Friday, April 29, 2011
Zambian products eligible for AGOA export
US-Zambia Business
With James Muyanwa
AS promised, this week we look at the products which are eligible for export by African countries, including Zambia, to the United States of America under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
My quick glance at the list of the United States of America (USA) imports - for any period -under the Act shows 12 packs of the eligible products from Africa.
Relatively, out of the 12 categories of the products, Zambia has a comparative advantage in the agriculture products as well as minerals and metal products.
AGOA extended duty-free treatment under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to AGOA-eligible countries like Zambia for more than 1,800 tariff line items. This was an addition to the list of approximately 4,600 GSP items which were already available to GSP beneficiary countries.
Therefore, there are currently about 6,400 products from the African AGOA-member countries which are eligible for duty-free treatment. The additional GSP line items include such previously excluded items as footwear, luggage, handbags, watches and certain automotive components.
Apart from agriculture products, they are categorised under forest products which is also Zambia’s strong area, chemicals and related products, energy-related products in which Nigeria and Angola are leading exporters, as well as textiles and apparel.
Other groups are footwear, minerals and metals, another Zambia’s domain, machinery, transportation equipment, electronic products, miscellaneous manufactures and special provisions.
Admittedly, the list is too condensed and therefore does not clearly specify the products, but it should also be appreciated that there are a total of 6,400 single items which, if I were to list all of them for instance, would cover more than six weeks.
I would, therefore, only look at the products in the categories where exporters in this country have an advantage and agriculture as already been alluded to is one such sector.
According to the Africa Regional Services (ARS Paris), a primary source of French language program materials for American Cultural Centres at US Embassies for francophone Africa, cereals like barley, different kinds of rice and wheat are in the agriculture category.
Closely related to that, are the many varieties of vagetables.
Further on demand in the USA are a catalogue of fruits like water melon, pineaples and paw-paw as well as their preparations. Zambians can also export speficified plants or trees which include the floriculture products.
Zambian timber producers and exporters should also take advantage of the demand for wood and wood products like clothespins, coniferous wood dowel rods, plywood, spring-type clothespins, wood blinds, shutters, screens and shades as well as wood wool.
Under minerals and metals category USA imports copper, Zinc, base metal fittings, padlocks, cobalt alloy, magnesium, molybdenum, columbium, thallium, titanium, tungsten, bars, tungsten, vanadium and zirconium.
Then there are scores of items in the iron and steel products category. The opportunities are simply yawning for those who want to export to the US under the arrangement.
In the main, AGOA authorizes the US President to provide duty-free treatment under GSP for any item, after the USTrade Representative (USTR) and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) have resolved that the article is not import-sensitive when coming from African countries.
While AGOA extends duty-free entry into the USA for approximately 4600 product lines to the 37 AGOA-eligible Sub-Sahara African countries, a special set of conditions governs the trade in apparel.
AGOA eligibility does not automatically imply compliance with the apparel export provisions and the relevant rules of original which will be tackled later.
******
During the week I received a call from a Mr Simwinga of Copperbelt who wanted to know more about Kanzam International and how it operates in linking up the investors from USA and Zambia. Mr Simwinga further wanted to know if Kanzam International charges for its services or not.
I will, however, not delve into answering Mr Simwinga because a full column will be dedicated to look at such issues and explore more the operation of Kanzam International. Look out for the column next when I come back with another topic.
Kindly send your contributions to: jmuyanwa@gmail.com, call: 021(0955) 431442 or AGOA@kanzamint.com or call +1(214) 245-4371
Zambian products eligible for AGOA export
US-Zambia Business
With James Muyanwa
AS promised, this week we look at the products which are eligible for export by African countries, including Zambia, to the United States of America under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
My quick glance at the list of the United States of America (USA) imports - for any period -under the Act shows 12 packs of the eligible products from Africa.
Relatively, out of the 12 categories of the products, Zambia has a comparative advantage in the agriculture products as well as minerals and metal products.
AGOA extended duty-free treatment under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to AGOA-eligible countries like Zambia for more than 1,800 tariff line items. This was an addition to the list of approximately 4,600 GSP items which were already available to GSP beneficiary countries.
Therefore, there are currently about 6,400 products from the African AGOA-member countries which are eligible for duty-free treatment. The additional GSP line items include such previously excluded items as footwear, luggage, handbags, watches and certain automotive components.
Apart from agriculture products, they are categorised under forest products which is also Zambia’s strong area, chemicals and related products, energy-related products in which Nigeria and Angola are leading exporters, as well as textiles and apparel.
Other groups are footwear, minerals and metals, another Zambia’s domain, machinery, transportation equipment, electronic products, miscellaneous manufactures and special provisions.
Admittedly, the list is too condensed and therefore does not clearly specify the products, but it should also be appreciated that there are a total of 6,400 single items which, if I were to list all of them for instance, would cover more than six weeks.
I would, therefore, only look at the products in the categories where exporters in this country have an advantage and agriculture as already been alluded to is one such sector.
According to the Africa Regional Services (ARS Paris), a primary source of French language program materials for American Cultural Centres at US Embassies for francophone Africa, cereals like barley, different kinds of rice and wheat are in the agriculture category.
Closely related to that, are the many varieties of vagetables.
Further on demand in the USA are a catalogue of fruits like water melon, pineaples and paw-paw as well as their preparations. Zambians can also export speficified plants or trees which include the floriculture products.
Zambian timber producers and exporters should also take advantage of the demand for wood and wood products like clothespins, coniferous wood dowel rods, plywood, spring-type clothespins, wood blinds, shutters, screens and shades as well as wood wool.
Under minerals and metals category USA imports copper, Zinc, base metal fittings, padlocks, cobalt alloy, magnesium, molybdenum, columbium, thallium, titanium, tungsten, bars, tungsten, vanadium and zirconium.
Then there are scores of items in the iron and steel products category. The opportunities are simply yawning for those who want to export to the US under the arrangement.
In the main, AGOA authorizes the US President to provide duty-free treatment under GSP for any item, after the USTrade Representative (USTR) and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) have resolved that the article is not import-sensitive when coming from African countries.
While AGOA extends duty-free entry into the USA for approximately 4600 product lines to the 37 AGOA-eligible Sub-Sahara African countries, a special set of conditions governs the trade in apparel.
AGOA eligibility does not automatically imply compliance with the apparel export provisions and the relevant rules of original which will be tackled later.
******
During the week I received a call from a Mr Simwinga of Copperbelt who wanted to know more about Kanzam International and how it operates in linking up the investors from USA and Zambia. Mr Simwinga further wanted to know if Kanzam International charges for its services or not.
I will, however, not delve into answering Mr Simwinga because a full column will be dedicated to look at such issues and explore more the operation of Kanzam International. Look out for the column next when I come back with another topic.
