Miracles and Witchcraft, same difference

Compiled by Olivia Phiri
‘Same Difference’ does not mean 'same thing'. Same difference refers to two subject matters which are not equal yet share similar values.  A miracle and an act of Witch craft are both aberrations of nature but are based on conflicting ideals by society. A miracle is an event credited to divine intervention. Otherwise, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader for example T.B Joshua of Nigeria. Theologians say that, with divine providence, God commonly works through created nature yet is free to work without, above, or against it as well. Mean while Black magic or Witchcraft has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers for evil and selfish purposes. In modern times, some find that the definition of "black magic" has been complicated by people who define practices that they disapprove of as "black magic". Many rituals performed by black magic practitioners mentioned on television are mentioned as having characteristics similar to Christianity though in a tainted form, and it appears to be universally based upon a religion, but using perverted rituals to suit the needs of the user.

Good and evil are both very intangible concepts. Most philosophies accept the dualism of good and evil. Good coexists with evil and there can be no thing such as ‘good’ unless there is ‘evil’ and vice versa.

From a society’s point of view, whatever is beneficial to general mankind is considered good and whatever is not in the interests of the general mankind is considered evil. Therefore, labeling any action as good or evil is clearly based upon one’s perception and judgment. Society has made laws based on precedents of what it has viewed as good and evil. However, these perceptions keep changing with different generations

In a certain context, even devotional forms of ritual such as prayer can be regarded as a form of black magic, if the intended purpose of the prayer is to cause harm or injury to another. Prayers such as those that evoke the devastation of enemies and so on that produce negative results fall within the realm of ill objective.

In conclusion, both witchcraft and miracles can have good endings and also bad implications depending on the situation, and it must be understood that all that perform the two acts are created by God and thus only one divine creator will oversee their judgment and not society. Therefore society needs to heed caution when labeling an action good or bad because many other factors come into effect such as preservation of traditions and culture which are important even in facilitating the act of evangelism to Christianity in order to save humanity from itself, indeed a miracle.

Time keeping...important aspect in a development process

By Olivia A. Phiri

In Zambia we are famous for not observing time, whether we are invited for a party, business meeting or even a funeral. It would be easy to judge that we are not serious people, but that is not the truth, we are self less and hard-working, just too relaxed in observing time. I came up with five reasons why (i) We do not own watches, (ii) We do not have a highly mechanised or industrialised nation or economy,(iii) Climate, (iv) Culture and lastly, (v) Poverty.

Lack of Watches

Very few people wear or own watches in our country, the few that do either are very old people that stream from the colonial days like grandfathers, other people are business men and social elites. Watches can be said to be expensive and a bit unnecessary in this day of the cell phone but most young people only look at the phone to answer phone calls, access the internet and send text messages. Time does not seem to be very important, some people say that they know they wont be the only ones late thus only look at the time on occasion and not as a prerequisite to ensuring that they are on time. The youth in Zambia and mostly female tend to think it's actually fashionable to be late and makes them stand out at conferences and meetings. Unfortunately  when a person is late in a multicultural setting, everyone turns their wrists to check their time, in reaction to how disturbing your appearance or attendance is. Some people actually find bad time keeping an insult and may result in incomplete deals or agreements.
People for example in Europe do not wear cheap watches, they attach the value of watches to the value and importance of time. The reason we do not buy watches even when we can afford them is because we attach no real value to time itself. For example if you had a Rolex watch or Tag Heuer ...then you would definitely look at it more often and maybe observe time too. This however is not the reason Europeans observe time compared to Zambians, it's the mutual respect and orderliness they have for other people and thus they have cities that never sleep because they are constantly on a row, having up to four jobs per person. For a person who has no respect for time and others i doubt if we would manage clocking in systems, or payment by the hour jobs. Respect for time is very important as aspect in developing a good relationship, making good first impression, improving mental alertness, contributing to national development overall in that all activities will be done in good time and effectively. The advise would be to go out and buy a watch, just try, show the commitment to time by just purchasing a good quality affordable watch.

