Malawi Policeman Uses Sports to Reduce Crime
2021-12-06
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1Kanduwa Sande is a policeman at the Machinga Police Station in Malawi.
2The 42-year-old also has a love for sports.
3So, he has worked for the last 10 years to create a sports center with areas like a track,
4netball court and climbing walls for children.
5Sande says the aim is to help develop sports and reduce crimes such as rape and sexual assault in his community.
6"One of our responsibilities as police officers is also to reduce crime - to prevent people from doing crime," he said.
7"So, when one is idle, surely that person will indulge him or herself in other bad behaviors like committing crimes."
8Sande has been doing his volunteer work since 2011.
9He uses savings from his monthly wages and works at the sports center during his free time.
10"I don't spend my lunch hour [break], one hour and 30 minutes, eating only," Sande said.
11"No. I also work for maybe 50 minutes. Every day of my lunch hour is sacrificed for voluntary work."
12Over the years, Sande ignored comments from people who did not understand the reasons behind all of his work.
13Some called him crazy. He asked his wife to also ignore them.
14Sande said, "Because I knew people would say so many things to my wife:
15'Are you allowing this one to do this job? Are you married to this person, this mad person?'
16So I said, 'Don't tell me anything you hear from other people that will derail me from doing this."
17In 2017, his volunteer work earned him an innovation award for sports.
18He was sent on a month-long visit to China, where he learned how best to continue working on the sports center.
19Soon after, he bought and began using machinery to speed up the project.
20Government sports officials and community leaders sometimes visit the center to express thankfulness for the work he is doing.
21Sande said the sports center is now nearly complete and expected to officially open to the public at the end of December.
22I'm Jonathan Evans.
1Kanduwa Sande is a policeman at the Machinga Police Station in Malawi. The 42-year-old also has a love for sports. So, he has worked for the last 10 years to create a sports center with areas like a track, netball court and climbing walls for children. 2Sande says the aim is to help develop sports and reduce crimes such as rape and sexual assault in his community. 3"One of our responsibilities as police officers is also to reduce crime - to prevent people from doing crime," he said. "So, when one is idle, surely that person will indulge him or herself in other bad behaviors like committing crimes." 4Sande has been doing his volunteer work since 2011. He uses savings from his monthly wages and works at the sports center during his free time. 5"I don't spend my lunch hour [break], one hour and 30 minutes, eating only," Sande said. "No. I also work for maybe 50 minutes. Every day of my lunch hour is sacrificed for voluntary work." 6Over the years, Sande ignored comments from people who did not understand the reasons behind all of his work. Some called him crazy. He asked his wife to also ignore them. 7Sande said, "Because I knew people would say so many things to my wife: 'Are you allowing this one to do this job? Are you married to this person, this mad person?' So I said, 'Don't tell me anything you hear from other people that will derail me from doing this." 8In 2017, his volunteer work earned him an innovation award for sports. He was sent on a month-long visit to China, where he learned how best to continue working on the sports center. Soon after, he bought and began using machinery to speed up the project. 9Government sports officials and community leaders sometimes visit the center to express thankfulness for the work he is doing. 10Sande said the sports center is now nearly complete and expected to officially open to the public at the end of December. 11I'm Jonathan Evans. 12Lameck Masina reported on this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 13_______________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15idle - adj. not working or in use 16indulge - v. to give in to the desires of 17commit - v. to do something that is illegal or harmful 18crazy - adj. not mentally sound 19derail - v. to make progress or success difficult for 20innovation - n. a new idea, method, or device