Zambia

 

The majority of the working population is engaged in agriculture, largely subsistence farming, which remains vulnerable to weather fluctuations. Zambia's economy is based largely on copper mining, and this monoculture has resulted in an urbanization percent on 50%, one of Africa's biggest.

The economy has suffered from low copper prices the last decade, and Zambia is now heavily depending on foreign aid. After only 40 years of British rule Zambia got its independence in 1964. The United National Independence Party led by Kenneth Kaunda has won all Zambian elections until the early 1990's, where the opposition movement and its presidential candidate, Frederick Chiluba, won the election. The country has opened up its economy for a free trade policy during the late 1990's, with the aim of inviting foreign investors. The government is in that way trying to put new life into the slowed down copper mines.

 

HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE IN ZAMBIA

The Humana People to People Movement started in Zambia in 1985. Ten young Zambians were trained for one year in Denmark. They returned together with a group of Scandinavian solidarity workers and a project leader to start the development work in Zambia by creating Frontline Youth Centers throughout the country. The idea was to mobilize and educate young people to participate in the development of their country by staying in the rural areas and creating the development there, at the Frontline Youth Centers.Nine centers were established and handed over to the youth as co-operatives.

In 1990 DAPP in Zambia started more projects under the Child Aid headline, such as the Children’s Town. DAPP in Zambia has increased and developed its activities to consist of 10 projects within different sectors of the Humana People to People movement.

 

 

President: Rupiah Banda.

Population: 12.935.010 (2009).

Capital: Lusaka; 1.084.703 mill. inhabitants (2007).

Official language: English.

Other big cities: Kitwe, Ndola, Kabwe, Chingola.

GNP: 486 US$/capita (2005).

Recipients of aid: 221 US$/capita.

Adult literacy rate: 78 %.

Life expectancy: 45 years (2008).

Infant mortality: 92 per 1.000 live births (2008).

Children's Town

 

WHY YOU ARE NEEDED IN CHILDREN'S TOWN

Children’s Town in Malambanyama was established in 1990 and started with only two children and 11 educators were employed when the number of children increased and were accommodated in tent shelters. Its main aim was to address the plight of the former street children and other vulnerable children. During the years the numbers of former street kids grew from 2 to 85 by 1994 and from the tents to 4 residential houses of the children. 415 square meters of classes and administration building were then constructed.

From 1998 to 2000 the school population rose to 258 children of whom 118 children are former street kids referred by the Ministry of Community development and Social Services and 140 of them were identified by the community as orphans and other vulnerable children. In the quarter under review the Center has continued to serve as a school, a home and a sound social environment for 228 children of whom 105 are former street children from our main towns and cities, while 123 are orphans and disadvantaged children from the surrounding villages. They take primary education, receive vocational training and learn to take responsibility and to be reproductive.

The Ministry of Education recognizes it as a Community School. The school is also facilitating a community based initiative of 1225 Orphans, in an Outreach Orphan program in 34 villages around the school in trying to address the needs of these children in education, shelter, nutrition ,clothing and carrying out HIV/AIDS programs. Therefore, this project that is try to meet all this needs of children is situated on 250 hectares donated by Chief Liteta near Malambanyama village in Chibombo District 140 km North West of Lusaka.

Children's Town is one of the few institution in Zambia which is addressing the problem of the Street kids, orphans and other vulnerable children. There are over 600000 children of these orphans and vulnerable children in Zambia. Current statistics show that 64 % have their fathers dead, 22% had their mother dead and 14% had their both their parents dead. The orphan rate is on the increase. Some of the causes are, the advent of HIV/AIDS in the world, has lead to an increase to the number of orphans. Social and economical factors have also contributed to the vulnerability of children. Hence, there is need for strategic interventions.

