David Livingstone Bicentenary
I am sure that members will wish to join me in welcoming to the gallery the special envoy for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Scotland branch, Annie Lennox OBE. [Applause.]
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-05547, in the name of James Kelly, on celebrations of the bicentenary of Dr David Livingstone’s birth. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament commemorates the life and legacy of Dr David Livingstone, considered Blantyre’s most famous son and Scotland’s greatest explorer and missionary; understands that, at the age of 10, Dr Livingstone began working in the Blantyre Cotton Mill as a piecer and, despite working a 14-hour day, he persevered with his studies and, after qualifying as a doctor, became a missionary and explorer in Africa, where he played a key role in ending slavery, especially in Malawi, which continues to have strong links to Scotland; applauds Dr Livingstone’s contributions in Africa generally and Malawi specifically and considers that, during his 30 years in Africa, he contributed enormously in the fields of education, healthcare, trade and commerce; notes that the bicentenary celebrations in Blantyre are being supported by funding from the National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Government, South Lanarkshire Council and the Scotland–Malawi Partnership, which promotes links between the two countries; believes that the 200th anniversary of Dr Livingstone will give people the opportunity to learn of the explorer’s early home life in Blantyre and encourage further interest in his achievements and explorations; considers that Scotland enjoys important links with Malawi and reaffirms its commitment to the cooperation agreement between the countries that was signed in 2005 by Lord McConnell and President Mutharika, which pledges engagement on “civic governance and society, sustainable economic development, health and education”, and looks forward to what it hopes will be a series of successful events in honour of a man whom it believes to be one of Scotland’s greatest figures and whose legacy continues to have a positive impact on the people of Malawi.
17:07
It gives me great pleasure, as the MSP for the Blantyre area—the birthplace of David Livingstone—to open this evening’s debate.
I thank all the members from across the chamber who signed the motion commemorating the bicentenary of David Livingstone’s birth. In particular, I thank Jim Hume, who was a core supporter of the motion and is a descendant of David Livingstone. I am sure that he will give us some unique reflections on the Livingstone family.
I welcome members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and—to reiterate the Deputy Presiding Officer’s welcome—special envoy Annie Lennox, who has been a terrific ambassador for the CPA on issues relating to Africa. I also welcome to the gallery representatives from Blantyre, particularly the young children from St Blane’s primary school in Blantyre, which has a special place in the Livingstone story.
The debate is the culmination of a number of successful events over the past fortnight, including the special service at Blantyre Livingstone memorial church last Sunday, which was attended by President Joyce Banda and the First Minister.
It is poignant that President Banda returned to Blantyre and the location of the Blantyre mill where David Livingstone grew up, because that is where the Livingstone story began—and what a story it is. Although he worked 14 hours a day in the mill and walked many miles during the course of the day, such were his family’s dedication to giving him a good education and his own perseverance that he would return home at night and, in poorly lit conditions, read until midnight. That gave him the platform to go to the University of Glasgow. Every Monday, he used to walk the 8 miles from Blantyre to the university, from where he qualified as a doctor with the skills that were relevant to the time that he spent in Africa.
There are three main factors in David Livingstone’s life that stick out for me. First and foremost, he was an explorer who undertook three trips through Africa over a 30-year period; he was a powerful missionary for the Christian faith in Africa; and he was a very strong anti-slavery campaigner. The point to bear in mind about those three aspects is that they were difficult activities to undertake 200 years ago. The infrastructure and travelling conditions in Africa at that time were very different from those in Africa today. Travellers were very exposed to disease. The Christian faith was not as widespread as it is today and the culture was not conducive to an anti-slavery campaigner such as David Livingstone getting their message across. The perseverance, grit and determination of the man is shown by what he did, and the hard-working ethics that he learned in the mills of Blantyre served him well throughout his life and his travels in Africa.
It is worth paying tribute to Mary Moffat, David Livingstone’s wife, and recognising the important role that she played in supporting her husband in his work in Africa. Much of the Mary Moffat story has been untold for many years, but some of it has been uncovered by Julie Davidson in a very interesting book that recently came out. If we consider the loyalty of Mary Moffat and what she gave up to follow and support her husband—her personal sacrifice in losing a young child and eventually dying before David Livingstone through acute malaria—we can see the sort of person that she was.
The question that we need to ask today is what David Livingstone’s legacy is in 2013. Four aspects come to mind, one of which is the fair-trade mission, which is so relevant for us because of the recent launch of Scotland as a Fairtrade nation. I see David Livingstone very much as Scotland’s first fair-trade campaigner, because he took that message to Africa. He really wanted to bring those communities forward, not only to give them something to live for but to give them something sustainable that could take their lives forward and improve their quality of life.
Secondly, we can see the strong links between Scotland and Malawi, which were established by the previous Scottish Executive and have been carried forward by the current Scottish Government in the Scottish Malawi Foundation. The work on that and the co-operation between the two countries benefit both greatly.
Thirdly, in Blantyre, David Livingstone’s birthplace, the Livingstone memory and legacy are still very much alive, particularly at the David Livingstone centre, which is located where he worked in a mill all those years ago. I know that the Blantyre community is a strong, loyal and very cohesive one in which people pull together strongly, not just in support of Livingstone’s memory and legacy but in support of all the individuals and groups there.
