In effect, the government is forcing its servants to borrow much more expensively from these reapers! I personally am angry with this. Could someone be benefiting from this setup? Can someone please educate me on what is really happening out there as far as this issue of lending is concerned?

From the masses that are going to these institutions, it is very apparent that they do not know what problems they are getting into. Let those in government who this falls within their circle of influence stop this economic ambush of innocent and poor civil servants!

Ever Heard of the P/PC Balance?

2007-12-11T11:15:00.000+02:00

I am reading a book called "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey and I am fascinated by the illustrations and principles shared in this book. Today, I have learned about a principle that Covey is calling the "P/PC Balance" in defining effectiveness. To easily understand this principle, Aesop's fable of the goose and the golden egg has been used. The fable goes like this:

There was once a Countryman who possessed the most wonderful Goose you can imagine, for every day when he visited the nest, the Goose had laid a beautiful, glittering, golden egg.
The Countryman took the eggs to market and soon began to get rich. But it was not long before he grew impatient with the Goose because she gave him only a single golden egg a day. He was not getting rich fast enough.

Then one day, after he had finished counting his money, the idea came to him that he could get all the golden eggs at once by killing the Goose and cutting it open. But when the deed was done, not a single golden egg did he find, and his precious Goose was dead.

True effectiveness is a function of two things: the product (the golden egg) and the producing asset or capacity to produce (the goose). If your lifestyle focuses on golden eggs and neglects the goose, soon you will be without the asset that produced golden eggs. On the other hand, if you only take care of the goose and disregard the golden eggs, you will soon have nothing to feed yourself or the golden egg producing goose!

Efectiveness lies in the balance - the P/PC Balance, where P stands for production of desired results (the golden eggs) and PC stands for production capability (the ability or asset that produces the golden eggs).

Think about this principle in regard to the three types of assets there are, that is physical, financial and human.

I have often seen in our society how minibus owners overuse their asset at the expense of maintaining it for the love of the immediate money it brings in daily. And what happens when it breaks down? The money needed to repair it is much more than there is to get it back on the road! It has been said that you never can break a law, but you break yourself against the law. And yes indeed, I have been a victim of this imbalance - I bought a dead goose whose previous owner was only interested in the golden eggs it produced, neglecting the goose itself! "Keeping P and PC in balance makes a tremendous difference in the effective use of physical assests".

Don't Quit (Poem)

2007-12-06T16:21:00.000+02:00

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

Author: Unkown