Kindly send your contributions to: jmuyanwa@gmail.com, call: 021(0955) 431442 or AGOA@kanzamint.com or call +1(214) 245-4371
With James Muyanwa
AS promised, this week we look at the products which are eligible for export by African countries, including Zambia, to the United States of America under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
My quick glance at the list of the United States of America (USA) imports - for any period -under the Act shows 12 packs of the eligible products from Africa.
Relatively, out of the 12 categories of the products, Zambia has a comparative advantage in the agriculture products as well as minerals and metal products.
AGOA extended duty-free treatment under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) to AGOA-eligible countries like Zambia for more than 1,800 tariff line items. This was an addition to the list of approximately 4,600 GSP items which were already available to GSP beneficiary countries.
Therefore, there are currently about 6,400 products from the African AGOA-member countries which are eligible for duty-free treatment. The additional GSP line items include such previously excluded items as footwear, luggage, handbags, watches and certain automotive components.
Apart from agriculture products, they are categorised under forest products which is also Zambia’s strong area, chemicals and related products, energy-related products in which Nigeria and Angola are leading exporters, as well as textiles and apparel.
Other groups are footwear, minerals and metals, another Zambia’s domain, machinery, transportation equipment, electronic products, miscellaneous manufactures and special provisions.
Admittedly, the list is too condensed and therefore does not clearly specify the products, but it should also be appreciated that there are a total of 6,400 single items which, if I were to list all of them for instance, would cover more than six weeks.
I would, therefore, only look at the products in the categories where exporters in this country have an advantage and agriculture as already been alluded to is one such sector.
According to the Africa Regional Services (ARS Paris), a primary source of French language program materials for American Cultural Centres at US Embassies for francophone Africa, cereals like barley, different kinds of rice and wheat are in the agriculture category.
Closely related to that, are the many varieties of vagetables.
Further on demand in the USA are a catalogue of fruits like water melon, pineaples and paw-paw as well as their preparations. Zambians can also export speficified plants or trees which include the floriculture products.
Zambian timber producers and exporters should also take advantage of the demand for wood and wood products like clothespins, coniferous wood dowel rods, plywood, spring-type clothespins, wood blinds, shutters, screens and shades as well as wood wool.
Under minerals and metals category USA imports copper, Zinc, base metal fittings, padlocks, cobalt alloy, magnesium, molybdenum, columbium, thallium, titanium, tungsten, bars, tungsten, vanadium and zirconium.
Then there are scores of items in the iron and steel products category. The opportunities are simply yawning for those who want to export to the US under the arrangement.
In the main, AGOA authorizes the US President to provide duty-free treatment under GSP for any item, after the USTrade Representative (USTR) and the US International Trade Commission (USITC) have resolved that the article is not import-sensitive when coming from African countries.
While AGOA extends duty-free entry into the USA for approximately 4600 product lines to the 37 AGOA-eligible Sub-Sahara African countries, a special set of conditions governs the trade in apparel.
AGOA eligibility does not automatically imply compliance with the apparel export provisions and the relevant rules of original which will be tackled later.
******
During the week I received a call from a Mr Simwinga of Copperbelt who wanted to know more about Kanzam International and how it operates in linking up the investors from USA and Zambia. Mr Simwinga further wanted to know if Kanzam International charges for its services or not.
I will, however, not delve into answering Mr Simwinga because a full column will be dedicated to look at such issues and explore more the operation of Kanzam International. Look out for the column next when I come back with another topic.
Kindly send your contributions to: jmuyanwa@gmail.com, call: 021(0955) 431442 or AGOA@kanzamint.com or call +1(214) 245-4371
US-Zambia Business by Kanzam
With James Muyanwa
FOR any product or service supplied in one area, there is always demand by potential customers somewhere - sometimes very far-off. The challenge is always how to make the supply party meet the demand side.
Take for instance a bee-keeper somewhere in Chief Mukonchi in Kapiri Mposhi district of Central Province of Zambia, with several litres of already harvested honey. How can he/she ensure that the honey reaches that consumer in the United States whom he/she may not even know exists?
It is precisely for that reason that this column has come up to, inter alias, give a lowdown of some of the interactions and linkages between the business community of Zambia on one side and that of the US on the other hand, every Wednesday. All this with a courtesy of Kanzam International Inc!
KANZAM INTERNATIONAL
Kanzam International chief executive officer, Ricky Muloweni says that the investments and trade opportunities in the two countries from the two different worlds are massive and need to be exploited not by the two respective governments but by the resptive private sectors.
Pregnant with the desire to link the business people from the two countries – Zambia and US – Mr Muloweni, a Zambian and his colleague ………………………(name please) from US forged a partnership and came up with Kanzam International whose name stands for Kansas, where the other partner comes from and Zambia.
During a telephone chat at the weekend, Mr Muloweni told me that since inception in 1998, his dream has been that the US business people should partner with the Zambians to fully make use of the investment potential in the two countries. This can only be possible if the local entreprenuers are also in position to embrace the spirit of industrialisation.
Zambia needs to fully industrialise.
Kanzam International has identified some sectors in which it is actually involved to bring the players from Zambia and those from the US together. The company which is broadly pro-agriculture, is involved in mining, manufacturing, education and promotion of art in schools.
Generally, it is a business facilitation and consulting services company for Zambian and US entrepreneurs wishing to do business in Zambia or the United States of America. Its facilitation services range from cultural education, import-export facilitation, business coaching for rural development projects and international business collaboration for Zambian and US companies.
Its main mission is to serve small and medium business clients and entrepreneurs that are in need of logistical, technical, and business entry strategy services in Zambia and the US. It is already working with various agencies such as Ministry on Commerce in Zambia to fully utilize opportunities.
Through its vast business and cultural experience in both the US and Zambia’s economic environment, Kanzam has set out to objectively provide Zambia’s entrepreneurs a medium through which challenges and inadequacies of doing business with American entrepreneurs will be moderated.
KANZAM AND AGOA
Luckily, the US government in 2000 put in place an Act through which Zambian and other African entreprenuers can export to that country and Kanzam, instead of trying to invent the will, works within the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to help forge connections between the business entities from the two countries.
As the result of Kanzam’s efforts under the AGOA arrangement, diners in several restaurants in Kansas will be able to savour Zambian soup (Zamsoup) which will be exported to that country by Sylva Catering Service while more other people in US will taste the Zambian honey.
Kanzam has managed to link Sylva Professional Catering Service and the Zambia Honey Council to the local business entities in US under the AGOA.
Through the deal, Sylva Professional Catering Services will be supplying 15 tonnes of Zambian vegetable soup like bondwe to the US every month.
