Also, I wondered why it was only men in politics, when it was clear so many of them couldn’t deliver. I wanted to see how I could contribute.
I had studied for a diploma in education at the University of Zambia, then I worked as a teacher. That was in the family; both my father and mother were teachers. Then in 2000 I started a Bachelor of Arts, and I’m now in a full-time Master’s programme in educational administration. Eventually I want to do a PhD on issues related to gender parity.
When I decided to go into politics my father was very supportive. He had attempted to become an MP twice in the Mkoshi North constituency that I now represent, without success. But others were sceptical. It meant that I lost my job in the civil service.
But when you have a will something keeps telling you to move, move, move. And I knew that people were looking for a change. Everbody said: “Let’s try and give a woman a go.”
There are now 22 women and 150 men in parliament. The voice of women in parliament is still a little weak, although the women in the various parties try to lobby their men, and we try to balance out who sits on committees. All of the women MPs in my party [the Movement for Multiparty Democracy] are ministers.
It seems that men want to show that the women are not capable, not chosen on merit. But most of the women have done tremendously well. They do their work, their research, and when they are not able to state the answers they say that they will go away and find out.
You ask me when there will be a woman president of Zambia: well the time is ripe, anything is possible. There will never be bells ringing saying “this is the time”. It is up to women to take up the fight.
I am married to an accountant who works in the ministry of health, but he stays almost 1,000km away in a northern province. My daughter, who is 12, is at a state boarding school. I don’t keep her at home because of the prevalence of rape and defilement. If you have a houseboy you cannot trust him; if you have a garden boy, you cannot trust him. If you have cousin, you cannot trust him; you cannot trust anyone.
Given the position I have, given the nature of breadwinning, I have to be away a lot. Women who are earning the family’s money have to go out. When they are out, who is looking after their girls?
There is a lot of gender-based violence in the world. And in Zambia too. A bill is now being finalised with the law development commission and will soon be brought to parliament. And the government has set up a number of institutions. One is the victim support unit, another is an awareness and sensitisation programme. More violence is being reported and our judges are doing well, with sex offenders getting very long sentences.
But there is a myth in Africa that someone who is HIV-positive can be cured if they sleep with a virgin. This is why we have all the issues of rape and defilement of very young girls. It usually happens in homes. That is why I feel my girl is safe in an all-female environment.
But my sons, aged 10 and seven, live at home. I do all the house chores myself. Every day I wake at 4am and prepare the food, make sure the boys have their baths and take them to school. After that I clean, sweep and dust, and by 7am I am ready for work.
In the evenings the boys can cook their own simple food. I think everybody must do their own work – cooking, washing, cleaning. No part of the work should be reserved for women and girls. Among urban-dwellers this is a concept that is widely spreading, but when you go to rural parts of the country it is almost taboo. It’s a real challenge for developing countries to address such taboos.
The other challenge in rural areas is that literacy levels are low, particularly for girls. The next school might be 10 or 15km away, and much farther for high school. What I really want to do is build a high school for girls in my constituency. At the moment we have just two high schools that are supposed to educate 200,000 pupils. A new school would cost about 10 billion Zambian kwacha and I’m looking very hard for a donor who might be able to support that.
Also, there’s a big problem with HIV and Aids. The burden of caring falls very much to women and girls, and some girls have to stop school as a result. But we have so many terminally ill people, and so many orphans.
It is not an easy road for women, but then nothing is impossible for a woman, and they are in a better position than men to address many of the vices and problems that we see.
[guardian.co.uk]
mwamoneka bwino, keep it up. we need new brains and faces.
Fist time i am hearing of this woman
Is she MMD?
