KAMBISA!
Volume 2 – Sept.-Nov. 2003 @ 3000 Zambian Kwacha
Sista D. – police officer kills man over beer debt – HIV
stop teacher-pupil relations –love in Alpha-bar – defilement
don’t be fooled by ‘social security’ – Sunday’s Story # 2
Matongo – Sunday Zimba – Astridah Nchimunya-
Hamuyamba – Chanda Mubanga – Alice Mapulanga
Herbert N. Mwilba Jr. – Timothy Hara – Michael L. Ahlee
BE HEARD.
Editorial
The second issue of Kambisa!BeHeard deals with some awkwardly known issues. Michael L. Ahlee tells the story of a police officer shooting a suspect, Astridah Nchimunya-Hamuyamba tells us about a teacher forcing his pupil into a sexual relation and Sista D. explains how she tries to protect children from getting raped. We’re dealing with issues of – most of us will agree – immoral nature.
It’s so easy to pinpoint a rapist, a murderer or a defiler – but what about ourselves? Is it not us who form the society in which these people are doing whatever they’re doing? Is it maybe our behavoir that incites them to be as they are? Why can an officer get away with murder – where are the lawyers, where are the demonstrations? Why does he know he can? How can he safely assume no-one will stand up to the injustice done?
what’s worse: abusing your power or not using it at all?
We should wonder what’s worse: abusing your power or not using it at all. How come I find us complaining about the shortcomings of the Zambian economy over a chickenburger at Nando’s? How come these tens of pins are disappearing in the big pockets of a South African multinational, rather then being invested right here? In an economy as shizofrenic as the Zambian, one burger can buy ten newspapers, half a bag of mealiemeal or three days of employment. Why are we not using that? Is Nando’s treating its employees that well, are they’re burgers so dazling good or are we really that hungry for the status of eating at an expensive Westernlooking place? Why can’t we boast about eating at Soweto like the tourists do?
‘There is nothing to invest in’, some will say, ‘whatever done here is meant to fail. Everything that you need to start a business is lacking.’ Fine. If that’s what you want to believe, why don’t you start by establishing these very fundamentals? Rome was not build in day.
It seems the ‘poor’ are patriotically shopping at our markets whilst the well-fed are constantly finding ways to spend their kwacha’s on German cars, British airtickets and American jeans. Why can’t we produce these things here? Think big, start small. Wine is made from grapes, grapes are grown in the backyard.
We need to start taking responsibility. It’s too frustrating to lay back in apathy and confinement. It’s time for review; why do we accept what we accept and should we really? Is our behavior in line with our thinking? No, Chanda Mubanga writes, how else could we see people dying of AIDS every day? We know how to control this virus, meanwhile we don’t. What’s wrong with us? Let’s take a proper look at ourselves.
I takes courage. It takes awareness of one’s own potential and an understanding of the situations we are complaining about. It takes friends who can encourage you when you’re feeling down, who can help you get to know what you can and what you can’t. It takes creativity and people to challenge your assumptions by having others. It takes resitance, a plan B, a plan C, maybe even a plan D. But better to try and fail then to fail to try.
We need dialogue. Kambisa!BeHeard.
TEACHER-PUPIL RELATIONSHIPS MUST BE STOPPED – NOW!
by Astridah Nchimunya-Hamuyamba
One day in 1990 I heard some people talking about something that I didn’t really understand, because at that time I was a little girl and had just started school. They were talking about someone who had died in school because she was let down by her boyfriend, who denied being responsible for her pregnancy. To make things worse, this boyfriend of hers was a teacher.
Up to now, this has been in my head and I just can’t stop thinking about it. Even now, it is still happening in many schools. I have just completed my secondary school, but while I was still at school, something similar to what happened in 1990 happened in one of the schools where I did my senior secondary.
Ndola, 2000
It was in the year 2000 when something terrible happened to one of the pupils in one of the schools in Ndola. Well, some people were not very surprised because that has been one of the most common events in that city, more especially in schools. But as a concerned pupil, I tried to get more information from that victim’s friends.
…a teacher tells two loving pupils to end their relationship and suspends them when they don’t.
I was told that the girl had had a relationship with one of the pupils from a grade twelve class of her school while she was in grade nine. The two pupils were in a relationship for six months but when one of the teachers discovered their relationship, he called both of them to his office and told them to end the relationship. He threatened to tell all the pupils in school and even their parents if they continued.
These two pupils really loved each other, so I was told, and were prepared to sacrifice anything just to keep their relationship going.