Many of the children who come to the children's Town have not been to school. Either they have been spending their days on the streets of the Zambia’s cities or they have been living out in rural villages. It is for this reason they need a lot of help and guidance to get over discrimination and stigmatisation because society has not just readily accepted them. Through this guidance they will be available to start to read and write. Children’s Town offers practical skills training, vocational training and academic primary education from reception to grade 7. The aim is to graduate a child with proficiency in tasks such as vegetable growing, brick making, cooking, animal husbandry and crop production. They should also successfully complete grade 7 of the government primary curriculum. The project is currently has 13 educators who are both responsible for teaching skills and academic. As in every school there are some children who are slow learners and backwards. Unfortunately, our full time educators cannot cope up with the demand of extra lessons, hence this is where you as a development instructor you are needed most.

Facts about Zambia

 

 

IN GENERAL

The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the South Africa Company from 1891 until it was taken over by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched a far-reaching anti-corruption campaign in 2002, which resulted in the prosecution of former President Frederick CHILUBA and many of his supporters in late 2003. Opposition parties currently hold a majority of seats in the National Assembly.

 

 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

Zambia's capital city is Lusaka, located in the southcentral part of the country. Zambia is divided into 9 provinces:

 

· Central

· Copperbelt

· Eastern

· Luapula

· Lusaka

· Northern

· North-Western

· Southern

· Western

 

 

 

LOCATION, AREA AND DISTANCE ALONG THE BORDER

Zambia is a landlocked country in southcentral Africa and has a total area of 752.614 sq km (290.586 sq mi), with 740.724 sq km of land and 11.890 sq km of water. Zambia has a maximun length of 1.206 km (749 mi) E - W and a maximum width of 815 km (506 mi) N - S. Comparatively, the area occupied by Zambia is slightly larger than the state of Texas. Bounded on the NE by Tanzania, on the E by Malawi, on the SE by Mozambique and Zimbabwe, on the S by Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia (South West Africa), on the W by Angola, and on the W and N by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DROC), Zambia has a total boundary length of 5.664 km (3.519 mi).

 

 

 

CLIMATE

 

The climate of Zambia in Central and Southern Africa is tropical modified by altitude. In the Köppen climate classification, most of the country is classified as humid subtropical or tropical wet and dry, with small patches of semi-arid steppe climate in the south-west.

 

There are t wo main seasons, the rainy season (November to April) corresponding to summer, and the dry season (May to October/November), corresponding to winter. The dry season is subdivided into the cool dry season (May to August), and the hot dry season (September to October/November). The modifying influence of altitude gives the country pleasant subtropical weather rather than tropical conditions for most of the year.

 

 

 

TERRAIN

It is mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains. The lowest point are the Zambezi river 329 m and highest point the unnamed location in Mafinga Hills 2.301 m above sea level. The country has three main rivers: the Zambezi, the Kafue and the Luangwa. The two latter are both tributaries of the Zambezi River which acts as a natural border to Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and feed the Victoria Falls, some of the largest falls in the world. Zambia also has three major lakes, all of which are in the north: Lake Bangweulu, Mweru and Tanganyika. The first two serve as borders with the Republic of Congo and Tanzania.

 

 

 

 

 

NATURAL RESOURCES

The Zambia's natural resources are:

 

· Copper

· Cobalt

· Zinc

· Lead

· Coal

· Emeralds

· Gold

· Silver

· Uranium

· Hydropower

 

 

 

LAND USE

 

· Arable land: 7.08%

· Permanent crops: 0.03%

· Other: 92.9% (2001)

 

460 sq km (1998 est.) irrigated land. Currently this is improving as more commercial farming is beginning mostly in the central province of Zambia.

 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CURRENT ISSUES

These are air pollution and resulting acid rain in the mineral extraction and refining region; chemical runoff into watersheds; poaching seriously threatens rhinoceros, elephant, antelope and large cat populations; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; lack of adequate water treatment presents human health risks.

 

 

 

THE POPULATION

The Zambian population is now at 12.935.000 (2009). Estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected. Zambia is more urbanized than most Sub-Saharan countries.