The fourth aspect is the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Sarah Boyack and Alex Fergusson recently undertook a visit to Malawi, and there was a reciprocal visit here by MPs from Malawi. It was great to welcome them to Blantyre last Sunday and to talk about common parliamentary traditions. I think that each Parliament can learn a lot from the other. There are a lot of good lessons and good practice that can help the Parliaments and the communities in our two countries on issues such as poverty, human rights and AIDS awareness, which the CPA and its envoys are very effective in championing.
This bicentenary has given us a great opportunity to reflect on and celebrate David Livingstone’s rich life. However, it also gives us an even greater opportunity to look to the future and build links between Scotland and Malawi, and to celebrate Livingstone’s legacy and make it relevant in today’s Scotland so that it can continue to serve us well both here in Scotland and abroad in Malawi.
The debate is heavily subscribed. We will have speeches of four minutes. Jim Hume has indicated that, unfortunately, he must leave early, so I will call him first.
17:15
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I apologise, as I have to leave early to convene a cross-party group. I congratulate James Kelly and thank him for allowing me to support his motion before it was officially lodged.
This feels a little like groundhog day, given that it is just two weeks since we had a members’ business debate on David Livingstone. I will not bore members too much with my Livingstone bloodline—of course, I am happy for others to do so. However, it is worth using this debate to consider what maketh the man. What drove Livingstone to go where no European had been, find the source of the Nile, spread Christianity and be a shining light in the fight to end slavery?
We often ask whether we are products of genetics or our environment. I think that Livingstone was heavily influenced by his family roots, by his environs and by external circumstances. In his autobiography, he talks of his fascination with his grandfather’s stories—that is my five-greats grandfather, I think. His grandfather was originally from the island of Ulva, where he tended a small farm, but he had a large family and needed to seek employment elsewhere—hence the move to Blantyre.
Livingstone’s grandfather was keen that David should not forget his islander values and would delight the boy with stories of old. David’s great-grandfather had fallen at Culloden, supporting the old line of kings, as he called it. His grandfather could tell stories that went back six generations, passing on the wisdom of his ancestors. Later, David recalled that stories that he heard in African communities were “wonderfully like” his grandfather’s stories, which shows that our world is small and our values similar.
According to David, one of his ancestors had said to his family:
“I have searched most carefully through all the traditions I could find of our family, and I never could discover that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers. If, therefore, any of you or any of your children should take to dishonest ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood ... Be honest.”
I think that that family value ran true in David’s blood and was the life force that gave him the strength to tackle what we know was wrong but was the norm at the time: slavery. The honesty gene also helped David’s father Neil when he worked in the mills. He was so highly esteemed and trusted that he was put in charge of conveying large sums of money from Glasgow to Blantyre. Honesty was recognised and led to trust, and at an old age Neil was pensioned by the mill, spending his last years in ease and comfort.
David was steeped in the Livingstone family values and, as well as being honest, he had a work ethic that would put us all to shame. He attributed his ability to completely abstract himself from surrounding noises and therefore study in any circumstances to his time working as a piecer in a noisy mill. No one would have criticised the young Livingstone for putting his feet up after a hard day at the mill, but he needed a challenge and a purpose. That led him to study Greek, medicine and divinity. He joined the London Missionary Society, which he described as “unsectarian”.
David did not originally intend to take his missionary work to dark Africa. His focus had been on China, but the opium wars put an end to anyone from Britain travelling there, as the empire closed. I wonder whether Livingstone would be celebrated today if he had gone to China. We do not know. It is doubtful, as Christianity has not taken off too well there so far. Because he could not travel to China, he turned his attention to Africa, and of course the rest is history.
Livingstone was a product of his family and their values, and of his environs. There is no doubt of that. External circumstances, such as the Chinese opium wars, also played a part in his story. Two hundred years after his birth he remains a role model for us all, due to his hard work, honesty and belief in what is right and what is wrong.
17:19
I congratulate James Kelly on securing the debate.
As Jim Hume said, it is around two weeks since we last debated David Livingstone’s bicentenary, in a members’ business debate on a motion that I had lodged. At that time, I said that this month was likely to be “Malawi March”, and it is certainly turning out to be that way, but that is no bad thing. The highlight may yet be tonight’s debate, of course, but so far it has been the address by the President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, to the Parliament last week. A number of things struck me about that, and I took a number of messages from it. One was that Malawi is open for visitors and tourism and for business. There was a strong message that Malawi wishes to forge even deeper social and economic links with Scotland. That process was started many years ago and formalised in 2005 by the First Minister at the time, Jack McConnell. From 2005, £3 million a year was spent on international development in connection with Malawi and the figure has been £4.5 million since 2010. I am sure that we as a Parliament agree that, in our commitment to Malawi and in the bilateral connection that we have made with Malawi, the Parliament and the Government are in it for the long haul.
I am interested in Bob Doris’s points about expanding the tourism market and business opportunities. Does he agree that flight availability, particularly from hub airports, is critical to that? Diverting through Nairobi and Johannesburg has to be a disincentive to trying to progress that objective, which I think we all share.
