Satan

Did I get your attention with the title?

I think that I have previously written about my impressions of Zambian politics. One of the basic problems is that there is a lack of quality leadership among the ranks of the politicians. While the issues are very complex, one can not deny that this basic facet of a functioning society is missing. Most problems, whether they relate to the issue of voting patterns or to the issue of corruption, can be traced back to a lack of vision and leadership from all Zambians. While the Zambian culture does not necessarily promote innovation and optimism, the Zambians leaders must be counterculture in setting a proper standard for behavior and vision.

This has not been the case lately in Zambia. Over the past two weeks, the major headline in the news has been the fact that President Banda has been calling the leader of the opposition party Satan because Banda disagrees with the policies of this man. The man’s name is Sata by the way; therefore, that is how Banda sort of gets away with his name calling. Can you imagine if Obama came out and called Huckaby, Palin, or McCain Satan? Though different politicians or parties may think these things in America we at least hold ourselves somewhat accountable.

The saddest thing is not that Banda keeps calling Sata Satan, but that the Zambian people just accept that this is the way of life. There are definitely exceptions, but the majority just accept that things will never change.

“Politicians will always insult each other and get nothing accomplished. We will always be poor.”

This attitude and coexisting mentality quite possibly are the most difficult things about working here. At least when I worked in the inner city of DC, there was still some prospect of hope and change found among the people.

I was teaching a lesson on investment to a group of teachers. One of the parts of the lesson focussed on using role models in the classroom. It was so hard for the teachers to think of role models because no one has come up from the slums. There are no rags to riches stories except in the case of politicians who did it through dishonest gains. We can’t accept that this is the way that it is going to be. Someone will one day rise up from Mapalo to a position in society, and I will rejoice that day like never before. Then we will have a proper example that demonstrates that life can be different. We must hold out hope for this day because if we don’t we will be defeated.