RELIGION AND LITERACY

Of late, there has been a rise of prophetic activities in Zambia. The influx of so called ‘prophets’, locally called ‘ma profita’ has brought in an ‘era of deception’. Some people have observed that all the magicians and witchdoctors have infiltrated the church. One of the most recent stories centered on members of a congregation being asked to place their bank account numbers on the ‘altar’ so that the prophet could ‘pray’ for miracle money to drop into each one’s account. Fascinating! Wouldn’t the country have been wealthy by now? The prophet would have just ‘prayed’ for gold and money to drop into the national treasury. But before we get carried away with a quick fix solution to our economic woes let’s get the facts right.

Religion is ra general term that refers to the belief in and worship of a superhuman, controlling power, especially a personal god. Christianity is the religion that is based on the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ or is someone who follows the life and teachings of Christ and is connected to Him by making an open declaration. A prophet is said to be a proclaimer of the will of God. A miracle is an extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency. Magic is the power of influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. Witchcraft is the practice of magic, especially black magic and the use of spells. A witchdoctor is a magician accredited with powers of healing, divination and protection against the magic of others. (Google Dictionary)

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

 

Now that we are all on the same page with definitions we can ably agree that literacy has significant impact on the growth of religion and Christianity. One of the key things that religious leaders should endeavor to do is to invest in the development of the literacy of their congregants. Christianity is very strong in Zambia- more so that it is openly declared as a Christian nation.



Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

The question is with high illiteracy levels, how many of the church goers have a clear understanding of the various truths that are presented to them every week. In the major cities and in churches that are in the upper class areas, illiteracy would not come up as a hindrance to the success of religion. What about in the high density areas, the shanty compounds where most of the so called ‘prophets’ have strongholds? Do all the churches there preach significantly enough to sway their members away from the scourge that has hit the country in the recent past? For how is it that one cannot differentiate between miracle and magic? How is it that one cannot see that being asked to engage in sexual orgies in full view of a congregation is immoral? The hordes of people, especially women, taking part in these outrageous events is now alarming! If more people could read, write and understand the same scriptures that are abused by their manipulators, they would not for instance discontinue taking medication in favour of ‘miracle’ water. How can anyone be so naïve to believe that money can suddenly appear into one’s bank account without them making any effort?  

 

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

As a nation, we must draw lessons from the preceding era of the prosperity gospel when people were duped into giving their last ngwee or even property. This era led to a lot of laziness among some people who thought that by giving to the man or woman of God, the good Lord would bring about miraculous riches. After this phase came the ‘prophetic’ era. Many woke up to the fact that they were being swindled, therefore, the style changed. The ‘prophets’ crawled from the shadows like phantoms and infiltrated the religious circles with all sorts of tricks to squeeze gullible followers. The gimmicks vary, short of being called magic or witchcraft, as long as there is a willing soul desperate enough to do anything to get out of dire situations.

For those who follow Christ and his teachings- there is need for them to have the ability to read and write the teachings in order for them to begin to understand how they can apply them in their day to day lives. The church therefore has a key role in not only building the moral fibre of the communities they operate in but also to lift up the literacy standards of their people. Someone who fully comprehends the scriptures will not be cheated. “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11. The scripture is self-explanatory and emphasizes that religion should define its role in the lives of the believers, beyond the four walls of the building where people meet to worship. It calls for the church to join in the efforts of government and civil society to lift the standards of the citizens through literacy. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian Genre’, all citizens must be able to read and understand the times that we live in, so that they do not get cheated.

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

 

PUBLISHING IN ZAMBIA

If you are a writer of fiction or non-fiction, you will agree that it is really great to get published. Receiving an award and seeing book sales soaring is every writer's dream. However, in Zambia, many manuscripts just end up on shelves, gathering dust and will probably never achieve these milestone. Many potential authors have asked how to get past the ‘publishing hurdle’. Publishing in this country is not easy. The whole process is complicated, worsened by the lack of support structures for writers.

What does it mean to publish? A published writer is one who has written a book, a story, a play, or indeed any work of fiction or  non-fiction and has had such work printed and distributed for public access. It means to make your work public, letting people know that you have written and that your work is ready for reading. 

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

Where does this whole process begin and what are the hurdles along the way? When a writer is satisfied that a manuscript is complete, they need to get it to a publisher. It is at this point that the woes of most Zambian writers begin.

For a start, there are few publishers in the country. These laregely focus on publishing academic works. So if you have written a text book for school or college, then you might just get lucky, that is if your book is approved by the curriculum development authorities. Otherwise, you join the struggle of the fiction writers. Local publishers have preference for books that they can easily sell in schools and tertiary institutions.  So where does that leave the one who writes for the greater good of humanity? Out in the cold mostly, to fend for themselves. If such a writer succeeds to publish, then they have a challenge of marketing their books to a nation with a poor reading culture. This has also been compounded by low literacy levels with less than 40% of the population being able to read and write. 

