The Chienda - Honde Axis

Nkhoma was not a strange place for Yeremiah and Elizabeth, having lived there before. It was for the children, though. It turned out to be quite different from Lilongwe, cast in a semi-rural setting. It was like Kongwe, multiplied roughly five times.

The transfer to Nkhoma afforded Yeremiah the opportunity to renew his association with an old school mate, who had married a lady from Chikhutu, Josephat Honde. That time, Honde was Principal of William Murray Teachers' Training College.

The two families quickly clicked. The two Chienda boys and the four Honde boys literally did everything together. Mr Honde used to own a white Peugeot 404 saloon, and the Honde boys would tease their Chienda counterparts, saying while the Peougeot could run like a lion (it had the emblem of a lion on its body), the Anglia could only manage the speed of a chicken.

In 1969, Rev Chienda sold his Ford Anglia (nothing to do with its apparent inability to run like a lion) to Rev Kasusu, who was then at Malingunde CCAP. He (Rev Chienda) acquired a Ford Cortina to replace the Anglia. One day, as he was driving along one of the streets of Nkhoma, with his two boys and two or three Honde boys on board, he saw a vehicle parked ahead of him but could not immediately recognise it. Coming cloer, he realised that it was Rev Kasusu, and he said on top of his voice, "Ha, chi Kasusu, Demeti! (It is you, Kasusu, damn it!) The two gentlemen were always in a jovial mood when they met, and this was meant to be a very cordial greeting.

Mr Honde later left for Blantyre to study for his bachelor's degree at Chancellor College (before the college moved to Zomba). After graduating, he proceeded to become the first Malawian Principal of the newly inuagurated Government Teacher's Training College in Lilongwe (Area 25).

One day, as my brother and I were playing outside the home, my father, sitting on the steps that led to the kitchen, called us and said, "It is with sadness and sorrow that I have to tell yo that Mr Honde is dead. He died in a car accident as he was driving George (his son) to school. But George himself appears to be okay." It was the first time I heard of the death of a person I had known so well, and we were all devastated. My parents attended the funeral at Mzumazi village, near Dzenza Mission.

Later, my father identified an opening for Mrs Honde at the Nurses Home, Nkhoma, where she became Warden. Mrs Honde had earlier trained in domestic work at Madisi, and this job fitted her like a glove.

Following the death and burial of Rev Chienda, one of the Honde brothers, Maxwell, expressed his sentiments in a text sent to me, which read as follows: "In 1975, Reverend Chienda exercised his selfless spirit of compassion and kindness to the family of an old former colleague, late Mr Josephat Honde. Mr Honde had served as Principal at the William Murray Teachers' Training College of the Nkhoma Synod, up to 1969 when he proceeded to University of Malawi (Chancellor College) for this Bachelors degree. In November, 1974, Mr Honde (42) died in a tragic car accident, just a month after he had been appointed first Malawian Principal of the Lilongwe Teachers Training College. He was survived by a wife and eight children aged between 18 years and 2 months old. Sadly, Mrs Honde was a housewife and so the family was forced to go and live at their village. This worried Rev Chienda deeply and he intervened by persuading the Nkhoma Synod to give Mrs Honde employment at any of the institutions at Nkhoma so that the family's livelihodd would be restored. The Hondes returned to Nkhoma in Februray 1976, where Mrs Honde worked at the Nurses' Home as Warden until November 1996.

Without Rev Chienda and the leadership of Nkhoma Synod, our family would have disintegrated and been swallowed in hopelesness and destituteness. I have seen the grace of God, the love of Jesus and the communion of the Holy Spirit working in real life through Rev Chienda. He shall remain my inspiration and mentor in the ministry of Jesus. I remember him for his humility and great sense of humour and I will always sing Hymn 30 Ife Timakufunani in his memory... till we meet again."