In Zambia about 200,000 children are growing up without family elders to guide them in their culture and traditional customs. An article on IRIN NEWS titled Zambia:orphans grow up without cultural identity shows the difficulties some of these orphans face after their parents have died of AIDs-related illnesses.
About 20,000 households in Zambia are led by children
LUSAKA, 16 November 2009 (PlusNews) – Abigail Mwanashimba has been looking after her five siblings since the age of eight, when her parents died of AIDS-related illnesses. She is now 19 years old, and without relatives to represent her at her lobola (bride price) negotiations, she was forced to hire traditional counsellors to organise the process of marriage according to the tribal customs. They did a bad job.
“I don’t know anything about my tribe or its culture because there has never been anyone to teach or show me,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “I got very little lobola, but the last straw was the humiliation I suffered at my in-laws’ home, when I embarrassed them by performing the wrong dance.”
Losing out on the bride price was one thing, but when she realised that the counsellors she had hired had taught her the wrong traditional dances, she refused to pay them their 500,000 Zambian kwacha (US$100) fee, and is now facing a lawsuit.
Suggested Books
Africa Swaziland : Executives to Cycle Africa for AIDS Orphans The effects of AIDS in South Africa Africa Paper : ICT in Zambia Academic paper: The economic impact of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, by T. Azomahou Africa IMF Reports : Zambia 20103 Responses to “Africa AIDS : Zambia Orphans Lose their Cultural Identity”
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This is a great article.. It’s my hope that other NGO’s and orphanages pick up on this, since culture is such a formative thing when growing up. Without a cultural identity, you lose a sense of purpose and boundaries, you lose your sense of place in the community.
[New Post] Africa AIDS : Zambia Orphans Lose their Cultural Identity http://www.sociolingo.com/2009/11/africa...
@sociolingo A sad truth of #orphanages in #Africa : Many don’t (have resources to? want to?) teach children African #languages