About
Biography
Joshua Chienda attended Robert Blake Secondary School after emerging the top student in the country in Primary School Leaving Examinations. One of the subjects that was to have a lasting influence on his life was Additional Mathematics, then offered only at Robert Blake (and at not other school in Malawi). Moving on to the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College, Joshua opted to read natural sciences and graduated in Physics and Mathematics.
He was employed by a printing company as a management trained after graduating from Chancellor College. The company sent him to the UK for further training in Printing and Packaging Technology. Four year later, Joshua graduated from Watford College with a second BSc, this time in Printing and Packaging Technology. He was the best student in his cohort, a feat which earned him an award from Crossfield Electronics. This was the first time that an African student had emerged the best student. His project, titled “Digital Image Processing for 3-D surfaces”, was the best project that year, for which the Metal Box Company gave Joshua another award.
Life is full of challenges which require solutions. Many times solutions lie hidden within our own people or our own systems but we spend a great deal of effort and resources trying to import them from external agents. We only need to search within to find the most appropriate of solutions.
Joshua Chienda
Returning home to Malawi, Joshua continued to work for his employers and had the opportunity to travel within Africa, and occasionally to Europe, to attend various workshops on graphics and printing. In 1997 he attended the words biggest printing exhibition, Drupa, in Dusseldorf, Germany.
While at Robert Blake, Joshua was a contributor to the school magazine, which used to be published annually. He was, therefore, introduced to the world of writing at an early age. He did not use his writing skill as he studied sciences at Chancellor College but revived it at Watford College because of the Management studies that were part of his program. Since then he has never looked back, insofar as creative writing was concerned. Because of his background of heavy science, Joshua finds it easy to write articles with a scientific or technological theme.
Joshua has a soft spot for choral music. Although his technical knowledge of music reading and writing was basically self taught, he attended a number of musical workshops which enhanced it. He rubbed shoulders with Malawian great composers such as Mjura Mkandawire and Michael Sauka at such workshops. In 1982, Joshua composed the song that was sung at the official inauguration of the Great Hall at Chancellor College by the then head of state, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda. He has since composed other pieces which have been performed by choirs in Blantyre and Lilongwe.
Apart from offering his services to the printing company that trained him in the UK, Joshua has also been a lecturer at the Polytechnic (now called the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences – MUBAS), and at the University of Blantyre Synod. He became the Head of the Journalism Department at the Polytechnic. His lecturing engagements have helped him sharpen his public speaking skills.
Between 2012 and 2015 Joshua worked as the Malawi Government Printer. He had, prior to becoming Government Printer, obtained a Masters Degree in Leadership and Change Management (with credit) offered by Leeds Metropolitan University.
Joshua brings to the table a unique set of talents in science, creative writing, music and public speaking. It is his great desire to see people improve themselves by searching within themselves – within their communities or their history or their ethnic boundaries – and finding the resources that can be used to better themselves rather than obtaining such resources from outside sources. Searching outside should be a second resort. Joshua will use any combination of his skills to bring this awareness to young people of Malawi and further afield.