A fiction writer has no choice but to seek other publishing routes. What are these alternatives and how accessible are they to the ordinary writer? It is important to recognise that there are Zambian writers who live abroad. For them 

publishing options are plenty. That is one route that local writers can take, get a publisher outside Zambia. The question is, how many can afford to do that? One has to be ready to pay taxes to bring  books into the country, and get back to the marketing difficulties. The major book retailers also have their desires, just like the local publishers. Also, when your book is published abroad how do you keep track of the sales out there? 

The other alternative, something that has been trending in the recent past is self-publishing, but it is not the easier way out either. In the first place, it is totally self-financed. Secondly, the author has to do their own marketing. It is like merging an author and publisher into one.  Then there is need to ensure that the manuscript is edited properly. Finding a good editor is like looking for 'a needle in a haystack'. This has led to the production of sub-standard books. Many writers skip the editing stage to minimise on costs. Then there is the lack of illustrators- an aspect that has made many writers depend on un-established graphics designers. 

If one gets past all these obstacles, they are faced with the colossal cost of printing. Some Zambians have opted for printing services outside the country but pay dearly for importing their own books back into the country. Self-publishing? Well, considering the aforementioned and the fact that generally, self-published work is looked down upon in some circles, it is an option one would wish to consider cautiously. However, we cannot completely discard it, as many self-published books have ended up saving the day.  It has contributed to the development of writing in Zambia. 

What about online publication? The answer to the question is yet another question; how many Zambians have access to a computer, let alone the internet?  Only a small section of of the population has access to a computer (according to ZICTA). That being the case, how many will get to read from this platform? In fact, online publication is the cheapest and the simplest as long as the work is of standard. It is an opportunity to reach a wider audience, beyond the borders of Zambia. But who gets to check what goes and what is completely unpalatable? According to a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia, ‘State of the Media’ for the quarter January 1 to March 31, 2012, there is no specific regulation for online publication such as a law that must require online publishers to register with any government department the way newspapers do. The current situation allows anyone to set up an online publication and dump whatever stuff they wish to publish without anyone checking. MISA Zambia has since urged the state to come up with a way that will ensure that anyone setting up an online publication registers before launching to publish. The absence of a perfect check system has allowed a situation where anyone, even if they are not well vest in fiction publishing, to go ahead and dilute the good works being done by professionals in this area. 

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

If we are to head 'Toward a Zambian Genre', a collection of non-fiction works about Zambia, by Zambians, the publishing industry must be developed to accommodate this kind of work. Government should also play a role in making publishing a reality for its citizens. Unless many of the issues raised are addressed,  we are far from realising our dream, yet there is hope because Zambians have started writing.  

 

 

MAKE READING A LIFESTYLE

January is coming to an end. Officially we have been in the New Year for close to 31 days. How far have you gone in implementing your resolutions? Have you even started yet? As time lapses, the fervor and interest slowly wan, which is followed by excuses and before you know it, the plans are shelfed. Keeping promises is not easy. Sticking to plans is difficult if you do not write them. The effort of committing your idea to paper and referring back to it constantly keeps the initial passion alive. It compels one to eventually do something about it. If you decided to make reading a lifestyle, you need to know exactly what kind of books you wish to read, then list the titles. This way soon as you come across the book, you will get it and read it!

Plans should not be about the money but about succeeding, about achieving your goals, it is about breaking through to the next level that you planned for. Most plans have been parked because, when it comes to the budget, people get overwhelmed. They pay more attention to how they will obtain the money that is needed to execute the plan. When your emphasis is on the money rather than on what must be accomplished, it is easy to quit, because generally, money is hard to come by. By all means, include a budget but focus more on what must be achieved. Money is just one of the enablers. If you concentrate on what needs to be done, you will begin to implement the part of your plan that does not require finances. For example, if your resolution is to make reading a lifestyle, you must understand that not all books need to be bought. Join a book club, get library membership, exchange books with friends, use social media to connect with other readers so that you can exchange books and when you have the money, buy the book! By making the first steps, you will have completed 50% of the plans and the rest will fall into place. Resources get attracted to plans once there is commitment and when achievement is on the horizon.

Finally, avoid things, places or people that will sway you away from your plans.  Create the time for reading. For instance, television can take away the much needed time. Spend more hours with other readers, talk about your books and share ideas. A lifestyle is made by repeating actions that build into a recognizable pattern. Eventually others will identify you with that particular style, she or he is a reader. When you become rooted, you create a foundation upon which you can build. You could start recruiting other readers or could just start teaching others how to read. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian Genre’, then we need avid readers. In 2018, make reading your lifestyle!

