The Post

No. 2, JAN. 2, 1999     Herman's leading news and fact source

Back-issues: 13 SEPT. 1998

Family planning?

Condoms used as bicycle air valves
While condoms are distributed in the country as preventive tools in family planning and against HIV/AIDS, villagers in Chilubi and Luwingu districts in Northern Province are said to be using them for bicycle air valves. According to villagers at Matipa and Chifwile villages in Chilubi and Luwingu, they were collecting condoms from health centres in large quantities not for the usual purpose, but as bicycle air valves. A villager claimed that most villagers had stopped buying air valves from shops because they were expensive. He said villagers had resorted to using condoms as air valves for bicycles because of their durability. John Mapanda of Kabandulu village in Chief Chiwanangala's area said besides condoms, villagers were also obtaining gloves from health centres for the same purpose. Mr Mapanda said condoms and gloves were being cut into pieces and then rolled onto the connection valve before pumping the tyre.

North - West goes easy on condoms
The demand of condoms in the North- Western Province has reduced because of a strong belief that a circumcised person cannot be infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STD).

Speaking in an interview with the Times, Society for Family Health (SFH) area sales and marketing manager for the Copperbelt and Northern region Ms Jennifer Kanchela said, sales of condoms had been very low.

She discovered this after she toured North - Western Province sales outlets and villagers which proved that Luvales, Lundas and Chokwes shunned condoms because they believe that when they are circumcised they are safe from all other STDs.

Ms Kanchela said that the tradition of circumcising males in the North - Western Province has brainwashed men who feel that they are clean people.

"Women said that there is no STD and AIDS in the rural areas. They do not want to use condoms as a form of family planning because they believe that STD and AIDS are diseases from the big cities," Ms Kanchela said.

She pointed out that AIDS was not only found in the city but that it was every where.

She urged all STD and AIDS activists to work together and educate the people in North - Western Province about the transmission of STDs and AIDS.

She added that she was very concerned with North- Western Province because it was the only province which had showed a decline in sales of condoms.

In another event, Ms Kanchela said that SFH has reduced the maximum packet which contained four condoms to three condoms. This is because SFH has researched that couples in Zambia are not sexually active to use all four condoms in a day or night.

"We have introduced a packet of three because we feel that is the correct number of condoms that can be used up in a night or day," said Ms Kanchela.

Slecht bier?!

Mosi lager is of low quality
I wish to complain about the quality of Mosi lager. I am sure that most consumers have noticed that the beer which is on the market is not up to the required level of quality. It is flat, has no froth and its alcohol content is too low.

I am disappointed with Zambian Breweries because after it was taken over by South African Breweries, I expected the quality of their product to improve. I doubt if South African Breweries can be allowed to brew such low quality beer in their country, where the market is sophisticated. The problem is that the majority of Zambians do not know their rights as consumers.

Unfortunately, the Zambia Bureau of Standards and Consumer Protection Association who are supposed to safeguard the interests of consumers are not effective. Some manufacturers and traders have taken advantage of the situation and that is why Zambia has become a dumping ground for sub-standard goods. Although the economy has been liberalised, I feel government has a role to play in ensuring that consumers are protected. I hope Zambia Breweries will listen to my complaint and improve the quality of their beer.

They should not think that everyone can afford to buy the imported canned Mosi lager which is superior to the local beer in terms of quality.

Guzzler, Lusaka.

Koekjes voor het grijpen

Lusaka - Workshops. - Zambia is een land voor zoetekouwen. Suiker of koekjes, zo lang het maar 'kratis' is, worden met bergen verstouwd.

Vanmorgen viel me opeens op hoe de gemiddelde Zambiaan koffie haalt. Nog voor het startschot gegeven is rammelen de eerste kopjes en klingelen de lepeltjes. Waarna er driftig gevochten wordt om het eerste kopje. Nu snap ik niet helemaal wat daar aan is, want de eerste tien kopjes zijn het ergst. Waarom? Koffie of thee wordt hier geschonken met heerlijke verse lekkere warme melk. De kenner van koffie met heerlijke verse lekkere warme melk voelt hem al aankomen, en voor de niet kenners de volgende tip: Ogen dicht en vooral goed slikken!