Kanzam is also working with the Zambian women in mining for similar deals.
As a lead-up to the 10th AGOA forum which will be held here in Zambia in June this year, Kanzam wants to bring more Zambian entreprenuers on board to ensure they take advantage of the yawning opportunities in that country.
Equally, more US investors are yearning to come and invest in various sectors of this country which has matured into one of the most preferred investment destinations in the world.
Through this column more opportunities will be unveiled as it will also offer a platform to entreprenuers from US and Zambia to interact and forge links. One can only hope that more local players will follow it.
Next week I will look at the eligibility of Zambian products in the US and what could be done to enhance their acceptability into that wide market.
Kindly send your contribution to: jmuyanwa@gmail.com or call: 0210955-431442 or 0210977-246099
Ends…
FOR any product or service supplied in one area, there is always demand by potential customers somewhere - sometimes very far-off. The challenge is always how to make the supply party meet the demand side.
Take for instance a bee-keeper somewhere in Chief Mukonchi in Kapiri Mposhi district of Central Province of Zambia, with several litres of already harvested honey. How can he/she ensure that the honey reaches that consumer in the United States whom he/she may not even know exists?
It is precisely for that reason that this column has come up to, inter alias, give a lowdown of some of the interactions and linkages between the business community of Zambia on one side and that of the US on the other hand, every Wednesday. All this with a courtesy of Kanzam International Inc!
KANZAM INTERNATIONAL
Kanzam International chief executive officer, Ricky Muloweni says that the investments and trade opportunities in the two countries from the two different worlds are massive and need to be exploited not by the two respective governments but by the resptive private sectors.
Pregnant with the desire to link the business people from the two countries – Zambia and US – Mr Muloweni, a Zambian and his colleague ………………………(name please) from US forged a partnership and came up with Kanzam International whose name stands for Kansas, where the other partner comes from and Zambia.
During a telephone chat at the weekend, Mr Muloweni told me that since inception in 1998, his dream has been that the US business people should partner with the Zambians to fully make use of the investment potential in the two countries. This can only be possible if the local entreprenuers are also in position to embrace the spirit of industrialisation.
Zambia needs to fully industrialise.
Kanzam International has identified some sectors in which it is actually involved to bring the players from Zambia and those from the US together. The company which is broadly pro-agriculture, is involved in mining, manufacturing, education and promotion of art in schools.
Generally, it is a business facilitation and consulting services company for Zambian and US entrepreneurs wishing to do business in Zambia or the United States of America. Its facilitation services range from cultural education, import-export facilitation, business coaching for rural development projects and international business collaboration for Zambian and US companies.
Its main mission is to serve small and medium business clients and entrepreneurs that are in need of logistical, technical, and business entry strategy services in Zambia and the US. It is already working with various agencies such as Ministry on Commerce in Zambia to fully utilize opportunities.
Through its vast business and cultural experience in both the US and Zambia’s economic environment, Kanzam has set out to objectively provide Zambia’s entrepreneurs a medium through which challenges and inadequacies of doing business with American entrepreneurs will be moderated.
KANZAM AND AGOA
Luckily, the US government in 2000 put in place an Act through which Zambian and other African entreprenuers can export to that country and Kanzam, instead of trying to invent the will, works within the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to help forge connections between the business entities from the two countries.
As the result of Kanzam’s efforts under the AGOA arrangement, diners in several restaurants in Kansas will be able to savour Zambian soup (Zamsoup) which will be exported to that country by Sylva Catering Service while more other people in US will taste the Zambian honey.
Kanzam has managed to link Sylva Professional Catering Service and the Zambia Honey Council to the local business entities in US under the AGOA.
Through the deal, Sylva Professional Catering Services will be supplying 15 tonnes of Zambian vegetable soup like bondwe to the US every month.
Kanzam is also working with the Zambian women in mining for similar deals.
As a lead-up to the 10th AGOA forum which will be held here in Zambia in June this year, Kanzam wants to bring more Zambian entreprenuers on board to ensure they take advantage of the yawning opportunities in that country.
Equally, more US investors are yearning to come and invest in various sectors of this country which has matured into one of the most preferred investment destinations in the world.
Through this column more opportunities will be unveiled as it will also offer a platform to entreprenuers from US and Zambia to interact and forge links. One can only hope that more local players will follow it.
Next week I will look at the eligibility of Zambian products in the US and what could be done to enhance their acceptability into that wide market.
Kindly send your contribution to: jmuyanwa@gmail.com or call: 0210955-431442 or 0210977-246099
Ends…
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Dad, son's day out
By James Muyanwa
IN Africa it is rare to meet a boy and his father on a day out just the two of them.
More often than not the mother has to be involved in any adventurous outing for the children, both girls and boys while the man will think that his job ends at just looking for money to facilitate such an expedition.
The women always create chances to spend quality time with their children both girls and boys but it is rare for men to do so exclusively for their children.
Mathew Kaoma, of Lusaka’s Chalala residential area admitted that men were not mainly involved in the pastime of their children and leave most of the works to their mothers.
Mr Kaoma, a banker who said he has three sons conceded that most of the time his boys are taken out by their mothers while his preoccupation is to find the money for the occasion.
“You know, I feel guilty, just yesterday (last Saturday) my children came to me saying that they wanted to go to Adventure City, but I gave their mother the car and the money to take them. Even after they insisted that they wanted to go with me, I count not and thought I rather go and get their school report forms on Monday,” he said.
Emmanuel Ndhlovu of Chilenje South said that there are few men who took time to be exclusively with their sons and also pleaded guilty of that failure.
“Yes I think it is true that, as fathers, most of the time we only think of expensive presents for our children and not having quality time with them. We really need to change because by not spending quality time with them we are creating a gap in terms of information.
“I think it is for this reason that usually the girl child looks more knowledgeable about the facts of life than boys of the same age are,” he said.
It is against that background that the women from the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Northmead congregation in Lusaka last week chose to make a difference for their spouses and their sons.
They organized what was dubbed “Father-Son dinner” at Hotel Intercontinental which was for exclusively men with their sons to celebrate that magnificent relationship.
One of the people who attended the function, Moses Phiri said the occasion had given him an opportunity to interact with his two sons and hailed the church for the initiative.
Mr Phiri said even if he was not a Pentecostal he had to pay to attend the function because he thought it was important for him to have a good time with his sons.
One of Mr Phiri’ sons, Joachim, said he was happy to be with his father for an evening out.
Martin Hamainza said such gatherings were strategic as they gave an opportunity for the fathers and their sons to spend some time together.
Mr Hamainza said most men did not want to go out with their children and spend less time together because they felt raising children was for the mothers alone.
“But this is wrong. Our children’s proper growth needs the input from both the fathers and mothers. There must be that balance,’ he said.
