The Zambian government has been preaching to everyone how the economy has improved and that all well-meaning Zambians should praise the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) for doing great things for the people. This is measured purely on economic terms. And for sure there are these improvements that we can see and measure in terms of reduction in inflation, increased private sector involvement in the economy, rising GDP and such macro economic indicators. The question however that should be asked is, what is happening to the people, especially those in the low income bracket, the unemployed and the peasant farmers? I don't intend to answer this question; in fact I want to share with you the wisdom of our ancestors in development. If you want to seek wisdom, it is in the ordinary events and experiences of the people where it is found.
Indigenous activities that groomed children in such virtues as life rhythm, balance (movement and mental), cooperation, team spirit and social responsibility are no longer available to modern children. Building blocks, toys, the television and video animations and frivolous entertainment have taken over and are turning them into culturally alienated observers instead of serious participants in cultural and creative development. What do the video games, the television, and the modern toys do to our children?
Why is it that some Zambian families think that a child can increase his/her intelligence by speaking in English and that their perception of development is ingrained in the love for money, cars and consumer goods? It must however be acknowledged that Africa is modernizing rapidly. In music for instance, the continent is changing from a society of mental health and social health dancers to a society of stress dancers. Indigenous African rhythm dances and dance games which were responsible for the socialization of children and moulding them into responsible citizens have been abandoned. These have been replaced by copied exaggerated dances often accompanied with drug taking, smoking and beer drinking. In the indigenous setting, the child in the wisdom of his/her culture developed the spirit of sharing, caring and open-mindedness through the discipline of organised children's dances and games. The modern Zambian child in ignorance of his/her culture independently indulges capricious, inward-looking, selfconscious, sitting room dance capers which ingrain such negative social attitudes as selfishness, self- 1 consciousness and loneliness.
Social discipline was indigenously inculcated in the principles and discipline of a rite of passage often transacted through age group or puberty dances. These are being abandoned and when adapted, the underlying social values are discarded. Thus for modern exercises in social discipline, we resort to regimentation intimidation, media and pulpit slogans, fines and imprisonment. All this is done to try and shape the attitudes of our modern children.
The occupational stress and emotional crises of modern adult existence, in which recreational stress and relaxation programmes through dance and theatre goals are ignored, are fostering a society that is morally psychotic and simmering with socio-economic stress and moral bankruptcy. Just look around and see what is happening to people. Where is their humanness? When will we achieve integral human development where; all human rights are respected and promoted; where all humanbeings are allowed to participate in development and where the integrity of creation is protected? If we want development, we must target the people just like our ancestors did. That is why you are, because I am- the Ubuntu philosophy.
In October 2007, the Economic Justice Programme
initiated a pilot project to train parishes in research and
advocacy work. The purpose of the project was to equip
members at parish level with research skills so that they
may be able to conduct researches in their various
communities on the social and economic issues affecting
their communities and advocate for improvement of
these socio-economic ills.
Once the parishes have been
trained, they are funded so as
to carry out a piece of research
in their communities.
So far eight parishes have been
trained and they are; Saint
Mary's parish (Choma), Saint
Theresa and Christ the King
parishes ( Livingstone), Saint
Francis Xavier parish of
Kalingalinga, Good Shepherd
parish of Kabwata and Saint
Mary's parish of Matero (Lusaka) and Wusakile and
Chimwemwe parishes in Kitwe.
Most of the parishes have appreciated the training that
the Economic Justice Programme has done. The
participants had been given an opportunity to address
some of the issues that had been negatively affecting
their communities for a long time. In this way, they were
able to get to the root causes of the problem and suggest
some solutions after the research was done.
Through these trainings some parishes have been able to
score some successes. For example, Saint Mary's parish
of Choma conducted research on sanitation at their
town centre market. They used the recommendations
from their research to advocate for improved conditions
at the market. As things stand now, the council in Choma
has started building toilets at the market and garbage
collection at the market has improved.
In Livingstone, Saint Theresa parish conducted a
research on non-issuance of title deeds to people who
had bought houses in Maramba township. From this
research, the researchers have sensitized local residents
on the importance of owning title deeds the residents of
Maramba are now fully aware about their rights to
owning title deeds. Knowledge indeed is power!
Christ the King parish in Livingstone also did a study on
the impact of bars located near schools. This study
brought to light the negative effects of such locations and
the Council and Ministry of Education in Livingstone are
currently looking at ways in which these bars may be
penalized or closed down as they disturb the learning
environment of both the pupils and teachers.
With all these examples, one can truly see that with
research a lot of issues are
uncovered and with the right skills,
parishes have been able to do
something positive about the issues
that are affecting them. As the
saying goes, “Dynamite comes in
small packages” and so it is with the
parishes. It just goes to show that
even if parishes are at grassroots
level, they are able to bring about
major change in their communities
by addressing some of the issues
through research and advocacy.
So keep your ears to the ground, we just might be
coming to a parish near you!
