Livingstonia or Kondowe is a town located in the
Northern Region district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
of
Rumphi
Rumphi is the capital of the Rumphi District (Rumphi Boma) in the Northern Region of Malawi. It is a lively town with a market which serves the widespread farming community. Rumphi is noted for the kindness of the people (it is even rude to p ...
in Malawi. It is north of the capital,
Lilongwe, and connected by road to Chitimba on the shore Lake Malawi.
History
Livingstonia was founded in 1894 by missionaries from the
Free Church of Scotland.
The missionaries had first established a mission in 1875 at
Cape Maclear, which they named Livingstonia after
David Livingstone
David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...
, whose death in 1873 had rekindled British support for missions in Eastern Africa. The mission was linked with the
Livingstonia Central Africa Company, set up as a commercial business in 1877. By 1881 Cape Maclear had proved extremely
malarial
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or dea ...
and the mission moved north to
Bandawe. This site also proved unhealthy and the Livingstonia Mission moved once again to the higher grounds between
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is the fifth largest fr ...
and
Nyika Plateau. This new site proved highly successful because Livingstonia is located in the mountains and therefore not prone to mosquitoes carrying malaria. The mission station gradually developed into a small town.
The leading missionary for 52 years was
Robert Laws. He established the best school in the region at the time in Livingstonia, and its graduates became influential in several neighbouring countries, including South Africa. Among the alumni of the school was writer
Legson Kayira, who graduated in 1958. The title of his autobiographical work ''I Will Try'' was taken from the school motto.
![Livingstonia Mission Church](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Livingstonia_Mission_Church.jpg)
Laws wanted Livingstonia to develop into a University, but his successors did not pursue the dream. In 2003 the
Livingstonia Synod of the
Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian
The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) is a Presbyterian denomination. It consists of five synods: one in Zambia ( Zambia Synod), one in Zimbabwe ( Harare Synod) and three in Malawi – Livingstonia Synod in the north of the country, N ...
(CCAP) renewed the vision and started
Livingstonia University
Livingstonia or Kondowe is a town located in the Northern Region district of Rumphi in Malawi. It is north of the capital, Lilongwe, and connected by road to Chitimba on the shore Lake Malawi.
History
Livingstonia was founded in 1894 by miss ...
.
Facilities
The houses in Livingstonia are mostly constructed with red bricks. The Stone House, the original house of Robert Laws, is now a hotel. It also has a small museum about the history of Livingstonia.
Demographics
In 2008, the population of Livingstonia was 6,690.
Transportation
The roads to Livingstonia do not have any tarmac. The town is connected to Chitimba on Lake Malawi by the S103 (T305), a steep hillside road with multiple hairpin bends, while the T306 and T305 run to the south. Both roads are in poor condition.
Hospital
David Gordon Memorial Hospital
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
had its foundation stone laid in 1910 and was opened in 1911.
David Gondwe
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
was Livingstonia's first formally trained hospital assistant. He was sacked as the mission administration discovered his
polygamous
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marrie ...
marriage, and thought that rendered him "unstable". However, he was soon employed by the governmental
Colonial Medical Services
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 a ...
.
The hospital currently serves a catchment area with a population of approximately 60,000.
Livingstonia Hospital Partnership
/ref>
Further reading
* Lonely Planet, ''Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia'' (1st Ed.). 1997. Lonely Planet Publications, Hawthorne, Australia.
* For the history of Livingstonia Mission and Synod see: John McCracken, ''Politics and Christianity in Malawi 1875-1940. The Impact of the Livingstonia Mission in the Northern Province'', 2nd ed., Blantyre: CLAIM, 2000, 376 pp.
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References
External links
{{coord, 10, 36, S, 34, 07, E, region:MW_type:city, display=title
Populated places in Northern Region, Malawi
Populated places established in 1894
David Livingstone