TEENAGE PREGNANCY, EARLY MARRIAGES: Mansa district has in the recent past recorded a reduction in the number of related cases

IN the heart of Mansa, a district once grappling with the alarming rates of teenage pregnancies and adolescent school dropout has undergone a remarkable transformation. Thanks to proactive sensitisation programmes initiated by the Government and other cooperating partners, the landscape is changing, and the future looks brighter for its young residents.

A few years ago, Mansa faced a critical challenge as the prevalence of teenage pregnancies and school dropout rates among adolescents surged.

Take for instance in 2020, the prevalence rate stood at 25.1 percent, according to the Luapula province health office, the number has since come down to 21.1 percent.

Recognising the urgent need for intervention, a collaboration of dedicated partners came together to implement a proactive sensitisation programme aimed at addressing the root causes of these issues.

Robert Zimba is executive director at Integrated Youth Development, a youth focused Mansa based non governmental organisation that works around four thematic areas that include health, human rights, governance and advocacy.

His organisation has been working closely with the Government through the the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education as well as organisations such as the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Natwampane, and also Medicines Research and Access Platform (MedRAP) to address issues affecting youths and adolescents in Mansa, Samfya, Chembe and Kawambwa districts - all of which are in Luapula.

He has seen it all.

“We had a lot of these cases,” he said. “It’s just that I cannot provide you with exact figures just yet, but compared to past years, we are at a better place because of the many things that we have been doing to address these issues.”

Much as he is happy with the current trajectory, Mr Zimba still reckons that more can still be done, especially to address the lapses that may have been identified. 

“Some of the health facilities that we had sampled  had no structures for youth friendly services, instead the adolescents meet under mango trees, in areas like Kale, Buntungwa and Namwandwe,” he said. “We suggest that the Government comes up with some youth friendly structures that offer privacy in the mentioned facilities to improve the sexual and reproductive health service delivery among adolescents and young people.”

Mr Zimba is also of the view that Government and other stakeholders should increase awareness on services so that adolescents and youths are made aware about the family planning commodities found at the centres. 

“The government and other stakeholders should continue to monitor the utilisation of family planning commodities among adolescents and young people. The district health office should put up adequate monitoring mechanisms that will allow to reduce stock outs,” he said. “According to the findings, we discovered that adolescents and young people prefer using male condoms more than other family planning methods.”

One key factor contributing to this positive shift has been comprehensive sex education. Through workshops, seminars, and awareness campaigns, cooperating partners have worked hand-in-hand with schools to ensure that adolescents are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

This has not only empowered young people to take control of their lives but has also fostered a culture of open communication and understanding.

Patricia Njowe is senior nursing officer in charge of adolescents at the Luapula province health office. She says, among the 14 districts in the province, Mansa has performed exceptionally well in dealing with teenage pregnancies.

“To improve this picture further, the district has embarked on conducting quality improvement projects to reduce teenage pregnancies in selected zones. The outcome of this intervention can only be appreciated by mid-year of 2024 after monitoring and evaluation of the said projects,” she said. “All facilities in the district have adolescent health focal point persons coordinating adolescent health services and we have been conducting community dialogues with gatekeepers such as the traditional and religious leaders and others to promote adolescent health.”

Ms Njowe however notes that even though most parents may not allow their child to access family planning services during adolescence, they engage gatekeepers to enable those that are sexually active to be linked to adolescent health spaces where they can get more information on teenage pregnancies and its effects.

“Access to family planning or contraception is one of the rights of women in the childbearing age. Adolescents access this service through counselling and allowing them to make informed decisions on when to have children and how many to have,” she said.

Additionally, the cooperating partners have implemented mentorship programmes that provide guidance and support to teenagers facing challenges. By connecting adolescents with positive role models from various fields, these programmes have instilled a sense of purpose and aspiration among the youth, reducing the likelihood of engaging in risky behaviours.

Furthermore, the community has witnessed a boost in extracurricular activities and skill development programs. By offering alternatives and avenues for personal growth outside the traditional academic setting, cooperating partners have played a crucial role in keeping teenagers engaged and motivated to stay in school.

The success of these initiatives is evident in the declining rates of teenage pregnancies and school dropout in Mansa district.

The community is experiencing a positive shift, with more adolescents realising their potential and seizing opportunities for a brighter future. The proactive sensitisation programmes have not only addressed immediate challenges but have sowed the seeds for long-term sustainable change in the district.

According to a research by the National Library of Medicine, an official website of the US Government, about three in ten young women aged 15–19 have begun childbearing among the Zambian population, with adolescent pregnancy levels as high as 35 percent in rural areas – with Luapula reportedly posting 32.1 percent adolescent pregnancies as of 2019.

The mean age of the adolescent mothers was 15.5 years. Mothers younger than 20 years faced a higher risk for eclampsia, anaemia, haemorrhage, Cephalopelvic disproportion, prolonged labour and caesarean section. 

Children born to mothers younger than 20 were at increased risk for low birth weight, pre-term delivery, low Apgar score and neonatal death; the risk for asphyxia, however, tended to increase with age.

The Government has committed to providing adolescents and young people with comprehensive sexual and reproductive information and services, including in the ESA Statement of Commitment. However, parents, teachers, health care workers, and religious or traditional leaders often have reservations about young people's access to HIV prevention, family planning or information on gender-based violence, due to social taboos and discriminatory gender norms. In addition, there is a lack of appropriate tools and methods for providing quality services in these areas.

“These are some of the things that we have always been advocating for - to have a lot of people come on board, talk about these things and denounce them as church leaders,” said Davison Lemba, a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor in Mansa.

He says the more the church, parents and traditional leaders begin to openly discuss issues of sexual and reproductive health, positive trends will soon be recorded as far as teenage pregnancies and HIV infections among adolescents and young people is concerned.

“It has to start with us,” he said.

