One sunny Saturday morning Chileshe was very discouraged. From his seat upon the low wall surrounding his property, he gazed sadly at his simple home, the one he had just finished building in Chilenje .His wife frequently appeared at the open door. Her furtive glances in his direction reminded him that the Mealie Meal bag was almost empty and he should be at work finishing of the website he was designing for a local company.
Nevertheless, his well built muscular body sat stolidly on the wall. His slow mind was struggling patiently with a problem for which he could find no answer. The hot, Zambian sun beat down upon him mercilessly. Beads of perspiration formed on his brow and trickled down unnoticed to lose themselves in the hairy jungle on his chest.
Chileshe was too engrossed in his thoughts to notice the white Toyota corolla that had pulled up into his driveway.
“Shani boyi,”the smiling face of Kabwe, his best friend, said as he approached him.
“Mwalila?” Kabwe went on to say.
“Panono,” Chileshe replied barely looking up.
“How can you say panono? You have just finished building your own house. Though the painting and the finishings leave much to be desired but at least its yours. You are an Unza graduate, one of the best engineers around. You have even taught yourself how to design websites. You have a beautiful wife. Boyi I think God has blessed you. Now lend me K100 000 from that bulging wallet of yours. I will return it next week. You won’t even miss it,” said Kabwe.
“If I did have K100 000,” Chileshe responded gloomily, “I would not even lend it to you, for it would be all I have.”
“What!” exclaimed Kabwe with genuine surprise. You don”t have any money, yet you sit like a statue on the wall. Why not design some websites or do some PJs?
Where is your energy my friend? Is there something bothering you?”
“Yes, there is something bothering me,” agreed Chileshe. “It began in a dream, a senseless dream in which I thought I was a man of means. I owned massive houses. The most beautiful houses I’d ever seen. I had my own private jet, parked right here in Chilenje. I dined with people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The politicians here trembled in my presence. My wallet was full of $100 notes. It must have been $100 000. I was freely giving beggars $100 notes. I had enough money to buy my wife fine clothes and jewelry and whatever I desired. My wife would go shopping in Paris, New York and London. Only when she needed things like Chibwabwa would she shop in Lusaka. It was such a glorious feeling of contentment. You would not have known me as that hard working friend. Nor would you have known my wife, she was so free from stress and her face was shining with happiness. She was the smiling bride of our early married days.”
“Yes, that was a pleasant and senseless dream indeed”commented Kabwe , “but why should such pleasant feelings turn you into a miserable statue on the wall?”
“Why indeed!” lamented Chileshe. “It’s because when I woke up and remembered how empty my bank account was, a feeling of rebellion swept over me. Lets discuss this Kabwe. As youngsters we were both top students and even got ZCCM scholarships. As young men, we played hard but still graduated from Unza with distinctions. As grown men we have been satisfied to work long hours and spend our money freely. We have earned millions of kwacha in the years that have passed, yet to know the joy that comes from wealth we must dream! After half a lifetime of labor, you my close friend comes to ask me for K100 000.Why can’t we acquire wealth more than enough for food, clothes, cars and these substandard houses we are building.”
“Think of our sons,” Chileshe continued, “aren’t they following our footsteps? They will also go to school, get more degrees than a thermometer and still struggle with money like we do.”
“I have never heard you talk this way in all the years of our friendship Chileshe,” a puzzled Kabwe said.
“Never in all those years did I think like this before. From morning till night I work hard as an engineer, hoping some day God would recognize my deeds and reward me with great prosperity. That is just not happening. So my heart is sad. I wish to be a wealthy man, a man of means. I wish to own lots of land, lots of houses and wear the finest clothes. I’m willing to work for these things with all the strength in my back, with all the skill in my hands and with all the intellect in my mind, but I wish my labor will also be fairly rewarded,” cried Chileshe.
Learn to count your blessings, not your troubles. There are a lot of people out there who are more worthy in the eyes of God than you are, but they do not have half the blessings you have. Rather than sit on your fat ass and lament, why not stnad up and do what you can to achieve that which you want?
