She holds a white basin firmly in her hands as she approaches the small garden with a determined look in her eye. Chilufya Musonda, a 30-year-old single mother with mounting bills to pay, stops briefly to re-adjust the chitenge wrap that firmly secures the baby girl on her back. Finally in the garden; Musonda gently pulls at a luminously succulent red tomato and places it in her basin. She repeats this action several times, loading her mid-sized basin with vegetables of various shapes, sizes and colours. When she’s done; she heads back home to begin to prepare their meals.

Have you ever taken into account of Rural Education being the fundamental aspect to measure diversification under Sustainable Development interventions? Millions of people are focusing on the urban poor and to a certain degree ignored rural poor interventions. In Africa, the rural population has continually been producing poor results based on developmental contribution to national political, social and economic improvement. And schools lack effective resources (libraries, qualified education mentors, low class education system) to provoke or influence pupils for success. The exposure to...

Before the sun gets too bright each morning, Beauty Mulenga (15); and her younger sister Paulina (12) are rushing through their daily routine. Chatting animatedly with a bucket full of tomatoes on their heads, Beauty leads the way as they go off to sell the vegetables… or rather, fruits if you insist; to passer-bys’ in their neighbourhood. Most people would think it odd that this is what young girls are doing as early as 5am, but this is the reality of many young Zambian people. Although it may seem hard to believe or even far-fetched; these young girls are the lucky ones. Once done selling...

You ought to be careful with the people you surround yourself with. I only recently discovered that certain mentalities are contagious. If you surround yourself with people that are constantly doubting themselves, speaking low about themselves, it's only a matter of time till you find yourself going through or experiencing such thoughts. This is how some insecurities are formed. Some people project and reflect their own doubts and fears onto you. Therefore, you have the duty to protect your space, know what and who you allow in your space. Like the Bible says, two cannot walk together unless...

Walking down the streets of Tirana,Albania, you happen to see a lot of things. Giant buildings, most of them inhabited, some of them left undone at the very last moment. You see people running up and town, some going to work, and some searching for one. There are cars honking at every red light, being parked at the side of the road, occupying that very little public space, and therefore making driving in the streets of Tirana, an extreme sport. If you keep walking a little bit more you will see cafes, a lot of them. Probably one of the most beneficial businesses. You will see people inside...

Nelson Mandela once said "Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world” and how great it is if this powerful weapon can be used to instill sustainable practices in young people. Late last year when I was trained to be a global schools advocate by SDSN youth, I was really excited to be part of this great initiative. It reflected my desire to help make a difference among young people who are the future generations and to educate them about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as global citizenship. At first, it was quite a challenge for me to get schools to...

The 21st century has been marked by almost meteoric advancements in science, technology, entrepreneurship and a rise in social consciousness. One of the most highlighted and contentious social issues is that of gender inequality. It is a multifaceted issue that can be defined and discussed from multiple perspectives. Broadly and briefly, it is a form of discrimination based on gender. It allows the unfair and disproportional distribution of opportunity, access, exposure, power and representation to one gender. In societies where gender systems are dichotomous, gender inequality may allow...

When we blog, write poetry, sing and do art, it’s not about the rhyme. We are trying be a voice for the voiceless, to bring hope to the hopeless and help our leaders to make wise choices and show them that wars are pointless. We are trying to influence communities and open their eyes to the boundless opportunities. We try to show the value of genuine humanity and that progress is only through unity. We are trying to uplift human culture, to change people’s lives, show them that it can be done without guns and knives. But as we teach, we’re also trying to entertain, to get some minds off the...

We live in an age where many of us don’t want to take action and normalize situations we can help to change. Like Albert Einstein once said “ The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil ,but by those who watch them without doing anything.” For the past years the same problems have been recurring and get worse everyday, and I want to point out some things we know are happening but that tend to ignore We have been fooled into believing that only the rich and powerful, with tools and methods can make the world a better place. The rich and powerful claim to fight for social justice, but...

