Things need changing

This is my opinion of things that would be beneficial to change about Zambians.

1. Handouts



Things given out for free for too long and it’s total BS. Three people came up to me yesterday and said “Give me money”, not because they had done anything but simply because they are Zambian and I am white. Even children shout out to me as I ride by on a bike “Give us money!”

You can’t even hold a free training session without basically paying people to come (giving food and drinks)! People won’t do anything for free, even learn, if they think they’re entitled to something for their time. An expectation exists now that white people bring stuff for free, and it’s true, and it’s bad. It makes sense from the Zambians perspective though. Why would I go and spend my own money on an irrigation pump if I know that someone will come and give them out in my area?

The result is dependency syndrome, lack of ambition and a lack of association between hard work and results.


2. Pride in Work



I don’t understand this well right now. There is an idea that you should do work, like people will go and plant a crop of sunflower seeds just because you should be planting crops. People do work hard, especially women. The thing that is missing I think is a pride in working hard and in quality of work.

My grandparents wake up, and start working, cleaning, gardening, etc. just because they get a satisfaction from working. My mom will tell me how hard my grandmother is working and I’m expected to be impressed (I am). My brothers will call me lazy if I don’t work as many hours a day as they do and I’m expected to be embarrassed. Someone in school that answers every question in the textbook even though they were only asked to answer the odd numbered questions is regarded as doing something good. Something important to realize here is that all of these beliefs are cultural, not factual, hence the differences between Canada and here.

I think the reason there is a difference between here and Canada is that here, everyone has to do a lot of really hard work out of necessity, and the ones that are really respected, the rich, don’t have to do very much work, or it’s at least it’s perceived as being easier. In Canada, all of that respectable work that I just described is voluntary, or going above and beyond your job.

The result is low quality work.


3. Vertical Power Structure



There is a very absolute power structure here and it’s so important. Everyone needs to know what their place is so they can act accordingly. I’ve even seen people discern between two people in the same position of power by what type of company vehicle they drive. The one with the nicer vehicle is “higher up” than the other one.

It makes things more difficult to do because you have to work within this power structure, so to get your equal or someone below you but on a different power ladder to do something, you have to get their boss to tell them to do it.

There is so much respect that people also take crap when they shouldn’t. For example, I bet I could go to anyone that thinks they are in a lower position than me and just tear a strip off of them, berate and belittle them and most people would just sit quietly and take it. In Canada I think most people would stand up and tell me to go to hell or that I’m way out of line.

This is part of something bigger that relates even to how people think on a daily basis. In school a lot of emphasis is put on memorization, treating teachers like the holders of knowledge and students like empty vessels waiting to be filled. This passive learning leads to passive thinking. I don’t have full thoughts so it’s hard for me to put this into words but it’s different from the way I think. I think that there is often more than one correct solution to a problem, even many possible correct solutions with varying degrees of success. The world is an endless place of opportunities and possibilities to be explored, things to be discovered, maybe by me.

Does this make sense? I need to clarify though, because I’m describing a trend, not an absolute. There are lots of independent, creative thinkers here. My friend described it to me well. “We have been taught several different ways of thinking, thought processes, etc. It takes a genius to develop a new way to think, but anyone can learn it. We have just been exposed to so many different things”

If your boss tells you to do something, you don’t argue, you just do it, even if you don’t know why you’re doing it or you think it’s wrong. Under this structure it’s not your job to think for the boss, or help them think, just do your job. If there is a problem but you did what you were supposed to do, then it’s the boss’ fault, not yours. A lot of bosses complain of having to explain every little thing to their workers and having to think for them. They can’t just give them a job and let them figure out how to do it.

The result is a lack of responsibility and thought.


4. Trust



Not trusting the person you’re doing business with requires you to do so many things that hinder productivity! I’m not even going to explain this one. Just think about all the business interactions that you do on a daily basis that require trust and what you’d do if that trust was gone. You trust that your bank isn’t going to close shop and move to another country with your money. You trust that your doctor isn’t prescribing you medication just to get a commission. You trust that the medication you buy isn’t fake medication made in china (seriously, there is fake medication!), you trust police officers, teachers, friends and family. Imagine how differently you would act if you thought that everyone interacted with on a daily basis was a thief and was in the process of figuring out how to steal from you. Things aren’t that bad here, but they’re not good.

The result is slow and inefficient means of doing business.


5. Too resilient (will put up with too much crap)


Resilient Wanderer ?!?

Zambians are so hardy. They can put up with just about anything, which is amazing, and helps them in a difficult environment, but holy crap, they put up with some stuff that shouldn’t be put up with. I have been in so many situations where I’m steaming mad, in disbelief of “how ridiculous this is!” and everyone else just shrugs their shoulders and takes it.

This results in a lack of will for change.


6. Confidence



I’m starting to understand the dangers of paternalism. Zambians tell me “We’re poor. We’re struggling”. Of course it’s true, but what a terrible self image. I showed some pictures of modern farming from home, explaining that one field that can be cultivated and seeded in a portion of a day is what 10 families take the entire season to care for by hand. “These Whites. They have figured it out. Now if we can just do that.” The problem is, that attitude doesn’t breed creativity. Instead people wait for Whites to deliver a solution.

Example:
I tell a farmer that he should grow sorghum as well as maize because it is better to grow a variety of crops. He grows sorghum instead of maize in some places, but it doesn’t do that well. He blames me for telling him to do something that didn’t work. He doesn’t feel responsible to figure out why it didn’t do very well, what to change to improve it or whether it was just a bad idea to begin with. All of that is my responsibility. This is the epitome of dependence.

As a child your father is your hero. He can do anything, fix a car, build a house, maybe even lift a car! As you grow older you are shocked as you find out that, yes he can a lot of that stuff, but he can also make mistakes. If he’s wrong sometimes, how do you know when? At this point you are forced to start thinking for yourself. Every decision you make needs to be analyzed and the responsibility is yours. You made the decision, and if it fails, you need to fix it. As you become an adult, you realize that you needed to go through the learning yourself.

The result is a lack of responsibility for actions and lack of wiliness to create the solution.

p.s. Yes I just typed in the heading into google images and put pictures in