Who could have been the better guest of honour than President Rupiah Banda, himself a dedicated father and a key supporter of family values! Mr Banda wished he had been informed that children were “welcome.” He could have gone with his young son.
Accompanied by First Lady, Thandiwe, Mr Banda urged men in the country to be role models for their children and give them the loving care for them to grow up into responsible fathers for the betterment of the nation.
He said fatherhood went far beyond the provision of money, food and other material things to the children, albeit that was important.
Fatherhood, he said, encompasses spending quality time with the children especially sons and help to mould them into responsible adults who would one day successfully takeover the mantel of fatherhood for future generations.
“In the divinely-ordained course of life, boys should grow into men and girls into women. The process depends to a great extent on the quality of fatherhood.
“Fatherhood does not stand only for material and financial provision in the family. It stands for character development, which fathers must carry out on their sons. Fathers must be there to spend quality time with their children,” he said.
Fatherhood, beyond biological child-bearing, is a God-given commitment that men in families should fulfill.
Mr Banda went on to emphasis on the mutual responsibility the father and the son have to each other saying that while the father provides the love and care it is the child’s responsibility to respect and obey the father.
The effect and impact a father has on his children particularly boys is exceptional. The son picks up certain traits and behavioural elements from the father willy-nilly. The learning usually is unconsciously.
In his article to the Georgia Psychological Association on father-son relationship, psychologist Charles Williams starts this way:
“Have you ever noticed how children want to be just like their parents when they are young, nothing like their parents when they are teens, and then become just like their parents for better and worse when they become adults?
“This could not be more evident than in the relationship between fathers and sons. From the evolution of childhood through older adult, predictable stages occur in the way sons view and relate to their fathers,” he said.
Dr Williams comes up with an acronym I.D.E.A. to describe the changing stages into the child’s movement towards becoming like his father. As children, he says, sons idolize their father but as teenagers sons experience a period of discord or conflicts against their fathers.
As young adults, sons experience a period of evolving although distance may still be there while as full adults the sons start moving towards acceptance for their fathers and ultimately becoming like them so much that by the time they reach about 50 years they are a legacy of their father’s influence for better or worse.
Pentecostal Assemblies of God Northmead Pastor Joshua Banda told the gathering at the hotel that the relationship between father and son was paramount as it also represents that of God the father and Jesus Christ.
Bishop Banda said that the relationship is also reflected at various levels from a family unit to the national leadership.
He said it was for that reason that his congregation wanted to celebrate even the national fatherhood as exemplified by the Republican Presidency.
In that vein Bishop Banda presented President Banda with a painting depicting the current president and all the three past presidents as a way of the church’s honouring the national leaderships past and present.
Similar presents were awarded to First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda and his immediate successor, Dr Frederick Chiluba both in absentia, while late President Levy Mwanawasa’s was presented to his son, Patrick.
Bishop Banda said the church was proud of the four presidents and recognized the roles each played during their respective reigns.
He said the church was aware that mistakes could have been committed while the four presidents were separately in power but it was equally mindful of the fact that they were not angels and therefore were bound to make mistakes.
In his sermon, Reverend Yohan Cronje from Cape Town South Africa, who was the guest speaker, said that presidents and other leaders of any nation carried a special grace because of their mammoth responsibility.
Rev Cronje said the leaders therefore deserved to be honoured and recognized.
After that the fathers and their sons continued with their day out.
Ends…
IN Africa it is rare to meet a boy and his father on a day out just the two of them.
More often than not the mother has to be involved in any adventurous outing for the children, both girls and boys while the man will think that his job ends at just looking for money to facilitate such an expedition.
The women always create chances to spend quality time with their children both girls and boys but it is rare for men to do so exclusively for their children.
Mathew Kaoma, of Lusaka’s Chalala residential area admitted that men were not mainly involved in the pastime of their children and leave most of the works to their mothers.
Mr Kaoma, a banker who said he has three sons conceded that most of the time his boys are taken out by their mothers while his preoccupation is to find the money for the occasion.
“You know, I feel guilty, just yesterday (last Saturday) my children came to me saying that they wanted to go to Adventure City, but I gave their mother the car and the money to take them. Even after they insisted that they wanted to go with me, I count not and thought I rather go and get their school report forms on Monday,” he said.
Emmanuel Ndhlovu of Chilenje South said that there are few men who took time to be exclusively with their sons and also pleaded guilty of that failure.
“Yes I think it is true that, as fathers, most of the time we only think of expensive presents for our children and not having quality time with them. We really need to change because by not spending quality time with them we are creating a gap in terms of information.
“I think it is for this reason that usually the girl child looks more knowledgeable about the facts of life than boys of the same age are,” he said.
It is against that background that the women from the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Northmead congregation in Lusaka last week chose to make a difference for their spouses and their sons.
They organized what was dubbed “Father-Son dinner” at Hotel Intercontinental which was for exclusively men with their sons to celebrate that magnificent relationship.
One of the people who attended the function, Moses Phiri said the occasion had given him an opportunity to interact with his two sons and hailed the church for the initiative.
Mr Phiri said even if he was not a Pentecostal he had to pay to attend the function because he thought it was important for him to have a good time with his sons.
One of Mr Phiri’ sons, Joachim, said he was happy to be with his father for an evening out.
Martin Hamainza said such gatherings were strategic as they gave an opportunity for the fathers and their sons to spend some time together.
Mr Hamainza said most men did not want to go out with their children and spend less time together because they felt raising children was for the mothers alone.
“But this is wrong. Our children’s proper growth needs the input from both the fathers and mothers. There must be that balance,’ he said.
Who could have been the better guest of honour than President Rupiah Banda, himself a dedicated father and a key supporter of family values! Mr Banda wished he had been informed that children were “welcome.” He could have gone with his young son.
Accompanied by First Lady, Thandiwe, Mr Banda urged men in the country to be role models for their children and give them the loving care for them to grow up into responsible fathers for the betterment of the nation.
He said fatherhood went far beyond the provision of money, food and other material things to the children, albeit that was important.
Fatherhood, he said, encompasses spending quality time with the children especially sons and help to mould them into responsible adults who would one day successfully takeover the mantel of fatherhood for future generations.
“In the divinely-ordained course of life, boys should grow into men and girls into women. The process depends to a great extent on the quality of fatherhood.
“Fatherhood does not stand only for material and financial provision in the family. It stands for character development, which fathers must carry out on their sons. Fathers must be there to spend quality time with their children,” he said.
Fatherhood, beyond biological child-bearing, is a God-given commitment that men in families should fulfill.
Mr Banda went on to emphasis on the mutual responsibility the father and the son have to each other saying that while the father provides the love and care it is the child’s responsibility to respect and obey the father.