 

 

 

AGE STRUCTURE

The estimates made in 2009 say:

 

· 0-14 years: 45.1% (male 2,685,142 / female 2,659,771)

· 15-64 years: 52.6% (male 3,122,305 / female 3,116,846)

· 65 years and over: 2.3% (male 114,477 / female 164,199)

 

BIRTH / DEATH / NET MIGRATION RATE

 

 

 

INFANT MORTALITY RATE (2009)

· Total: 99.92 deaths/1,000 live births

· Male: 104.67 deaths/1,000 live births

· Female: 95.04 deaths/1,000 live births

 

LIFE EXPECTANCE AT BIRTH (2005)

· Total population: 39.7 years

· Male: 39.43 years

· Female: 39.98 years

 

TOTAL FERTILITY RATE

 

· 5.07 children born/woman (2010 est.)

· 5.47 children born/woman (2005 est.)

· 5.25 children born/woman (2003 est.)

· 5.62 children born/woman (2000 est.)

 

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS spread very quickly throughout Zambia during 1980s and 1990s due to:

· High level of sexually transmitted infections.

· Low level of male circumcision.

· Low level of condom use.

· Concentration of population along line of rail.

· Sufficient level of sexual networking to spread the virus.

 

Sad enough, most infected Zambians do not know their status. The adult prevalence rate is 16.5%. In the urban areas it is 23 % and in the rural areas it is 11%. The overall rate is exceedingly high, meaning that Zambia is undergoing one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the entire world. O ne out six (1/6) is infected among those 15 – 49 aged. 84 % of the aged 15-49 remain uninfected, thus a strong response from all sectors of the world is important. The HIV prevalence by province is: North western Province 9%, Luapula Province 11%, Northern Province 8%, Eastern Province 14 %, Central Province 15%, Copperbelt Province 20%, Western Province 13%, Southern Province 18% and Lusaka Province, the smallest province, is 22%.

 

About 1 000 000 people are living with HIV AIDS. By the year 2003, approximately 89,000 people had died of HIV/AIDS. This has created a big negative impact in the community. Today, there is about 71% of the 5.96 million children in the age range of 0 – 18 alive who are orphans and live in poverty, with the proportion of impoverished children being higher in rural than urban areas, at 78.1 and 56.0 % respectively.

 

 

 

COMMON DISEASES

The degree of risk is very high:

· Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever.
· Vector borne diseases: malaria and plague are high risks in some locations.
· Water contact disease: schistosomiasis (Bilharzia).

 

 

 

ETHNIC GROUPS

· African: 98.7%

· European: 1.1%

· Other: 0.2%

 

 

 

 

 

RELIGIONS

· Christian: 50%-75%

· Muslim and Hindu: 24%-49%

· Indigenous beliefs: 1%

 

 

 

LANGUAGES

English (official), major vernaculars - Bemba, Kaonda, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, Tonga and about 70 other indigenous languages.

 

 

 

LITERACY

Those aged 15 and over can read and write English:

 

· Total population: 80.6%

· Male: 86.8%

· Female: 74.8%

 

 

 

LABOR FORCE BY OCCUPATION

· Agriculture: 85%

· Industry: 6%

· Services: 9%

 

 

 

TOURISM

In Zambia, there is one of the earth's biggest waterfall, the wild Zambezi River, breath-taking lakes and wetlands, a profusion of birds, abundant wildlife, and raw, pulsating wilderness, all in one friendly country. Acknowledged as one of the safest countries in the world to visit, Zambia's people live in peace and harmony.

 

 

 

MUSIC AND DANCE

 

Quiet beauty, bustle, bounding life or brimming joy characterize many aspects of music and dance in Zambia. Emphasis varies from breathless acrobatic spectacle amid propulsive drumming to fine subtleties of sound and movement. Many traditional instruments are still played throughout the country, although the desire for western instruments increases. The more common ones are the hand piano, a small instrument with iron keys mounted on a rectangular box and plucked by both thumbs. Or the silimba, a xylophone type instrument with a range of flat wooden keys mounted over gourds. The most common of course is the drum and drumming plays an important part of rituals, ceremonies, celebrations and community communication.