Luapula province deputy permanent secretary, Prudence Chinyama attributed the drop in teenage pregnancies and early marriages to conducive policies that the government has put in place.

“There is the issue of free education which has come on board, the classrooms are full. The province, like any other place, is a construction site, increasing the school infrastructure, manufacturing desks and a lot of rehabilitation,” she said. “There is actually quite a lot that we have been doing to make sure that these numbers come down and stay down.”

Like many others, the GIZ through the National HIV/AIDS Council, has been implementing the Strengthening Girls’ Rights project in Luapula, Southern, Lusaka and North Western provinces, with the aim of addressing the triple threat of HIV, teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence.

“The goal is for young people, especially young women and girls, to be able to exercise their rights, access counselling services, and take action for their sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention, and non-violent gender relations.”

Note that this story was also published on Page 11 of the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper of December 6, 2023.

MANSA IN REDUCED TEEN PREGNANCIES: The district records a drop in prevalence of teenage pregnancy, thanks to a robust sensitisation drive

MANSA district has recorded a decrease in the number of teenage pregnancies, from 25.1 percent in 2020 to 21.1 percent this year, the Ministry of Health has revealed.

Luapula province senior nursing officer in charge of adolescent health, Patricia Njowe also revealed that the HIV prevalence rate among adolescents in the district, and province as a whole, now stands at 1.6 percent, representing a slight reduction from 1.8 percent 2021.

Speaking in an interview here, recently, Ms Njowe said Mansa district is one of the districts that have shown a downward trajectory in terms of teenage pregnancies.

“To improve this picture further, the district has embarked on conducting quality improvement projects to reduce teenage pregnancies in selected zones. The outcome of this intervention can only be appreciated by mid-year of 2024 after monitoring and evaluation of the said projects,” she said. “All facilities in the district have adolescent health focal point persons coordinating adolescent health services and we have been conducting community dialogues with gatekeepers such as the traditional and religious leaders and others to promote adolescent health.”

Ms Njowe however notes that even though most parents may not allow their child to access family planning services during adolescence, they engage gatekeepers to enable those that are sexually active to be linked to adolescent health spaces where they can get more information on teenage pregnancies and its effects.

“Access to family planning or contraception is one of the rights of women in the childbearing age. Adolescents access this service through counselling and allowing them to make informed decisions on when to have children and how many to have,” she said.

Meanwhile, Luapula province deputy permanent secretary, Prudence Chinyama has challenged the media to highlight the milestones that her government has achieved within its two years of being in power.

Speaking in an interview here recently, Ms Chinyama attributed the drop in teenage pregnancies and early marriages to conducive policies that the government has put in place.

“There is the issue of free education which has come on board, the classrooms are full. The province, like any other place, is a construction site, increasing the school infrastructure, manufacturing desks and a lot of rehabilitation,” she said. “There is actually quite a lot that we have been doing to make sure that these numbers come down and stay down.”

She said the Government has been working with a number of Non Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organisations and also cooperating partners such as the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) to combat the vice through sensitisation and emphasising on the importance of education and keeping girls in school.

“...Partners can only come on board if they see the step that you are doing and they buy into it. So, we have seen a lot of cooperating partners buy into the idea and policies of the government that speak to the improvement of the education standards, quality of education and also enrollment,” she said. “You, the media therefore, need to come on board and talk about these things. People will only appreciate things that they hear and see, you can do a good thing, but as long as you do not talk about it, it will go quiet and people will take it that the government is not working.”

This article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper edition of *****.

UNEARTHING THE HIDDEN GEM: Artisanal Mining and its struggles in Rural Zambia

The author interacting with the miners at a mining pit in Mapatizya.

NESTLED in the heart of Southern Africa, Zambia is known for its rich mineral resources, including copper, cobalt, zinc, and emeralds. While large-scale mining operations dominate the industry, artisanal mining has quietly emerged as a vital source of livelihood for rural communities.

This feature article aims to shed light on the often-underreported artisanal mining sector in rural Zambia, exploring its impact on the local economy, environment, and the lives of those involved.

Artisanal mining refers to small-scale, often unregulated, mining activities conducted by individuals or small groups using basic tools and methods. In rural Zambia such as Mapatizya, in Zimba district, artisanal mining plays a crucial role, particularly in communities left marginalised by large-scale mining operations such as Kariba Minerals, operating a gemstone mine in the area.

It provides an avenue for local residents to extract mineral resources independently, sustaining their livelihoods and empowering local economies.

These miners sweat it out and risk their lives in the mining pits dotted in various hills, to get at least a kilogramme of tin, which they then sell cheaply to buyers from outside town, mostly from Copperbelt and Lusaka province.

One such miner is Estely Siambalo. She is a 42-year-old mother of seven and can be easily located at a site in Chilobe, a community in Mapatizya area in Zimba.

She, together with her children, including her youngest child who is only seven, come to dig in the pits. Make no mistake, it is a dangerous venture - and they do not wear any protective clothing at all.

Ms Estely has to involve her children if she has to increase her chances of getting enough tin to sell and meet her family’s needs. A cupful of tin is roughly about 200ml and can weigh about three kilogrammes.

“On a day, if I am lucky, I can get a cup or two,” she says. “We used to sell it at K35 per kilogramme.”

On the London Metal Exchange (LME), the prices of tin nearly doubled from between US$18,184 and US$18,530 per tonne in October last year to trade somewhere between US$27,030 and US$32,950 per tonne.

“But that is after the buyers have sieved and separated the bad ones from the good ones. So, sometimes, what you thought was three kilogrammes can even come down to 1.5 kilogrammes after the process.”

Clearly, it’s a huge gamble. “Sometimes, it can take you a week to get a cupful of good quality tin,” says Ms Estely who has been mining in these pits since 1985.