I completely agree with that comment. We have to look at practical ways of taking that matter forward. That is a point well made.
My time is limited, and I want to draw on some of the things in David Livingstone’s legacy that have resonated with me.
First, as people have said, not enough has been made of Mary Moffat’s legacy. She was the first white woman to cross the Kalahari desert, and she did so while she was pregnant. That is no mean feat in itself. There is the active role that she played herself, not just the support that she offered to David Livingstone. She is an inspiration to many women. Often in history, the roles of great men overshadow the significant contributions of remarkable women. As has been said, we have to tease out Mary Moffat’s role to women today. There are some sacrifices that they should simply not have to make as they go forward in life. I think that many of the young girls from St Blane’s primary school who are here will take that on board. It is not an either/or question when somebody is committing to a relationship or ploughing their way in the world. People should be able to do both.
We can take the fact that David Livingstone came from a humble background and went to university as a strong theme. We all think that Scotland’s steadfast commitment to free education for all is vital. The Scottish Government’s commitment to spend £100,000 to put 50 gifted but underprivileged Malawians through masters degrees is, of course, part of the legacy.
I wanted to say so much, but I will be brief. When the bicentenary fades from public attention, we have to ensure that the moneys that are invested in the David Livingstone centre in Blantyre go beyond the current commitment to 2014, and that we have a strong action plan to have the centre as a hub for David Livingstone and associated activities. It should not just be for celebrating the bicentenary; it should be fit for the next 200 years, as I said a couple of weeks ago.
I thank James Kelly for bringing the bicentenary to our attention.
17:24
I, too, congratulate James Kelly. It is appropriate that the debate has been led by the member whose constituency Blantyre is in.
Over the past two weeks, we have witnessed the celebration of Dr David Livingstone’s bicentenary in Scotland. President Joyce Banda addressed members of the Scottish Parliament and told us about the improvements that she is trying to put in place in her country. She explained the difficult economic situation that her country faces and her determination to improve the lives of the citizens of Malawi, and she talked about the partnership agreement between our two countries, and the benefits that it had brought to Malawi. She also spoke of our shared legacy from David Livingstone and the esteem in which his memory is held in Malawi. Testament to that legacy is that an estimated 85,000 Scots have some involvement in a project that is connected to Malawi.
This is the second time that we have debated David Livingstone in two weeks, but a bicentenary is surely worthy of two debates. My contribution in the previous debate focused on the man and his motivation and, although I do not plan to reprise that speech this evening, I want to return to its central theme.
David Livingstone most likely died of a cocktail of tropical diseases: malaria, bilharzia and dysentery, to name but a few of those that he is thought to have endured. His wife, Mary, died of malaria and many of the European missionaries and traders who followed in Livingstone’s footsteps also died, often at a very young age, of the same diseases. That was a tragedy, and a visitor to Malawi will inevitably be taken to graveyards in which names of entire families are inscribed on the gravestones. I can testify that that experience is very moving, but the real tragedy, which should motivate all of us, is that many of those diseases still exist and still kill in Africa to this day.
To that list we must now add HIV/AIDS. Of course, HIV/AIDS is not confined to Africa, but parts of that continent have been ravaged by the virus. In recent years, some of the work of non-governmental organisations funded by the Scottish Government has been directed at tackling HIV/AIDS, as has some of the work of our CPA branch’s special envoy, Annie Lennox. As we will hear later at the reception that will follow the debate, the work of Annie Lennox and her aptly named sing campaign has been undertaken with her unique blend of determination and sensitivity. The sing campaign has identified a number of important aims, including raising awareness of HIV/AIDS, the treatment and care of children with the virus, and empowering women to make decisions about their lives and communities.
David Livingstone was a man of many parts: missionary, explorer, cartographer, doctor and, of course, a fierce campaigner against slavery, which he described as a “sore upon the world”. His determination was legendary, even in his lifetime, and I believe that his pioneering work on identifying the sources of disease and finding cures is one of his most important legacies. He would have been proud of the work done by all those who work in Africa and Malawi but would perhaps have been shocked that, 140 years after his death, we still have so many of the diseases with which he was familiar and that HIV/AIDS has reaped such havoc in Africa. For me, the most inspiring message from Annie Lennox’s sing campaign is that it works towards a global commitment to an AIDS-free generation—a message that David Livingstone would surely have endorsed.
17:28
I thank James Kelly for bringing this important debate to Parliament and for providing an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate David Livingstone’s life and work. I am speaking in the debate as a member of the CPA Scotland branch executive committee, and I would like to touch on Livingstone’s early life, his missionary work, his work as a doctor, some of his connections with Africa and some personal connections. I understand that Sandra White is not going to speak today, in order to cut down the number of speeches.
As James Kelly said, the David Livingstone story is truly inspirational. He was born in March 1813 in a single-apartment home in a tenement building called Shuttle Row in Blantyre, which was built to house the workers of the cotton-spinning mill on the banks of the River Clyde. He left school at the age of 10 and was taught to read and write by his father. As other children in the village did, he worked in the mills from very early in the morning until 8 at night. His day did not end there: he attended night school and studied far into the night.