Moral of the story?
Zed Life is Tough…….But yeah count your blessings
Moral of the story, Generally the majority of Engineering graduates are paid peanuts compared with other professions like accounts, law..
I for one would discarage my children from studying engineering.
Just learn to count other idots money that they have worked hard for and get paid (accountants)
There is more to life than money, wealth, shoping in paris, london, mansions etc. Half the people who do those things are not even happy. Indeed count your blessings.
The strugle for more and more and more wealth is Zambia today, is what is leading many young people into all sorts of corrupt practices. Money is not everything. By the way an average European family lives in a two bedroomed flat. Instead more wealth is channeled towards public goods… transport sector, hospitals, schools, play parks, theatre halls which are accessble to everyone, than lamping all the wealth on individuals. That’s the Zambia we want to see in future.
There’s more to life than money!
#4.While I don’t dispute the first part of your statement, I find it unreasonable to accept that our choice of careers should be narrowed down to ‘is it going to pay more than the next person?’ I know that after engineering you could branch into accounts or law, if that is really to die for! For me engineering is about creating wealth from technology.
I would rather have lots of money and be unhappy, though i don’t see how i could be unhappy while loaded, with girls all overme. than have no money and be happy.
My dear u’re precious in the eyes of God,be content with what u have coz every good gift comes from God ,money is the root of all evils
That just shows how poor our training institutions are. Firstly we must be trained to add value not only to our lives but to the lives of those who will come after us. When one is trained as an Engineer, he/she must not look at that degree as the end in itself. They must ask themselves what has not been done by other Engineers. Remember Engineering is not only to fix what others have done; it should be driven by innovation.
Zedians generally underrate themselves in what they can do. Further we are full of complaints and admiring what others have got. Let us learn to live simple and build on from there. We don’t have to stop our children from studying in certain field as demands change al
Moral of the story: Dont study at unza.
As a casual observer of Zambian symbolism, if Jelita and Mulenga never went to university – and no doubt, they personified the ultimate Zambian child – you should count yourself blessed to have a degree. Arbitrary actions by government to give you a ZAMBIAN education are done to ensure you cannot think like a radical.
#4 I dont think it is true to say that accoutants are well paid especially in zambia. Dont you know that most accoutants are just trained to use a pen to steal?
I have friends who work in governments ministries who now have built manshions which do not match with their income.
Go to secondary schools, you will find that guys working in the accounts office are able to drive, but teachers who earn more money die walking.
then leave zambia and go to europe or america find a better job and enjoy life
This isn’t one of my tasteless jokes about the legal rights of left-handed people.
I really feel for young men who cannot be productive for this nation out of circumstance. Not too long ago, I was in the same dilemma but God, in His infinite ways always come through for all of us.
Hope is a currency with a high exchange rate.
keep on dreaming
Nonsense.story doesn’t make sense.
mbo, not all accountants steal.
yes people money isn’t everything but it will solve 99 out of 100 problems.
don’t talk sh!t just to sound moral, you know yourselves that we need money to live because ‘love’ and ‘caring’ do not pay the bills or keep zesco from disconnecting lights.
It’s not only a matter of getting a degree from the Uni and day dreaming which would make someone a wealthy man, in this story this chap ‘Chileshe’ needs to make things happen by getting down to business and stop day dreaming.
I live my dreams, without a degree from any Uni, and probably will always have loads of money that will always defeat most graduates at the real challenge in life.
The irregularities in pay structures between Accountants & Engineers can not be blamed on the individual Accountant. These guys get better pay not by chance but because their worth is supported by the professional institutions they belong to. E.g a chartered accountant would belong to ZICA which also is affiliated to ACCA wich sets up salary thresholds for their members. You cant employ an accountant and pay him £900,000.00 like and Engineer.
Engineers, QS, Architects who should get affliated to ICE, RICS or RIBA have not done that. RICS for example has salary thresholds for it members.Even employers are aware of what they would be getting from a chartered engineers.
