We have decided that we will hold the Northern Divisional Primary School District Select Finals in three weeks as planned. The news is that the districts are ready and well organised. The stadium is booked for a change. The transport is organised on paper. The food and accommodation is arranged. The only question is will the money be there on time? Francis from MultiChoice is coming to Mzuzu soon with his trophies, balls and kits. The DEM cuts our budget for the finals so we need to cut costs and fast. I’m angry and tell him. He tells me ‘I’m a problem’. Thanks for appreciating all my efforts and success I’ve brought to the North over the past two years. Mr Kandikhole from MASSA rings to tell me they have cancelled the National Secondary Divisional Select competition. So all our efforts are now focused on our Primary Finals next weekend. We are the only Division to hold such an event and are proud of it. MASSA’s big three are coming to our finals. MultiChoice will also be there. Let’s hope we don’t have any misunderstandings. The good news is that the lorry has left for Chitipa tonight. By 9 pm the next evening all teams are here except Chitipa. Their lorry got bogged in mud only 50 kilometres out of Chitipa. We have to reorganise things just with seven teams but we do it. The scene was great. MultiChoice banners are all over. It was a good day. In the final tomorrow Nkhata Bay will play Mzimba North in the football. Mzuzu will play Mzimba North in the netball. JCB Munthali, the man who will step into my shoes after I leave helped me so much and was always the voice of calm and reason. My referees PCB Mkandawire, Mr Ngosi and Mr Chalenga all did a brilliant job. The final will be refereed by Mr Ngosi from Nkhata Bay even though Nkhata Bay was in the final. I remember running away as the Mzimba North teachers surrounded me and questioned why he was my choice of referee.

The under fifteen age rule was not really talked about but it seemed to me to have been widely ignored. Francis was getting annoyed with the MASSA Big Three. Mr Saidi was not happy as they didn’t have a vehicle or endless supply of cold drinks. The Mzuzu boy’s football team were all overage and lacked discipline under the charge of Mr Misuku from the stadium. I was so happy when they lost 3-2 to Nkhata Bay in the semi-finals. I went behind the tent and punched the air. Finals day was great. The only problem was when I made the decision to let Mr Ngosi from Nkhata Bay referee the football final. He is the best choice and did a great job as Mzimba North won 2-0. Mzuzu won the netball. The awards ceremony at the stadium was great and a very colourful affair. Huge trophies and kits donated by MultiChoice were given to the winners. Certificates I had designed and printed were given to the four best footballers and netballers. We also selected our Divisional Squads ready for training if needed. Unfortunately nationally MASSA was unable to hold the national primary finals through lack of sponsorship they said. I was even more proud of my efforts. JCB Munthali was the master of ceremonies as I just sat back and enjoyed it all proudly. There were no arguments with MASSA’s Big Three. Francis loved it and was well impressed with our organisation. MultiChoice had finally got to sponsor a school sports competition in the north.

The next morning the teams all left with all the usual problems of late transport and complaints over allowances even though we gave them exactly what we said we would. I’ve done so much to raise the profile of school sports but I can’t control the financial situation here and I believe it will in the end destroy what I have achieved. I was pretty depressed today after the highs of yesterday. A few days later I was in Lilongwe and I visit the MASSA office. Kalombo is out but Kandikole is in and we talk about our replacements. He says to me ‘if it all fails then so be it’. No hope with people like this in charge’. Then again that is the outlook the majority of people unfortunately have in Malawi. Life is about a day to day survival. Any planning for the future is a bonus. We had come to the end of a long year that I had totally dedicated to the development of school sports. Now with my work done I wanted to travel a bit through Mozambique and have time to clear my mind and try and think about the future. My mind was so full of Northern Malawi that I found it hard to do that.