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| Robson at the White House recently |
By Paul Shalala
This year, 700 young African leaders are in
the United States taking part in the Mandela Washington Fellowship at various
universities.
Of those, 27 are from Zambia.
These lucky Zambian youths where among over
1,000 youths who applied for the 2018 fellowship but only 27 were selected.
Among those fellows are people from various
backgrounds and in the coming weeks, I will be profiling a number of them.
As a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow myself, I
mentored one of those fellows, Robson Maamba Jr to apply.
He first applied for the 2017 fellowship but
he was left out.
This frustrated him and he vowed never to
apply again.
But after a lengthy process of negotiations,
he finally agreed to apply for the 2018 fellowship and he was selected.
I must mention that Robson and I have been
close friends for close to 15 years now and we shared a lot in common after we
both left tertiary education: joblessness, hunger to work for God, searching
for marriage partners, etc.
In this question and answer article, Robson
explains the difficulties he has gone through in life and how he has managed to
overcome life and reach where he is.
Paul: First of all Robson, tell our readers
who you are.
Robson: I’m a third born in a family of seven,
4 boys and 3 girls. We have always been a happy family despite my father being
a farm labourer and my mother being a full time housewife in Lusaka West’s
Sekelela area. Around 1987 my father could not take it anymore receiving slave
wages and decided to quit his job as a farm supervisor and relocated to Chawama
Compound to try his luck elsewhere. With all my siblings we moved into a two
roomed house with one being used as our parent’s bedroom and the other working
as spare bedroom, lounge, dinning and kitchen.
My father’s next job was that of being a
marketeer (trader) at the Old Soweto Market, where the current Lusaka City
market sits today. He owned a stand were he sold tomatoes, onions and other
vegetables. During the maize marketing season he would sell maize.
Paul: From that business, was dad able to send
you to school.
Robson: In the early 1990s getting a school
place in Grade 1 was so difficult because of the population in many compounds
in Lusaka. My father struggled to find me a place within Chawama until he
managed to find one at Chinika Primary School which is located in Chinika
Industrial Area and about 15 kilometers from Chawama. During Grades 1 and 2, my
father would give me transport money upto Town then I would walk from Kulima
Tower bus station to school. When I was just getting into Grade 3, life became
so hard for my father that he could no longer manage to give me transport money
to school and even buying me proper shoes became a problem. Eventually I begun
walking the 15 kilometers distance to school. I did this because I loved school.
With the continued financial challenges my
father could no longer manage the town life and it was time to quit his tomato business
and head back to Lusaka west in 1993. Because it was believed school going
pupils are not to be disturbed from school, my two sisters and I remained in
Chawama with our grandmother so we could continue with our school. My
grandmother’s only business and survival tool was that of selling the illicit
local brew ‘Kachasu’. My sisters and I participation in this business and our
role was going to order in bulk from Jack Compound which was later sold in
retail at my grandmother’s house. We automatically became chief testers of the
beer as during ordering we would be given to test if we were getting the best
brew to satisfy our customers.
Paul: I guess life was so hard in Chawama, how
did you manage to survive with the long distance to school?
Robson: At this point, my entire family were
staunch Catholics and I served as an Alter Boy (Kampenga) at Chawama’s Regina
Parish. Things started getting tough in terms of finances for my grandmother to
fend for us such that even soap and body lotion became a problem to come by. At
some point my uncle who was then a mechanic brought us automobile greeze which
we used as vasilene. After applying this greeze then walking 15 kilometers to
school was something else. I recall one day my friend in class making fun of me
saying somebody in here smells like a motor vehicle. The continued suffering
forced my siblings and I follow our parents in Lusaka West. At this point my
parents had converted to Adventism as my father was now Farm Manager for
Rephidim Institute a support Ministry of the Seventh day Adventist Church. With
no time we all converted to be Adventist. And we were all transferred to Lusaka
West Basic School where I did my grades 5 to 7.
