Education the Key to success and being a Zambian youth
What's the biggest problem we have had in terms of being a young person in Zambia?
Well, we lack opportunity to prove ourselves: There aren't that many places in Zambia where you can find anyone willing to tutor you in your craft if it is outside of academia. Many young Zambians are shunned for picking trades because our parents feel they aren't "appropriate" or they may not be realistic enough. So when you start modeling, your parents tell you to grow up and let it go. I read an article a few years ago that a certain popular rapper from the Copperbelt encountered heavy resistance from his parents when he began his career but now, they have nothing but pride about how far he got. His success even paved way for his younger brother who is also a popular rapper in Zambia.
We also do not have the resources to improve our own lives. Majority of the young people in Zambia don't drop out of school because they dislike education, they drop out because basic class skill are no longer useful in this day and age. 10 - 20 years ago, being a teacher was a guarantee that you will have a job so longer as you did your part and excelled in class. Today, no career, not even law school is a guarantee for success. When I say we need resources, I don't mean give each young person a couple million dollars, I mean open doors for young people. A lot of young people want an education because education is the key to success. By education we mean teaching young people skills that will aid them get an inch and not classroom education.
We also feel like the people who came before us are now tired and they need us. But because our culture doesn't "allow seniors to be weak" (whatever that means), we have to put up with them resisting our ideas because they believe they can do it on their own.
However the beauty of it all, is that young people in Zambia aren't just sitting back and watching the country we love fall apart. Young people are fighting back, and their fight isn't against our political leaders or against actual human beings. Their fight is against poverty, inequality and the status quo. Not everyone can perform miracles but these young people are changing their own lives by changing how their own environments. These young people are Made in Zed.
Well, we lack opportunity to prove ourselves: There aren't that many places in Zambia where you can find anyone willing to tutor you in your craft if it is outside of academia. Many young Zambians are shunned for picking trades because our parents feel they aren't "appropriate" or they may not be realistic enough. So when you start modeling, your parents tell you to grow up and let it go. I read an article a few years ago that a certain popular rapper from the Copperbelt encountered heavy resistance from his parents when he began his career but now, they have nothing but pride about how far he got. His success even paved way for his younger brother who is also a popular rapper in Zambia.
We also do not have the resources to improve our own lives. Majority of the young people in Zambia don't drop out of school because they dislike education, they drop out because basic class skill are no longer useful in this day and age. 10 - 20 years ago, being a teacher was a guarantee that you will have a job so longer as you did your part and excelled in class. Today, no career, not even law school is a guarantee for success. When I say we need resources, I don't mean give each young person a couple million dollars, I mean open doors for young people. A lot of young people want an education because education is the key to success. By education we mean teaching young people skills that will aid them get an inch and not classroom education.
We also feel like the people who came before us are now tired and they need us. But because our culture doesn't "allow seniors to be weak" (whatever that means), we have to put up with them resisting our ideas because they believe they can do it on their own.
However the beauty of it all, is that young people in Zambia aren't just sitting back and watching the country we love fall apart. Young people are fighting back, and their fight isn't against our political leaders or against actual human beings. Their fight is against poverty, inequality and the status quo. Not everyone can perform miracles but these young people are changing their own lives by changing how their own environments. These young people are Made in Zed.
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