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STARTUP

THE ART OF DEARTING

o the mold is made and as society and
Sculture demand, we must find our way into
it, even if it looks and feels like forcing a triangle
into a circle shaped space.
Ever gotten reprimanded or even beaten for
doing something that you actually loved? Like
drawing, singing, dancing, playing football,
making clothes maybe? Or you may be that
parent or guardian who did the beating.
It’s simple really, as I stated earlier that the
typical Zambian parent will raise a child
according to the norm.
Surely, a child should spend more time studying
and less time exploring their personal interests.
A show of hands if your parents cared what
grade you got in music when they came for open
day. Okay, that’s rather harsh but I’m sure you
get the picture.
Our Zambian, or in broader terms African
upbringing has not made room for human
creativity. I’ll take a line from the song ‘Mizu’ by
Pompi, which really defines this state of affairs:
‘Low on creativity, high on degrees’. This is in
no way shunning education and its benefits to
mankind. Not at all.
Education is a fuel for prosperity. However, our
economic state demands our rigidity in order to
survive.

We have not reached a place where inborn talent pulls the world to your feet. Very few Zambian parents would cheer on a
budding young adult who believes they want to be a chef, a dancer, a painter or even a musician. Reason being? It just doesn’t
pay the bills right. And it is well understood. In fact, for us Zambians, it shows a lack of seriousness in life. Such utterances
would attract family meetings.
The advice given to this dreamer is to do something that will get them some form of security. And then maybe, after that,
they can try and pursue that interest. So here is young Chansa, who loves cooking and can make almost anything edible.
He is advised to apply to the University of Zambia or Copperbelt University. He is accepted at the latter, in the school of
business, in Banking and Finance. He leaves university with a colourful degree and soon gets a well-deserved job. Chansa gets
comfortable once he clocks two years in his nine to five. And as he hits five years he remembers his passion. He believes that
by now he might just have enough money to start up his own business. However, he thinks to himself: Will his family survive
as he is getting the hang of entrepreneurship? And what will his relatives think when they hear that he resigned from his job to
start cooking? He is still paying off a car loan from work and has plans of building so maybe going down the self-employment
road wouldn’t be a good idea. Long story short, it is not our natural order to take risks in this area. Some have, but not without a
struggle.

Those who have never given their inner skill and creativity a chance have sad stories about how they were never given a
platform to express nor explore these interests. However, not all cases are the same. Others have great success stories, and
with the growing opportunities in Zambia, more and more people are opting to be their own boss because it is actually paying
off.
There is definitely much to look forward to in this light. So what’s the big idea? Can we blame the art of ‘de-arting’ on
uninformed or backward parents? The art of ‘dearting’ is somewhat inbuilt within our culture hence it is understandable that
our ideas on the road to success are linear. But the net can be widened. And it should. Within the mix of ABC and 123 should be
the ingredient of Do Re Mi. In other words, we need to develop a culture that creates an environment where individuals thrive
even outside the system of formal employment.

The risk takers need to be embraced. They are the ones who make history. Again, this is not a stance against the path of
education, nor a call for academic passiveness. It is more of a desire to see a harmony across conventional and unconventional
ways of prosperity.

95 The Africa We Want