He taught himself Latin and developed a love of natural history. At the age of 19, he was promoted and with his increased wage had saved enough money by 1836 to enter Anderson’s University in Glasgow to study medicine. David Livingstone is clearly an example of some of the best Scottish traits: the work ethic, the thirst for knowledge and the recognition of the importance of education. In 1840, he moved to London to complete his medical studies and, at the end of the year, he qualified as a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. In the same month, he was ordained as a missionary by the London Missionary Society.
From 1841 until his death in 1873, Livingstone explored the interior of central and southern Africa. He was one of the first medical missionaries to enter southern Africa and the first in central Africa. He was also often the first European to meet local tribes. He won their trust as a healer and medicine man, and he gained such a reputation among the villages that he visited that he eventually had to limit his treatment to people with serious illnesses.
Much of David Livingstone’s time in Africa was spent in what we now know as Malawi. I believe that he would have been immensely gratified to see that the connection that he first made is not only still present but is growing through the work of the Parliament and a number of varied initiatives including the efforts of churches and schools throughout Scotland.
I well remember Sunday school visits as a child to the David Livingstone centre in Blantyre, where—as I remember it—the sun was always shining. I thought that it was a very special place to honour a truly remarkable Scot. As an adult and MSP, like other MSPs I was involved in the happily successful campaign, on behalf of the central Scotland community, to save the centre from closure in 2009.
Given all that, it was a particular privilege to represent the CPA Scotland branch in the company of Malawian MPs when we attended the David Livingstone bicentennial commemorative service last week at Westminster abbey, where Livingstone’s body is buried. His heart remains in Africa, of course, where he also left his mark. To this day, missions are set up using his 19th century model, with a church, a school and a hospital.
Tonight’s event will see Annie Lennox, our special envoy, give a presentation. I am delighted that she is accompanied by her new husband, Mitch Besser, as I know that Malawi is special to both of them.
17:32
As a famous United States senator said some years back,
“just because everything has been said doesn’t mean everybody’s said it.”
I bow to the superior knowledge of James Kelly, Bob Doris and the many others who have opined sensibly on the history of Livingstone and what he means for today. I want to make a couple of remarks on James Kelly’s latter point about lessons for today.
However, first, with my Commonwealth Parliamentary Association branch hat on, I thank my colleagues for the role that the CPA has played in the partnerships, internships and MP visits, as well as for sending Sarah Boyack and Alex Fergusson to Malawi. We found out in a meeting earlier that that was an extremely useful visit on which they brought to bear their considerable knowledge of Parliament. To impart that knowledge to colleagues in another country is sometimes the most useful work that we can do.
I also congratulate Patricia Ferguson—this has nothing to do with the debate—on being elected to a national body in the CPA. The British Isles and Mediterranean region elections have just taken place, and her election is a notable achievement for the CPA Scotland branch in the context of the debate around the Commonwealth.
I have two points to make in respect of Livingstone and his legacy. First, when the President of Malawi delivered a speech here in the chamber just a couple of weeks ago, she mentioned business investment. Maureen Watt and Jamie McGrigor made two very sensible suggestions about what we could do in our role as parliamentarians and what the Government could do, too. The first suggestion was on oil and gas. Maureen Watt rightly pointed out that our history, involvement and experience in dealing with American multinationals—multinationals that have the ability to make a difference not only to Aberdeen, but to my part of the world—would be of relevance and use to that part of Africa.
The second was Jamie McGrigor’s suggestion about the old Highlands and Islands Development Board model, which represented a notable change in public policy back in the 1960s and achieved practical things on farming and agriculture. Given what I have learned from listening to the special envoy, Alex Fergusson and Sarah Boyack in our meeting, that seems to be a beneficial model.
Sandra White ended that meeting by observing that our best investment in the future of Malawi would be to make that investment long-term and sustainable. If that is the lesson that James Kelly rightly drew from his earlier remarks, and if it is the long-term theme that the minister and—because I hope that this will be an enduring theme—those who come after the minister in Governments of whatever persuasion will have, it is well worth having not one, but two members’ debates on it. No doubt there will be more to come.
A number of members wish still to speak in the debate. Therefore, I am minded to accept a motion without notice, under rule 8.14.3, to extend members’ business by up to 30 minutes.
Motion moved,
That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended by up to 30 minutes.—[James Kelly.]
Motion agreed to.
17:36
I thank James Kelly for creating the opportunity to have the debate.
It is appropriate that I acknowledge the achievements of Jack McConnell. He will be remembered on two fronts over the long term. First, he will be remembered for the anti-smoking legislation for which as an asthmatic I am grateful, and secondly—and fundamentally—he will be remembered for creating the formal links with Malawi. Tavish Scott was correct to talk about that as something for the long run that will endure the vicissitudes that inevitably accompany political elections. When I was a minister, I was delighted to play a small part—as many others have—in developing the relationship with Malawi.
James Kelly’s motion is well crafted and comprehensive and it contains a number of important points that I want to address. Fundamental are David Livingstone’s part in the anti-slavery movement, his contribution to bringing modern medicine to Africa and his focus on education and trade. Those were all key parts of his life in Africa.