EIZ, ZIA & SIZ are a waste of space coz they don’t fight for members interests. They don’t have teeth to bite hence the abuse of the members salary scales. The buck should stop with them, period.
But why should you all just think of getting a job and waiting to be paid by someone? why not be an entrepreneur, innovate, make money and be an employer yourselves? Doesn’t it make you wonder that our Indian classmates at unza upon graduation just hung their degrees on the walls and followed their family traditions of going into their own businesses? We have a development mental block that cannot go past writing CVs and pouring ove job sections of the Times and Daily mail while ignoring all the skills we may possess and can start creating wealth with and please dont tell me about lack of capital because even if we got it we would buy cars and still look for a job
#22 Kulibonesha, i agree with you that we need to be self employed. But you must understand that u need capital to start a business. You have just mentioned of an Indian who follows family tradition of having own businesses, bt you have conveniently been quiet about where they get the start up capital. These guys are given loans by families to be paid back. Which parent can give a loan to his graduate wen his salary has never met basic family needs? Or are u advising a fresh graduate equiped with skills to get a loan frm a bank by presenting a degree as collateral? There is nothing wrong buying a car to help run yo business unless u want 2 use it as a mobile brothel.
Moral of the story is that the GRZ does not value infrastructure. In all nations with good infrastructure, engineers and technicians lead the pack in compensation. Botswana for example I understand has as of last two weeks, decided to pay itd doctors, engineers, technicians, a higher rate in salary under what they term, Scarce skills. One does not find politicians or accountants at the levels that the technical guys will be compensated .. 40%! This list includes architects, aircraft engineers, etc.
We will never bulid Zambia by employing millions of bean counters and paying them well while paying lip-service to the welfare of engineers, doctors, etc.
23 how much capital does one need to start with? , from the little BC i had i used to keep something when i was through with school before i got employed the little i kept statd something it sustained me for almost a year before i got employed ala…..ba mocko no crerativity…………
Like Bob in zim
AM ZED’IAN STUDENT JUST ABOUT GRADUATE AS COMPUTER ENGINEERING, IN THE MIDDLE EAST.. LIFE IN THIS “ABROAD” HAS NOT BEING EASY. MY DREAMS HAVE BEEN SETTING UP MY OWN SOFTWARE FIRM IN ZED AFTER SCHOOL.. HOWEVER I WONT (GOT) THE “GREEN CARD” FOR THE USA,OF WHICH I MUST LEAVE WITH IN THE NEXT 5MOTNTHS…
SHOULD I PROCEDE TO ZAMBIA AND BE FOR HELP MY NATION, OR JUST SET UP NEW LIFE IN THE USA?
# 26 change your name. You need deliverance. May God forgive you..
AM ZED’IAN STUDENT JUST ABOUT GRADUATE AS COMPUTER ENGINEERING, IN THE MIDDLE EAST.. LIFE IN THIS “ABROAD” HAS NOT BEING EASY. MY DREAMS HAVE BEEN SETTING UP MY OWN SOFTWARE FIRM IN ZED AFTER SCHOOL.. HOWEVER I WONT (GOT) THE “GREEN CARD” FOR THE USA,OF WHICH I MUST LEAVE WITH IN THE NEXT 5MOTNTHS…
SHOULD I PROCEDE TO ZAMBIA AND BE FOR HELP MY NATION, OR JUST SET UP NEW LIFE IN THE USA?
#29 Those are personal questions whose answers are supplied by your convictions and aspirations. Will you find more ‘fulfilment’ in the USA than in your own motherland, will your contributions here be appreciated to the extent than you think they should? Is it quite possible that you could be of more benefit to the country after staying away for some time.
#29,
Going to the USA or europe, you will just be another clog in the well oiled industrial machinary, just like many millions who have similar or higher qualifications then yours.
In Zambia you will have a chance to plot your destiny and belive me you have more of a chance of making it big time. Were as in the west you get a good job, aford cars plasma tvs bla, bla, bla. but you find you remain a small part of a the much used work force.