Asked to single out at least one tangible item that she has bought from the money she has earned, she couldn’t even find the courage to lift a finger.

“There is nothing significant,” she says. “We just do it because there is nothing else to do here. The area is hilly and farming is not easy because of the stones and landscape.”

Sorting out the quality.

She is not alone.

Similonga Makowa is also a regular at the site. He says on some days, the site can have as many as 30 people digging for tin with rudimentary tools such as shovels, chisels and hammers.

Some women can also be seen with woven sieves which they use to sieve the mineral in readiness to separate the good quality from the bad ones with a magnet.

“One of the things that delay us is the benching [the process of putting some kind of scaffolding to protect the pit from caving in]. It takes a lot of time, but otherwise, on a good day, you can get even more than three kilogrammes a day,” he says.

Ironically, it seems Mr Makowa knows what risks come with mining from the site but for obvious reasons, he turns a blind eye to them.

“It’s not safe, I know. But what can I do?” he asks. “That is why we need enough manpower here to guarantee safety.”

Luckily for the miners, there has been no accident at the site, maybe yet.

“There is another tungsten pit nearby where the walls caved in and injured a woman. As for us here, we haven’t recorded any accident yet,” says the miner.

The Government recently gave a 90-day amnesty to illegal miners to have their operations formalised or legalised.

Paul Kabuswe

Speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka recently, Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Paul Kabuswe announced the reopening of the Cadastre Department, which signifies the resumption of the issuance of mining licences. 

He warned that small-scale and artisanal miners that would be operating illegally after the amnesty period would be arrested.

“The Ministry of Mines has been given Cabinet approval to start the formalisation of the small-scale and artisanal miners,” he said.

Artisanal mining acts as a lifeline for communities without access to alternative income sources. In rural Zambia, where job opportunities are scarce, artisanal mining provides a means for survival. The sector ensures equitable wealth distribution, as earnings are retained within the community and spent on essential needs such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure development.

Moreover, artisanal mining preserves traditional practices and cultural heritage. Through the passing down of mining techniques from generation to generation, community members maintain a deep connection with the land and their ancestors, reinforcing their sense of identity and belonging.

While artisanal mining holds economic and sociocultural benefits, it also poses environmental challenges. The use of rudimentary tools and lack of regulatory oversight often result in poor mining practices, leading to land degradation, soil erosion, and water pollution. Additionally, increased deforestation and wildlife disturbances affect the delicate ecosystems surrounding mining sites.

Addressing these issues requires a collaborative effort between local communities, government bodies, and non-governmental organisations. Initiatives aiming to improve mining techniques, offer training on sustainable practices, and provide access to equipment can help mitigate the environmental impact of artisanal mining.

Recognising the potential of artisanal mining to contribute positively to the local economy while preserving the environment, stakeholders in Zambia are beginning to devise strategies to improve the sector's sustainability. Encouraging artisanal miners to organise into cooperatives promotes better governance and access to support services. Cooperative members can also pool resources to acquire more efficient machinery, reducing the sector's overall environmental footprint.

It is these compounding reasons that Caritas Zambia through a Swedish faith-based organisation, Diakonia has had engagements with various artisanal miners in Mapatizya and other places across the country to try and see how they can turn the tables and be able to earn more from the mineral than they are currently earning.

Chepa Lesa is programmes officer at Caritas Zambia. She says since 2019, it has, with the help of the Diakonia-funded Strengthened Accountability Programme (SAP II) project, decided to step in and help.

Chepa Lesa

“Our role was mainly to facilitate the attainment of a mining licence because when we went there initially, they were mining illegally and the price at which they were selling tin for was very low, at K35 per kilogramme,” she says.

Apart from Southern province, Caritas Zambia has also worked with similar miners in North Western, Copperbelt and Luapula provinces where artisan miners face many similar challenges, among them safety and lack of proper equipment.

Ms Lesa wants the miners to quickly get a mining licence if they are to benefit from the mineral. She says the miners are being exploited by briefcase buyers because they lack proper documentation.

Whitewaters Development Trust (WDT) is also another organisation that has been working closely with the Mapatizya community in trying to make sure that they have a sustainable livelihood. The organisation has offices in Zimba and Choma.

WDT director and senior trustee Jeffrey Mikunga who is also a magistrate at the Zimba local court says the organisation's thematic areas are climate change, sports development for youths, agriculture and tourism and mining.

“When we went there, we found those people mining without safety measures and it got us worried and concerned. We started to try and legalise the process for them - it was an expensive venture so the quotation we got was somewhere around US$25,000 and we couldn't find people to help us with the money,” he says.

At the governmental level, strengthening regulatory frameworks and ensuring effective enforcement of environmental and labour laws are vital. Alongside this, providing support for alternative livelihood opportunities, such as agricultural and tourism initiatives, creates a diversified economy that reduces communities' dependency on mining alone.

Emelda Munashabantu

Mapatizya Constituency Member of Parliament Emeldah Munashabantu Ms Munashabantu who has been at the forefront advocating for better mining conditions and the formalising of the sector in her constituency, hopes that there will be order once the mining cadastre issues licences to all those intending to conduct any mining related activities in the area.

She hopes as many people in her area form and register cooperatives so that they can formally apply for exploration and mining licences.

“My interest is the locals,” she said. “Government is looking at the bigger picture,which is mining in Zambia. But for me, I am mostly interested to see my people in Mapatizya benefiting more. Mapatizya is rich in minerals such as tungsten, amethyst, and even tin.”

Of late, there has been a discovery of more minerals in various parts of the country, resulting in concerns of a sharp rise in illegal mining activities mainly by locals who feel they need to directly benefit from the natural resources.

However, the Zambia Chamber of Mines has cautioned against tolerating illegal mining activities.

Sokwani Chilembo

Chamber of Mines chief executive officer, Sokwani Chilembo said in an interview that if well managed, the discovery of minerals, can help address high unemployment levels while contributing to boost the national treasury.

