Browse the most recent posts to this site.
Dangerous Journey to Chasela
Sometime in late 1959, my mother arrived back at our village in Chief Magodi in the Lundazi District of Eastern Zambia in Southern Africa. I had lived with my grandparents, uncles, aunts, dozens of cousins and other kinship member. The … read more
The First Time I Saw a Train
I was a thirteen year-old village boy who was going to see it for the first time any minute now. My dad and I had just completed a grueling sixteen hour bus trip from the country. We were dusty, black … read more
Has AIDS Changed Social Life in Zambia?
Note: This article was written on November 22, 1988 in Lusaka in Zambia Has AIDS changed social life in Zambia? AIDS is a terrible, incurable, fatal disease that renders the body’s immune system vulnerable to disease. It can be contracted … read more
Are You Sleepless in a Glitzy Hotel Room?
It was 2:00 am and I was still tossing and trying to sleep in my sparkling clean hotel room in Richmond in Virginia in May 2010. At 5:00 am I finally sat up in exasperation. My heart was racing. My … read more
My First International Flight
Part One The build up to my first International Flight started one morning when I lived in Lusaka in February 1977. I received in the mail the acceptance letter to go to Michigan State University for my Masters Degree. My … read more
Sacred Cows and Myths are Broken
In September of 2002 sacred cows and myths were broken in my African home village. The wider implications of the breaking of these myths are still unclear. It all started when the Tembo family decided to purchase two bulls to … read more
Letters to My Grandfather
Letters to My Grandfather in the Village in Zambia *These letters were written in December 1977. Dear Grandfather, I should have written you this letter a long time ago. But I was so busy with my further education and daily … read more
Do You Have Cravings for Truly Zambian Food?
For a traditional Zambian who lives so far away from home, life overseas is not all enjoyment of cheap blue jeans, night clubs, and easy life. There was a Zambian whose name will not be disclosed as authorities and perhaps … read more
Do You Have a Spare Tire?
The last time I shopped for clothes was a couple of years ago. Early this fall I discovered that all my dress shirts were fraying around the collar. Many of my long dress pants had either emergency mending, or were … read more
Burglars and Home Security
When Erma Bombeck complained that it takes so long to secure the house (Detroit Free Press: 03-02-90) before she and her husband retired to bed because of increased crime I was amused. Because it sounded more like the neighborhood I … read more
Children Scare Me
I love children. But it is the five year olds that scare me. My anxiety and fear are not so much over what they do, but what they can say, where, and when. This was brought to me recently when … read more
Themba Chako Radio Comedy
Radio Chikaya in Lundazi Who are the Tumbuka people? They live in Zambia, a country with a population of 10 million people with 2.02% annual growth rate. It has a life expectancy at birth of 43, and adult literacy rate … read more