They continued their relationship, but when this teacher discovered that they hadn’t ended their relationship, he suspended them for two weeks. By the time they went back to school, they had ended their relationship, so they could concentrate on their schoolwork, since they were heading towards their exams.
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He tells her he is not going to give her the papers unless she has sex with him
Two weeks before writing her exams, that teacher told her that he was not going to give her the papers unless she had sex with him. Since she really wanted to pass her exams, she decided to give in to him in exchange for the papers. She wrote her exams.
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So my request to the Ministry of Education is that they should instantly dismiss any teacher who is found having an affair with a pupil and they should also take a survey in schools and find out what is happening concerning pupil-teacher relationships or rather affairs. This applies particularly to secondary schools.
MARRIED MAN CHEATS INNOCENT GIRL
by Timothy Hara
It’s a common trend and culture for Tongas in the Southern province to marry more than one wife. But on the contrary a man from the Eastern province named B. has done it on the immoral line.
- is a married man with a 2 year old child. On the other hand he has been flirting around with other ladies with a promise to marry them. His wife was naive about the scenerios. She learnt of it later.
M. was so exited when B. told her he was contemplating on marrying her
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POLICE OFFICER KILLS MAN OVER BEER DEBT
by Michael L. Ahlee
A 28- year old man was shot for failing to settle a beer debt. Mark Bee died instantly after being shot by a police officer because he delayed to pay a K 3,000 debt. His older brother John Bee said that his late young brother Mark Bee got some beer from Annie on credit promising to settle the bill at the month end.
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When the family went to the police station to seek an explanation, they were told that the police would provide everything during the funeral but only a coffin was provided after five days.
After they buried, the family went back to the policestation to seek redress. Lee told them there was nothing he could do, but if they wanted they could report the matter anywhere they wished.
– no one is above the law –
Note from the author:
Law is law. Police are there to serve and protect people’s rights, not to substruct the number of people.
Where-ever; whomever and whatever … in the history of human kind no one is above the law!
WRESTLESS DAYS AND SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
by Chanda Mubanga
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The Rwandan genocide recorded casualities. Yes, so did the September 11 event. But can we stand the loss of more than 8.000 people in the few hours of each day simply because of the odiours and no longer strange but alien HIV?
No.
I, therefore, wish to advocate for serious dramatisation of this appalling condition.
I wish to advocate for serious dramatisation of this appalling condition
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People suffer and painfully die when we know just what weapon to use.
A weapon that actually rests in our own hands and tongues.
Where did it come from? Why? So many pretexts have been used to respond to the questions the virus has raised. Therefore, it would be unwise of us to answer by word of mouth minus realising that they have long been answered by our attitudes and behaviours.
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– kind request-
People!
Can we please stop victimising ourselves and start taking control?
Think creative. Life is what you make of it.
– end of request –
> ‘practise makes perfect’-concept
Adolescents are going through a phase of curiosity. What they want is something interesting. What they find interesting ly outstanding is what they will engage in, not analysing the consequences. That is what makes them more vulnerable. For example, one does not need to go to school to learn how to do sex – thus, no practise makes perfect with sex. One performance of it, regardless of how long it takes, whether one second or 24 hours, can ruin your whole life.
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However, hope is one thing anyone van lastly lose. But all hope is not lost. Pro’s and con’s in anything we do can help us determine our destination. It’s time we lifted ourselves from the quicksands of ignorance to the solid rock of self awareness.
> some of the organisations dealing with HIV in Zambia are:
– Kara Counselling and Training Trust, Cha Cha Cha Rd South end, PO Box 37559, Lusaka, Fax : (260) 1 24 67 36
– New Start Counselling and Testing Centre, next to Shoprite Cairo Road, first floor above Bata Shoeshop; testing K1000, counselling compulsory, results in a few hours
– UTH; testing results in a few days, the specialists are found in clinic 3
– Christian Medical Association of Zambia (CHAZ), PO Box 34511, Lusaka, Tel: (260 1) 229.702, Fax: (260 1) 223.297
A website containing a lot of information and some encouraging stories is found at https://www.hiveducation.org.za
Copies of some internet-printouts can be requested via Kambisa!BeHeard.
FRIENDS BECOME LOVERS
by Alice Mapulanga
Once upon a time in a place somewhere in the warm heart of Africa, in Zambia, there was a place called Alpha.
This place was a nice place for couples during having a good time. Alice and Stas were very good friends at first. Later on they started going out together.
A lot of people were against it. Alice was a Christian. She used to go to the Bible Gospel Church in Africa. Alice was a committed Christian and very active in the church.