“The lesson here is that we need to be more structured about our exploration regime. There are ways of structuring the tax code to incentivise the institutions to invest in exploration so that Zambians go out and do it properly,” he said.

Artisanal mining in rural Zambia represents an intricate tapestry of challenges and opportunities. Although its unregulated nature poses environmental risks, the sector plays a fundamental role in sustaining rural livelihoods and fostering community resilience.

By addressing these challenges through collaborative efforts and sustainable practices, artisanal mining can continue to unlock the hidden gem of rural Zambia, benefiting local communities for generations to come.

For now, Zambians whose areas are endowed with these minerals, remain subjected to unfair pricing and driven into mining activities without safety measures taken into consideration.

“No, Fringilla won’t die with mum, dad,” after losing parents, Andrew tells Fringilla story

“YEAH, I do miss them. I really do miss them,” Andrew Woodley, with a dejected face, says as he remembers his late parents George and Minnie Woodley. “But you always know that this day is always going to come. You think you are ready, but you are never ready.”

Andrew, 61, is the only surviving child of George and Minnie Woodley.

George and Minnie, who died seven months apart – June 18, 2022 aged 87 and January 17, 2023 aged 84 respectively – were the visionaries in the start-up of Fringilla and most of its enterprises. 

Today, Fringilla is renowned for its famous sausages, the boerewors and meat pies.

I caught up with Andrew, who gave an insight on the life of his parents and how the famous Fringilla was established.

“We came to Zambia in 1971,” he said. “My dad took a job as a farm manager under the Rural Development Company (RDC), on a three-year contract, to run a farm in Lusaka West under the RDC. It was at a time when the country was trying to get farms up and running so that Zambia can become more self-sufficient.”

To get the job, Andrew says, his father was interviewed by fourth republican President Rupiah Banda in Nairobi, Kenya.

“So he came to a farm that had not worked for years, and he did a very good job there,” he says.

Andrew says his parents were loved by the people. The Woodleys’ initial plan was to run out his father’s three-year contract then head out to Australia. But no, that wasn’t to be.

Instead, they ended up buying the place that sits on a 200 hectares piece of land and named it Fringilla – after the Fringilla Coelebs, a common and widespread small passerine bird in the finch family.

“…in 1974, this farm came up for sale. They bought it and at the time, my dad still had a contract with the Government. A few months later, my mother came and worked in the dairy,” he recalls. “Those days there was nothing here. I cannot even remember what the farm’s name was at the time.”

“It just grew and grew and grew,” Andrew says with a giggle when asked about his parents’ initial plan for the place. “My dad, he’d wake up in the morning and just do something. There was nothing really planned for a long-term sort of plan.” 

Andrew says his parents, who were both born in Kenya, were very industrious. They set up the butchery somewhere around 1975 and 1976.

It was around that same time that Minnie, as confirmed by her son Andrew, developed the famous Fringilla boerewors, whose recipe continues to be kept under ‘lock and key’.

In about 1990, they decided to rent out the butchery to someone else while they concentrated, largely, on developing the guest house in 1993.

“My mother started making the Fringilla pie, which has also become very popular among customers,” says Andrew. “Those days there weren’t shops in town where you could buy the ready-made mixes to batch packs. So it was all made by trial and error. My mother could mix spices and stuff to make the sausages and the pies herself.”

The guest house has also grown, with over 65 rooms, and Andrew is full of gratitude to Zambians for the support. 

“My parents always believed that a customer comes first. They were very good to their customers and have helped a lot of people around here (Chisamba),” he said.

Andrew took interest in making sausages around 1994. He got the motivation from the fear of losing his mother.

“I was worried my mum and dad weren’t going to be around much longer to teach me how to make the sausages,” he said. “… and they died 30 years later. That’s a lot of life ahead of them, so when I thought they were coming to the end of their road, they still carried on – which was amazing.”

Andrew has been running the butchery for close to 30 years now. “When my mum died, we were in it for 15 years, even the guest house,” he says. 

During that time, his parents were mostly embattled with failing health. His father, George, for instance, had Parkinson’s disease, which mostly left him bedridden, while his mother, Minnie, was there to tend after him, even though she too had her own health complications such as diabetes and old age.

“It was just sad, so sad to see him, for someone who was full of energy, full of drive and he ended up being bedridden,” Andrew said about his father. “And the poor man never gave up, though.”

He is convinced his mother kept herself alive just so she could take care of her sick husband, George.

“The way my mother stood by him was unbelievable. I am convinced that had my father not been sick, my mother would have died long before. It’s like she just kept herself alive so that she could look after my dad,” he says. “She stood by my dad like you cannot believe, he was in hospital three to five times a year.”

When her husband was in the intensive care unit at the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH), Minnie developed a complication with her heart which led to her being admitted to the same hospital.

“... and the doctor said ‘Mrs Woodley, it’s like you have made yourself sick so that you could be in hospital with your husband’,” recalled Andrew amid a gloomy laughter.

His father, George, was born in Eldoret, Kenya, on December 18, 1936, and his mother, Minnie, was also born in the same town on July 27, 1939.

“My parents were also loved in Kenya and that is why we receive a lot of them (Kenyans) here whenever they are in Zambia. Even President William Ruto has been here to visit my father, and the embassy is always referring Kenyan visitors to Fringilla for treats,” he said. 

Other than Andrew, the couple had another child named Martin George Woodley, who died of malaria in 1985 aged 21.

At the time of moving to Zambia, Andrew was only nine years old. He also shared with us how it was in the first days.