 

Dance is an important part of musical expression among Africans and along with the ideas they express, serve as reflectors of life and thought over the centuries - of times of turmoil and peace, tension and confidence, retreat and advance, conquest and defeat.
The influence of the west and the rest of Africa is well entrenched in music tastes of the current generation in Zambia. In the big towns, night clubs and shebeens belt the sounds of Kwela and rumba and many local bands play to the increasingly westernized youth.

 

 

 

 

 

CULTURE

Zambia’s contemporary culture is a blend of values, norms, material and spiritual traditions of more than 70 ethnically diverse people. Most of the tribes of Zambia moved into the area in a series of migratory waves a few centuries ago. They grew in numbers and many traveled in search of establishing new kingdoms, farming land and pastures.

Before the colonial period, the region now known as Zambia was the home of a number of free states. Each having comprehensive economic links with each other and the outside world along trade routes to the east and west coast of Africa. The main exports were copper, ivory and slaves in exchange for textiles, jewellery, salt and hardware.

Project and situation in Zambia

 

Zambia is a landlocked country in the heart of Southern Africa. It is situated on a high plateau with majestic rivers like the Luapula  and Zambezi running through, creating natural borders and ample water supplies. Zambia borders Angola and DRC (Congo) to the North and  Mozambique to the West and Malawi and Zimbabwe to the East and South. Zambia is slightly larger than Texas with a population of 11.5 million people. Mining and processing of Copper, Zink and Coal contribute to over 85% of the annual GDP. Even though the climate is excellent for agriculture, the search for a better life in the mining industries of the larger cities has made Zambia a highly urbanized country, with 50% of the population living in the cities.

The Zambian people are very open and friendly. The population compromises of over 70 ethnic groups with each their unique language and culture. The most important quality is that Zambians feel very much like one people. “One Zambia, One Nation” as expressed in their national motto. Zambia has been a peaceful country both under and after the British colonization that ended in 1964. Zambia is home to the Victoria Falls, as well as huge areas of National Parks where wile game can be seen walking around freely. Zambia is one of the most indebted countries in Southern Africa.  32 % of the total GDP is annually used to pay back loans. 86% of Zambian’s live below the poverty line.  Zambia has an 18% HIV rate among its population. As a consequence 46% of the population is under 18 years old. There is much to be done in this  nation that is struggling to come to grasp with the AIDS epidemic and poverty.

 

DEVELOPMENT INSTRUCTORS NEEDED IN ZAMBIA

DAPP Zambia, a member of Humana People to People, started its work in Zambia in 1986. DAPP Zambia runs 21 development projects that are distributed in all 9 provinces.  These projects range from Child Aid, where the emphasis is on grass roots development in rural areas, to TCE and HOPE, where the emphasis is to get control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In addition to that, DAPP runs 27 retails shops where second-hand clothes collected and shipped from Europe, are sold for reasonable prices to fund many of the social projects such as Child Aid and HOPE.

As a Development Instructor in Zambia your work could be:

· Development Instructor in Child Aid. Children are a country’s most precious resource. For a developing country like Zambia, it is of utmost importance to secure good conditions for the children’s development. In the Child Aid project you will work with starting and running pre-schools, training and facilitating the pre-school teachers, help start small loans groups with micro-financing, and supervising the building of latrines and safe water wells. This work is mostly done in the country side, so you must be ready for very basic living conditions, where electricity and running water is limited. Your transportation will most likely be by bike or foot.

· TCE – Fighting HIV/AIDS. Zambia has one of the highest HIV rates of Southern Africa. Despite the success from Zimbabwe and Uganda to curtail their HIV-rate, Zambia’s HIV rate has been on the rise for years, with no visible signs of slowing down. The TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) program is a powerful tool in the fight. As a Development Instructor in TCE you will take part in the massive house to house education campaign that is carried out. You will be educating everyone in the area about how to avoid getting infected, and how to deal with people who are affected. You will give lessons and train “Field Officers” (the local staff) about all subjects connected to the disease, and its consequences.