MAY THE DAY BREAK- CULTURAL VALUES AND WRITING

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

When I was in senior secondary school, I remember how I learned about some of the cultural practices of the Ibo. My friends and I picked up a few phrases that we used often. For instance, 'may the day break', became more popular than 'good night'. No, we had not traveled to West Africa, neither had we any friends from there. Writing has an important role in the promotion of traditions and cultural values and the likes of Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiogo and many others  today have strongly contributed to ensuring that their world became known to others. Their writings had painted a wonderful picture of a people whose world had been disturbed by the arrival of another culture. 

 Creative writing is a sure way of preserving key practices and ensuring continuity for generations to come. Zambia has a rich history, but most of it, if not all has been told by non-Zambians. Every writer has got their own priority when they are putting work together. They also have a perspective that they wish a reader to have on a particular topic. For example, when the missionaries arrived in Northern Rhodesia, their aim was to evangelise. They wrote about the religious practices that they found and called them barbaric and the people pagans. However, would an indigenous Zambian hold the same views? What made Africa a 'Dark Continent' and yet it was and still is exploding at its seams with wealth. Writing has strong influence on people's thoughts, and when it is negative,  it can lead them to resign to hopelessness. When you travel to developed countries, it is amazing that much of their cultural values have been upheld and infact they are churning revenue through tourism.
In Zambia, the main sources for its history are academic books and these are preserved for those that pursue studies in that line. Most of the systems that were used to pass on history and other important cultural values have died with modernization and rapid urbanization. The television has replaced story telling. The internet has forcefully taken the place of being the main source for entertainment and knowledge. With modernization most of the cultural values have been watered down and if left unattended, will be lost forever. If we must head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, creative writing must take center stage of incorporating critical cultural values and symbols in all the literary forms. This means casting key elements of Zambia’s cultures in the various forms of writing. May the day break 'TOWARD A ZAMBIAN GENRE'.

Photo Credit: Kafula Mwila

 

 

 

EXORCISING THE DEMON OF ILLITERACY

Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

If you have ever attended an exorcism session you will attest to the fact that the paranormal exists and in a realm that is beyond human reach. Exorcisms vary from religion to religion; bottom line is there are some spiritual forces that live among us and in some cases in us. Superstitious? Well, here is the problem, a large percentage of Zambia’s population remains illiterate over 50 years after independence. Without spiritualising anything, you will realise that to a very large extent, illiteracy hampers development. Want the facts and figures? Google it or simply look around in your extended family and count how many are literate- get the picture? This means the current responses by government and  the private sector need to go deeper than mere distribution of books in schools; there is need to apply methods which will address the problem from multiple angles.

To exorcise is to evict a bad spirit, in this case a demon from the person or the area in the name of a higher power than that demon. In assessing the negative impact that demons have on the life of a humans, it is safe to say that illiteracy has gained itself this persona. The adverse effects of illiteracy are written all over the pages of this country; for instance, people talk about how maternal and child mortality could be reduced by fifty percent not just if services were improved but if the affected citizenry were literate. There is no telling the magnitude of the negative impact illiteracy has on our socio-economic development.

Where did this all begin, how and when did the ‘demon’ find its seat among us? Way back to the colonial era, we inherited a language that we have now made official and anyone who cannot read or write in this supreme dialect is rendered illiterate. Should English therefore be the yardstick for measuring literacy levels? Our minds have been so attuned to even look down on those who fail to converse in the ‘royal’ language. Drastic shift is required where this mindset is renewed into appreciating the mother tongue. Why is it a laughable matter for a Zambian to speak ‘broken English’ but acceptable for a French or Chinese to ‘break’ the ‘Queen’s language’?    

Recently, local languages were made compulsory as medium of communication for the first years of primary school in Zambia. So the math, the science and so on will be taught in local languages. There was a lot of hype around this development and there still is as people in the education sector frantically begin to work backwards to smoothen the implementation of a political pronouncement. Nothing wrong with the pronouncement but were we prepared to take the national syllabus in this direction? Will this move eventually contribute to raising the literacy levels? Are all schools equipped with the resources to support this change How does early childhood education link with the first years of primary education when the former is taught in English and vernacular has been introduced in the latter? All these questions need to be answered including on how the poor reading culture shall be tackled. There is need for commitment from government to make sure that they see this pronouncement through to the end.

It is a fact that if someone can afford a beer then they can equally afford to buy a book to read. Our residential areas are littered with bars and pubs and whatever it is where alcohol is sold but how many public libraries are in most of these communities? This scenario does not encourage anyone to opt to go to a library that is miles away. it is easier to rush into a tavern which is within vicinity. Can the general populous be brought on board by taking literacy activities to them, within their reach?

