Thursday 21st
November
The cicadas are singing in chorus this morning. It is usual for an
evening choir to fill the air with sound just after dark, but I
cannot remember hearing them so expressive in the morning. It has n
non stop for the past couple of hours. I suspect that this is a
response to the coming of the rains – maybe some baby cicadas will
soon be on their way!
I have already been in Zambia for a week – though as I mentioned
before it is hard to think of being anywhere else. Power comes and
goes, but I haven't yet woken and found electricity in the house but
it always seems be come on around 22hrs – I am told it goes off at
5hrs, but I can't confirm that!
Debt is a terrible problem! Fortunately, apart from buying my house,
I have been able to keep clear of debt myself. Unfortunately there
are people who make a fortune out of lending to the vulnerable. In
the UK we have pay day loan companies who are allowed to charge in
excess of 1,000% p.a. I don't believe that anyone who is so desperate
that they have to take loans at these rates is likely to be able to
repay. In Zambia many also find themselves borrowing money and never
getting out of date.
Luke visited me in the morning. He now lives and works in Chikuni.
Although he has worked hard to gain additional qualifications he has
not been promoted for 15 years and is still on the same grade as when
he started in the Health service after school – despite operating
in the role of Human Resources Manager. The economy in Zambia is
struggling. Zambia has borrowed a huge amount of money in recent
years from the Chinese Government and now has to start repaying. Luke
told me that 70% of the country's income is now being used to service
this debt!! The result is that there is little money for basic
services such as Health. There are few drugs available – patients
are given a prescription and need to find money to buy from a
pharmacy, if they are to be treated. Even finding enough money to buy
food to feed the patients is now a problem! The government has a
system to allow employees to borrow at an interest rate of 30% p.a.
The “loan companies” charge 30% per month! It seems that many, if
not the majority of employees regularly take advantage of the
government scheme! Of course this leads into a spiral of debt with
less money available to live on each month and more used to service
the debt. There is a small government fund which allows an advance on
the salary with no interest, but, as you might expect, this soon
vanishes.
Luke has a niece who was hit by a motorcyclist early in the year and
was severely hurt. She is in need of extra physiotherapy. The girl
lives in Kabwe – about 90 Km east of Lusaka. The physiotherapy
includes electrical stimulation and is carried out in Lusaka – of
course if the money could be found for treatment and transport, there
is no guarantee that there would be electricity available for the
electrical stimulation. Luke is currently doing a distant learning
course. He needs to take exams in December in Choma – about 100Km
south of Monze. The exams are spread over two weeks, so he either has
to travel back and forth or rent a place and stay for the period –
in either case there are considerable costs involved.
Such are the day to day challenges in Zambia at this time.
I failed to meet with Best in May and was determined to meet up this
time. In the event he contacted me not long before I left the UK.
I met Best some years back – I think it was 2005! I was trying to
develop a link between the churches of Our Lady of the Wayside, Monze
and St. Gregory's, Cheltenham. There were some children from the
church who wanted to go into secondary education, but their parents,
or more likely, their guardians, could not afford the fees -
secondary education is not free in Zambia. Best was one of those
children. He did well at school and passed his grade 12 exams (GSCE/A
level equivalent). He was keen to follow a course in law and obtain
qualifications. With the support of some parishioners at St.
Gregory's he was able to obtain a certificate in law and subsequently
a degree. He continued studying and doing a little legal work and
after a few more years took his bar exams. All seemed well, but
because of issues with payments and dates for submission of work he
was denied his certificate and made to retake some exams the
following year. Life for a poor student here in Zambia is very
difficult. Obtaining legal qualifications involves a lot of research
and the need to travel around the Country. The timescales are tight
and transport is not reliable or as fast as in the UK! Generally work
needs to be submitted at the University in Lusaka and again meeting
the costs of transport and the timescales is a challenge. Penalties
can be imposed if any deadline is missed and exam certificates can be
withheld.
All seemed to be well, Best passed his exams the following year and
was ready to graduate. However, at the last moment the authorities
decided that he had made a couple of violations in terms of payments
and timing and withheld the certificate that would have enabled him
to work as a fully fledged lawyer. He will have to wait 5 years
before trying again!!
Best continued to practice in Lusaka in the firm he had established.
His wife then suddenly became very ill – unable to move or speak.
The next few months he spend looking after his wife and travelling
around trying to find a cure. Hospitals in Monze and Lusaka were
unable to identify the disease, but the costs kept mounting and Best
was unable to do much work.
The situation now is that he owes a considerable amount for office
rental and his papers have been taken - so at the moment he is unable
to practice law. He has also had to sell almost all of his land in
Monze. Fortunately his wife is now recovering after taken some
traditional herbal medicines.
I am aware of the wasted talent here in Monze. A couple of years ago
Best was about to start on a promising legal career and even had
thoughts of standing as an MP in the 2021 elections. I hope that
somehow his ambitions can be brought back on track.
Diven was my next visitor. Diven's ups and downs are legendary!! He
too has been looking after his sick wife for the past two or three
years. Again visits to hospitals have not provided any answers, but
have incurred significant costs. He is trying to find a way to get
his business on track. He would like a shop in the market, where
there is more business and some security. The latest thought is to
bringing shop no 2 into use and join it to his house so that he can
guard it from the house. Recently he has suffered from a number of
thefts and he is not comfortable operating from his current shop.
Diven was fascinated by the pack of cards left in the Guest House. I
tried to explain how we play cards and showed him a simple card trick
– not that my conjuring skills are up to scratch. I also showed him
the poker game I play on the computer and did my best to describe
what was going on.
Chris
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