Of course, David Livingstone’s life in Scotland illustrates that he was genuinely a man of the people. He was not privileged, he moved from being a worker to being a professional and, in gaining his qualifications, he had a much harder road to travel than those of us in the modern era who went to university largely funded by the state, and certainly not with competing interests or holding a day job while we undertook serious intellectual study. He must have been a fine intellect indeed, as well as a hard worker. Of course, he benefited from the broad base that was provided by the Scottish education system.
The monument to David Livingstone in Malawi is inscribed “Christianity, Commerce and Civilisation.” In some ways, that misses the point. In Victorian times, we probably failed to recognise adequately that civilisation existed before the white man came along; rather, it was a different civilisation, and one from which we should learn in the modern era.
David Livingstone saw commerce as being a key part of displacing the slave trade and he believed that finding a new commerce was the way to get the slave trade under control. His efforts were recognised through his appointment as the United Kingdom consul for East Africa.
I thought that James Kelly might want to pair up with Malawi’s Blantyre MPs, so I had a look to see who they were. I found out that they are Felix Njawala and Jeffrey Ntelemuka. Interestingly, one of them has just crossed the floor, and the rules of Parliament there mean that a member who does that is automatically ejected from the Parliament because it is necessary for members there to stay with the party of which they were a member when they were elected. That is probably not a system that we would copy, but it is interesting for all that.
Blantyre in Malawi is a memorial to David Livingstone: it has a population of three quarters of a million people and is home to the Malawi Stock Exchange, the college of medicine, the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and the Malawi Supreme Court.
I conclude by putting Livingstone in an international context. When Henry Morton Stanley said, “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”, he was, of course, representing The New York Times. The interest in Livingstone was no parochial interest; he was an internationalist who attracted international attention.
17:40
I add my congratulations to James Kelly on securing the debate.
It was an immense privilege to be in Malawi last week—along with Alex Fergusson and Fergus Cochrane, one of the Parliament’s senior clerks—as part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association delegation. It was an incredibly busy five days. Alex and I blogged on our visit: I did a daily blog and Alex provided a fantastic blog at the end of the week, in which he summed up his thoughts.
As someone who has now visited Malawi twice, it was clear to me from my second visit that Malawi continues to face huge challenges on health issues, especially—as colleagues have mentioned—on HIV and AIDS and maternal health. Although I feel that the projects that we visited are making a positive contribution, we need to see long-term, sustainable health projects. Access to education—particularly access to secondary school education for young girls—remains vital for the future of Malawi. The third issue that Malawi faces is the economic challenge, which includes the cost of food and the problem of inflation. Those issues are affecting Malawians on a daily basis. We could sense the real challenge that ordinary Malawians are experiencing.
There is much that we can be proud of. The 2005 agreement, to which James Kelly’s motion refers, should be our starting point. We have a fantastic historical relationship with Malawi, but I report to members that the people of Malawi and its Parliament regard that 2005 co-operation agreement as a living document that is incredibly important to their country. It is highly valued.
Last week, we saw fantastic local projects in action. Earlier today, at the meeting with Annie Lennox, Patricia Ferguson commented on the fact that 80,000 Scots have a direct link with Malawi. In a country of 5 million, that represents an immense resource. Our challenge is to develop the strategy and a sustainable long-term relationship.
On our visit, we looked at local projects. Practical links have been established with our twins in the Malawi Parliament—10 MSPs are twinned with 10 members of the National Assembly of Malawi. We delivered a workshop on financial scrutiny and audit, and we took part in the women’s caucus seminar, which focused on empowering women. A huge exchange of knowledge and expertise is going on, and making that a long-term relationship is the key for us in Scotland.
I was privileged to visit the constituency of my parliamentary twin, Christina Chiwoko. We visited the joyful mothers project, which is a local project that looks after young babies who lost their mothers during childbirth. I think that that was one of the most moving experiences that I will ever have. I spoke to the chief of a village with six families in it. He had a new granddaughter. It should have been a fantastic celebration, but two days previously his daughter-in-law had died in the process of giving birth.
As well as hearing about that family’s tragic experience and the village coming together to support the young baby, we heard about the village not being able to make the most of its agricultural produce. When the weather is good in Malawi, the people produce fantastic fruit and vegetables—but they cannot sell them to anyone. Those rural villages do not have the agricultural co-operatives that our farming communities have, and that is a real issue.
In fact, my second visit highlighted to me those kinds of agricultural and economic development issues, especially in relation to smallholder farmers. Both the Government and the Parliament need to think about how we address such issues in our work with Malawi; after all, as with health and education, we have a huge amount of expertise in this area. The fair trade movement provides a massive stimulus, but I have to wonder what more we can do to support smallholders, many of whom are rural women farmers.
As part of our technical assistance programme, we gave a seminar on financial accountability and scrutiny in the Scottish Parliament. On the journey there we wondered how exciting that would be, but I have to say that the questions from the Malawian MPs showed the importance of the issue to them. We take it for granted that if we want a minister to come before a committee to account for themselves and the budget they will come and be asked serious questions; in Malawi, however, those kinds of democratic structures are younger and not as strong.
I must ask you to come to a conclusion.
In that case, I will let Alex Fergusson talk about the fantastic women’s seminar.