Hierna werkt de Zambiaan als een volleerd grafdelver, schep na schep suiker in z'n koffie. Vol. Nu moet echter het echte werk nog beginnen, want: 'Waar zijn de koekjes'. Zambia is een arm land, veel mensen lijden honger, en veel kinderen zijn ondervoed. Iets wat je niet verwacht van de gemiddelde workshop-tijger. Ik heb het vermoeden dat er veel professionele tijgers bij zijn die van workshop naar workshop hoppen om de dagelijkse hoeveelheid kalorieen binnen te krijgen.

Het gaat ongeveer als volgt. Je sluipt achter iemand aan naar de tafel met koekjes. Ja, ja, er is hier zelfs een aparte tafel waar de koekjes op staan, netjes op borden (!!) en nog net niet gestort, maar dat komt volgens mij ook nog wel. Vervolgens pak je achter zijn of haar rug langs een koekje -let op, je moet onschuldig blijven kijken, alsof je voor het eerst je schoonmoeder ontmoet - en legt het koekje op die positie op je schotel dat het tussen het kopje en het lichaam in ligt. Roer even je koffie, en leg de lepel aan de andere kant van je hand die de schotel vast houdt. Resultaat: 1 binnen, rest te gaan. Niemand weet dat je deze hebt, dus pak je gewoon als altijd je eerste koekje, neemt er een hap vanaf en legt het op je schoteltje, gewoon zichtbaar. Pas op, nu komt het. In 1 vloeiende beweging, als een ballerina, draai je je om, je vrije hand achter je draaiende lichaam aan zwieren, vol doorzetten, blijven zwieren, en dan ... grabbelen grabbelen grabbelen ... op naar het tweede bakkie...

[Als een aanvulling: ook worden er enorme hoeveelheden zout gebruikt; tijdens het kerstetentje hier is er ongeveer heel potje zout opgegaan... HK]

Vervolg gay rights

Yes, gay rights not an issue
The chairperson for the Permanent Human Rights Commission, Justice Lombe Chibesakunda, was right to have said: "The fight for gay rights is not an issue at all!"

Zambia like any other impoverished Third World country has serious issues at hand that have make-or-break effects on national development.

The high cost of living, resulting in poor standards of living, the HIV/Aids epidemic, the crippling national debt burden, rape cases and crime to mention but a few, are such important issues that demand concerted effort and urgent attention.

Given this background, a fight for gay rights is not only futile but simply a luxury for those alien and pot-bellied social misfits.

We therefore condemn the agitation for gay rights in the strongest possible terms with the contempt it deserves.

Hence we salute the President and all the people who are morally conscious for the anti-gay stand taken. It is righteousness that exalts a nation, not wickedness! We say no to homosexuality because:

• It is illegal according to the laws of the land;
• It is against our shared national cultural values and norms;
• It is against nature and also gender-insensitive;
• It is unbiblical;
• It is inhuman, shameful, dirty and simply diabolical;
• It is a form of mental sickness resulting in spiritual bondage;
• It does not add value to human life but instead negates human life.

Since homosexuality is against the natural means of reproduction, how can a nation be assured of the future generation and preservation of posterity?

The fact that it is deemed legal in some western cultures does not make it worth copying. It is high time the west learnt some morals from Africa. Our pockets may be empty, but we are rich in spirit. We would rather perish without donor aid, if that is the ultimate price we have to pay as a nation, for taking a stand for morals and human dignity, than throwing our treasured values to the wind.

Furthermore, even if the United Nations charter for human or inhuman rights may be in the affirmative to the cause of homosexuality, its moral judgment cannot be deemed to be absolute and infallible.

Charles Mutambala (Reverend)