MultiChoice Malawi engages journalists in ‘Amazing Race’

Journalism from some of the media houses in the country on Friday flexed their muscles and battled it out during an 'Amazing Race' competition held in Machinga as part of celebrating the Africa Day which falls Monday.

Africa Day is the annual commemoration on May 25 of the 1963 founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). On this day, leaders of 30 of the 32 independent African states signed a founding charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

To celebrate the day which is observed as a public holiday in only five African countries including Zambia and Zimbabwe, several activities take place.

The race which saw the journalists engage in different activities in the village including drawing water from the borehole and filling up drums to the brim, preparing and cooking vegetable (nkhwani wotendera) and shelling maize was organised by MultiChoice Malawi as part of the Africa Day celebrations.

The Amazing race is a reality television game show in which teams of two people, who have some form of a preexisting personal relationship, race around the world in competition with other teams.

Contestants strive to arrive first at "Pit Stops" at the end of each leg of the race to win prizes and to avoid coming in last.

However, this was not an amazing race for journalists across the world but it was rather a 'special amazing race,' where local journalists also raced and engaged in different activities upon being given clues and were also answering questions before going to the next level.

The journalists were paired in teams of five to six members and having been briefed by a traditional leader in the area, they were put in teams using colours of yellow, green, blue and red.

One group had to get to the destination first to be winners and at the end of it all team green were crowned winners.

MultiChoice Malawi Sales and Marketing Manager Chimwemwe Nyirenda said being Africa Day, they thought of engaging journalists as they are the ones that disseminate information to the society.

"We just wanted to bring the journalists together for them to experience life in the village being Africa Day. You may also wish to know that MultiChoice is a company born in Africa and so it always strives to uplift Africa through broadcasting of different programmes," said Nyirenda.

Several journalists interviewed after participating in the game hailed MultiChoice for giving them a treat of a village life they experienced long-time ago.

The journalists said this was also a fine treat ahead of the Africa Day celebration today and many said as "Malawians we need to love our country and unite to develop it."

As part of celebrating Africa, Nyirenda said this month, everyday is Africa Day on DStv which is part of celebrating the dynamic and beautiful continent with an exciting array of local talent.

He among others said Africa Magic channels will continue to deliver original, home-grown content in entertainment, lifestyle, drama series, reality television and film.