Ekwendeni is a town in the Northern Region of

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. It lies about from Mzuzu, in the

Mzimba District Mzimba is a district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Mzimba and the biggest town is Mzuzu, which is also the administrative headquarters of the Northern Region. The district covers an area of 10,473 km2 and has a populatio ...

History

Ekwendeni was started by Scottish missionaries; in 1889 Walter Angus Elmslie opened a mission station at Ekwendeni. It has one of the oldest churches in Malawi belonging to the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), the local equivalent of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

. In the 1920s, Jack and Mamie Martin were missionaries to Bandawe and Ekwendeni. Mamie created classes for girls to be educated when parents were known for preferring to educate their sons. Mamie died in 1928 but her family later created the Scottish charity called the Mamie Martin Fund which subsidises the education of girls in northern Malawi. left, File:"Dr Elmslie and Ekwendeni teachers, ca.1895 The general hospital began in the 1890s as a ministry of the Free Church of Scotland. Ekwendeni Hospital is operated by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian – Synod of Livingstonia, in partnership with the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

, the

and the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. Ekwendeni Girls’ Secondary School was opened by the Synod in 1975. The people of Ekwendeni have Tumbuka as the dominant language but other languages are spoken due to the high numbers of people from other parts of Malawi settling there. Residents of Ekwendeni were often attracted there because of the hospital, the theological college, the college of nursing and the technical training school. Ekwendeni is largely surrounded by

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

growing farms. It has a high

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

prevalence rate as it is a favourite resting place for truck drivers travelling along the M1 road that connects Malawi with

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and beyond. International donors are helping in the development of the area. The town has beautiful surroundings which make the area a good destination for tourists.

People

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from Northern Rhodesia, British ...

's mum Helen Nyirenda Kaunda was born near here in about 1885

Common greetings in Tumbuka

References

External links

{{coord, 11, 22, S, 33, 53, E, region:MW_type:city, display=title Populated places in Northern Region, Malawi