Malawi makes history by hosting world’s female pilots conference
Malawi has made history by being the first African country to ever host the high profile world conference for female pilots, named The Ninety-Nines (The 99s).
This year, this international organisation for women pilots is celebrating its 90th Anniversary.
In between their conference, the delegates were on an excursion trip to the Mulanje Mountain and to Thyolo at Makandi Tea Estate and factory done on Friday, a day after their arrival.
The pilots left Blantyre on a four-day excursion trip starting with Lake Malawi before flying to Serengeti Game Park in Tanzania.
Enroute to Lake Malawi, they stopped over at Mua Mission to see cultural dances and traditional Malawian African masks.
And then they had motivational speakers in the hall Monday morning before enjoying a boat cruise.
The pilots then flew to Serengeti Game Park for game viewing and a bush camp dinner before returning to Malawi on Thursday.
All the events were being filmed by DStv and later shall be beamed on one of DStv’s platform, as according to MultiChoice Malawi’s Head of Commercials, Yuk-Yen Au-yeung Sung-wai.
She said they are coming in to prepare the documentary aimed at motivating aspiring female pilots in Malawi and across Africa.
“This is a great aviation moment for Malawi as four of our female pilots are part of this global event.
“We also felt we had to get involved in order to market the Malawi tourism across the world. It’s a great opportunity for the country’s tourism,” she said.
The 99s provides networking, mentoring and flight scholarship opportunities to recreational and professional female pilots.
As of 2018, it had 155 chapters across the globe, including a ‘virtual’ chapter, Ambassador 99s, which meets online for those who are too busy or mobile to be in one region for long.
The organization was founded on November 2, 1929 (90 years ago) by 26 licensed women pilots for the mutual support and advancement of women pilots.
Amelia Earhart had called for a meeting of female pilots in 1929 following the Women’s Air Derby where all 117 women pilots licensed at the time were invited and the group is named for the 99 of them who attended the meeting or expressed an interest in forming the group.
In 2014, The 99s was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame At the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
It’s headquarters are in Oklahoma City in the US and has a membership of 5,100.
It has a museum at Will Rodgers World Airport in Oklahoma whose artifacts include historical papers, personal items, video and oral histories, photos, memorabilia and other notable artifacts from famed woman aviators from around the globe.
The museum collection and exhibits provide insight into the role women pilots played in the development of aviation and their historical footprint.
The 99s members support the goals of the organization by being active in numerous aviation activities that includes aviation education seminars in the community, air racing, and airmarking by volunteering their time to paint airport names, compass rose symbols and other identifications on airports.
I support this noble organisation for female pilots. Job well done and keep it up.
How many pilots attended and from where. I bet most women pilots from the developed world did not even know there was something happening in Malawi.
Where are the participants from to call it a World conference? The moment a reader begins asking questions like this one, it means the story is incomplete.
Lady pilots from the UK, USA, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Austria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa attended this 1st African Section meeting of the 99’s.
There was a time when people would say: women can’t do this or that because ndi za ana amuna izi. Lero, women and girls keep breaking the glass ceiling. Keep it up!
Kuyendetsa ndegeko? As a percentage, how many women are pilots in this world despite being the majority?
Mangochi, that’s why we need to celebrate the achievement of the few women pilots so that our daughters are encouraged to study and take up piloting planes as a profession. You seem to be misogynistic and retrogressive in your view like white people (Europeans) who doubted the intelligence of black people and always said WE black people could not achieve anything.
Modern women! We are proud of you. You have studied, earn your own money, support families, build houses and pay your pension! Our mothers and grandmothers toiled in the home and kitchen without any recognition and respect. There is GREAT hope for a better future for girls and women. The key is: EDUCATION!
Well done! You are proving that women and girls can achieve anything because they are intelligent human beings and sometimes, if not many times, women are smarter than men.
Women you can do better than this —–don’t follow jane ansah footsteps —-don’t follow Jean mathanga footsteps —don’t follow seodi white footsteps organising
a demo crying for a devil —-
This is good news considering that piloting is a Male dominated occupation. We need to encourage our daughters to work hard and become one of them in future. Whether we have stagnated or gone backward it doesn’t matter but we need to celebrate our current heroines.
This is rubbish,
@ KHWIYO
YOU AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE SOCIETY. CHIMENE WAKWYIRA NDICHIYANI ?
UKUDANA NDI MA PILOT ACHIDZIMAYI OYENDETSA NDEGE KOMA KULAKALAKA ATAKALA NGATI MAYI AKO AMENE ALI PILOT WAKUCHIPINDA OYENDETSA MA UJENI YA ZIBAMBO … DAMN YOU.
MUNTHU OLEPERA IWE.
BY THE WAY , WHO ARE YOU IN THE SOCIETY ?
WANDINYATSA BWANJI !
Didn’t know there was such an organisation.
Whats wrong with you, you mean you want to know each and every organisation that exists on earth? Nonsense.
Especially the ones coming with such a heading, “Malawi makes history, which one?”
A country without an airline, kikikikiiiiiiii. Its It’s like giving chimanga chokazinga to eithet toothless gogo or baby.
Try putting 99’s into Google