For me, the key question that the Malawian MPs asked was how they could scrutinise our work in this Parliament, the work of non-governmental organisations and donor Governments’ investment in their country and communities. There is the Scotland Malawi Partnership; we now have the Malawi Scotland Partnership. There are two sides to this relationship and the fact is that it will be sustained only if it is a relationship of equals.
17:46
I am sorry if I disappoint Sarah Boyack and others by not talking about the women’s caucus but I probably will not have the time.
Like others, I congratulate James Kelly on securing this debate. It comes hot on the heels of Bob Doris’s debate two weeks ago; at least this evening I can say that I have signed the motion before us, unlike Bob Doris’s. However, nothing should be read into that other than woeful inconsistency on my part.
I thank the CPA, to which I will be forever grateful and to which I will report more fully on our visit in due course. Two Sundays ago, I attended Sunday worship in Bandawe mission in the Livingstonia synod of northern Malawi. It was a two-and-a-half-hour church service and I would willingly have stayed for another two and a half hours, such was the sheer exuberance and enthusiasm of the packed congregation.
Less than 10 years ago, that congregation had had to build a new church because the original brick-built church could no longer contain it and, indeed, it had recently sought permission to split into two because it was growing too fast to be contained within the current structure. I have to ask myself what our own kirk would give for such problems.
The service was effectively a thanksgiving service for the life of David Livingstone and the missionaries who followed him. That several of those missionaries are buried alongside their wives and children at Bandawe is a stark testament to and reminder of the hardships and sacrifices that they endured to do what they believed they were put on this earth to do.
Throughout the whole service, the name of David Livingstone provoked the most consistent and obvious reaction from that congregation of all ages. It is quite clear that his memory and legacy are still held in the very highest esteem, and I can only imagine that the reasons for that are the characteristics that were highlighted so well in the debate two weeks ago and again by James Kelly and other members this evening: his hatred of slavery and his determination to end it; his belief that education and commerce would provide the route to freedom; and his preaching of Christianity in a way that sought to persuade and encourage instead of his forcing his beliefs on an unwilling audience.
David Livingstone was clearly a man of great understanding and enormous sympathy who empathised with those with whom he worked to such an extent that he earned not their acquiescence but their heartfelt love. That love has passed down through the generations and is as alive today as it has been through the past two centuries since Livingstone’s birth.
At Bandawe mission, there is a nursery, a primary school, a secondary school for girls, a special school for the deaf and a medical clinic, all of which provide as good a quality of service as is possible in conditions that we would scarcely believe unless we saw them for ourselves—and I really mean that. Given the paucity of those conditions, what is delivered is truly remarkable; it is also the most incredible testament to David Livingstone’s life, beliefs and, indeed, passions and the ethos that he taught and personified.
I felt incredibly humbled to be in that location just two days before Livingstone’s 200th birthday. It was an immense privilege to be there, just as it is to relay that experience to the chamber this evening.
17:50
I congratulate my colleague James Kelly on securing tonight’s debate, particularly as it gives me another opportunity to speak about my visit to Malawi. I never tire of speaking about the subject, and I hope that I have not exhausted the patience of those who have to listen to me recount my experiences again and again and again.
In my previous speeches, I have spoken about the schools and prisons that I visited while I was in the warm heart of Africa in June. I have also expressed my admiration not only for the people whom I met in Malawi, but for those who travelled with me from Scotland, especially the pupils of Coatbridge, St Andrew’s and St Margaret’s high schools in Lanarkshire. However, when reflecting on today’s motion, I decided that I will talk about another aspect of my visit that I have not shared with many people since I returned.
As members will know, Dr Livingstone is known for his missionary work. Although he is recorded as having converted only one African to his religion during his life, we know that the success of his work went much wider. As a Catholic, I found my visit to Malawi very difficult at times. We attended numerous services while we were there, including a mass to celebrate Corpus Christi, which was a three-hour service in the heat of Africa. It was not the weather that was particularly troubling—although it makes me glad to attend my local parish in Motherwell knowing that I will not get sunburnt or get sore knees from kneeling in the gravel. No—it was the fact that I was questioning my faith so much during that journey. Why would my God not save the children from this fate? Yet, the Malawians walked for miles in their Sunday best, and stood for hours singing and dancing and rejoicing with others. That image has consoled me since I returned to Scotland and was at the forefront of my mind as I began my holy week preparations.
I am sure that I am not alone in having questioned my faith during a visit like that, and I am sure that Dr Livingstone went through some of that. However, he overcame that to better our understanding of what the people of Africa, and of Malawi in particular, want and need from us. We need only ask them and listen carefully to their answer to get a true understanding of human nature. “Friendship” was the most common answer that I got when I asked the question, “What can I do for you?”
While in Malawi, I met a beautiful young girl called Rebecca, who is severely disabled. Being disabled myself, I was asked to meet Rebecca to provide her with some words of comfort and encouragement. Never before have I felt so much out of my depth than during my encounter with that amazing young girl. We all know that in Malawi, as in Africa in general, women are viewed as being inferior to men and young girls do not have the same opportunities or access to education as their male counterparts. One can only imagine how a person like Rebecca is treated. Some disabled people are shunned by their families and communities because they cannot afford to look after them, or because they think that their disability is a result of witchcraft.
