Zapping Sats, Onboarding Mulanje Merchants

 At 11:25 PM the engine roared still, coming all the way from the capital city, Lilongwe. The ignition knob was turned anticlockwise and a sigh of relief that we had travelled safely ignited the joy. We couldn't wait to rest and in a flash of a lightning transaction it was already Saturday, September 27th, 2025. Mulanje was early and ready for the Bitcoin Merchant onboarding seminar brought by Bitcoin Boma.

First thing is first, I had to go outside and check out the mountain view of Mulanje. The clouds already crowned the mountain, giving it a king's status, a spectacular view, like heavens are touching its surface. We were marveled awe and I boldly told Yankho Ngolleka, " this is the most beautiful mountain in Malawi" it was a non-negotiable statement I held solidly like private keys in an air gapped cold wallet.

There has always been a reason why Mulanje is a special place in Malawi. It's the Mulanje mountain and being the first time visiting, it appeared like a petrified giant laying on the surface of the earth, in a deep slumber, flashing its magnificence, beauty & wonder. What a beast it is.

Mulanje is a small township with its own signature of weather patterns and it was already drizzling.  There was dew on the grass, the clouds covered the skies and allowed little sun rays giving a cinematic black and white visual, which made us think of settling in Mulanje. Some of the township buildings were noticibly old, with a mixture of a classical township, telling a rich historical story of the early Lomwe settlers. The tall trees shook with the little breeze,  waving a welcoming guestures and as we navigated inside the town, it gave us a mental time space feeling of the classical renaissance period of Malawi.  The old and new modern elements, Banks, retail shops, restaurants and very executive accommodation venues on the other side defined Mulanje, a cradle of tourism, a jewel for Malawi.

Bitcoin Boma team was set to organize, "Merchant Onboarding seminar" and there was no other place to be other than Hapuwani Court lodge. The entrance glorified more than a welcome gesture, attendants in black & white attires, smiling & ready serve the public key.  It's a relaxing place where you cannot even think of inflation numbers on the charts. Along with a spacious parking lot, a cozy bar was to the far left, on the centre were well decorated round tables, the lodges buffet and kitchen, such a cozy spot where a delicous breakfast, lunch or dinner could ignite memorable conversations & after the buffet area, a straight corridor passage led to the executive meeting room to its left. Black perforated leather seats, with circular design polished wood finishing, made it a perfect meeting room to pass a "Bitcoin standard bill" into law for Malawi. The stretch of imagination is incredible, the pocket is the limitation.   

Regardless, we booked and converged in the next conference hall right after the executive meeting room. All bags were scattered, the banners were rolled out, sockets were plugged and filled.  Bitcoin Boma tshirts were well folded and displayed, Trezor hardware wallets and books flashed on the tables, the speakers were set and  we were ready for the seminar.

 

Bitcoin Boma team setting up the Merchant onboard seminar in Mulanje

Meria our mistress of ceremonies kicked things off with a welcoming gesture and pleasantries. She tossed the coin by awarding Bitcoin tshirts to those who arrived early. The pink Bitcoin Boma t-shirt really glowed on her towering height, visible at all angles of the room, the audience wondered where we got such a fine print. As lightning wallets were being installed on the phones, she unchained the dogs & in no time we kicked things off.

The fundamentals were first, followed by complexities. The introduction & evolution of money was a Darwinism lecture. Led by Pacharo Nyirenda, it was a discussion centred on money not emerging from any central point, not governed by any entity but an act of consensus by the voluntary free market. The emphasis was if we can create something from the oblivion of the mind, and interchange the craft, skill or item for what we need at any given moment, if a consensus can be achieved without any middleman, authority or permit and it benefit us, then we can definitely choose what money is and should be. The audience were taken on historical crash course on how money has evolved from being a commodity or something, to the shift of trust trusting in someone. The obvious themes drawn from this shift of trust has been the difference between money and currency and how currency is the root of all centralization, corruption, mismanagement, retrogression and manipulation of money.  The question of why was Bitcoin created brought scales of hope as we learned that Bitcoin has no central power. The audience was set for the next session for Introduction to Bitcoin by Yankho Ngolleka.