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Don’t date for a long time, cause you end up dossing each other and choose the places where to take your partner. If Alice and Stas had gone to church, these problems would not have occured.
OUTLOOK …. The Netherlands
In the upcoming issues of Kambisa! you’ll find an inside view on a foreign country, this time: The Netherlands, a tiny country – slightly bigger then Kafue National Park – crowded with 16 million inhabitants: the Dutch, a very mixed population of people. The majority originally coming from Turkey, Maroc, China, West-Afrika, the Antilles and mainland Netherland itself. Famous for its soccer, cheese, tulips, marihuana and its supposedly tolerant liberal thinking . A country where men are allowed to marry other men, where you can safely set fire to your joint facing an officer and where prostitutes have to pay tax.
The song on the next page comes from a band named ‘Doe Maar’ (‘Go Ahead’), a popular reggae-punk band in the 80’s. Its critisises the attitude to just care about work and money, allways rushing to Some Societal Achievement like getting a diploma or making some more money – rather then spending time with people to get to know them. It interferes with people’s thinking that as long as they’re insured and things are ‘properly organised’, they will be safe.
The song is called ‘De Bom’ (‘The Bomb’). During the Cold War here was a time when America and Russia threatened to bomb eachother. The Dutch were afraid the bomb might drop on them, living in a small country in the middle.
Don’t be fooled by money, status and insurance-shemes
Though the threat of a bomb falling on the Netherlands seems to be limited by now, the song is still up to date as the attitude of many people has not changed; many feel stressed by the expectations that they feel sociey puts upon them and won’t come to realise they’re chasing the wrong things before its too late… a phenomena which some believe is tragically reflected in the Dutch suicide-rates, the number of people visiting psycho-analysists, being dependent on anti-depressive drugs or dying off stressrelated diseases like heartattacks and cancer.
> We need outlooks on other countries for the next issue of Kambisa!BeHeard. If you have anything to tell which puts any foreign country in a critical perspective, or you know something or somebody which or who does – please contact Kambisa!
Make sure the review is accompanied by the basic facts of the country discussed.
GOOD FOR THE GOOSE, GOOD FOR GENDER
by Herbert Nthasu Mwilba Jr.
What is good for the goose is good for genderequality just sometimes. Imagine having a female President, her Vice President a he and say about half of the Cabinet Ministers all females. That would be like a dream come true to gender equality activists, especcially politicians with that vision. And maybe that wouldn’t be bad either for the brighter change that our nation Zambia anticipates.
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Personally, I think genderequality is only good and fair in our Christian nation Zambia, if such is done out of Love, not obligatory duty.
genderequality is only good and fair if it is done out of Love, not obligatory duty
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NOT DEMANDS AND CLAIMS. Otherwise, the sun for the day and the moon for the night….
End.
SISTA D. – LADY WITH A MISSION
www.thinono.org
Famous for her original style, Sista D. – Daputsa Nkhata Zulu – has managed to set her name as an independent musician, composer and co-producer. With the help of producer and instrumentalist Chris Commando Mongri, she makes sure to remain in charge of her own music. On her album ‘Makhaladi’ (the name for black girls who bleach their skins) she combines her own compositions with some interpretations of traditional songs, on the following album ‘OK Manje’ (‘OK What’s next?’) Daputsa sticks to the 100%-selfmade compositions only.
Vitendeni
In addition to her musical achievements, Sista D. has set an example that nor admirers, nor abominaters will easily forget. In her controversial hit ‘Vitendeni’ she suggests what should happen to men that rape children: they should have their dicks cut off. She was inspired to write the song after a news item on the radio, reporting about a 2-year old girl that had been raped by men believing this was the way to get cured from HIV. ‘I imagined that would happen to my own daughter…’ In the video and dance that came along, the gestures are clear.
‘Some men were offended’, Daputsa recognizes, ‘I have often had to explain that I did not refer to all the men, just to those that raped the children. Those are not real men.’ However, amongst the Zambian youth the song was received with great enthusiasm. ‘It’s still happening a lot’, Sista D. says, ‘In the old days it used to remain within the household; nobody would know. But I think after the song things are starting to open up.’
The only way I can protect the sexually abused girls, is by educating the masses
Sista D. illustrating how to dance to ‘Vitendeni’
The fate of sexually abused children is a continuing theme of Daputsa’s work. ‘It will hunt you for the rest of your life; it will prevent you from doing anything progressive with your live. Untill it ceases to exist, I will be writing about it.’ When the artist visits shelters for these girls, she notices how important she has become to them. ‘Sometimes they can’t let me go: they feel I am protecting them. But the only way I can protect them, is by educating the masses.’