“When we were driving from Kenya, it was in 1971, and the road was terrible, through Tanzania. We came by road using Peugeot 404’s and we spent four to five nights on the road. I remember somewhere in Mbeya, a wheel came off. We came with our cats and dogs and a tortoise. I loved those days – things were tough, but they weren’t that tough,” he says. “Once I tried to take a shortcut when making the sausage, some many years ago, by putting some extender there to make it cheaper. This is a very expensive sausage to make and we got away with it, but my mother later found out. Eish! I was beaten that day. My mum always wanted the best standards for the sausages – you had to keep it 100 percent meat.”

On February 18, 2023, Fringilla hosted a memorial service in honour of the late Minnie. Asked about the attendance, Andrew said: “Yo! I cannot tell you, it was a lot as you can see in the condolences book.”

But even without the visionaries of the farm, Andrew says it will continue going forward.

“No, it definitely won’t die with them,” he said. “For the last, maybe, 10 years, my mum and dad have been out of it, it’s been completely run by us. They were there for us to go and get advice from and if we did anything wrong, we would still be reprimanded.”

He describes life without his parents as ‘empty’. “It’s something that you are going to miss. There are things that I wish I could ask my mum and dad about, but they are not here anymore, it’s sad,” he said. 

Andrew is married to Julie and they have three children together – two boys and a girl. He now runs the farm, together with his wife, oldest son Alex and Chisha, his daughter-in-law.

“So my mum and dad were very blessed because their grandchildren grew up with them on the farm. And you know it’s amazing how the farm that I grew up from, from the age of 10, 11, I am still here at 60 and my children have grown up. So that’s Zambia and it’s been fantastic with us. If we had gone to Australia, I don’t think we would have been able to have this legacy,” he said.

Andrew misses the evenings he used to spend with his parents.

“They are not there anymore, which I find difficult. But can you imagine, at 60 years old, losing your parents, I was lucky, you know. Some people lose their parents a lot younger,” he says. “My mother would be telling everybody, including the best farmers, about how much of a fantastic farmer I am. I would say, ‘mum, I am a good farmer but I am not better than them’. But to a mother, you are always the best.” 

“My mother was an incredible person,” he says. “I saw them fighting only once. They were busy making butter in the old kitchen here in our home and I don’t know what the fight was about and those guys started throwing butter at each other.”

Fringilla Farms, which is situated in Chisamba on the Great North Road, rears cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep and goats. It also plants wheat, soya beans and grows grass which it later uses to make bales for the cattle.

“We pretty much do everything,” says Andrew. But the main business remains the butchery and the guest house.

Andrew also shared that Fringilla has stopped taking part in the national boerewors competitions because it has outgrown the competition.

“… all of them want to make a sausage as good as ours – so it’s better we go in as judges, not as competitors,” he said.

He continues: “So, I think people have learnt to trust our brand. I have been doing it for 30 years now, and for the last 10 years, I can say my mum had just been looking after my dad.”

The Woodleys, who died seven months apart, were cremated as per their wish. Andrew intends to put their ashes next to their late son Martin’s grave, which is within the Fringilla grounds.

WHAT HAPPENED TO 'TILL DEATH DO US PART?' As divorce cases rise, couples urged to fix marriages for the sake of children

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema had some great advice for couples, not too long ago. He advised married couples to be tolerant of each other and to avoid checking their spouses’ phones frequently because it is a recipe for trouble.

Speaking when he hosted Paramount Chief Mpezeni at Community House on Sunday, President Hichilema said the recently revealed divorce statistics were unfortunate.

“We marry for love, we don’t marry to go and check each other out. What am I saying? Marriages must be kept, marriage is an institution, [it] is the oldest institution for humanity. I want to encourage Zambians to understand the genesis of marriage, the godliness of marriage, raising a family,” he said. “Countries anchored on communities, communities anchored on families. So, family unity is extremely important.” 

According to recent local court data that was made available to the Zambia Daily Mail, the number of couples who asked the courts to dissolve their marriages throughout the country had risen by about 9,000 cases to reach 31,000 last year from 22,000 recorded in 2021. 

Now, by any means, that is huge! 

“How we manage ourselves as husband and wife, how we manage our children has a bearing on how society is or will be. So, those statistics (divorce cases) are unfortunate,” said President Hichilema. “But also sometimes, I must tell you, the freedom that we ask for must have limits. Some of the polarisation of marriages comes from checking on your wife’s phone all the time, sneaking there, checking the messages.” 

He continued: “Even a general message you interpret it to mean this is a message that suggests something else. Innocent message. So, sometimes we must limit our freedom. Freedom means responsibility to limit our freedom, not to tamper with the freedom of others. Be tolerant, be understanding.”

From the 31,452 applications for divorce, the courts gave the go-ahead to 15,147 while 16,305 were not granted. 

The reasons for seeking divorce are familiar – infidelity and drunkenness. 

The shortest marriage among those dissolved lasted nine days and involved a couple from Eastern Province, the region that has been recording the highest number of divorce cases the last three years. 

The oldest couple that sought divorce lasted about 78 years in matrimony in North-Western Province compared to 67 years in 2021. It is presumed the couple must be nonagenarians, even taking child marriage into consideration. 

Commenting on the issue, Catholic priest Hermane Kouacou says in contrast to the figures, we have many couples that are living happily despite the challenges inherent to human living. 

“Divorces have many reasons, so it will be erroneous to single out one reason as the main cause of divorce today,” he said. “Jesus, in Mark 10:1-12 made it clear that man should not divide what God has united. In other words, he is saying that marriage, which is a sacred institution and

a sacrament for the Church, is for life.” 

Fr Kouacou, who is the assistant priest at Kabwata Parish, adds that ultimately, society suffers devastating effects of divorce. 

“It is a bigger problem when children are involved,” he says. “Marriage is not only a meeting of two people but it involves a big range of realities that get affected after divorce. In a nutshell, it is the society, at large, that suffers from a broken relationship.”

He also urges people not to overlook every stage of preparation for marriage. 