 

Pacharo Nyirenda presenting on the Merchant onboarding, Mulanje

"Bitcoin is better experienced than taught" was the opening line of light & hope. It was a smear of further curiosity. That's how Yankho led the next part, detailing how transactions happen in a peer-to-peer network system. The interesting part was where he said, " there's no Bitcoin in a Bitcoin wallet." Further confusing the audience that Bitcoin doesn't exist in a Bitcoin wallet rather private and public keys which allow sending and receiving, authorizing signatures for Bitcoin holdings. He cracked Bitcoin open, stating Bitcoin is an exchange of ownership of Bitcoin in wallets, a model known as the UTXO. The complexity of a Bitcoin wallet and how one can care for it was the underlying principle in his presentation. As we already know it, Bitcoin is a decentralized electronic peer to peer cash, self-custody and responsibility is what makes Bitcoin unique. It really amazed the audience how he explained self custody, how a user can control our Bitcoin holdings without trusting any third-party entity. He later demonstrated how one can choose between a Custodial or Self Custodial wallet.  He also gave a detailed demonstration on how transactions occur in software wallet, capturing a private key and how it generates a public key used for exchange of Bitcoins. Interestingly, he stung like a bee when he presented safety of private keys as Bitcoin Maxi's always advocate "not your keys, not your coins". He exposed Pacharo Nyirenda when he found out that had hidden his 24 seed phrase key (private keys) for his Trezor Hardware wallet which were written on the Trezor suit cover for the hardware wallet. He made sure I was made a perfect example how one can lose their Bitcoins if private keys are not safely kept. Guilty was the verdict, jail was inevitable. As comic animations say, "with great power comes great responsibility," he concluded by detailing the importance of privacy and management of Bitcoins.

 

Yankho Ngolleka presenting on wallets, Mulanje

After taking some stunning group photo possess and awarding t-shirts to those whom participated most, Kondwani Konyani was the last presenter who advocated the power and use case of Bitcoin in our everyday endeavours. Kondwani demonstrated the link of Bitcoin and human freedom. I have always seen him as a Bitcoin Maxi. A true walking testimony of what humanity is capable of if Bitcoin is embraced right. According to Kondwani, there is no second-best freedom money as Bitcoin. He managed to show the audience how retail shops in Zambia, South Africa and Kenya accept and use Bitcoin in real time. How local retailers and ordinary people regardless of their given contexts of living, day to day circumstances, being financially unbanked by traditional centralized systems was a blessing in disguise as Bitcoin allows them to connect with each other and the world. 

enjoying some photos during the seminar

As a military general of freedom, he detailed how one does not need permission or consent to use Bitcoin. Bitcoin is censorship resistant and knows no boundaries as it's an innovation that was created to be embraced. It was interesting to learn how local tuckshops made use of Bitcoin's scalable lightning transactions on its lightning network channels, create point of sales even without smartphones. He also demonstrated how these natives display "Bitcoin accepted here” tag by printing displayable QR codes embracing Bitcoin as relevant technology, an instrument of convenience and practicality.

 

Kondwani presenting the use case of Bitcoin, Mulanje

Lastly, the seminar went into lightning mode. The fun part had arrived, our audience used lightning wallets to zap Sats around.  The circle was full, snacks and drinks moved left and right. The camera man snapped every detail, recording lightning in action. We used the lightning wallet Blink and Wallet of Satoshi for demonstrations. The satisfaction of sliding the bar to send and the check mark of receiving a transaction was where the magic was.

Installing wallets and zapping Sats 

Time moved so fast. It was already 5 PM.   We each participant had some Sats zapped. After Kondwani wrapped things off, the last prayer closed the session. Isabel Ngolleka, took the show in front of Hapuwani Court with an interview to hear the thoughts of participants and what they were excited to learn through the interactive seminar. We discovered the next television personality that will even take Bitcoin education further as she did a great job in evaluating the seminar.

 

Mulanje welcomed Bitcoin Boma

Mulanje was an unforgettable experience. The following day, we started off back to the capital city, Lilongwe. The last sight I saw was the mirage of mount Mulanje disappearing through the driver's side mirror, speaking to us, to return again.