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| Robson's parents |
Paul: Tell us about Secondary School
Robson: My father’s financial hardships had
not yet been solved but we kept going. After seating for my Grade 7
examinations, I came out to be the best student and was selected to Kafue Boys
Secondary School. My father’s salary was not enough to meet my new school fees
and he would every term get a salary advance that left the entire family
starving for at least two months after opening schools. Knowing how much my
family suffered so that I get to school was a serious motivation for me to
study even harder. I remember one time during the PTA Annual General Meeting my
father only managed to find transport money to bring him from Lusaka West to
Kafue boys and told my mother to buy maize and pack some guavas for me and
that’s all I received whilst my colleagues in the dormitory were eating
chickens, cakes, and others received pocket monies. I had to endure this
embarrassing moment as my friends kept mocking me that “how can your father
bring boiled maize and guavas.” This experience is one of the driving forces
that propelled my potential and made me study even harder so that I could bring
change in my family. And true to this, after grade 9 I was among the best
students which saw me being selected at Hillcrest Technical High School in
Livingstone to join the rest of the “Crème dela Crème” as we were fondly
known. It is at Hillcrest Technical
School were I began to develop leadership ambitions. In Grade 10 I became a
Dormitory Captain, a position that exempted
me from cleaning toilets, sweeping around but was only confined to supervising
my fellow grade 10s and assigning them duties.
During my 3 year stint at this school I
continued striving for excellence and developed interest of becoming a lawyer.
I engaged myself in a number of clubs such as Press Club where I was Editor,
Cultural Club where I served as President and I also served as President for
Drama Club. The serious test of leadership came when I was chosen Headboy for the
school, leaving other boys who were coming from richer and exposed families,
compared to me a son of farm labourer who struggled to raise my school fees.
During my time as Headboy, I learnt my own leadership lessons through many
mistakes that almost shuttered my future because I forgot where I came from due
to the authority which was bestowed on me. The only positive outcome from
Hillcrest is that I came out with flying colours.
Paul: After Secondary School, did you attempt
to become a lawyer as you earlier mentioned?
Robson: Seeing that my Grade 12 results were exemplary, I was so sure I would go to the
University of Zambia to pursue my dream career Law. I however could not be
admitted into the School of Humanities and Social Sciences due to the fact that
I never took any social science subjects at high school. Had my Career masters
at school counselled me well from Grade 10, it would be a different story
today. Not wanting to go into the School of Natural Sciences were I would have
fitted well, I came to learn of Library Studies and got interested to pursue it
and what motivated me was the fact that it was a double major and I had an
option to pick any Social Science major. Without wasting any further time,
having lost a year already, I quickly applied for Bachelor of Arts with Library
and Information Studies, and this time around there was nothing to come into my
way and the acceptance letter was given to me. Colleagues advised me about the
bursary that the Government was awarding to deserving candidates and I gave it
a shot. Fortunate enough, I was offered a 100% scholarship which was a huge
relief to my father who struggled for 12 years for my school. With my interest
in the governance system, I picked on Public Administration as my other major and
from the word go I was in love with it more than the former.
My university life was all rosy as I had no
worries on who would pay for me and further who would buy for me food as all
this was well taken care of by the Government Republic of Zambia through a
Bursaries scheme. Everyone back home was
eagerly waiting to have the first graduate in the family and my father was so
proud of me that not only did he give me his name but I was without any doubt
his favourite child. I looked forward to graduating so that I could make him
more proud and for him to somehow reap from his sweat. Only July 13th,
2008 whilst doing my third year my father was brutally murdered by unknown people
in Lusaka’s Bauleni Township. I was called from school 3 days after his
disappearance from home to try and find him. We began by searching for him from
Police Stations within Lusaka and then finally, we went to UTH were we got a
pass to search the mortuary. It was my first time to enter a mortuary in my
entire life. Reality dawned on me as we checked body after body in the BID
section when we found our father’s body badly injured lying in a pool of blood.