Its always nice to see a focuse dand articulate woman. I think we have a lot of such women in Zambia they should just have the ‘can do’ attitude and the sky is the limit
Its never enough to just sit and complain. Getting out there is what makes the difference
Lucy – marry me!!
excellent i will vote for you come elections seems she is a wise woman:)>-:)>-:)>-:)>-
# 3, she is married already, read the story before you put her in trouble. you are the guys breaking peoples homes when you cant even keep a chicken but you are busy looking for women online. stick to productive stories or shut up if you have nothing to say.
good message. poor writing skills. with your masters maybe you will improve
Good, but I always do not agree with this generalisation of some tribal, ethnic, regional concepts about life and living. Only if one has done an extensive research across Africa can one declare that ” in Africa…” Someone would be talking about a Zambian situation, but says in Africa…. Zambia is in Africa, but is not a summary of life and issues in Africa.
I think i like the spirit of this woman still taking care of the Children doing the chore and has a vision for the country.
the only thing she has to work on is not looking for Donors but to look for people who can help her get the funds and possibly after the school opens makes a profit and returns the money. Of course among those who would give funds other will give with wanting it back. The aim should not be that of wanting to receive alms. but should be that of getting to a situation of self reliance without always expecting donors to give you money. Change that attitude lady, then may be I can vote for you as President and many will too. Continue with that kind of fighting Spirit. and being able to see possibilities.
This lady sounds not to trust relatives. she is apparently biased towards boys or men. You get your daughter into the boarding school fearing that she might be raped or defiled by people, let alone your close relatives? I have never heard of a lady who is insecure as this one. Is that what you call gender? Even boys can be defiled. You would be surprised seeing your daughter coming back from such schools a lesbian.
Lucy,I like you.You have a progressive mind.Keep it up.
Awe Lucy u are very beauty mwe. Ati menso yalibe chipongozi !!
Lucy has good ideas about building a school for girls, she too has a fighting spirit. There are very few good looking women who work as hard as Lucy even in their own homes. Most of the women rely on maids to look after the children. Women have Lucy as your model.
Keep it up Lucy.
There goes another zambian talking to the foreign media. The story is full of crap and inconsistency.
I read the story of this beautiful woman way back,surprised it’s only appearing on LT today and as a cut and paste from the Guardian.
Even if she is married I wouldn’t mind
and now she is in todays Post for having bounced her cheque…exciting times indeed
Lulu, the gist of the story is not to compete for a good written paper award. It is to create awareness of issues especially of those that are affecting women. I am worried that as a nation if we look into trivial matters such as grammar and langauge then we are still far from dealing with real issues. It should be noted that the langauge used is not even her mother tongue and for that I commend her.
how can she build a high school when she is giving bouncing cheques? Pay up first before you think of a high school.
Ba gelo aba bakali
Bale bouncer ko nama cheque after being so outspoken
Awesome!
What a poorly written article. I gather the intent was to inspire but instead the author just managed to make this woman look foolish and petty with the disjointed writing (or perhaps that was the real intent).
GENDER and Development deputy minister Lucy Changwe has bounced a cheque amounting to K10 million in a property purchase transaction.
In a letter to President Rupiah Banda dated June 9, 2010, Roger Musonda of Mkushi district, who is the owner of the property in question complained over Changwe’s conduct.
“His Excellency when I brought this matter to the attention of Hon Changwe, she told me to report her anywhere.
Sir, I am fully aware that bouncing a cheque is a criminal offence and I know that as a minister, Hon Lucy Changwe even if I report her to police today, she won’t be arrested and the Director of Public Prosecution won’t authorise her prosecution unless and until she is dropped from the ministerial position.
“His Excellency, I am therefore appealing to you for your help that I am able to have this matter reported to police and be professionally prosecuted. His Excellence, I enclose here with (1) a bounced cheque (2) Bank advice note (3) my demand letter for your easy reference. My cell number is 0977427817 and Hon Lucy Changwe number is 0977412845. Your quick…
Why is it so hard to get an honest MP in MMD. After all this verbal diarrhea from the ‘honourable’ in the Guardian newspaper, it turns out that she’s not so honourable after all. She has now bounced a cheque. Question is: will Shrek move against her as fast as he did against Mpombo? Do pigs fly?