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Country has a long way to go
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
[Information in this story came as a result of trip sponsored
by the Canadian International Development Agency in conjunction with the Canadian
Community Newspapers Association.]
By Crystal Crimi
DURHAM REGION MEDIA GROUP
Zambia’s future may be starting to brighten, but the country still has a long road ahead. A trip into the country’s poverty-stricken areas clearly illustrates that Zambia is still one of the poorest in the world. On the way to an HIV/AIDS project in Kitwe, Ignatius Kayawe, a Southern African AIDS Training (SAT) country program officer, was talking about economic and social factors contributing to teenage pregnancy when the topic of the country’s poor financial state arose. He said he suspects change starts with attitude and a change in mindset. “I truly believe we are not working hard enough,” said Mr. Kayawe. “Yes, people work hard, but they are the minority.” As he spoke, the vehicle he travelled in passed a man napping on the lawn while a woman hung clothes in Kitwe’s Mulenga Compound. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” said Mr. Kayawe. In Zambia, when you go to a private business or government office, people just chat away instead of attending to their client, which wastes time, he said. There’s a lack of long-term planning by government as well, he added, noting drinking is also a problem. Inside Mulenga Compound, music blared from bars while a group of peer educators tried to perform an AIDS awareness song and dance in the markets. “Beer is cheap; it’s made locally,” said Maureen Mabonga, a 22-year-old who works with the compound’s SAT project. She said 750 ml of home brew is about $1,000 kwacha. Ms. Mabonga said men get their wives and children to sell items such as ground nuts and then spend the money in bars. “We have so many bars here; they drink too much,” she said. “We can’t blame them; they have nothing to do.” Ms. Mabonga estimated that less than 1,000 people in the roughly 23,000-person compound have jobs. The ratio of children to adults is high.
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(311 words)
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