TUESDAY, September 11, 2012 will always linger in my mind not for a good reason. To many, especially followers of current affairs, this day is associated with the bombing of the New York tower by Al Qaeda then led by Osama Bin Laden.
Well, having been brought up in a disciplined family, I have always enjoyed living in a peaceful atmosphere.
During my early days at primary school, however, fights were a common feature.
In most cases, these fights were not an expression of hatred for one another, because after such fights, boys who boxed each other the previous day would be seen together playing and doing all sorts of things at school the very next day.
At home, in spite of being a small boy, I was always happy to separate my sisters who would sometimes quarrel over petty issues as they washed plates after a meal.
At school, I used to play the role of a peace maker. I remember how one day I separated my friend Joseph Mubanga who was forced into a fight by George Katongo sometime back in Grade five.
Well, coming back to the main story, on that Tuesday,September 11, 2012, after a hard day’s work, I decided to join friends at one of the watering holes for a drink to relax and reflect upon that particular day.
After exchanging greetings with friends, at around 17:00 hours, we got settled and began to enjoy our drinks while listening to K’millian’s song Kakabalika.
Suddenly, a fight ensued between a middle-aged woman and a man who was in his early 40’s.
The man was pounding the woman like no body’s business.
“Big man, what is the matter?” one of my friends asked the enraged man.
“This woman is very stupid and useless,” responded the man who seemed to be very drunk. “Let him teach her a lesson,” some men were heard shouting scornfully in the corner.
From where I was seated, my heart was bleeding with anger and sympathy and, presently, I went straight and held the man in order to restrain him.
I pleaded with the man to remain calm.“Why are you concerned?, is she your wife?” the man asked me, seriously.
Shockingly, I discovered the two were married and the only sin the woman had committed was to follow the husband to the place upon getting unconfirmed reports that the hubby was philandering with his girl friend.
Believe you, me, the man turned his rage on to and actually hit me. He began by hurling unprintables at me before he punched me Lottie Mwale- style, but although I guarded myself steadily, he managed to head butt me on my strong forehead.
He also kicked me in the stomach and I couldn’t hide the excruciating pain; I gnashed my teeth.
It was at this point that the friends I was with came to my rescue and they managed to over power the man. After calm was restored, the man apologized to me saying, “I thought you knew my wife in one way or the other.”
I made it clear to him that, in fact, I was seeing both of them for the first time in Mpatamato township. The man agreed with me saying, in fact, they did not live in Luanshya, but they had just come visiting relatives within the area.
“Big man, it is okay only that I don’t enjoy seeing fellow human beings fighting,” I assured the man. I advised the ‘boxer’ not to react violently when someone, especially his wife, confronted him with questions in any situation because one day the law may not be as friendly as I was.
Though, I was wrongly beaten, I was happy that at least I ended a fight and saved the man from the consequences of inflicting undue harm on his spouse. One good thing, though, was that, the man was not with any woman as alleged by his protective wife.
When I narrated the ordeal to my wife, she wasn’t exactly happy with the ‘beating’ I got, but later, she appreciated my peace-broking  efforts that reconciled the two warring  parties.
One lesson I learnt from that experience was that I should not physically separate big people fighting, but instead use verbal persuasion to bring peace to avoid sustaining physical harm to myself.
It is important for a peace loving human being to always use dialogue to resolve differences than resorting to physical confrontation.
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