· Teacher in the Children’s Town. DAPP Zambia runs a Children’s Town where 300 kids, many of them street kids and orphans, get a second chance for a good life with education and skills training. As a Development Instructor in the Children’s Town, you will be a teacher a parent and a care-giver. You will teach English, science, knowledge about the world. You will tutor the kids that need extra school attention. You will be an important figure for kids that need good adult role models.

Children in Zambia

 

Childhood is supposed to be a time of hope and great joy. This has been eluded to by most children in Zambia. But for many children it is a time of immense misery. Due to their suffering untold stress, they prematurely become adults. The hardships that these children encounter at their tender age have varied causes. The largest percentage of them has been orphaned, especially with the advent of the HIV&AIDS. Others have also found themselves in their present predicament due to the economic malaise Zambia's experiencing.

Statistics indicate that, currently more than 500,000 children have been orphaned by HIV&AIDS. At least in excess of three quarters of these children have ended up on the streets of Zambia's major towns and cities.  While they are on the street, these

children are exposed to harsh forms of labour which include among others illicit drug peddling and petty thieving. The girls are forced into prostitution or into premature marriages. They are engaged in all these vices in order to survive. The plight of these disadvantaged children can not be let to deteriorate any further. It has thus become imperative that the government and non governmental organizations (NGO's) act prudently and intervenes now.

Following the 1990 World Summit for Children and UNICEF's "sombre prediction" on the state of the world's children and in particular the estimated number of children to be seen on the streets of Zambia's major cities and towns at 600,000 by the year 2000,  the necessity for the inception of DAPP Children's Town, the same year was seen. Children's Town strives to accord the needy child, educational, social and emotional satisfaction.

 

I have been working in Children's Town for 6 months and I have seen what they do for many of these needy children. But what about all the others who are still out there on the streets without anything?  It has been estimated that there will be 1,656,649 orphans in Zambia under the age of 15 by year 2000 and that is out of a population of children under 15 which is estimated to be 4.828.272! When you walk around in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, today you can't help seeing all the children who are selling things and begging to get money to survive. But these are just a small amount of the children who are actually living on the street. I didn't notice that many children when I arrived in Lusaka 7 months ago, I had expected it to be more. But the number has increased. When I left after 6 months I realized that there was a lot more children on the street.

Because of this we decided to do a small investigation in Lusaka to look closer at the problem. It wasn't very easy, but we got some results afterwards. We talked to some of the children we met both on the street and the ones who are staying in the compounds.  There are not so many children who are staying in the streets in the town centre, but there are more of them in the compounds. There are different reasons for that. The ones in the centre are the "strong" ones who can survive under the conditions which are surrounding them. Some of these children have decided themselves that they want to live on the streets and therefore can't go anywhere else. A lot of them are coming from other towns and places in the rural areas to find jobs and have something to do. When life gets too hard in the rural areas or in the area they are from, then they find their way to the big city. Often they can't find anything and then they are stuck on the street because they can't get home again.

But around the city you have the so called compounds which are living areas for a large amount of people. People here are living under horrible circumstances. The sanitation is really bad, almost no latrines, people are living very close to each other and which leads to that several diseases are floating around all the time. In this areas you will find a lot of children who don't have anything to hold on to. Some of them have lost both their parents and are staying with relatives who can't take care of them. They are wandering around all day to find something to eat because the relatives have enough people to feed already. They only go home to sleep because they don't feel welcome at their house. Then you have the children who don't have any family at all. They are relying on other people around to get something to eat etc. They sleep outside and spend their whole day to try and get something so that they can survive another day.

Most of the children you see outside in the compounds have parents but a lot of them only have one, either a mother or a father. A lot of them went to school when they had both their parents alive. The parents could feed the family and they  had a decent life. Then one of the parents dies and everything changes. They can't afford to send the children to school so they keep them home and the children have to work instead. They normally sell things in the market to get a small income for the family. The girls get married as soon as possible or they become prostituted.

 

There are a lot of different orphans in Zambia, but they have one thing in common. They don't get the childhood a child should have and it is up to us to do something about it. We have to secure the future for these kids and make sure that they get the same that we have taken for grante d.

 

Linn Johansen, Zambia