FAKE ACCENTS, WEAVES AND BLEACHED SKINS

There is one incident that has stuck permanently like a scar on my mind. It happened in the era of the rush for ‘greener pastures’, when teachers left public schools to join the private sector. It was the period of the popular ‘brain drain’, when most professionals crossed borders to the side where the grass was watered ‘very well’. ‘To cut to the chase’ one of my frantic efforts to liberate myself from the ‘peanuts’ that government offered at that time, ushered me in front of a panel of interviewers, all British. During that time, I figured that one of the female panellists picked up my struggle to catch the quick spoken, semi-swallowed words. She spoke slowly and tried to pronounce every syllable.  How I wish she could have taken up the entire discussion because the rest of her team got bored with my constant interjections of ‘pardon me’ or ‘could you repeat that’. Suffice to say that I was not successful because my failure to catch the British accent made it seem like I did not know how to speak English. After twelve years in school and an additional four years in university, learning English, I had failed lamentably at the former colonial master’s language because of intonation. In the desire to overcome this setback I promised to teach myself the British way of speaking. Now, thinking in retrospect, that is just the problem, what is the acceptable manner of articulation? Some people travel abroad and after two weeks come back with a different accent, which does not sound like the people they try to imitate and is miss for the locals - wasted effort.  What was inherited from the colonial days still haunts the country. Zambia must start believing in its manner of speaking. It is one the countries in Africa where citizens do not need to constantly repeat themselves in order for others to understand what is being said.

English is not a first language in Zambia. By the time, most people are beginning to learn how to speak it, they would have learned their mother tongue first. Therefore, no one can be expected to speak like a British or American. Unfortunately, mispronunciations, poor intonations are scorned and looked down upon. English will remain the official mode of communication for a long time to come. However that is what it will always be, a means of communication and not a standard to measure our literacy, our speaking and listening skills. It is one way of remaining connected to the global village but is not a measure for belonging to an elite social class. It is important to have a common acceptable standard way of speaking without looking down on the interference from the local language. If we are to head ‘Toward a Zambian genre’, then we should consider acceptable forms of English that will not necessarily dilute common rules of grammar, spelling and pronunciation. Creative writers should be allowed to make use of Zambian phrases and expressions as a way of authenticating the culture and beliefs of the people being written about.  The millennials are caught up between many accents as a result of the influence of technology. The challenge to young people is that there is power in being yourself. The effort of trying to be like someone else can be exhausting, it devalues a person. Make your point without making your listener think that you do not know what you are talking about. The only pressure you will have is to be the best version of yourself. So when it comes to pronunciation, let us not judge one another harshly, English is just one of the many languages in the world.

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.