Demo Updates

Updates on the Demonstrations

Area 47 was eerily quiet this morning- no people, no minibuses, no bicycle taxis. Almost everyone was staying indoors, crowding around the radio to wait for news of the demonstrations.

The broadcasts weren’t encouraging.

“The police are arresting and stripping anyone wearing red!” a reporter shouted.

“They are tear gassing the demonstrators! I just saw a journalist badly beaten and taken to the hospital!”

It was frustrating, knowing that important things were going on nearby, while we sat inside a silent compound. When one of the Malawians we are staying with, James, hopped on his bike to go to town, Erin (another individual volunteer) and I decided to venture out. On the way there, the streets were almost completely deserted. There were a few pedestrians and a couple of police cars driving around, but other than that, the city seemed quiet.

It wasn’t till we got closer to town that we saw black smoke billowing from the skyline. About that time, we got a text from a friend, who had gone into town earlier.

“Been to downtown, its bad, even shooting. Burning vehicles, police homes.”

We decided to stop at the lodge where the group was staying, and found Daniel there. He said he had watched the demonstrators battling the police with stones, and that his friends had seen a man get shot in the head.

From friends’ accounts and radio broadcasts, rioting continued in the afternoon. The police tried to disperse the crowds with tear gas.