This was a tragedy that shuttered me and the rest of the family. The scene of
seeing my dead father in the mortuary has failed to leave my head 10 years
after this tragedy.
My once happy UNZA days were now gone as I had
to share my K450 meal allowance with my mother, my two siblings: one who was in
Grade 10 and the other in Grade 4. My father never left any house and rentals
had to be paid too. This was the waste experience I have had at such a tender
age. I vowed never to abandon my two siblings as that would be the only way I
would have rewarded my father for his sacrifices on me to be where I am today.
I continued hustling through providing tuition to mature entry students in
various courses beyond what I was studying who later paid me so I could manage
to meet my family obligations.
Paul: Losing a parent who sacrificed so much
for you must have been so painful. Now tell me, fter your graduation, how was
life?
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| When he graduated from the University of South Africa |
Robson: During my graduation I was surprised
to see a Rosa Bus full of people from my childhood place Chawama coming to
witness their own son of the soil making it. This was a first as the normal
trend in the compounds, youths indulge in substance abuse and other illicit
activities. A surprise party was then arranged after the graduation ceremony in
Chawama where I was given a hero’s welcome and many other young stars also got
interested to go to university.
As the
case maybe, jobs in Zambia are not easy to get so was the case with me. I could
not go back to my mother’s place as she and my siblings looked up to me for
sustenance after graduating from UNZA. I gathered myself and moved to Kamanga
Compound to live with my cousin as I looked for employment. My uncle offered me
something to do at Chelston Small market were I became I cashier in his
barbershop and would help with other issues in his business. In the company of
my former course mate at UNZA Brian LIambai now working with Ministry of Health
in Western Province, we would walk from Chelston to Town dropping unsolicited
application letters in various companies. At the same time with my long time
friend Daniel Sicheka we begun buying navy blue jackets from salaula and
putting Adventist Youth badges on them which we sold to youths in the church.
This business and some monies that my uncle gave me from the barbershop I was
able to contribute to our rentals with my cousin, pay for my siblings school
feels and gave some upkeep money to my mother.
Paul: This sounds like you became a Tamanga as
Lusaka people would call it?
Robson: yes I was a Tamanga. In about 1 year 2
months of leaving UNZA, I was no longer with my uncle’s business and this time
around I secured a stand in Kamanga market were I sold mealie meal in small
packs popularly known as pamela, salt and cooking oil in smaller packages. Many
people in the market could not admit whenever I told them I was a university
graduate and thought I was just lying. I continued doing this alongside the
jacket business and one in a week I would walk around Lusaka dropping
application letters.
In August 2011, remember we lost one of the
Youth leaders in the SDA church in Kabwe, Daniel Sicheka, yourself and I
travelled for the burial in Kabwe’s Katondo township. Shortly after the burial,
we were met by the then Union Youth Director Pastor Reuben Muyunda who offered
us a lift from Kabwe to Lusaka. On our way coming he begun asking us what we
were doing for a living when my turn came I told him I was a graduate from UNZA
whose seriously job hunting. He asked me if I knew anything about Rusangu
University , trust me it was the first time I was hearing about it, I requested
for the postal address and that very day when we reached Lusaka I wrote an
application letter and sent it via post office. Four months down the line I
received a phone called from Rusangu asking me to send reference letters from
church and anywhere I had worked before. I did not have trouble getting references
from church because at this point in a time I was serving as Youth Chairman for
over 21 Mission Districts. But I had problems getting references from work
places and I quickly rushed to my uncle who wrote a powerful reference for me
following the works I offered In his barbershop. Three weeks later, I was
invited for interviews at Rusangu University and that’s how my job hunting
ended on 1st January, 2012.
Paul: Tell us about your life at Rusangu
University.