The effect and impact a father has on his children particularly boys is exceptional. The son picks up certain traits and behavioural elements from the father willy-nilly. The learning usually is unconsciously.
In his article to the Georgia Psychological Association on father-son relationship, psychologist Charles Williams starts this way:
“Have you ever noticed how children want to be just like their parents when they are young, nothing like their parents when they are teens, and then become just like their parents for better and worse when they become adults?
“This could not be more evident than in the relationship between fathers and sons. From the evolution of childhood through older adult, predictable stages occur in the way sons view and relate to their fathers,” he said.
Dr Williams comes up with an acronym I.D.E.A. to describe the changing stages into the child’s movement towards becoming like his father. As children, he says, sons idolize their father but as teenagers sons experience a period of discord or conflicts against their fathers.
As young adults, sons experience a period of evolving although distance may still be there while as full adults the sons start moving towards acceptance for their fathers and ultimately becoming like them so much that by the time they reach about 50 years they are a legacy of their father’s influence for better or worse.
Pentecostal Assemblies of God Northmead Pastor Joshua Banda told the gathering at the hotel that the relationship between father and son was paramount as it also represents that of God the father and Jesus Christ.
Bishop Banda said that the relationship is also reflected at various levels from a family unit to the national leadership.
He said it was for that reason that his congregation wanted to celebrate even the national fatherhood as exemplified by the Republican Presidency.
In that vein Bishop Banda presented President Banda with a painting depicting the current president and all the three past presidents as a way of the church’s honouring the national leaderships past and present.
Similar presents were awarded to First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda and his immediate successor, Dr Frederick Chiluba both in absentia, while late President Levy Mwanawasa’s was presented to his son, Patrick.
Bishop Banda said the church was proud of the four presidents and recognized the roles each played during their respective reigns.
He said the church was aware that mistakes could have been committed while the four presidents were separately in power but it was equally mindful of the fact that they were not angels and therefore were bound to make mistakes.
In his sermon, Reverend Yohan Cronje from Cape Town South Africa, who was the guest speaker, said that presidents and other leaders of any nation carried a special grace because of their mammoth responsibility.
Rev Cronje said the leaders therefore deserved to be honoured and recognized.
After that the fathers and their sons continued with their day out.
Ends…
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Son, Dad’s Day Out
By James Muyanwa
IN Africa it is rare to meet a boy and his father on a day out just the two of them.
More often than not the mother has to be involved in any adventurous outing for the children, both girls and boys while the man will think that his job ends at just looking for money to facilitate such an expedition.
The women always create chances to spend quality time with their children both girls and boys but it is rare for men to do so exclusively for their children.
Mathew Kaoma, of Lusaka’s Chalala residential area admitted that men were not mainly involved in the pastime of their children and leave most of the works to their mothers.
Mr Kaoma, a banker who said he has three sons conceded that most of the time his boys are taken out by their mothers while his preoccupation is to find the money for the occasion.
“You know, I feel guilty, just yesterday (last Saturday) my children came to me saying that they wanted to go to Adventure City, but I gave their mother the car and the money to take them. Even after they insisted that they wanted to go with me, I count not and thought I rather go and get their school report forms on Monday,” he said.
Emmanuel Ndhlovu of Chilenje South said that there are few men who took time to be exclusively with their sons and also pleaded guilty of that failure.
“Yes I think it is true that, as fathers, most of the time we only think of expensive presents for our children and not having quality time with them. We really need to change because by not spending quality time with them we are creating a gap in terms of information.
“I think it is for this reason that usually the girl child looks more knowledgeable about the facts of life than boys of the same age are,” he said.
It is against that background that the women from the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Northmead congregation in Lusaka last week chose to make a difference for their spouses and their sons.
They organized what was dubbed “Father-Son dinner” at Hotel Intercontinental which was for exclusively men with their sons to celebrate that magnificent relationship.
One of the people who attended the function, Moses Phiri said the occasion had given him an opportunity to interact with his two sons and hailed the church for the initiative.
Mr Phiri said even if he was not a Pentecostal he had to pay to attend the function because he thought it was important for him to have a good time with his sons.
One of Mr Phiri’ sons, Joachim, said he was happy to be with his father for an evening out.
Martin Hamainza said such gatherings were strategic as they gave an opportunity for the fathers and their sons to spend some time together.
Mr Hamainza said most men did not want to go out with their children and spend less time together because they felt raising children was for the mothers alone.
“But this is wrong. Our children’s proper growth needs the input from both the fathers and mothers. There must be that balance,’ he said.
Who could have been the better guest of honour than President Rupiah Banda, himself a dedicated father and a key supporter of family values! Mr Banda wished he had been informed that children were “welcome.” He could have gone with his young son.
Accompanied by First Lady, Thandiwe, Mr Banda urged men in the country to be role models for their children and give them the loving care for them to grow up into responsible fathers for the betterment of the nation.
He said fatherhood went far beyond the provision of money, food and other material things to the children, albeit that was important.
Fatherhood, he said, encompasses spending quality time with the children especially sons and help to mould them into responsible adults who would one day successfully takeover the mantel of fatherhood for future generations.
“In the divinely-ordained course of life, boys should grow into men and girls into women. The process depends to a great extent on the quality of fatherhood.
“Fatherhood does not stand only for material and financial provision in the family. It stands for character development, which fathers must carry out on their sons. Fathers must be there to spend quality time with their children,” he said.
Fatherhood, beyond biological child-bearing, is a God-given commitment that men in families should fulfill.
Mr Banda went on to emphasis on the mutual responsibility the father and the son have to each other saying that while the father provides the love and care it is the child’s responsibility to respect and obey the father.
The effect and impact a father has on his children particularly boys is exceptional. The son picks up certain traits and behavioural elements from the father willy-nilly. The learning usually is unconsciously.
In his article to the Georgia Psychological Association on father-son relationship, psychologist Charles Williams starts this way:
“Have you ever noticed how children want to be just like their parents when they are young, nothing like their parents when they are teens, and then become just like their parents for better and worse when they become adults?
“This could not be more evident than in the relationship between fathers and sons. From the evolution of childhood through older adult, predictable stages occur in the way sons view and relate to their fathers,” he said.
Dr Williams comes up with an acronym I.D.E.A. to describe the changing stages into the child’s movement towards becoming like his father. As children, he says, sons idolize their father but as teenagers sons experience a period of discord or conflicts against their fathers.
As young adults, sons experience a period of evolving although distance may still be there while as full adults the sons start moving towards acceptance for their fathers and ultimately becoming like them so much that by the time they reach about 50 years they are a legacy of their father’s influence for better or worse.