Rebecca is fortunate in that regard, as she still has her mother. Her mum walked with her daughter on her back each and every morning to ensure that her daughter got to school—a journey of 40 minutes. The mother also picked up the girl from school and returned her to the village, where she can play with her siblings. Think for a minute how difficult it must be for that mother and what sacrifices she has made to allow the simple act of her child going to school to happen.
Thankfully, Rebecca now has a wheelchair, which she pedals with her hands, that takes her to and from school and enables her to participate in her community, but what happens to others like Rebecca? Part of the answer is, of course, provided by missionaries. They are the individuals whom disabled people in Malawi and beyond rely on. That is possible only as a result of David Livingstone’s legacy, which is something in which we should all take pride.
We must all learn from David Livingstone and what he was trying to promote. It is simply not enough to leave it up to others to do the work for us. A wheelchair costs less than £100, yet a friend of Rebecca with a similar disability is still going without. She has to walk, without shoes, on the gravel road and paths to get to school. She and others like her need our help. Therefore, I ask members in the chamber and those listening in the public gallery and beyond to take up the challenge, which David Livingstone laid down for us, by doing our own piece of missionary work to better the lives of others, both at home and abroad.
17:54
Like everybody else, I thank James Kelly for bringing the motion for debate in the chamber. As a new member of the CPA, I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak on the subject.
We have heard a lot about David Livingstone’s enduring legacy, and the worldwide celebrations commemorating the 200th anniversary of the boy of Blantyre’s birth are a clear testament to the impact that he has made. Events have been held in Zambia, South Africa, Westminster abbey—which I believe the minister attended—and all over Scotland, including in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Hamilton. That is testament to the impact of the work that Dr Livingstone undertook across Africa and to the mark that he has left on Scotland. His personal legacy endures in the many memorials to him and in the places that are named in his honour across the world, including the city of Livingstone in Zambia, Livingstonia in Malawi, countless streets and schools across the world and his statue standing near the base of the Scott monument not 10 minutes’ walk from here.
I do not know whether anyone in the chamber saw it but, in the run-up to the anniversary of Dr Livingstone’s birth, there was an interesting article on the BBC website about the gentleman to whom Siobhan McMahon has just referred—the only person Livingstone managed to convert to Christianity in 30 years or so as a missionary in Africa. His name was Sechele, and he was the chief of the Bakwena tribe, which was based in what is now Botswana. Livingstone did not consider Sechele to be a full convert to Christianity, because he continued to practise polygamy after his baptism, but the article mentioned the huge influence that Sechele had as a missionary himself, after meeting Dr Livingstone. I was struck by the ripple effect at work. Livingstone affects one person, who goes on to make an impression on others and so on and so forth. We should take that as a lesson about the power that our actions can have.
That is even more remarkable because, although Livingstone’s religion was hugely important to him and it was the original reason for his being in Africa, it appears to have become almost secondary to the role that he played in helping to improve the lives of the many people who crossed his path. That help was most stark in his opposition to slavery and the slave trade, as has been mentioned.
As an explorer of Africa and the finder of the extraordinarily beautiful Victoria Falls, and as someone who was searching for the source of the Nile at the time of his death in 1873, he famously said in a letter to the New York Herald:
“And if my disclosures regarding ... slavery should lead to the suppression of the east coast-slave trade I shall regard that as a greater matter by far than the discovery of all the Nile sources together.”
Those who know me well know that I am not a particularly religious man. As was personified by Dr Livingstone and the many who have followed in his footsteps, however, we are continually shown the important role of churches in bringing aid and assistance and in offering comfort to people across the world including, perhaps primarily, in Africa. That was never more evident to me than during my visit to South Sudan and Uganda last year with the charity Glasgow the Caring City and one of its partner organisations, Emerge Poverty Free. The Caring City’s roots are firmly within the Church of Scotland but, although religion clearly plays an important part in its work in Africa, that was no barrier to aid, and anyone and everyone has benefited from the good works that it has carried out.
I have never been to Malawi, although I hope at some stage to get there. Having listened to people who have been there, I think that it is clear that there are many similarities between Malawi and South Sudan. The people of those countries suffer from some of the highest infant mortality rates, and the women there have to put up with terrible conditions, as do many other citizens.
We went to see some projects for which equipment had been delivered through the Caring City’s work in Africa. That included equipment for education facilities, ranging from nurseries to colleges, as well as agricultural equipment. Matthew’s farm was created, or rather paid for, by Ross Galbraith, a member of the Caring City, in South Sudan. It is very much a community-based facility, and it allows people to grow fruit and sell it on to the market. Help is also given to rehabilitate child soldiers.
The breadth of the work that I saw the organisations doing took my breath away. It opened my eyes to the hardship that is faced by many people, but also to the great resilience and ability that people are imbued with. Jim Hume mentioned David Livingstone walking 8 miles to university, which registered with me, as I saw some kids who walked up to 5 miles, sometimes without shoes, to attend school every day.
Livingstone was a man who worked to change the world, and who believed in the ability of one person to make the world a better place. His legacy remains as a continuation of work in that vein in Scotland and throughout the world. We all have a duty to do what we can to follow in his footsteps.