Lastly, but not the least- this ‘demon’ of illiteracy needs concerted efforts; public and private, individuals and groups, religious and circular to promote the growth of what has been neglected for so long and yet is key to the development of this country. If we are to head 'Toward a Zambian Genre', the literacy agenda must take centre stage.

 

LITERACY AND DEVELOPMENT



Photo credit: Kafula Mwila

 

Cholera has transformed the capital city. The fresh air that freely flows between the trees on Cairo road is appealing. The way the eyes can now sweep over a distance without obstructions of make-shift structures, is amazing. A lot of people are talking highly about the capital now. The question is, did it have to take an epidemic, did people need to die in order for the nation to wake up to the filth that was choking streets, drainages and every little space or passage? There is a whole lot of whys and wherefores that others will and probably have already talked about, this article is highlighting literacy and how it is a catalyst to development. Someone once said that if more women were literate, 50% of the diseases that affect them would be reduced and in most cases out rightly eradicated. Human resource is the largest component of development as long as they are literate enough to understand and interpret the visions, policies, etc.

Clearly, there has been a lot of illiteracy on many issues in this era of filth in the capital city. Hygiene for one. Is it a lack of understanding or the simple fact that people just don’t care? Both vendor and buyer should know better not to operate in undesignated areas. ‘Failure of systems’, you say but why are the designated areas being shunned so viciously?

The unsanitary conditions and lack of services such as garbage collection in these illegal vending spots have taught the nation unforgettable lessons. When people are literate they will not only be able to read and write but will understand their responsibilities as citizens and be patriotic enough to curb such damaging consequences. Responsibility is another. The phrase, ‘we are waiting for the government’, has not only promoted laziness but has to a large extent led to lawlessness. Again both vendor and buyer should appreciate the differentiation between a citizen and national leaders, together they form government. When laws are put in place, the responsibility is on a citizen to obey. Example, littering. What role does a national leader have, when a citizen buys a fruit, eats it and then throws left overs through the window of a moving vehicle?

The whole point is that each and every individual should educate themselves on how best they can contribute to the development of this country. This does not require a degree or some rocket science. In the villages, where most people are said to be uneducated, it is very clean. Year in, year out, cholera breaks out in the major cities of Zambia but never in the rural areas, why not? What then is this literacy? Is it only the ability to read and write? The other meaning of literacy is competence or knowledge in a specified area or subject. Surely, the latter does not necessarily require that one goes to school because some of that knowledge is common, isn’t it? The final question therefore is, without a soldier holding a gun and standing next to you, what will you do to maintain the cleanliness that has been achieved over this short period?

 

 

 

WHAT'S THERE TO WRITE ABOUT ZAMBIA?

If you drive through Zambia you will encounter the most spectacular countryside. The vast savanna sprawls kilometers of beautiful vegetation. Each season has a story to tell about the magnificent transformation of the grass, the trees and flowers. Year in year out the tales become more and more interesting. The scents that fill the air are transferred over vast regions by the elements that carry great stories across lakes and rivers.  In the dry season, you walk over the soft crackle of leaves and perhaps feel a harder crunch of the fallen barks of the enormous baobab or sausage tree.  When you brave the early morning winter, you are met with the sweet smell of dew as it soaks into fresh grass and slowly evaporates with the winds.

Having lived in peace for decades n this beautiful country are the people who have earned the deserved titles of peace loving, warm hearted, hospitable. They are true to their land, their tribes, their culture and beliefs. They will tell you stories of old, stories of where their land begins and where it ends. They will share their fears, their hopes, and their brave attempts at trying to make it in the big cities of Lusaka, Kitwe and Ndola. They will sing songs, recite poems. They will dance to the resounding rhythm of drums. The people of Zambia are great stories in themselves.  You can read it all in their eyes, their smiles and soft spoken nature.Talk about soft, Zambia has had some hard times too. Its political development has been punctuated with pain and glory; pain from the loss of great leaders that once tried to bring the country’s ailing economy back on track.

This mighty copper producer has received its fair share of the rising and falling prices of the precious metal. The weather has not been kind either- hitting it hard on the staple food-nsima. The politics and the economy speak volumes of how this peace haven has waned from the glory of standing as an equal with the currency of its former colonial master to being defined as a third world country.

 

There is a journey that Zambia has made from the early Stone Age through to the Iron Age and now the country is massively influenced by technology that has helped it log onto the world stage. Yes, it is in Zambia that we have archived victorious soccer stories. We have shared the world Olympic stage and the feats of our heroes and heroines are yet to be written about.

Are you still asking, ‘What is there to write about Zambia?’ Well, there you have it-this country is ready for the literary world. You can take her on whichever way, fiction or non-fiction. Zambia has a lot of stories to share with the world but it is the writers that it is waiting for.