Lack of an industrialised economy

To be continued

Social Change: Part II- So Rich, yet so Poor

By Olivia A.P Abraham

Amazing aint it, how can a rich person be  poor. How did Africa find itself in such a predicament. How can we now be called underdeveloped when we are the source for all types of raw materials needed to develop any thing on earth. And so they call us Third world, becasue we are backward and uncivilised, we are poor and it is all our fault. How dare they have the courage to not worship us instead they bring us a Religion, and dare to teach us Politics and Economics and one sided Development theories, am upset really.

Our source of poverty is greed and deception. When our forefathers recieved the Whiteman, they were intriguged by the shiny beads, and other finished products that were not selleable in Europe amd were of no spefic value. Because of greed the chiefs easily made arrangements with the whitemen to give them portions of land, give them human beings as slaves, gave them rights that superceeded the natives, in the name of friendship and fair trade, but the whiteman had other intentions. As capitalists this was an opportunity to sell cheap products and get maximum profit and did not invest any knowledge or leave any equipment that would empower the natives.
The other deception was God, they used the idea of spreading the good news about salvation and converted our fore fathers into christianity which teaches submission. And before our forefathers knew anything they became servants of the whiteman and started paying him taxes to live on their land. Some people may think that our forefathers were stupid, but I beg to differ, they were greedy, they thought by aligning themselves to the whitemen who had guns and thought they would gain protection from their local enemies.

It is not only our forefathers but our Presidents of today  still out of greed make decisions that are not good for the people. An example of greed is explained by Sardanis in the Book A Venture into Africa....most african leaders who accept advice from multilateral institutions and donor countries(Former President of Zambia, Chiluba) and enthusiastically do so win favour from them (Donors) who in turn do not closely scrutinise too closely the rest of thier actions, especially self enrichment.

"First, the colonizers extracted gold, silver, furs, silks, and spices, then flax, hemp, timber, molasses, sugar, rum, rubber, tobacco, calico, cocoa, coffee, cotton, copper, coal, palm oil, tin, iron, ivory, ebony, and later on, oil, zinc, manganese, mercury, platinum, cobalt, bauxite, aluminum, and uranium. Not to be overlooked is that most hellish of all expropriations: the abduction of millions of human beings into slave labor."(Micheal Parent-Against the Empire)

Due to colonization we are now poor, we have lost our rights to our own property, we worship foreign Gods, hide under glodalization as a way of conforming to the wolrds expectations, we still continue to be greedy and manipulate each other under ther guise of leadership. So maybe we do deserve to be called backward because we are consistently repeating the same mistake, falling for the deception....and we are so gone that even if we chose not to trade with them they have now found synthetic alternatives to our resources.

Another thing Africans or Zambians need to do is to stop thinking that they are bad people with bad cultures. Yes I agree that some traditions should be cast away such as early marriages, sexual cleansing and genital mutitlation, but we have good manners and a clean social history. White people have exihbited the most gruesome cruelity known to man and their worst trait is exploitation of other human beings.

"From the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries Europe was "ahead" in a variety of things, such as the number of hangings, murders, and other violent crimes; instances of venereal disease, smallpox, typhoid, tuberculosis, plagues, and other bodily afflictions; social inequality and poverty (both urban and rural); mistreatment of women and children; and frequency of famines, slavery, prostitution, piracy, religious massacres, and inquisitional torture. Those who claim the West has been the most advanced civilization should keep such "achievements" in mind."(Micheal Parent-Against the Empire)

The solution is a revolution....as I mentioned in part one that we need people power, people will, we need to turn left, look the other way and find local solutions, we need to build our Africa or Zambia, instead of in-fighting and conducting corruption. Lets have a togetherness never seen before, let our leaders seat down and find better terms for our trade with the west, I know sanctions may come but how has Cuba managed. Personal sacrifice, thats all we need.
To be continued

HIV IS AS OLD AS I'AM

By Olivia A.P Abraham

I turned 30 in October last year and enjoying the beginning  of my life, the mid way to 60, a limit I have given to myself before most vitality is shed off and my kids think they can give me advice. Most people I love have died from HIV/AIDS and most whom that are still around have it.. And both the remaining and gone are such important factors to both my life and the future of my country. Educated, highly skilled and loving people are swipped by this virus that seems not to have any discrimination.