I hop most zed pipo dnt think like #4.we must learn to appreciate evry professional.wat wud make an accoutant more important than an engineer as to get huge salary?i gues its jus in zed try check out in the west.#4 dnt mislead yo children,let them study wat they want to.days r nt the same
#24 u r indeed very content.thts a very gud way of reasoning.i gues u r an engineer too.nice comment
#29, you again! Still haven’t found an answer? I doubt your seriousness to throw such personal, fundamental issues into a public discussion. But who am I to judge you? You may really be seeking guidance and if so, then all I can say to you is: what dreams led you to leave the soils of Zambia in the first place? If you can’t live up to those dreams, they are not worth dying for! (Ask Nelson Mandela)
# 32. tomlee
Didnt you know that on average engineers are paid less that say accountants ?. Especially in the UK were even a kichen fitter is called an engineer. Pipo like share traders my friend you can not compare pays with engineering jobs. Ok some high end engineering jobs are well paid but in the whole the pay falls well short of other jobs like lawyers, accountants, international traders etc. And why would i encorage my son to be a bus driver when i know there are better paid jobs ?
For me money, then job satisfaction are the order. I can do a boring job as long as the money is good. $ makes the world…..
Like a lot of other people have said life is not all about money.Yes we need money for food,shelter,education,health etc and definately all of us want good pays. However thinking that u have failed in life bcoz you cannot fly around for shopping sprees is being narrow minded and I believe one of the reasons we have so much poverty in our country is because of extravagance.Too many capitalist niggers.For examaple in Europe you rarely see the kind of mansions people are building in Lusaka and yet people are still complaining about being poor
This talk of being content with life is loads of sh..t. How can you be happy with life when abankongole are on you throughout the day? From my experience, i have always smiled when am loaded with money. I cant remember enjoying myself wen i had to walk from Matero to town because i couldnt afford transport money for a minibus. If money can solve 99.999% of your problems then why cant you afford to smile? Money in itself isn’t bad, its the pipo who wrongly use it that give it a bad name. How can one be happy wen you are broke honestly.
Iwe lobe ulo, why get into debts you cannot pay?
#29 typical african, you would rather run away from problems that resolve them. Ninshi mukumbwa ku USA, tall buildings? Go to Buffalo and see the woes of living in the USA. Guys these green cards I am told the condition is to get to Afghanistan first or Iraq. I ask, is it worth dying for?
#25 You saved something out of a meal allowance for 4-5 yrs without using any during the vacation? How? How did you print your assignments, Thesis? Where you selling Bread rolls to sharpen you entreprenuaral skills? Unless u were 100% supported by your family for kambiz and others item, u cudnt have saved anything out of BC. Assuming that you were saving 20% of the BC, for 5yrs, you cud have around K1.4m at graduation.U must be a genius to run a business for 2 yrs b4 u got a job. Does yo understanding of creativity includes starting a kanthemba for sweets, selling Zana, Jiggis?
I am not an engineer, but i had the opportunity to work with them at minestone zambia limited. the only incentives that these guys received was accomodation and a site van. salary was not good. i advised my nephew by then in 1999 to pursue accounting as he has been smiling ever since. i had one engineer friend who went back to school for accounting, he does not regret his decision.
number 29….? silicon valley is full of asian gurus in your industry. if you have no experience you may end up doing certification courses such as microsoft….you know better. let me tell something youngman, no matter how educated you are…you still be a black man in USA. even if the sky is the limit, you can only get to a certain level…? unless in healthcare where the demand is great, you are assured of getting an even wage with your peers. we have friends that graduated from UNZA and Solusi university in zimbabwe with MS in software engineering, but guess what they went back to school and graduated as nurses? this is america youngman ….welcome to the real world.
1Thessalonians 5 + KJV Bible
1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Be blessed you all.
Some of these graduates are very dull in reality, you can not eat your qualification. Be useful to society, fool!!