Pentecostal Assemblies of God Northmead Pastor Joshua Banda told the gathering at the hotel that the relationship between father and son was paramount as it also represents that of God the father and Jesus Christ.
Bishop Banda said that the relationship is also reflected at various levels from a family unit to the national leadership.
He said it was for that reason that his congregation wanted to celebrate even the national fatherhood as exemplified by the Republican Presidency.
In that vein Bishop Banda presented President Banda with a painting depicting the current president and all the three past presidents as a way of the church’s honouring the national leaderships past and present.
Similar presents were awarded to First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda and his immediate successor, Dr Frederick Chiluba both in absentia, while late President Levy Mwanawasa’s was presented to his son, Patrick.
Bishop Banda said the church was proud of the four presidents and recognized the roles each played during their respective reigns.
He said the church was aware that mistakes could have been committed while the four presidents were separately in power but it was equally mindful of the fact that they were not angels and therefore were bound to make mistakes.
In his sermon, Reverend Yohan Cronje from Cape Town South Africa, who was the guest speaker, said that presidents and other leaders of any nation carried a special grace because of their mammoth responsibility.
Rev Cronje said the leaders therefore deserved to be honoured and recognized.
After that the fathers and their sons continued with their day out.
Ends…
Thursday, April 22, 2010
zambia anticipates bumper harvest
By James Muyanwa
ZAMBIA is poised for another bumper harvest for maize in the 2009/10 farming season, figures from some leading farming districts have indicated.
Some districts in the country are primed to double their last year’s production figures and that would bolster the national output for the national staple food.
Last season the country recorded about 1.9 million tonnes of maize production and the figure is likely to be surpassed this year.
Kalulushi district commissioner Joshua Mutisa said in Kalulushi recently that the Copperbelt Province district was projecting to harvest nearly 10,000 tonnes of the country’s staple food following the good rainfall received.
Mr Mutisa said the nearly 10,000 tonnes expected in the district was more than twice the estimated 4,000 tonnes recorded last season and attributed the expected bumper harvest to the current sound economic policies.
In Kalomo district acting district commissioner, Justus Phiri said that the district was projecting to harvest about more than 400,000 tonnes and that the farmers in the district are still stuck with some of last year’s produce.
He said 18,040 small scale farmers received the subsidized input under the government’s Farmers Input Support Project (FISP) during the season and that greatly contributed to the bumper harvest.
Chibombo district commission Philip Chabakale said the Central Province district anticipated to produce 300,000 tonnes of white maize this season saying that would be a great improvement on last year’s figure which he could, however, not mention.
Colonel Chabakale said the district had six farming blocks, 30 camps and 40,000 small scale farmers.
He said the maize production could have been in higher but areas like the Mushikili ward and a few others were affected by some floods due to high rainfall pattern experienced.
Serenje district Stanley Chibwana said the district expected a bumper harvest this farming season but could not disclose the projected details.
Mr Chibwana said that Serenje the small scale farmers in the district were happy about the way the FISP was being administrated and was confident the support would result in improvement of the sector.
Kapiri Mposhi district administrative officer, Brave Mazuba said the area is poised for another high production this season.
ZAMBIA is poised for another bumper harvest for maize in the 2009/10 farming season, figures from some leading farming districts have indicated.
Some districts in the country are primed to double their last year’s production figures and that would bolster the national output for the national staple food.
Last season the country recorded about 1.9 million tonnes of maize production and the figure is likely to be surpassed this year.
Kalulushi district commissioner Joshua Mutisa said in Kalulushi recently that the Copperbelt Province district was projecting to harvest nearly 10,000 tonnes of the country’s staple food following the good rainfall received.
Mr Mutisa said the nearly 10,000 tonnes expected in the district was more than twice the estimated 4,000 tonnes recorded last season and attributed the expected bumper harvest to the current sound economic policies.
In Kalomo district acting district commissioner, Justus Phiri said that the district was projecting to harvest about more than 400,000 tonnes and that the farmers in the district are still stuck with some of last year’s produce.
He said 18,040 small scale farmers received the subsidized input under the government’s Farmers Input Support Project (FISP) during the season and that greatly contributed to the bumper harvest.
Chibombo district commission Philip Chabakale said the Central Province district anticipated to produce 300,000 tonnes of white maize this season saying that would be a great improvement on last year’s figure which he could, however, not mention.
Colonel Chabakale said the district had six farming blocks, 30 camps and 40,000 small scale farmers.
He said the maize production could have been in higher but areas like the Mushikili ward and a few others were affected by some floods due to high rainfall pattern experienced.
Serenje district Stanley Chibwana said the district expected a bumper harvest this farming season but could not disclose the projected details.
Mr Chibwana said that Serenje the small scale farmers in the district were happy about the way the FISP was being administrated and was confident the support would result in improvement of the sector.
Kapiri Mposhi district administrative officer, Brave Mazuba said the area is poised for another high production this season.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
LIMBLESS CHILD'S MOTHER DITCHED BY FIANCEE
BY JAMES MUYANWA
A TWENTY-nine-year-old woman has been ditched by her fiancé after giving birth to a limbless baby boy.
Melody Miyoba of Sigwidi village in Chief Bright Nalubamba’s area in Namwala district was betrothed to Trust Michelo who has, however, changed his mind following the birth of his limbless son, Blessings.
Ms Miyoba and Mr Michelo’s brother, Mayuni Habansimbi confirmed this to Sunday Times of Zambia in Lusaka during the week.
“He does not want me now as he says that the child is not his because of the disability. He does not want anything to do with me and yet he had promised to marry me before I got pregnant by him,” she said during the interview at Sunday Times offices.
She said Mr Michelo was afraid of the having a child leaving the disability and did not want the people to laugh at him that why he decided to leave her insisting that he was Blessings’ father.
Blessings was born on June 23 2008 without limbs, the situation medical experts at University Teaching Hospital (UTH) describe as a near total amenia or absence of all four limbs.
Ms Miyoba who is currently keeping up at 85/37 Old Kanyama Township at her former fiancé’s brother, said for her as the name entails, Blessings was a blessing from God and she was proud of him despite the disabilities.
She is, therefore, requesting for assistance from medical experts for gadgets to help the baby as well as financial support to enable continue looking after the baby who frequently required specialized medical attention.
Mr Habasimbi 28, said he was ashamed of his elder brother for denying his own baby and pledged support to the child whenever he can manage.
He said he had allowed Ms Miyoba and the baby to stay at his home because he, unlike his elder brother, was more widely exposed and excepted people living with disabled as just as human.
Mr Habasimbi said his brother was supposed to take Ms Miyoba as the second wife and all the necessary Tonga procedures had been followed.
He, however, changed his mind upon the birth of Blessings and was currently in Mukonchi area in Kapiri Mposhi with the first wife.