17:59
As I said when I was privileged and honoured to be appointed to my role, I undoubtedly have the best job in Government. Not only do I get to speak in debates that bring the whole Parliament together, but I get to do so twice.
In that respect, I thank James Kelly for bringing the debate to the Parliament. I enjoyed seeing him over the few days when we celebrated the bicentenary. There have been some fantastic speeches from across the chamber. I echo the many comments thanking and welcoming our guests in the public gallery. Some of them are from the Malawian diaspora, but we also have schoolchildren and representatives of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
Here we are, celebrating the bicentenary of Dr David Livingstone, 200 years on from his birth. The values that he represents undoubtedly spell out who we are as a nation. What a joy it is that, 200 years on, the legacy of that great man is being carried on by our children. That was evidenced in the bicentenary celebrations, in which children were involved at every step of the way. I welcome the children in the public gallery from St Blane’s primary school. The fact that they are still in their school uniform after 3 o’clock is almost like overtime, so I think that they should get the day off tomorrow for that. Luckily, my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning is not here to hear me say that.
Children were involved at the heart of every event in the celebration of the bicentenary. We had a great picture of Martha Payne with the President of Malawi. Children were involved when we rightly showed off our civic society links at an event that was organised by the Scotland Malawi Partnership, which must be thanked for its efforts. I had the great pleasure of being at the David Livingstone centre to bury a time capsule with pupils from five schools in James Kelly’s constituency. On a day when it was snowing and there was a blizzard, they were in fantastic voice. Perhaps I helped them to get in that good voice, because a teacher told me afterwards, “I think you’re the type of person that induces hyperactivity in children.” I took that as a compliment, even though I do not think that she meant it in that way.
During the civic society event, we were treated to a fantastic chorus of children singing the Malawian national anthem as the President came in. That was continued by a spontaneous choir of ladies from the Malawian diaspora who decided to sing to the President as she left. The bicentenary was a fantastic occasion in all senses of the word.
The President’s visit started in the perfect way. She made a speech with the First Minister and we announced some of the 15 projects that we have funded thus far in the current Malawian development round. Her sentiments and the warmth that she and her delegation had for Scotland were tangible. The President’s first words in her opening remarks on the Sunday when she arrived were that, for her, coming to Scotland was a pilgrimage. She likened it to going to Mecca for the Muslims. I sat next to John Bande, the MP for Blantyre in Malawi, who turned to me and said, “I’ve come home.” That is how he felt when he arrived in Blantyre in the thick snow. The warmth was most definitely tangible.
I am pleased that the Scottish Government chose to support the bicentenary celebrations by contributing £400,000 towards ensuring a sustainable legacy. Bob Doris correctly made the point that the David Livingstone centre is at the hub of that. I hope that the celebrations will go a long way towards continuing to spark interest in David Livingstone and that the centre continues to develop and to be sustainable.
One of the best projects that we have funded is the David Livingstone bicentenary scholarship programme. The £100,000 for that programme will give young and gifted but underprivileged Malawian students the opportunity to study at a Malawian further or higher education institute. I am pleased about that, because it contributes to the sustainable development legacy that we want to leave in Malawi.
Many members have spoken about the idea of legacy. We must live by the principles of Dr David Livingstone, whom the first President of Zambia called “Africa’s first freedom fighter”. He stood for abolishing slavery and poverty. Patricia Ferguson made the point well in this debate, and in the previous debate that Bob Doris introduced, that there are still forms of slavery. They might be different from previous forms, but there are still forms of slavery in Africa and even in Malawi. Tied aid, poverty, and gender inequality are all forms of slavery. Having to fight those illnesses that eventually fatally affected David Livingstone and his family is still a form of slavery that we must all speak up about and fight.
Tavish Scott and Sarah Boyack made a good point about the idea of how we make a sustainable development legacy. The truth is that, during the past half century, more than $1 trillion in development funds has been thrown at the African continent. Some countries have progressed but many have either stagnated or, worse, have regressed. The poverty is even worse than it was previously. How do we use our aid more effectively?
Tavish Scott made the point very well, as did Sarah Boyack, that we have to look at long-term sustainable economic development. I was therefore delighted that, when the President visited, she brought over trade ministers and the minister for mining, and that, with the help of Ann Gloag, we brought together some of Scotland’s top entrepreneurs and investors to discuss how we can increase the trade and investment links between Scotland and Malawi.
On top of that, we discussed how we can strengthen the agricultural sectors. There are definite opportunities in oil and gas, mining and fisheries as well. We will develop those links and have offered the opportunity for a secondee to come from the Malawian Government trade and investment centre to Scottish Development International to see whether we can increase Malawi’s potential for foreign direct investment.
We all live in difficult financial times—we know that—but we must never give in to the naysayers of doom. We must learn from David Livingstone’s legacy and, even if it is difficult to speak out in challenging times, we must continue to show compassion because that is who we are and it will be our legacy. In the year of David Livingstone’s bicentenary, I hope that his legacy will have an effect on us, our children and future generations so that we can continue to fight for those who are the most vulnerable not just at home but across the world.
Meeting closed at 18:07.