I have enjoyed the presence of many loved ones due to the states provision of Antiretrovial therapy which only began  in June 2004, before then only wealthy people could access the life saving medication. The only thing killing people with the virus now is hunger, improper medication, drug abuse, stigma, reinfection and denial. The other treatment  greatest handicap is the inadequacy of the healthcare system, which suffers from high patient numbers, lack of physical space and infrastructure, and – most critically – too few staff. 

I will tell you a story about one of my heros with HIV, a widow left with two children both female and five dependants in 1997, all children still in School. The woman's name is Adalieda,* she is now 53 years old, but she was only 38 when her husband died of an AIDS related illness. Adelieda was a Degree Holder when widowed, but as soon as she buried her husband she fought hard and got a Scholarship for her Masters degree, and soon she was in Europe, leaving her children in the care of elder relatives.

But her stay was interupted by a bereavment  that made her travel back to Zambia, as the head of the family they didnt bury until she landed. When she got out of the plane, no one could recognize her as she had lost so much weight and needed help walking. Everyone in her family could not bear the idea to lose her that they encouraged her to get tested and she did. Adelieda accepted her new situation when she tested positive and soon started her treatent which she still takes to date. She returned courageously to Europe and completed her Masters degree with her ill health. When she returned after a year, she was fat and healthy, the treatment had worked, the pills were sent to her via mail service and she followed through consistently. To date all her five dependents and two children have completed tertiary education and she has built 3 houses and is still working.

The Antiretrovial treatment has saved so many lives that have gone to save other people's lives too, imagine if she had refused to take the medication, all those fatherless children in total seven would have either become street children, prostitutes are destitutes. Instead because of accepting the new found stituation, Adelieda, has raised children who are economists, accountants,public relations practictioners, lawyers, 2 civil servants and a shop assistant. All these children are contributing to the nations GDP, thereby making this country better. We need people to go face to face with the 30 year old giant, like little David did with Goliath. We need courage and not denial, we need compassion and not stigma, we need food and not politics, we need proper health care and not fake religious zealots. We need people to realise that this Virus has come, it has settled and who knows soon we could have a cure, but so far we need to adhere and not abuse drugs so that the nation may prosper to greater heights.

Lets exort our heroes who have conquered our 30 year old mischievious virus. If we are negative, lets stay that way, if we are positive, lets be proud and soldier on, taking care to take drugs on time and remember to eat well and excercise. Be happy.

Social Change, part 1

I believe we evolve everyday, all our daily experiences  make us different people as each day passes.If indeed am right, then why have we in developing countries remained underdeveloped? So many academics would have answers to this question but non truly apply in the real sense. i find myself in conflict with Rostow's stages of Human development.They are six1.Traditional society 2.preconditions for take off 3.take off4.drive to maturity 5.High mass consumption and 6. Beyond high mass consumption. step 1 is where the people (and argue with me if we are not at this stage in Zambia right now) have limited production due to their inability to apply science and technology in production of goods, high devotion to Agriculture, social organisation dominated by tribal and clan connections( just look at Sata's Ministers and people in Government, all Bemba's, just as in Mwanawasa's time), Income too limited to invest ( the majority of Zambians are unable to have Bank accounts and later on even save for those that have them due to the high cost of living) and finally, the culture does not allow growth or initiatives or new ideas ( just look at how Zambians are reacting to the idea of permitting Gay rights, all they imagine is sex, when most gay couples are just as sexless as heterosexual couples and evidence has shown that heterosexuals perform more anal sex compared to gay couples.
The next step we went into and got stuck is the Pre-conditions for Take off. In this period the society prepares itself for sustained growth and modern science begins to be applied in terms of Agriculture and production, entrepreneurship develops and is encouraged and Banks mobilize capital for investments.
Nations around the world have surpassed us greatly, and yet we want to jump in the pool of high mass consumption, a state where a society has worked hard and is now enjoying benefits such as massive shopping at Malls and not local traditional markets even when their earnings do not allow.
What can we do to cure ourselves of this suffrage, this constant manipulation in trade differences between the west and us, this political backwardness, this technological gap, cultural negativity and religious zealous y that has not taken us anywhere but leads us to continuous  slavery and poverty. Even as we seem to be developing, and buildings are being erected and the traffic is larger than ever before....truth is we need People's will, a total turn round and personal sacrifice in issues of national development, for this country and many others like us to see some development, not creating and recreating and recreating a constitution that still has so much power vested in the office of the president and nullifies all those little things the public is getting appeased with like Duo citizenship when the chief justice and the whole Judiciary is still appointed by the office of the President.
To be continued......