“Once an old couple was asked how they managed to stay together for so long. They smiled and replied that they grew up in a time where people were educated to fix broken things and not to throw them away. 

“On top of that, one can mention the lack of communication and dialogue, which are fundamental to any relationship. Impatience can also be pointed out as characteristic of this technological era. The least one can say is that marriage is for life. Consequently, we encourage couples to fix what can be fixed to avoid themselves, children, and society suffering from the devastating effects of divorce,” he said. 

Many studies have found that children of divorced families experienced lower levels of well-being regardless of scholastic achievement, conduct, psychological development, self-esteem, social competence, and relationships with other children. 

“Thus, one has to live with a child coming from a broken relationship to understand all the traumas that divorce enforces on children and how it distorts their view of the world and marriages,” he said. “For our part, we believe that nobody is to be blamed for the increasing number of marriages.

“We have to admit that the whole of our society is sick, and not only the aspect of marriage.” 

Further, research has also indicated that divorced adults are more likely to become impoverished while their children experience psychological and economic stress, which delays their social, psychological and economic development. 

Other researchers also believe that divorce, which is hated by God, according to Malachi 2:16, slows economic growth. However, those reasons appear not to be a discouragement among couples who cannot agree on certain issues. 

“There is too much relaxed living among both men and women in marital unions. There is competition for beer drinking, infidelity and lack of respect. People do not respect the institution of marriage nor place value in it,” says Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) executive director Mirriam Mwiinga.

Ms Mwiinga says nowadays people are not listening to counsel from elders. 

“They listen to their friends and go to social media for advice. Mediation and conflict resolution are not considered important,” she said. “People marry for wrong reasons. They want a fancy wedding, pictures, fame and all. They do not realise that the institution of marriage is bigger than the wedding event itself. It is bigger than all the frenzy that goes with a wedding.” 

Veteran musician and marriage counsellor Mary Miti, popularly known as Mama Nyongo, says people should not overlook the importance of going through traditional marriage counselling prior to getting married.

Ms Miti says traditional marriage counselling for both males and females in the lead-up to marriage is important as it gives a strong foundation for the union to last. She says couples that go through traditional marriage counselling before marriage stand a better chance of not going through a divorce at some point in their union. 

Ms Miti has, however, noted that some people don’t take the lessons seriously even after going through intensive traditional marriage counselling with their *Bana chimbusa* and *Bashi bukombe.* 

She said doing so creates a weak foundation of a marriage. 

“Nowadays, we have many divorce cases because of such tendencies of overlooking the teachings or simply not taking them seriously and just doing them for the sake of formality only. That is not how it should be,” she said. 

Ms Miti advises that traditional marriage teachings be done side by side with church and biblical teachings because they are both important in marriage. 

She said she appreciates the role that the Church and the Bible play in a home. 

“God is everything and there is no way you can ignore His critical role in marriage when He is put in the centre. But in the same way, traditional marriage counselling is important because it helps preserve our culture and helps couples to overcome and solve problems that they may encounter in their marriage,” she said. 

It is an open secret that divorce leads to broken families and multiplies the number of vulnerable children, a situation which parents should avoid.

Most of the testimonies from street kids point to divorce between their parents as the cause for their fate. While it is recognised that sometimes divorce is inevitable given the degree of the problem in marriage, parents are urged to consider the feelings of their children before they go separate ways because break-up of marriages has a long-standing psychological effect on the children, who mostly end up having a negative perception of marriage when they grow up, such as the case for Pamela Mumba. 

Ms Mumba, now 24, was raised by a single mother. Her parents divorced when she was five years old. 

“To be frank with you, I don’t even look forward to marriage. I see no need for it since everything there is in marriage can be easily accessed even outside of it. People can easily adopt children if they so wish,” she says. 

Human rights activist Gregory Cifire also weighs in and says: “Some problems we see in some children from broken homes emanate from the fact that they come from homes where parents are not talking. Children grow well when their parents are together,” he said.

Mr Cifire said divorce sometimes is not the ultimate solution, although it happens.

NATASHA ALL GEARED! Miss Zambia looking forward to world pageant

NATASHA Mapulanga, the reigning Miss Zambia is excited about representing the country at the Miss World pageant to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May.

For Natasha, this is a dream come true.

“This has been a childhood dream of mine, so besides being excited, I am in awe of my dreams actualising,” she told the Weekend Mail in an interview. “So it is an honour, and my goal is to market our country, as a people, our culture, food, music, livelihoods, values and norms, and I just hope to make Zambians proud overall, because I won’t be going as Natasha but as Miss Zambia.”

The pageant in the UAE will be the 71st edition of the Miss World pageant.

“I am delighted to announce the 71st Miss World Festival will be held in… the UAE,” Julia Morley, chairman of Miss World Limited, announced last week.

The Miss World pageant is an international competition that has been held annually since 1951.

The event seeks to find the most beautiful woman in the world, and its participants come from countries around the globe.

Contestants are judged on their talents, intelligence, and their answers to questions on current events and social issues.

The current holder of the title of Miss World is Polish model and television presenter, Karolina Bielawska will crown her successor as Miss World 2023 at the end of the pageant.

According to her biography on the Miss World website, Bielawska is currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Management and would like to continue her studies with a PhD.

Natasha, the 26-year old international relations student and development analyst was crowned Miss Zambia in June last year - seven years after missing out on the crown in 2014.

“My journey so far has been good,” she said. “The most fulfilling part for me is my social cause which is ending period poverty through an NGO that I work with called ‘Human Street Health Aid Zambia’ (HSHAZ). 

“We donate menstrual cups to young girls especially in rural areas. This is so to enable them to still access education even when they are on their monthly period without any hindrance or discomfort, also to allow them to take part in extracurricular activities like the boys.”

Natasha says preparations for the global event has since started and going on smoothly.

