By SYCORAX TIYESA NDHLOVU –

‘What is the price of that water-packed in small plastics which women sell in front of mini buses at City Market?’
I asked a young lady standing next to me. ‘It’s only 25Ngwee;’ she replied while looking at me with an expression of surprise on her face.
I also expressed surprise wondering whether such women make any profit from their business.
Realising that I was puzzled on how someone can make any profit from such a business, she corrected me that she made about K25 or so per day. Again, I wondered whether a person with children and renting a house in Lusaka would survive on K25 or K30 per day.
‘So how do such women really survive?’ I asked the lady again.
‘It’s not how much you earn per day, week or month that matters. What matters is your brain,’ she concluded.
‘What do you mean?’ I inquired.
‘Look!’ she said, most women come from tough backgrounds and make a resolution to do what others have done before to come out of their perceived high poverty levels;’ she said.
‘So what do these women who sell water at places like City Market do?’ I continued inquiring.
She explained that in addition to their normal business, they also belong to a Chilimba group-mini personal loan systems where they deduct part of daily earnings, say, about K10 to give to Chilimba group.
She said that such transactions take place every day while she also saves part of her balance for orders the following day.
And such a Chilimba group supplements a lot to their weekly or monthly earnings which eventually leads to improving their lives in some way.
I further asked her how long such a business can help one pick up financially in life, especially that the cost of living seems to be rising everyday.
The lady, who by this stage had told me her name, said: ‘Look here, most women are very intelligent.
Do you know that it was the first woman who believed The Devil’s lies that the fruit from the tree in the centre of the Garden of Eden was actually nice to eat?
Do you remember that it was again a woman by the name of Delilah who was able to extract the secret of Samson’s extraordinary strength?’
I wondered what she was talking about because such Biblical illustrations were actually negative because Eve’s weakness to eat the forbidden fruit with her husband led to human beings suffering and later dying.
Her second example also led to Samson being tortured which made him destroy the whole building where many people also died.
But despite this, I remembered how some women have wisely helped others and the communities in more beneficial way.
I thought of Indira Gandhi, Mama Theresa and others as positive examples of how beneficial some women have been to society.
She continued driving her point home that what was important in any business was not the amount of capital one has but brain to survive on any amount no matter how small. ‘Suffering generates some grains of wisdom in some people;’ she concluded.
Then, I asked her how suffering stimulates wisdom in some people. In reply, she said it is important to use your senses and learn from those who are already doing well in some ways.
She also said patience, honesty, being focused and hard work are vital in one’s success in whatever one does.
She also said I should consider what has happened to Edgar Lungu, the current republican president.
She said Edgar Lungu invested a lot for him to be the current president.
He invested in humility, honesty, hard work and authority.
It is this qualities that made the late President Michael Sata to appoint him to act as republican president before late President Sata passed away.
This intelligent and wise young lady also gave another example of how the Veep Inonge Wina suffered to ensure Hon. Edgar Lungu was the PF preferred presidential candidate in the recent presidential election.
The young lady said Ms Wina frequently trekked from her home to PF offices to find solutions for her next move; considering the tough situations some senior PF members had put party and Lungu in particular.
When things were about to get worse, Ms Wina, as PF chairperson, sacrificed a lot to ensure that PF as a party continued to survive even after the death of President Sata by ensuring that the right PF presidential candidate was elected; and now Edgar Lungu is the republican president.
She gave me yet another example that of Ireen Mambilima, the former Electoral Commission of Zambia chairperson; and now the Chief Justice.
The young lady said the Chief Justice landed her position because she is hard working and a woman of high integrity.
She then cited Anna Chifungula, the auditor general whom she said has also proved having high levels of honesty, hard work with focus to the benefit of many people in society.
Such illustrations prove that in career development, business and life in general, honesty, patience, being focused and hard work pay dividends in the long run.  Perceived good results from short cuts might not be sustainable.
So, this lady said Zambia has many opportunities in business, agriculture and politics which when exploited can improve one’s life tremendously.
She looked at me and asked: ‘Why do people from United States, United Kingdom, China, India, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, DR Congo to mention a few come to Zambia if our country has no opportunities?’
This lady told me that it is from such a background that she wonders why some people go to America, China, India, South Africa, etc for the so-called greener pastures when there are many greener pastures in our country.
Considering that some high level consultancies are offered to foreigners who bid for such contracts, I nodded my head in agreement to what she was saying.
Additionally, Zambia has vast land, fertile soils, good climate, enough water bodies and with a population of about 14million people. All such people need food, clothing and shelter.
Different men and women with different age distribution, heights, complexion and body sizes in such a population need nshima, meat, vegetables and fruits.
They need carrots, Irish and sweet potatoes. Men, women and their children in this country need fruits like mangoes, oranges, guavas, bananas to fight their hunger and maintain or improve on their good health.
Such an environment provides many professional and business careers which transform into greener pastures for many citizens.
This is what most foreigners who come into this country see as opportunities and greener pastures in our country.
Therefore, Zambia is full of great opportunities and greener pastures.
Considering the high levels of knowledge and wisdom in the this strange lady who was very helpful in informing and educating me about how people in small-scale businesses, in professional and business careers including in politics can be a success with practical examples on the importance of being humble, honest, hard working; and being loyal to the authority, I asked this lady what her name was; and where she was staying.
She said she was a Lusaka resident; and her name was Kalinda Hamatu. Kainda, 33, a tailor and a designer at City Market.
She says she is happy with her business because she is able to feed her family, educate her children and continue investing in the business.
The question is: ‘If others are seeing and exploiting professional career and business opportunities to a earn a full and decent life in this country, why are we languishing in high unemployment and high poverty levels in the same environment?’
The author is a trainer and career coach. Contact: Cell: 0976/0977 450151 E-mail: sycoraxtndhlovu@yahoo.co.uk