Mr Habasimbi, who is a smalltime businessperson, said Ms Miyoba and baby are stigmatized whenever they are back home in village because of the ignorance of the people.
“Some people don’t even want to use the cup which Blessings uses. They take such disabilities as a curse or some bad luck,” he said.
According to a medical report by signed by UTH’s Dr Chowa, Blessings “condition is extremely difficult to survive especially in a poor social economic status that the mother finds herself in.”
He says that Blessings needs special custom made orthopaedic appliances at each stage of his growth, which makes more expensive.
“Since there is no manufacture of such appliances in Zambia, the child will have to be sent abroad for needs assessment and technology intervention. We are yet to identify a possible destination for such intervention.
“At this moment the mother has immediate money needs of, stay in Lusaka, food, transport etc while we make contacts across the globe,” states the medical report addressed to whom it may concern.
Ends
A TWENTY-nine-year-old woman has been ditched by her fiancé after giving birth to a limbless baby boy.
Melody Miyoba of Sigwidi village in Chief Bright Nalubamba’s area in Namwala district was betrothed to Trust Michelo who has, however, changed his mind following the birth of his limbless son, Blessings.
Ms Miyoba and Mr Michelo’s brother, Mayuni Habansimbi confirmed this to Sunday Times of Zambia in Lusaka during the week.
“He does not want me now as he says that the child is not his because of the disability. He does not want anything to do with me and yet he had promised to marry me before I got pregnant by him,” she said during the interview at Sunday Times offices.
She said Mr Michelo was afraid of the having a child leaving the disability and did not want the people to laugh at him that why he decided to leave her insisting that he was Blessings’ father.
Blessings was born on June 23 2008 without limbs, the situation medical experts at University Teaching Hospital (UTH) describe as a near total amenia or absence of all four limbs.
Ms Miyoba who is currently keeping up at 85/37 Old Kanyama Township at her former fiancé’s brother, said for her as the name entails, Blessings was a blessing from God and she was proud of him despite the disabilities.
She is, therefore, requesting for assistance from medical experts for gadgets to help the baby as well as financial support to enable continue looking after the baby who frequently required specialized medical attention.
Mr Habasimbi 28, said he was ashamed of his elder brother for denying his own baby and pledged support to the child whenever he can manage.
He said he had allowed Ms Miyoba and the baby to stay at his home because he, unlike his elder brother, was more widely exposed and excepted people living with disabled as just as human.
Mr Habasimbi said his brother was supposed to take Ms Miyoba as the second wife and all the necessary Tonga procedures had been followed.
He, however, changed his mind upon the birth of Blessings and was currently in Mukonchi area in Kapiri Mposhi with the first wife.
Mr Habasimbi, who is a smalltime businessperson, said Ms Miyoba and baby are stigmatized whenever they are back home in village because of the ignorance of the people.
“Some people don’t even want to use the cup which Blessings uses. They take such disabilities as a curse or some bad luck,” he said.
According to a medical report by signed by UTH’s Dr Chowa, Blessings “condition is extremely difficult to survive especially in a poor social economic status that the mother finds herself in.”
He says that Blessings needs special custom made orthopaedic appliances at each stage of his growth, which makes more expensive.
“Since there is no manufacture of such appliances in Zambia, the child will have to be sent abroad for needs assessment and technology intervention. We are yet to identify a possible destination for such intervention.
“At this moment the mother has immediate money needs of, stay in Lusaka, food, transport etc while we make contacts across the globe,” states the medical report addressed to whom it may concern.
Ends
ZAMBIAN BRIDES SEE HOPE
By James Muyanwa
PROSPECTIVE Zambian brides will be given their dream chance to walk down the aisle in graceful white wedding dresses at a nominal fee courtesy of a project mooted by a British national in Berkshire.
Abigail Parker, 46, has set up the project in which second-hand wedding dresses are being collected following requests across the world for Zambian brides-to-be and a shop would soon be opened in Zambia for the merchandise.
Ms Parker said in an interview in Lusaka that the shop to be called Blessing Bridal Hire would be opened in Zambia’s sprawling township of Kalingalinga in Lusaka.
“In the next few weeks we will open the shop. We are just doing the finishing touches and we will be on,” she during her a trip to Zambia to oversee the preparatory works.
Ms Parker who once lived in Zimbabwe for 10 years also runs AIDS Support Awareness Project (ASAP) in Zambia, which is involved in the fight against the pandemic through the imparting of awareness, mainly among women.
She said ASAP is closely working with Tasinta a local organisation founded by Professor Nkandu Luo. She said Tasinta will be getting 75 per cent of the proceeds while the remainder will be retained by ASAP.
Tasinta deals with mostly reforming and reformed former sex workers who are helped to find their own feet outside one of the oldest trades.
The wedding dress project has been widely covered by the international media resulting in the inundation of donated wedding dresses, of all sizes and shapes, from across the global.
Wedding News, a United Kingdom (UK) online publication, reports that since launching the request for second-hand wedding dresses, Ms Parker has been overwhelmed with donations, with some dresses coming from as far as Canada and Russia.
As part of Ms Parker’s plan, she will hire out the donated wedding dresses to brides in Zambia, and later in other African countries for a small fee.
“The scheme goes beyond simply donating second hand wedding dresses to Zambian women. Abi Parker has come up with a plan which will not only help the brides-to-be in Zambia have a very special day, but also support the community in aiding them to create a better future for themselves,” Wedding News reported.
Ms Parker whose other two partners in ASAP were born in Zambia told the BBC recently that some of the donated dresses were from brides desperate to get rid of them following a marriage breakdown and others are from women keen to pass on the clothes that brought them joy.
"It's an African woman's dream to get married in a white wedding dress. It's a sign of stature, like a sort of keeping up with the Joneses thing and it's usually only the very, very wealthy African families who can afford it.
By doing this we are giving people, who could not usually afford it, the opportunity to get married in a white dress,” she said.
Some young women talked to in Lusaka said that the project will enable some people who could otherwise not imagine themselves in white wedding dress one day to realise that life dream.
Sharon Mwense said the project is encouraging but hoped that the hire charges will not be beyond the reach for most people who currently cannot afford to buy or hire the dresses on the market.
“I would not mind putting on such a dress,” said soon-to-wed, Patricia Chibbona of Chilenje South Township.
ASAP
“We at A.S.A.P (Aids Support Awareness Project) are committed to tackling HIV/AIDS by addressing previously un-tackled cultural issues and practices using linguistically correct educational and positive speaking DVD’s, which we show via laptop presentations to remote rural communities.
