Whatever your station in life, don’t let peoples’ negative opinions of you shape your life or crowd your judgment of who you are and what you are capable of achieving. Self belief and determination are the key to seizing life’s opportunities, says TIMOTHY KAMBILIMA, who ignored his boss’ erroneous perception of him as a snob to become a university undergraduate today.

NO sooner had I completed my senior secondary school education at the only secondary school then, Chililabombwe Secondary School in 1992, than I embarked on the search for employment
Since I was being looked after my late sister Alice Kambilima Malupande following the painful demise of my father – Zadi Kambilima on June 15, 1991, I was very determined to get a job, any job, available at as long as, at the end of the day, I was paid something.
With the help of my former neighbour in Zambia Avenue, Mr Chunda or Bashi Kangwa, I got a part-time Job as a general worker at Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) in the Kamenza Township maintenance section.
We did all sorts of odd jobs such as digging the furrows or carrying bags (chola boys) for qualified personnel.
In short, we used to help the “learned men” at ZCCM. One day, I was informed by one of the employees at Chililabombwe Municipal Council that the local authority was looking for men and women to work in its housing and social welfare services department.
Armed with a full school certificate, I confidently applied and after going through all the formalities, I was taken on by the Chililabombwe Municipal Council in mid 1993. One of our senior supervisors always had a negative attitude towards me, for reasons best known to himself.
“Timothy,” he would say,“you will not go far (in life) as long as you think you are educated.”
I reckoned this stance was not without a basis. At times I would try to speak out against certain decisions the boss made, which I believed were wrong during our morning meetings before being assigned to go for various chores.
It is a fact that though most of the employees had Grade nine certificates, I highly respected them because of their vast experience in the local authority. I should have known better; my then supervisor was among such employees. In retrospect, I realise that my supervisor’s negativity may have been a reflection of his inferiority complex.
Believe you me, I never underrated or belittled him in any way and I was shocked in the extreme with the way he treated or perceived me.
In spite of the wrong perception my ‘bwana’ had, I remained determined and focused in my discharge of duties as a full time employee.
I will always treasure the encouragin gwords from my fellow workers including Mr. Sakala, Mr Chewe, the late Geoffrey Mwape, let alone Mr Ngalala.
Their collective wisdom and advice made me, soldier on until I resigned when opportunity presented itself and I was accepted to train as a teacher at Solwezi Teachers College.
The discouraging and frustrating utterances from my supervisor did not in any way hinder me from achieving my goals in life.
As I write this article, it may interest the reader to know that I am studying for Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education with one of the reputable universities in the world.
Contrary to what my boss prophesised, I have in my possession a primary school Teachers certificate and, better yet, a secondary school teachers Diploma and getting more money than I used to at that time.
I take this opportunity to encourage people going through a similar situation not to be discouraged by negative sentiments coming from supervisors, but to take heart.. It’sonly God who knows our destiny and not a human being. No matter what someone says about our life, if God says “No”, no human being can say YES or vice versa.
Look at what people said about the Zambian national soccer team prior to the 2012 AFCON. The players under the leadership of 2012 BBC African footballer of the year, Christopher ‘Tsunami’ Katongo went on to become African Champions.
In a nutshell, allow me to express my sincere gratitude to Times of Zambia staff and management for giving readers the platform to share what happened to them with the rest of the world.
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