Yes we need to keep things simple and almost stupid indeed. As technocrats and professionals that are very proud of what we know and do, we are often caught up in our own grandeur. We speak and communicate to everyone as if we are communicating to our colleagues and fellow processionals. This is rather strange or maybe unwittingly deliberate given we work to serve others, we are supposed to demonstrate what we know to others in ways they could understand and embrace what we do.
So as an energy engineer, my vocation/ calling is to educate people about the energy resource, how to not waste it, how much of it we still have and for how long we are going to have that resource at our current rate of use/waste, often proposing means and ways to save and improve on the usage of the energy resource so I have to communicate effectively!
How do I communicate my work, how do I sell my service, how do I demonstrate value in what I do, how do I satisfy others of their benefits and value in engaging me?
As energy engineers, amongst ourselves terms and phrases such as energy intensity, Toe, kWh,cost reflective tariff, WtE, REFiT, LCOE, energy savings potential, heatpump, geothermal, IE4, etc are just a few of them that we drop around but what do they matter to others?
What do they really mean to the common person? How do they help motivate others to even look at the energy resource differently? So what if we recommend some EMOs to improve their EnPI? None of this means anything and even translates into a real tangible and sensible motivation for a call to action. So this is what we should instead be doing; unpack and keep simple what we do and how we wish for others to see value and willingly participate.
If people can’t understand what energy efficiency is and how it affects them, then simplify into the cost of doing business in kwacha terms. Illustrate erosion in their bottom line ( bottom what?), well in their profits! We need at a home/ household level to show how burning one light bulb needlessly robs that family of a good loaf of bread for a good breaking of their fast!
So the same should ring true for other professionals such as an example, economists with their fiscal, monetary, interest rate, inflation rate, GDP, GNP, BOP, FDI, IRR, CPI etc
What do these mean to a common man in the street and the cost of his meal, transport to work and affordability of medical care?
I believe if we really want to be valuable professionals or technocrats, we ought to start by learning to talk to others in very simple terms and thus engage them to participate and contribute without limitation!
By Chisakula Kaputu
You just betrayed yourself in your heading. Please walk your talk!
Someone told me recently that educated people in Zambia are the most stupid. I’m yet to prove this.
Some of these kids, bu engineer bwapa Facebook
Vapid article. Don’t bother
Thanks
BB2014
What does simple look like to a man in Kaputa? GDP is GDP! Make education accessible/free to everyone.
Important point!
WHAT A MIS-MATCH. WHAT HAS ROMANCE AND UNDERSTANDING ENERGY GOT TO DO WITH EACH OTHER. .. Even if i suffer from MILD DYSLEXIA , I cannot understand this article. LET US HAVE A READING AND WRITING CULTURE. LIBRARIES ARE A MUST. Please Government open both PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES for school going children and adults alike. In Zambia , if you want someone not to steal your money, just HID THE MONEY IN A BOOK and PLACE IT, IN AN OPEN PLACE. NO ONE WILL OPEN THE BOOK.. SHAMEFUL….
Well said CK. I agree …
Whether we kiss or not, my worry for now is that corporal punishment at Matero boys Secondary in Lusaka is just too much. Pupils are literally butchered by Senior members of staff every day. Please Ministry of Education, move in and investigate this. They are whipped with big whips
Wi thought this practice was outlawed!
I whack any monkey that touches my child. No it’s and buts.
@ Meckson, Please report these Senior Staff Members to the POLICE. Corporal Punishment causes AGGRESSIVENESS,and REBELLIOUSNESS in children. It also causes LOW ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE in children, as well as AVOIDANCE (HATRED FOR SCHOOL) due to the fact that, they are under constant fear of being beaten… If these senior teachers are having marital issues or maybe not being paid well,tell them visitor marriage counsellors and visit government offices their salaries problems. Don’t VENT YOUR ANGER AND FRUSTRATIONS ON STUDENTS. Sorry Bloggers for talking about an issue with is totally un-related to the HEADLINE. CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IS JUST LIKE BULLYING IT MUST BE BANNED.
@Kachana Banda, your point is more vital than the article we are debating and I tend to somehow disagree with you. I am who I am today – a very successful man because of corporal punishment I received in school. It instilled discipline in me and I am so thankful for that. If moderately meted out, CP is a good thing, arguably so. Even the bible in Proverbs 23:14 confirms this. Of course, as you rightly put it, some disgruntled teachers who have personal problems at home, could be marital, social or financial are so frustrated and tend to vent off on pupils. They end up over applying CP – I want to believe they are only a few bad seeds especially in this era.
@MrX.
This is what I hear you say: I got from school what I could not get from home.
My point is, disciplining a child is the responsibility of that child’s parents. The reasons include knowing the medical condition of the child.
If a child proves to be belligerent, call in the parent. If it continues, send the kid home. Let the parents deal with the underlying issues. Not you!
Oh really,my son is planning to go there,does it mean its not sage anymore?
Namutesha mwe inchenshi, kwangushako ifintu namashiwi yamo kuli fwebo; pantu mulatulufya mumashiwi ayatikama.
Oh really,my son is planning to go there,does it mean its not safe anymore?
Mr Energy engineer, I have a glimpse of what you are saying. Zambians can take such measures to serve energy way they did to reach HIPEC completion point. Now what usually happens when it comes to reaping, only those in leadership are the beneficiaries. That is why most people are reluctant to pursue such collective agendas.
Explain electro-magnetic field using bemba or nyanja
@ Mr.X. The Bible does not encourage corporal punishment. It encouragements stern correction of children in a lovely manner,. Even when you use a Whip, it used be with a intent of love, not hate of resentment towards the child or not to kill or harm the child physically and emotionally. And the Bible does not say , beat the children up every time. There are certain times when that is required. Please stop corporal punishment it’s so wrong on many different levels. .. Use other means of punishment, such as TIME OUT. And am not also saying let the children run wild, and do as they please , not respecting teachers, elders , parents and them selves.
The bible reached us, in a transformative way, thru the hand of the Catolica White fathers I the early 1900s. Question is, what did our ancestors use as a frame of reference?
How different was that frame from the bible? How did the bible supercede the effectiveness of that frame, which had proven its worth prior to the coming of the European? I am talking about Zambia here. Wake up mwe bantu!