Passing by Chichiri campsite was never an easy thing to do. “They
hit people there” kids would say. I had a very bad picture of soldiers as a kid. In
secondary school I heard similar stories concerning soldiers from Monkey-bay. So every time I saw a soldier, I looked the
other way, pretending not to see them while trying so hard to avoid eye
contact. If not for the fear of appearing suspicious I probably would have been
running the opposite direction every time I saw one. After all who wants to get
slapped around for merely being a civilian.
When I was in college I got the chance to know soldiers. one
of my best friends came from a military background. I remember the first time I
met one. Tall, dark, well soldier-like. when he spoke I was shocked. He spoke
like any other person. Slowly I got immersed into the world of soldiers to the
point that I wanted to be one too. By the time I was leaving college I had a
very different picture of soldiers. They are people too, they pray, laugh, eat,
love, cry. just like the rest of the world.
When I was in standard four, I knew this other police
officer. His name was Mr Banda. Before him, police officers were something to
scare me by. “if you cause trouble, police will arrest you.” But Mr Banda
talked, he laughed, he said hello. How could such a person arrest a kid. I never
asked these questions out loud though. Since them I grew up with the mentality
that police officers were my friends. I would tell my friends, “I can talk to a
police officer” it was something admirable in my head. It still is.
However, college distorted my image of the police. Suddenly they
became something you run from. Even when there were no demonstrations, if I saw
a police officer I would quickly scan my head for all the possible crimes I may
have committed. After college, I got a chance to spend time with police
officers. Every two weeks, I would work with a different group of them. And guess what? They joke too. They pray. They
can have babies. They fall in love.
I have friends in the Military, I have friends in the Police
Service. They think, they feel, they love, they get angry. Today, some of my
friends will be going for training to join our friends in the Malawi Police
Service. I wish them all luck. Yes, some people will look at you differently
after this. But I know, the only difference between you and me is the uniform
you have to wear and of course the six months of running. I will proudly
say, I have friends who are police officers. Just as I proudly say, I have
friends who are soldiers.