Am Back: Increased access, reduced usage

I have been privileged recently with broadband internet access at my home due to my husband's home office for over too years now, but unfortunately it has led to the death of my blog. Can I blame Facebook? I seem unable to check any other website, I now just use Facebook even for issues I used to blog about, well you know what they say about new things. I guess the radio hates television and television hates the computer and the so on. With the advent of new media that seems to always be faster and more interactive, we seem to forget what's important.  Long did I advocate for better ICT access for women, but look what happened when I got full access, nothing. No blog post since 2007.

I have recently joined the Zambian Bloggers Network associated with Hivos, and the project head (Brenda N Zulu) at the last meeting threatened to expose our laziness in updating our blogs....so here I am, am back.

I have been very busy with the Corporate world, NGOs and international organisations, but currently am running a  personal business, all details will be relied in my forthcoming posts. I will look into the changing lives of journalists due to our ever changing political/economical and technological climate. I will do some interviews and feature certain personalities and professionals. Am Back!

Zambians Await Budget presentation and make headways into future tracking methods
Ilstration By Kiss Brian Abraham

The Zambian Police Service is more than historic in its treatment of certain cases or suspects. The measures applied in issues such as domestice violence are just off.
A woman goes to report that she has been battered the whole day and needs that the Police pick up her husband immediately to reduce further loss of property and bodly harm.

The Police man in charge, gives her a paper and starts asking her some personal questions that are unnecessary to the victim's well being, like where exactly does it hurt, what was he using to hit you, how many times, so how are you feeling.

Meanwhile the woman wants to break down and cry because she is being told that it is a domestic issue and the only thing she should do is seek some counselor who should try to mend the marriage, BULLSHIT, because her life is in danger.
The Police men start making jokes about how many battered women had reported the same issue for that particular night.

she suddenly hopes that because of the frequency they will take her serious and pick up her violent husband who had earlier vowed to kill her.
She looks at the cop and he continues scribbling and giving her a laugh, hoping, still hoping that if he sees her tears, he will chnage her mind and go and pick him up and arrest him if only for a night so that she could rest and heal.

He hands her the medical examination request slip for any local hospital to attend to her, how does she get their? Am sure he didnt think of it, he knew she was going back to her abuser. So she looks him in the eye and asks one thing- what if i die tonight, will you take me more seriously then?

She goes back home and her husband who is now dressed up for an expected arrest tells her that as soon as his out of jail, he batter not find her in his house, he thinks his getting arrested, the abuser knows he deserves to be arrested fo rthe damage he has caused, but the law thinks its a domestic issue, something they should not interfere into.

She cant sleep, her abuser is tired and in bed, so she leaves the sitting room and goes to sleep right next to him, stairing at him with such intensity that he wakes up, afraid, she is quiet, no smile, no expression, finally full of bad thoughts, thoughts of stabbing him right in the heart, pouring parrafin or petrol and setting him ablaze, making him bath some acid water, all this goes through her mind and more.
He gets out of bed turns off the lite, she switches it back on, he leaves the room hoping to find her aspleep, oh no she is still awake stairing at him , still expressionless

Now i wonder, what if she does something to him, what if she kills him, will it still be a civil issue needing a small peice of paper for examination? Or what if she burns him, will they still need a counselor?

The woman is left subjected to silly petty decrees of traditions and obligations of going back home to the batterer, what would happen if it was the other way round?
Would the Police men leave it for the next day?

Equality my foot!! There is need for justice for all.

More next time