> www.thinono.org is a website introducing the works of artist and innovators analyzing their social environment and reacting upon it in a way that challenges the obvious
Kambisa! needs help…
We need…
– authors : there are some topics we want to discuss in our next issues, but we need people to do it. For instance, we would like somebody to write a article on ones rights when dealing with the police, somebody to interview celebrities like Sista D. and somebody to follow the local courtcases, pick a victim and the suspects in her/his case interview both parties and make follow ups on them. These things can be written without professional journalistic skills as long as the writer clearly indicates his or her position and article is written, like all others, in a readable fashion. The editors of Kambisa! are willing to give you some hints or help when writing.
Beware! the author allways remains responsible for his or her own work: think about the potential consequences of publication before you start!
If you can’t read or write, contact Kambisa! and we’ll find somebody to help you out.
– translators : translating: mostly from one of the local languages into English for the magazine, later we might need things to be the other way round as well….
– storyfinders & transscribers: go out of Lusaka centre, find people who want to get their story published and help them getting it in Kambisa! ALLWAYs tell people their story will be used for publication before writing their story down and handing it over!!!!! We need their explicite permission as they remain responsible!!!! Make sure people understand the potential risks of publication under their true name before they agree. If necessary, we can publish things under a fake name, but this has to be indicated. Ask for name, age, sexe and profession/ societal status. Again…the editors of Kambisa! are willing to give you some hints or help when writing.
– representors : people to go the organizations, individuals, events etc. which could play part in Kambisa! (f.i. human rights awareness organisations, NGOCC etc) ask them if they know about it, what they think about it, want write a colum for it etc… do so, but do so AFTER consultating the rest of the Kambisa! – people, or at LEAST Klaartje. Tough we all want to promote individual freedom, Kambisa! as a project should stand for something, we can’t have people going round claiming to do so on our behalf without the rest knowing about it and supporting their stance.
– digitalizers : people who can type incoming paperwork into the computer for further editing
– editors : people who can reread other people’s work, comment on it, correct sentences that are too long or confusing, the incorrect use of words etc. This job needs some skill – whether by nature or schooling doesn’t matter, but we need to be able to trust your work.
– correctors : correcting grammar & spelling, people who are fluent in written English
– visual artists : people who can help preparing the final texts for print, who can do the lay-out or help in making some nice illustrations to give some air to the texts or to lively up the cover
– marketeers : people to help promoting the magazine, to get some media attention, make posters etc.
– productioners : stappling, folding and sorting the sheets after they come from the printer, taking them there, collecting them, bringing them to EHC for cutting etc..
– distributors : making sure the magazine gets exposure in as many places as possible, signing ‘contracts’ with the ones selling or …. selling yourself! (commission 1000 kwacha per copy, this is the only paid job at the time of writing)
ENGAGE! Contact Kambisa! via p.o.box 37657 in Lusaka, 097- 845019 or KambisaBeHeard@hotmail.com
SUNDAY’S STORY #2
by Sunday Zimba
translation from Nyanja by Evans Mboloma, Michael L. Ahlee & Reuben Katebe
notation by Klaartje Jaspers
> Sunday’s Story #1 is found in Kambisa!BeHeard ?1 and at www.kambisa.com/kambisa.
In it, you’ll find how Sunday’s parents get seperated and how he and his little brother Suzyo end up at their grandparent’s place.
The following day my mom came with a baby.
I started explaining what was happening that side. My mom said she was beaten by her husband because I ran away.
After I had ran away my mum had gone into the bush and got surrounded by four snakes. They didn’t attempt to bite her,
they were just watching her. Then they brought down their heads.
Meanwhile the relatives where chasing her, they wanted to find her and beat her.
My mother slept at my grandparents place.
She only spent one day.
In the morning after sleeping, she left.
A few minutes later the family arrived. When I saw them I ran away. When I came back, I found them allready gone.
My grandmum explained what happened. She told me ‘they came with the intention of beating your mum and take her back home’.
Then my mother arrived. I left the place to play somewhere, leaving my mum and grandmum behind. My grandmum was trying to explain to her what happened when she was out.
When I came back home at my grandfathers place, the following day my mom went to my fahers working place to collect some money.
A few hours later the sister to my father from the village came.
When my mom came back, she and my mum met and welcomed each other nicely.