I once read an article, where they asked a few ladies what they would do if men were to disappear from the world for 24 hours. "I'd sleep with my windows open", "I'd walk home from work at night", "I'd have walks in the park after it gets dark in the summer"...were among the answers ,and if we look carefully at these answers, we notice all of them are things a female should be able to do what is her natural right regardless of the presence of men. It is almost impossible to walk past somewhere and not be catcalled by someone who finds it funny, who finds it totally normal to harass women in...

Since 1977 plastics bags have been an essential part of our day to day lives. They have made the transportation of goods such as food, chemicals and even waste materials much easier. However, due to the non-biodegradable and polluting nature of most plastic bags on the market, bans have been placed on their production in many African countries like Rwanda and Kenya. Zambia too has decided to step up as it announced the ban on the use of plastic bags and their resultant waste through the Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection.This was in accordance with section...

On the 11th of September, 2021, a group of Zambians, numbering in the hundreds, gathered at the Lusaka global Platform, great east road in Lusaka, Zambia. The group, comprising mostly of youths, male and female, were to attend a march organized by the NGO Sistah Sistah Foundation, dubbed “The March against Sexual Violence”. The goal was clear and the message succinct; End rape culture. Emphasis; not simply “End Rape” but, “End Rape Culture” close. The group marched from the Lusaka global platform to the Munali Bridge and back. As all this was happening, another group, a “Sistah” group if you...

A writer once said, "there are far to many mediocre things in life and love should never be one of them." Let love be pure Choose love above everything else.

Today, I wanted to write about us, youth. Young people are the greatest agents of change in a society. To be young is definitely one of the most beautiful times in a person's life. You are full of energy, dreams and have so many aspirations. But there are many challenges too. We live in a busy world, many things have changed, including views and expectations. Some adults think that today's youth are a generation addicted to technology, that do not want to work and only focus on having fun. These stereotypes seem to be deeply rooted in some cultures, appearing to us time after time. And the...

I am a youth who is witnessing the impact of climate change and environmental degradation- the loss of trees due to uncontrollable cutting and burning of trees to be used as charcoal. How have we let the ideas of investment and development bring about more destruction than good? Selfishness and greed are affecting a lot of poor people who depend on natural resources. I ask myself, what am I doing wrong as an individual? What is Zambia or every Zambian doing wrong? What can I do to bring positive change? What can we as youth do to protect our environment? I believe there is need to promote...

There’s always black and white and yet we still go through the same hardships, Why does one have to feel superior than the other when we are all chasing the same goals? You got to understand that slavery doesn’t exist anymore, it’s written in the book of laws. People of color have to stop feeling inferior and people who are white have to stop feeling more superior, because you got to agree we all succeed and fail. Why can’t we move on? Why can’t we move past black and white? Why can’t we become one “HUMAN”? Stuck in the past and living the same problem each and everyday. How much more do we...

Growing up I have always been told I should conform to culture, practices, norms and beliefs. Growing up I have always asked the questions "Why is culture mostly applied to women and not men?" "Why does it affect women more?" "Why does culture favour men and not women?" "Why not both sexes?" Reality sinks in on how women are subjected to cultural norms and practices that infringe on their rights and free will. On daily basis, I witness how culture places emphasis on how and why men are to be respected and not women. In The Zambian culture when a woman is about to get married, she is subjected...

Here stands my creation, my very own, Soon to discover knowledge hitherto unknown, As it ventures into the uninhabitable zone. But what is this? Its wisdom has grown And here I stand, all alone, Next to my creation and its clones As if to strip humanity to its bones The robot and its army of drones Oh, how humanity has advanced from stone! But I snap out of my daydream, No longer alone, here is my team A firm group of eighteen That dared to dream To take on the world’s cream Over the next few weeks, we shall give our hand And prepare to make our stand The Five shall go, hand in hand To compete...