“The glitz and glam of attending events is nice and fun too, but my whole essence as Miss Zambia is driven by my social cause,” she said.

Note that this article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper on Sunday, February 19, 2023.                                                                                           

MORE EFFORTS FOR MENSTRUAL HEALTH: Lack of information, high cost of products affect adolescent girls

IN A given month, an adolescent girl from a vulnerable home would be absent from school – sometimes for three to four days straight, due to menstrual poverty, ultimately translating into days of missed classes and lessons.

A 2011 report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) estimated that one in 10 African adolescent girls miss school during menses and eventually drop out because of menstruation-related issues.

These issues vary from the inaccessibility of affordable sanitary protection, the social taboos related to menstruation and the culture of silence that surrounds it.

Martha Chanda, a Lusaka-based sexual and reproductive health activist, says this cultural scenario is concerning.

“Menstruation is not a choice, unlike other things that everyone seems to be paying so much attention to,” she says.

She says the continued silence around menstruation, combined with limited information at home and schools, is impacting negatively on girls and women’s health. Many girls are affected by menstrual hygiene management issues in schools, hence it has become a serious barrier and threat to their education.

Add also the cost of sanitary pads which could be out of reach to some, especially those from families of low-income status, it has not made things any easier.

“This prompts girls to resort to the use of Banana fibres, sponges, pieces of cloth and cotton. However, such alternatives pose health risks and discomfort to girls, lowering their dignity, concentration and performance levels in class,” she says.

Whereas most urban schools have at least responded positively to the call of menstrual hygiene through establishing menstrual hygiene and sanitation-friendly facilities, the story is different for those in rural areas.

“We should encourage local initiatives that produce reusable sanitary pads and make them accessible and affordable,” she says. “It is also imperative to promote girl talks in schools facilitated by mainly female teachers, counsellors and parents, with the rationale of discussing menstrual hygiene.”

With poverty as high as 78 percent in rural Zambia, girls there cannot afford sanitary pads, which on average cost about K20 per packet of 10 pads. In order to improvise, adolescent girls then resort to using rags and always miss class when their menses are heavy for fear of staining their clothes because most girls lack supplies to safely and hygienically manage menstruation while at school.

Not only that, girls’ school attendance becomes less consistent after fifth grade, according to a report on Zambia by UNICEF, the UN child advocacy agency.

Apart from sanitary supplies, insufficient water and sanitation facilities in schools are also a key factor contributing to adolescent girls dropping out of schools.

A 2008 report of the Ministry of General Education’s education management information systems revealed that “most girls find it difficult to manage their menstruation in environments without water and convenient sanitation facilities, such as washrooms and sanitary disposable points.”

The report estimates that only 29 percent of schools in Zambia met the World Health Organisation’s recommended pupil-toilet ratio of 25 boys per toilet and only nine percent met the recommended ratio of 20 girls per toilet.

While policy pronouncements take time to implement, every time wasted, a girl is dropping out of school because of menstrual-related issues.

“All I know is that when a girl is on her periods, she is unclean,” answered a grade seven pupil at Kamanga Primary School when asked what he knows about menstrual hygiene.

Now, it is this kind of mentality, coupled with all the many other cultural myths and beliefs surrounding menstruation, that has forced the information gap to widen.

Again, in traditional Africa, when a girl or woman is menstruating, she is not, among other things, allowed to cook.

UNESCO says the cost of sanitary pads is a problem throughout the continent and estimates that one in 10 girls in Africa misses school during their menses and eventually drop out.

For most pupils in rural schools, using sanitary pads is a far-fetched dream, at least until free distribution for rural girls begins.

Gender activists have been calling for free distribution of sanitary pads as opposed to condoms because menstruation is not a choice, whereas sex is.

Reigning Miss Zambia Natasha Mapulanga is one such other activist that has taken it upon herself to champion calls for an inclusive menstrual health education and hygiene, especially among adolescents that fall below the privileged divide.

Another such organisation, among many others, is the faith-based organisation Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). It too has been implementing programmes such as a three-year-long Menstrual Health in Urban Townships (METRO BMZ) project worth 364,000 euros in Lusaka.

Speaking at the launch of the project recently, ADRA Zambia country director Kennedy Habasimbi stated that the project is aimed at increasing gender equality and empowerment of vulnerable township girls and young women.

“We shall do this by addressing some identified barriers and challenges to accessing adequate menstrual health and hygiene management,” he said. “ADRA’s theory of change on menstrual hygiene management is that to enhance access, we need to ensure awareness, availability of services/ products and affordability.”

The project intends to reach about 60,000 community members who include girls, women and boys.

NOTE: This article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper of Friday, January 6, 2023.

TAKING CHILD MARRIAGE PERSONAL: Choma youth picks mantle to reduce Zambia's global ranking on early nuptials

WITH 42 percent of women aged between 20 and 24 years married off by the age of 18, Zambia ranks among countries with the highest child marriage rates in the world.

Currently, Zambia is ranked 16th amongst countries with the highest rate of child marriage in the world, and although the Marriage Act establishes a legal age for marriage, and the Penal Code makes sex with a girl under 16 an offence in Zambia, these provisions rarely apply in customary law.

Owing to this, early child marriage has become a vital topic of discussion amongst several development platforms, so much that the vice has now become even more visible to many people, including those that were previously unaware of its existence.

And as the local proverb goes: “One finger cannot crush a louse”. There is indeed strength in numbers.

This proverb holds true in the fight against early or forced marriage.

The future of most girls is threatened by early or forced marriage, making it a national concern, bringing many organisations and people on board, all in an effort to mitigate it – this includes 30-year-old Choma-based activist Genious Musokotwane.

I caught up with the budding youth who has decided to dedicate not only his time, but also resources, to fighting the vice and sending children, especially girls, to school.

