Unrest in Malawi

We always thought of Malawi as a peaceful country as it is called the "warm heart of Africa."  Last week we saw another side of Malawi and it wasn't peaceful.  As Matthew mentioned in his post, a peaceful march turned into something quite the opposite.
After the government told the marchers they couldn't march, the marchers turned on the police.  Police used tear gas and bullets to stop the riot and it left 9 people dead and many wounded.  The people then went on a rampage and destroyed many shops owned by the Chinese and looted everything in them.
The nine that died were hailed as heroes who died for democracy.  Not everyone holds that opinion.  We were told by a Malawian that the dead were all looters.  It is hard to know what the truth is but it doesn't really matter now.  Because those that died were "heroes" the people wanted them buried in the same place and designated that they died a heroes death.  The government said no which didn't make the people happy.  Everyone was bracing for another riot and it was very quiet all over Mzuzu as we waited to see what would happen.  Thankfully, the government let them be buried together and another riot was avoided. 
During this time, we stayed very close to home.  We are a few miles from town which was somewhat comforting.  Most of the shops in town were closed from Wednesday to Friday, with some open on Saturday.  Since shopping here is from day to day, the few shops that were open didn't have much left.  We have a small store and market within walking distance so we were able to stock up on a few items.
Today we ventured into town and it was just another Monday--crowded and no cash at the ATM's.  Actually after waiting a while we were able to use an ATM.  We stayed away from the main downtown as I had no desire to see shops destroyed.
For now things are safe again but there is another protest scheduled for August 19th.  We will be home by then but hope and pray that it won't turn violent.