“The project has begun in Zambia and we hope to spread across Africa. It is our key aim to use this innovative high-impact educational material to aid in increasing awareness of how certain cultural practices are contributing to the rapid spread of HIV in Africa,” said Ms Parker. She said most of HIV/AIDS awareness materials are produced in English and in written form, which cannot reach those in terribly afflicted poor rural communities.
It is the right of all people to have access to the services and information they need to help them stay alive and this is simply not happening in many rural parts of Africa, as the people continue to live in ignorance.Ms Parker said despite the fact that the governments and other stakeholders had done so much to ensure all the people now know the words HIV/AIDS, the people still lack knowledge on the complexities of the disease and how certain cultural practices aid in its spread.
“It is these practices, which restrict condom usage, create cross-infection through traditional healing methods and marginalize women, thus allowing the infection rate to continue at catastrophic levels,” she said. Backgrounds
Ms Parker said the founders of ASAP are very knowledgeable about African challenges and the life generally.
“All of us, however, have a great awareness of Africa, two having been born there, one having lived there and one still doing so. We all have first hand, grassroots knowledge of how this pandemic affects everyone’s life on a day-to-day basis.”
After completing her university education, Ms Parker worked with British Airways on their long-haul fleet travelling worldwide and it was from those experiences that her passion for Africa, the people and the continent, grew.
She then immigrated to Zimbabwe in 1996 where she became involved in a local orphanage Jiros Jeri under the care of Zimtrust. Another director, Jeffery Taylor, was born in Zambia to British parents then working for Anglo-American Corporation on the Copperbelt in the 1960’s. He now lives in Zimbabwe from where he is director of Chevron Trading Pvt. and where he remains amid challenges.
Mr Taylor’s life has been impacted by the AIDS crisis on a daily basis, through the loss of staff/colleagues and their relatives to the disease.
Christopher Young joined the Charity in March 2006 having grown up in Zambia as a son of Zambian farmers.
Ends
PROSPECTIVE Zambian brides will be given their dream chance to walk down the aisle in graceful white wedding dresses at a nominal fee courtesy of a project mooted by a British national in Berkshire.
Abigail Parker, 46, has set up the project in which second-hand wedding dresses are being collected following requests across the world for Zambian brides-to-be and a shop would soon be opened in Zambia for the merchandise.
Ms Parker said in an interview in Lusaka that the shop to be called Blessing Bridal Hire would be opened in Zambia’s sprawling township of Kalingalinga in Lusaka.
“In the next few weeks we will open the shop. We are just doing the finishing touches and we will be on,” she during her a trip to Zambia to oversee the preparatory works.
Ms Parker who once lived in Zimbabwe for 10 years also runs AIDS Support Awareness Project (ASAP) in Zambia, which is involved in the fight against the pandemic through the imparting of awareness, mainly among women.
She said ASAP is closely working with Tasinta a local organisation founded by Professor Nkandu Luo. She said Tasinta will be getting 75 per cent of the proceeds while the remainder will be retained by ASAP.
Tasinta deals with mostly reforming and reformed former sex workers who are helped to find their own feet outside one of the oldest trades.
The wedding dress project has been widely covered by the international media resulting in the inundation of donated wedding dresses, of all sizes and shapes, from across the global.
Wedding News, a United Kingdom (UK) online publication, reports that since launching the request for second-hand wedding dresses, Ms Parker has been overwhelmed with donations, with some dresses coming from as far as Canada and Russia.
As part of Ms Parker’s plan, she will hire out the donated wedding dresses to brides in Zambia, and later in other African countries for a small fee.
“The scheme goes beyond simply donating second hand wedding dresses to Zambian women. Abi Parker has come up with a plan which will not only help the brides-to-be in Zambia have a very special day, but also support the community in aiding them to create a better future for themselves,” Wedding News reported.
Ms Parker whose other two partners in ASAP were born in Zambia told the BBC recently that some of the donated dresses were from brides desperate to get rid of them following a marriage breakdown and others are from women keen to pass on the clothes that brought them joy.
"It's an African woman's dream to get married in a white wedding dress. It's a sign of stature, like a sort of keeping up with the Joneses thing and it's usually only the very, very wealthy African families who can afford it.
By doing this we are giving people, who could not usually afford it, the opportunity to get married in a white dress,” she said.
Some young women talked to in Lusaka said that the project will enable some people who could otherwise not imagine themselves in white wedding dress one day to realise that life dream.
Sharon Mwense said the project is encouraging but hoped that the hire charges will not be beyond the reach for most people who currently cannot afford to buy or hire the dresses on the market.
“I would not mind putting on such a dress,” said soon-to-wed, Patricia Chibbona of Chilenje South Township.
ASAP
“We at A.S.A.P (Aids Support Awareness Project) are committed to tackling HIV/AIDS by addressing previously un-tackled cultural issues and practices using linguistically correct educational and positive speaking DVD’s, which we show via laptop presentations to remote rural communities.
“The project has begun in Zambia and we hope to spread across Africa. It is our key aim to use this innovative high-impact educational material to aid in increasing awareness of how certain cultural practices are contributing to the rapid spread of HIV in Africa,” said Ms Parker. She said most of HIV/AIDS awareness materials are produced in English and in written form, which cannot reach those in terribly afflicted poor rural communities.
It is the right of all people to have access to the services and information they need to help them stay alive and this is simply not happening in many rural parts of Africa, as the people continue to live in ignorance.Ms Parker said despite the fact that the governments and other stakeholders had done so much to ensure all the people now know the words HIV/AIDS, the people still lack knowledge on the complexities of the disease and how certain cultural practices aid in its spread.
“It is these practices, which restrict condom usage, create cross-infection through traditional healing methods and marginalize women, thus allowing the infection rate to continue at catastrophic levels,” she said. Backgrounds
Ms Parker said the founders of ASAP are very knowledgeable about African challenges and the life generally.
“All of us, however, have a great awareness of Africa, two having been born there, one having lived there and one still doing so. We all have first hand, grassroots knowledge of how this pandemic affects everyone’s life on a day-to-day basis.”
After completing her university education, Ms Parker worked with British Airways on their long-haul fleet travelling worldwide and it was from those experiences that her passion for Africa, the people and the continent, grew.
She then immigrated to Zimbabwe in 1996 where she became involved in a local orphanage Jiros Jeri under the care of Zimtrust. Another director, Jeffery Taylor, was born in Zambia to British parents then working for Anglo-American Corporation on the Copperbelt in the 1960’s. He now lives in Zimbabwe from where he is director of Chevron Trading Pvt. and where he remains amid challenges.
Mr Taylor’s life has been impacted by the AIDS crisis on a daily basis, through the loss of staff/colleagues and their relatives to the disease.
Christopher Young joined the Charity in March 2006 having grown up in Zambia as a son of Zambian farmers.
Ends
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