At his young age, Mr Musokotwane is also executive director for the Musokotwane Compassion Mission Zambia (MCMZ), a Choma-based non-profit and youth-led organisation that frontiers the fight against child marriages.

Not only that, his organisation, which has on a number of occasions retrieved many girls from forced or arranged marriages in Choma and surrounding areas, has also been ensuring that it meets their needs.

“I am just a simple Zambian, life transformation servant driven leader,” is how Mr Musokotwane describes himself.

Born in Kalomo in 1992, Mr Musokotwane was raised by a single parent, a thing that motivated him to found MCMZ.

“I grew up to know that I was a solution to my community,” he says. “When my mother died when I was 10 years old, I went to live in the village and my time in the village as a young boy birthed my passion to bring about positive change.”

At the age of 14, an opportunity availed itself for him to attend a boy’s camp under Peace Corps as a volunteer.

“At the end of the camp, we were all asked to take a quiet moment and reflect on things we would love to change in our communities,” he says. “It was at this point that the early child marriage problem resurfaced. It was in the same year that the 2007 Demographic Health Survey on Zambia was released and it indicated that half of Zambian women were married before the age of 18 years.”

Out of his passion, Genious, then aged 15, engaged Chief Chikanta of Kalomo district and Chief Cooma of Choma district and shared with them his ideas on the best practices of ending early, forced and child marriages in their chiefdoms.

“It was at this point in 2008 that Musokotwane Compassion Mission Zambia (MCMZ) was founded with the sole purpose of influencing chiefdoms, traditional leaders, government and others to end child marriages and also meet basic needs of girls retrieved from such toxic unions,” he says.

Today, MCMZ is a member of the Girls Not Brides global partnership on ending child marriages worldwide. It is also an approved Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) in the republic of Zambia.

“Since inception, over 500 girls have been retrieved and put back in school under the advocacy, education and capacity building thematic areas,” says Mr Musokotwane.

His organisation has since expanded its operations into Kazungula district, adding on the other three districts, Monze, Pemba and Choma.

MCMZ is also a transit facility for survivors of child marriage. This, he says, is done in accordance with the Government's vision and aspiration to reduce the number of children raised in institutional care through the implementation of an alternative care plan where the organisation partners with a volunteer family to keep and care for any such survivor or child.

The organisation is also a trainer of trainers in organisation strategic planning, data for decision making, monitoring and evaluation and also trainer of trainers in child protection policy and disability inclusion.

It is also building classes for its formal and skills training school at its Choma farm as part of its transition into a transit centre for survivors of sexual violence and child marriage.

Asked what it was like setting up MCMZ, Mr Musokotwane says it was challenging at first, but has no regrets now.

“But I believed in myself, I understood God had called me to this and I never expected a smooth path. With this view in mind, it made everything easy. Also, Chief Chikanta and Chief Cooma supported me with what I needed and knowing that I had such traditional leaders behind me, and being called for this made the whole thing adventurous,” he says. 

“The programmes are being received very well as we have traditional leaders raising the flag to end child marriage and over five chiefs and their headmen have been trained and are now champions of ending child marriage.”

He says in rural areas, it is always important to work with traditional leaders if you want to achieve positive change.

He says child marriage has been a traditional practice that has escalated now because of poverty levels.

He recalls how while in primary school, a school mate got married off and later lost her life during child birth. Up to now, it still hurts him that his schoolmate had no one to stand up for her.

“If someone stood [up] for her not to be married off, she probably would still be alive today. This has continued to pop up in every case that we come across and that's what drives us to stand for girls and help even when we have little to give to the down-trodden girls and children,” he says.

The impact isn’t just on society and the retrieved girls. It has also had an impact on Mr Musokotwane.

He says: “Serving as a lead servant at MCMZ has made me realise that we are all tools in God's hands. The opportunity has changed my view of success as not the acquisition of fame, material things or money but by how our actions, lifestyle and character bring the kingdom of heaven to those in distress.”

He adds: “The privilege to serve under this organisation has made me have a global view on how best we can improve our communities and the country’s social and economic development for all.”

MCMZ retrieves girls from child marriages and provides them with shelter, basic needs, and education support through a school sponsorship programme.

“MCMZ work improves the protection, health and education chances for girls, and widens their economic opportunities in society,” he says. 

“Child marriages are mainly driven by poverty, perception of girls as only good for marriage, inequality among boys and girls, and also [bad] traditional practices. We can curtail these by investing in the education of girls, especially those at risk of falling into the trap and also those already retrieved.”

He adds that improved economic opportunities for families in rural areas are key in the fight against the vice.

“Since inception, we have been dealing with 20 cases on average, annually. We need to abolish all those traditional practices that impede the development of young girls,” he says.

To keep afloat, the organisation has some income generating activities such as farming, beverage brewing and supply, fundraising galas and musical concerts, crowd funding and individual donors.

He says a number of prominent private and public schools in the district have partnered with his organisation to offer scholarships to the girls under its auspices and care.

It operates within four thematic areas, namely, advocacy, capacity building, child protection, and education support.

“We hardly face resistance when rescuing these girls from these toxic marriages,” he says. “We are part of the victim's family support who are mostly the ones that report such cases to us and these are the same families we rely on for alternative care.”

Mr Musokotwane, who has been married for slightly under two years now, has earned himself a name for his actions and contribution to society. While acknowledging a reduction in the number of any such cases, he advises parents to desist from sending their children into early marriages.

 “The reduction could be attributed to concerted efforts by stakeholders and the government's free education policy. However, there is a need to continue addressing the poverty levels among rural areas as the vice is mostly propelled by poverty and hunger in most of these areas,” he says.

Mr Musokotwane who is also a promising young farmer in Southern province studied public relations at Evelyn Hone College and also spent some years in South Africa studying Missions and Leadership and while there, worked for a number of charitable organisations.

NOTE: This article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper of Wednesday, January 4, 2023.