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Firstly, I believe one must follow a career path in which you have a genuine interest. Secondly, one must try and be honest with ourselves vis-a-vis our academic capabilities.It is daft to underplay the numerous feats of engineering &technology that have made the world what it is today and to think in terms of private jets, “Bill Gates dreams” etc.Ofcourse for the work you are doing ,you deserve a decent salary to live on and afford some luxuries however,extreme wealth shouldnt be your only source of motivation. Be passionate about your occupation,whatever it may be, and contribute amply to make your country and the world,at large, a better place.We have more than enough accountants,
at different levels, and currently there is a serious shortage of engineers worldwide.So apart from the silly article i’d like to remind you of the fact that some very rich people did not even complete formal education e.g. virgin empire’s richard branson.So to all the young ones reading this who might be contemplating a career don’t just think money,think job satisfaction as well as some other factors
Number 44-49? can you please show some decency as i am sure your mother raised you better. insults simply exemplify your immaturity. how would you feel if i said “mb@l@ yako Chik@l@? grow up my friend stop being a blog loser.
Imwe bantu please this not a ring? if you two clowns want to set the record straight this is not the arena. # 44 this is not a site for hooligan and bakaponya.
Life in Zambia is hard but again this is what science has failed to do(no matter how successful it may seem to look). That is, to answer all questions. No matter how much we may look down on religion, it helps us a lot. It tells us to do good and avoid evil then happiness will be on our way. Money or degrees cannot bring happiness!!!!!!
#25
How did you manage with BC? in which country did you study?
I have being on since 2002, GRZ (BC) $200 per month, no book allowance or any of the kind apart from the $200.. If the “hosting country” didnt pay you extra it’s hardly possible you will feed, go to school, cloth yourself, and yet SAVE from $200 BC is paying…
When engineers and scientist are not well rewarded, it means the economy is not doing fine. Its common knowledge that engineers are the finest brains in the country and any economy will depend on their intellect. There are so many accountants in this country that even colleges along Cairo and freedom roads train them. If people are stealing money and you call it being paid a lot, it’s unfortunate.
If its money, comparatively, I earn more money in my capacity as an engineer. I get more money than the so called accountants and lawyers.
# 55. Anonymous, what engineering field are you working in ?.
.
Since there are no Jobs in Zed Jst get yourself a degree and leave later for greener pastures. You can’t study for nothing. A degree is a degree regardless of the field. All fields are important. Accountancy or Engineering it doesn’t matter.
#44 – 48 P@nyo p@ko
Hope #58 is not a degree holder because he is really behaving like a kid. Grow up Man you want us to drum so that we teach you how to behave on cyberspace?
If you were fully sponsored what did you manage to save during your years in UNZA? Running away to do abroad is not a solution because no matter where you go you are a black man and no one wants a black man working for him abroad. Get yourself together and work harder in getting a job there
Count it all joy.Life has many things to offer,be focused!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It would be wise to point out that this article is an adaptation of the first few pages of the book “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason.
Eyi, paZed pali badd!
My friends, to every dark cloud, there is a silver lining. And it is darkest before dawn. Count yourself blessed with what you have. Engineer, Gold will never fail you.
some people on this blog have no brains all they have to say is a string of insults ant utter nonsense.
please mwemantu show some respect. inbeciles.
it is really sad that one would get on this cyberspace and only express their well meant tho’t in a disgusting manner. Plse it may be genuine that you are saying no to but if you start by overly exposing your personality i don’t think anyone will be interested in what you have to say. hey am a new comer on this web hi fellow writers
I wish to discuss ideas, ideas on development, causes of the state of our infrastructure i call it the europeans tourist attraction; the ramshackles in our so called Central business districts, also one of our countries major forex earner springing from the fact that when the “Donors” see these structures atleast then we’re assured of a grant. The donor our big brother who controls how we use our wealth gets our resources keeps them for us and, helps us out when we proove to really be in need and are comply’n with the conditions that “papa” left; his fore fathers. That the black man by wateva minz he has to work for the white man directly or indirectly. I don’t dispire i hve hop 4 africa
moral of story? learn to invest while you still have enough money from your degree.