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By night they slept. My father had a dream. The late was complaining, saying that he had isolated her. My father dreamt of two people. After she said he had isolated her, she went and told him he ‘ld never see her again. After the dream my father woke up. Again he slept.
He dreamt again. This time all the animals were coming to chase him. He woke up, afraid. He was sitting at his bed and he started thinking ‘Why? Why are they coming for me?’ For a moment he thought it was his late wife, who came in the form of an animal.
Then he realised that was not possible. Shortly after that he heard the sound of a car, followed by a big bang: an accident. The car had hit the animal which had come to kill us all. My father went back to sleep. This time he slept nicely.
Kambisa! Be Heard. AB/USE
… was made by:
Michael L. Ahlee
Timothy Hara
Klaartje Jaspers
Reuben Katebe
Alice Mapulanga
Matongo
Evans Mboloma
Chanda Mubanga
Astridah Nchimunya-Hamuyamba
Herbert Nthasu Mwilba Jr.
Sunday Zimba
Thanks!!!
to them, their many helpers and those who agreed to be interviewedor photographed
Historic comments and reactions
can be send to:
Kambisa! Be Heard.
c/o Klaartje Jaspers
p.o. box 37657, Lusaka
or:
KambisaBeHeard@hotmail.com
Kambisa! Be Heard. published by
C.J. Jaspers Media, Lusaka
STOP ACTING LIKE ANIMALS
by Michael L. Ahlee
My contribution to your magazine is on the abnormal increase of defilement and incest cases in our country.
I don’t know what has gone wrong with the men of today, I am a man but I fail to understand why my fellow men are behaving that way. They are acting like animals who don’t think about what they do.
how do you accept the juju that will lead you to sin?
Even if it’s juju – please; how do you accept the juju that will lead you to sin? What kind of treatment is it that would demand a person to have sex with his own child? Please use your brain you fools! You must think before you act!
Why are you agreeing to people who would want to deceive you? You have heard so many times that AIDS has no other cure than abstinence or sticking to the same wife. Don’t be cheated – you are persecuting us and our children. People have been prosecuted but still others do not learn from them. What is wrong with them?
Stop abusing girls
I am appealing to all those with the habit of abusing girls to stop. This has been the message to my fellow country men: abstinence – eliche.
> If you have something to say, write to michealahlee@yahoo.com or Michael Ahlee, c/o Klaartje Jaspers, p.o. box 37657 in Lusaka.
INVITATION
Kambisa!BeHeard is looking for your creative contributions. Photos, puzzles, cartoons, drawings, short stories, interviews, poems, articles…: anything printable.
Anyone who has something to say or show about his/her life in Zambia, the current state of world affairs or human kind in general, is invited to send his/her contributions.
CONDITIONS
the size has to be less than 2000 words or max. 2 A5-pages (black & white),
language should be English or any Zambian language if a translation is included,
responsibility and copyright remain yours,
don’t forget to include a contact-address & indicate if you want this to be published or not and please…. keep it simple: Kambisa!BeHeard is meant to serve a wide audience, don’t torture the readers by using unnecessary complicated sentences or words nobody has ever heard off. Intellect is in the message, not just in the words.
Please note:
The editor holds the right to reject or edit all incoming materials, please state it clearly if you don’t want any alterations printed without your prior consent
ADVERTS
Kambisa!BeHeard. has space for advertisements. Non-govermental organisations and private Zambian companies can contact Kambisa!BeHeard. for further information on the rates. The magazine is printed at A5 format, advertisers can buy space at a full, half or a quarter page. Rates are dependent on size, colour, place and contents of the advertisement.
SUBSCRIBTIONS
E-mail subscribtions: free.
Postal subscribtions: 30.OOO ZMK a year within Zambia; 20 Euro a year outside of Zambia.
WEBSITE
More information on the participants in Kambisa!BeHeard, ways to engage and previous copies, can be found at www.kambisa.com/index.htm
CONTACT Kambisa!BeHeard
via KambisaBeHeard@hotmail.com, p.o.box 37657 in Lusaka, Zambia or + 260 (0) 97 845019
UP NEXT: Young, alive and kicking.
Sunday’s Story has already given a bit of insight in the life of the children in the streets of Lusaka, Kambisa!’s third issue will explore the subject into further detail. Interviews with so-called ‘streetkids’, contributions of those involved, the entrepreneuring initiatives by the young themselves…
And off course, as always, attention for arts, music and poetry…
Remember: what’s going to be in the upcoming issues of Kambisa!BeHeard. is up to you. Send your ideas and contributions so we know what you want to be written….
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