Virtual Trip to Zambia
“Zambia….. It’s a country somewhere in central Africa…..What else can I add?” – I thought, reading an invitation to a YES-club meeting. The answer was “nothing”. I could only imagine savages beating drums or hunting with spears. So I decided to go for the meeting.
Our speaker, Collins Mbale, surprised me with his totally European look. To forestall such questions, Collins spoke about the history and customs of Zambia. It turned out that Zambia is one of the most urbanized countries in the torrid zone of Africa: more than half of the population lives in cities. Cities in their traditional form, with wide roads and low-rise buildings, sprang up at the beginning of the 20th century. Europeans, when they had settled in the country, introduced a number of useful innovations like Western clothes, schools and English. The area that is now Zambia was inhabited for about 2000 years by the Bantu-speaking people, before the Portuguese came to the territory at the end of the 18th century. Great Britain had more influence on Zambia, so in the 19th century the country became a British colony.
Scientists, explorers, missionaries and merchants arrived in the country. The most noted for establishing relations between Europeans and natives is David Livingston, a Scottish doctor and scientist. There are a lot of legends concerning his works, even one of the cities in Zambia is named after him. Livingston City is the home of the world famous Victoria Falls, which are the biggest in the world: 128m high and 1800m wide. In 1855 Dr. Livingston visited these falls and named them after Queen Victoria. Earlier the waterfalls had gone by the name MOSI-oa-TUNYA, which means “The smoke that thunders”, because of the millions of litters of crashing water which splashes to cover from head to toe anyone standing near. Victoria Falls are a World Heritage site of UNESCO and, who knows, maybe some years later they will be high on the new list of the World’s wonders made by nature.
It is still unclear from which side Dr. Livingston came to the waterfall: both bordering countries, Zambia and Zimbabwe, between which the Victoria Falls are situated, claim that he came from their side. That is why two bronze monument-competitors to Dr. David Livingston were set up on both banks of the waterfalls. Collins, like a real patriot of Zambia, claimed the Victoria Falls look more beautiful from his country’s side. I guess it remains only to be checked by ourselves.
Moreover,
you will not regret a visit to this country also for its 19 national parks clearly
demonstrating a variety of flora and fauna, the annual fishing championship on Lake
Tanganyika and tours to different museums. And the natives of the country certainly
perform shows for tourists with their national songs, dances and clothing. The Zambians
piously keep up their traditions. About 500 000 tourists from Europe, Asia and
America come to Zambia every year.
Zambia is an agrarian country: about 50% of the population work at subsistence
farming. They grow corn, wheat, millet, beans, sunflowers, fruit, melons and gourds. The
country is divided into 9 provinces. And, just imagine, 7 African languages have been
declared official languages of Zambia. Some of these languages are similar to one another,
but others are totally different. Collins admitted he speaks two of them. These are
languages usually spoken at home with friends and family, but at school and in university
one has to speak only English.
The educational system of Zambia is quite different from the Russian one.
General education is divided into Primary (grades 1 to 7) and Secondary (grades 7 to 12).
Although primary education is compulsory, only about 60% of children aged 6-13 attend
school. After passing Grade 7, State Exam pupils can then enter secondary schools.
Secondary school itself is divided into Junior (grades 8-9: in Grade 9 pupils have to take
another State Exam) and Senior (grades 10-12) secondary education. In secondary schools
pupils choose to pursue either a science related career or a philological career. Students
studying pure sciences (science-related career) are not required to study literature.
“By training subspecialists like that, the government deprives some pupils with not only
Zambia’s, but also the world’s cultural possessions”, complained Collins, who
himself studied pure sciences in secondary school. That is why he was so happy and amazed
when he studied Russian literature after he came to Russia for education. Both primary and
secondary education (up to Grade 9 in most schools) is free. There are also a lot of
institutes and colleges, but they require payment. The pupils are not required to pass
exams twice, after finishing school and when entering university, like we do. They are
given only one chance to pass their exams after finishing school. Furthermore, pupils have
to wait for their results for about six months. That is a very long time for a young
person, and the pupils usually have to decide what they want to concentrate on when they
enter university.
After the results are published, future students have to use them to apply to universities, institutes and colleges they are interested in. Our speaker, Collins, has a very interesting story of how he came to Russia. He was in his town when his brother called him from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia: “Wazzup bro! Listen, you’ve got to come to Lusaka as soon as possible. There will be an exam for Russian scholarships this Friday. I know this is sudden, but you’ve got to give it a try.” The day the call came was Monday, and Collins had only 3 days to prepare for the exam that nearly 600 young people were invited to write. From the 600 only 60 young people would receive scholarships, to Russia. Collins had always dreamed of studying abroad after school. One of his elder brothers was already studying in Russia by this time. That brother, according to our speaker, happens to be the one who mostly inspired Collins about studying abroad. And so on Friday young Collins was among more than 500 young and eager brains sitting the exam. Our speaker was among the top 60, and he was granted a full scholarship to study in Russia.
Is it really possible to commit to paper the impression and joy of this meeting? You can read hundreds of books about Zambia, but they can’t replace the information from a personal account and the pleasure of communication.
We shall be waiting for you at the YES-club meetings!