Robson: Knowing that I still owed my family a
lot through their sacrifices, I quickly got my young brother Onishias who had
then been sitting at home for two years doing nothing. I moved with him to
Monze where the university is located and enrolled him even before I received
my first salary. God found a way of providing and as I speak my brother is now
a university graduate in Journalism. He is a Station Manager for a community
Radio Station in Chipata. I now remain with my youngest sister who is just
begun her second year pursuing a degree at university. For the sake of my
father and mother’s scarifies, I will stop at nothing until this girl becomes
independent, that’s the only time when my hero father’s spirit will be happy.
Paul: You have really been an inspiration to
your family in so far as leadership is concerned. Now tell us about your
journey to America.
Robson: As an individual I have done personal
growth such as upgrading my studies to an Honors Degree from University of
South Africa and now am doing the final part of my Master in Information Science.
A proud husband of one wife and two daughters. I believe in women empowerment
and I took it personal to educate my wife from being a Grade 12 to being a
University Graduate within our five years of being married. Today she holds a
Bachelors Degree in Social Work from Rusangu University and is an officer in
the Zambia Police Service.
Leadership has always been a good companion
even where I don’t want to serve I find myself in the driving seat, I have held
positions in the community, church and professional bodies. In the year 2016 I
read something on Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), that same year, one
of my good friends was selected for Mandela Washington Fellowship program. I
developed interest in learning more about it and in the same year when
applications for 2017 opened I decided to give it a try, unfortunately I only
received an email later that my application was rejected as it did not qualify
to meet the selection criteria. I was so disappointed and shuttered especially
the day I saw people on Facebook leaving for USA. I told myself never to give
up and begun preparing for next applications to open.
In September 2017 when the applications opened
I again applied and this time around I never had any confidence of even making
it somewhere because last year’s failure was still paining. In January, 2018
whilst working in my office I received a call from the US Embassy inviting me
for the interviews in a week’s time. I travelled from my home in Monze to
Livingstone where the interviews where taking place. After the interview I was
told if I do not hear from them by 16th March, then I should know
that I am not successful, it was the longest two months I have endured and
finally the said day came but there was no correspondence from the Embassy. At this
point I did not want to believe that the last years’ experience had repeated
itself. Two days later as I opened my computer in my small office I was greeted
by an email from the US Embassy congratulating me for being selected to the
2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship and I was asked to mention if I was still
interested to participate. I sat in my chair motionless for close to an hour
failing to believe that it was me. After an hour I gladly replied that I was
still interested to participate.
Looking back at my
background, having been a chief tester of kachasu, applying greeze as lotion,
living in shanty compound and later being a farm boy, it is unbelievable that I
will be flying to the world’s greatest country the United Stated of America for
6 weeks at Howard University in Washington DC, were I will receive training in
Public Management and join other 699 young Leaders from Sub Saharan Africa. It
only pains me that my hero is not there to see how his labour is yielding
fruits impacting other lives especially the underprivileged in our communities.
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| On the day his wife graduated from Rusangu University |
|
This week marks the third week the 2018
Mandela Washington Fellows have been in the United States.
Robson has been all over Washington, DC
checking out the land marks that he usually used to see on television or in
books.
Back home, his young brother Onishias shared
some words with me on how this Mandela Washington Fellow played a role of a dad
in their family after their father’s brutal murder 10 years ago:
“Robson is a fighter, that is
how I described him and there is no definition that better describes him other
than that. Personally he is more than a brother but also a friend and a mentor
from whom I draw much inspiration from. I remember after the demise of dad in
2008, while I was in my 11th Grade and he was in third year in University, he
defied all odds and become the administrator of dad's estate. He was young yet
he managed to preside over the affairs of the family.”
Onishias also recalls how Robson resembles their
father in his leadership traits.
“He is better placed to be Junior, because he
is typical of dad who was a devoted family man. Here i am practicing Journalism,
it was made possible through Robson's dedication. Hescarified his salary to see
me through University. He single handedly managed to sponsor me to University till
the day I graduated. I would write volumes and volumes about him but my biggest
wish for him is that the Lord should continue blessing the labours of his hands.”
By Paul Shalala
