For these reasons, the names used in this study for my research assistants and principal local contacts are not their own.
Roger lives in a better section of one Mufulira township. In Mufulira, more so than the other towns, the distinction between compounds that were owned and run by government and those that were owned and run by the mines is obvious. Houses in the mining compounds were somewhat larger than government houses and better maintained. Even though everyone has difficulty keeping things up these days, the historical difference between these two sections is still apparent. One thing everyone near the mine site shares, though, is the effect of the old smelter. Areas closest to the mine are arid; what grass, trees, and flowers do survive are stubby and straggly looking. Sometimes, depending upon wind direction, it becomes difficult to breathe. A bit of good news, though, is that the re-privatized mining company has recently installed a new smelter that will remove this acid from the air.
3.4.2 Frederica Chipongoma, Luanshya
Frederica, a petite and energetic young woman in her early 40s, is a counselor for one of the local high schools and has responsibility for several hundred students. She also teaches English composition. Her husband is a mechanical engineer by training and worked in the mining industry for 15 years before being retrenched under privatization. Now he works at a training institution in Ndola that contracts services for the mines. Since commuting from Luanshya each day is very expensive, he frequently stays in Ndola during the week, returning home on the weekends.
The Chipongomas live in what used to be a European section of town. The streets are wide and paved, even if pot-holed, and the brick houses are considerably larger than township homes. Each house has a substantial yard and many also have what were servants' quarters out back. Frederica was born in Luanshya into a mining family and grew up near where she now lives. By the time she came along, that section of Luanshya was already
racially mixed with African families being scattered about among European and Indian families. Frederica can remember when machines owned by the mines kept the streets swept and water pumped from the underground made lawns green. Back then, the yards would have been well tended and filled with flowers. The hardiest plants from that era still survive in many places and, with only a little imagination it's possible to see in the area a modest middle class neighborhood similar to those in Britain or the United States.
Frederica is extremely involved with her Church. Originally Roman Catholic, she joined her husband in the Anglican Church when they married. Today, her leadership
abilities mean she is put charge of many things. During the course of this study we attended a Mother's Union fundraiser she coordinated. It was remarkable in its ecumenical involvement and for its cause—a hospital in Southern Province with which the Church has had a long-standing association. Frederica was much relied upon by the former priest-in- residence at the Church who recommended her as a participant in this study. When we went to Luanshya, Frederica was always well prepared with a slate of interviewees for us to speak with or parts of town for us to tour with her.
3.4.3 Matthew and Martha Kapumba, Kitwe
The Kapumbas live in a township outside of Kitwe. Matthew, who is in his early 50s, is from Northwestern Province and spent his youth in Mufulira. He is a tall sinewy man with a clean-shaven head. Martha's family comes from the Lundazi area but she was born on the Copperbelt and went to school near Kitwe. She is a tall, elegant woman just about 40 years old. The Kapumbas have a number of children, the oldest of whom is also a miner.
Matthew's father lives with them as well.
Matthew began work on the mines as a lasher in 1975. He describes this job as "very tough"—the worst of all. When blasting takes place, the work progresses at about 2 meters per blast. Lashers have the job of going in and physically removing—with shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows—all the rocks and rubble created by the blast. After working as a lasher for about a year, he had other short-term assignments and then spent 18 years as a driller.
Today, Matthew is a shift boss for one of the mines and has approximately 600 men for whom he is accountable.
The Kapumbas have a small home that they bought when President Chiluba sold miners' houses to them. Now they are adding on to the house as they can since Matthew will retire there in a few years. It is a typical township dwelling that sits in a grid-like pattern of dust lanes a few kilometers from the town center. These homes are built of concrete blocks with tin roofs. Each one is fenced in by hedgerows that have grown so high it's really only possible to see the tops of the dwellings. Once inside the hedgerow, there is a neat yard. A water tap runs next to the house and empties into a concrete basin on the ground. This is where the family does dishes and laundry. The front door leads into a kitchen that has an electric stove but no refrigerator. Blue paint peels off the walls of the living room and bits of sheets hang in the windows acting as curtains. At night, one bulb suspended from the ceiling provides light. A color television set, frequently switched on, sits in one corner.
There are a few pubs nearby where Matthew goes from time to time. Upon occasion Martha will join him in drinking beer. Matthew does not, however, seem to spend a great deal of time at these places since when he is not at work, he is often doing things for his church or visiting in the homes of friends.
Matthew and Martha are both leaders in their local Anglican parish. Martha is a prominent Mother's Union member who coordinates activities such as cooking meals for women in the local prison and hosting members of other churches for choir competitions.
Matthew is a member of Men's Anglican Fellowship. We met the Kapumbas through the Church when Enock made an announcement asking for volunteer study participants. Our subsequent interactions with them have been many and pleasant, occurring at church, over meals in their home or mine, and a few times in local drinking establishments.
3.4.4 Sunday and BanaAlice Mutale, Chingola
The Mutales are close friends of Enock's. They live in one of the townships and Sunday works as a section boss for the local mine. He is a wiry man of medium height in his late 30s. In Zambia it is often customary to call parents not by their given names but by the name of their oldest child preceded by either Ba for a man or Bana for a woman. So Sunday's wife goes by the name BanaAlice, after their first born, a young girl who has just completed secondary school. BanaAlice is a lovely woman in her early 30s with a sparkling smile.
The township in which the Mutales live is similar to that of the Kapumbas but in somewhat better shape. The roads are dust but wider than in the Kapumba's compound and the houses are larger. Most also have small yards with grass and flowers in front, vegetable gardens out back. Since miners now own these homes, their conditions vary according to the occupants' abilities to keep them up. So it's quite common to see very nice, tidy dwellings next to those that are run down.
This is the case in the Mutale's neighborhood where their house is one of the best kept around. The living room has a couple of large windows that let in lots of light and the
walls are painted bright yellow so the whole effect is open and cheery. Furniture jammed into the small space consists of a couple of red plush sofas and two chairs, all accented with embroidered doilies. There is a coffee table and a large china cabinet is shoved against one wall. This holds the television set, VCR, and working telephone with answering machine, various dishes and supplies. The Mutale's kitchen has a stove and sink but no refrigerator.
Two bedrooms and a bathroom are located behind the kitchen.
Sunday's family comes from Eastern Province, but his father moved to the Copperbelt for a mining job and stayed with his sister who was married to a miner.
BanaAlice's family was from Northern Province but her father, too, had come to work on the mines and so both Sunday and BanaAlice were born in Chingola. BanaAlice's father worked as a driver in the huge open pit mine and occasionally she would see him in his truck as she walked past to school. Once her grandmother also saw her son driving when the truck was very full. She kept saying, "That's too much for him to carry," thinking that her son was using his own energy to haul all that material.
The Mutales are members of the United Church of Zambia and BanaAlice sings in the choir. They have five children, the youngest of whom is a toddler.
Sunday chose to involve himself in this study by regularly organizing insakas with his many friends and co-workers. He routinely gathered anywhere from 8 to 20 neighbors (a few of whom became regular attendees) for animated discussions which we tape-recorded.
These gatherings were populated completely by men until, for the penultimate meeting, the men suggested that women be invited.
3.4.5 Enock Muthwejile, principal research assistant
My principal research assistant was a student in one of the classes my husband taught at the Anglican Seminary in Kitwe. His exceptional performance in the classroom as well as his background and demeanor recommended him for work on this project.
Enock is Chokwe, in his early 30s, and was raised by his grandparents in a little Copperbelt village. In addition to Chokwe and English, he speaks Copperbelt Bemba and understands Lamba. His grandfather came from Angola in the 1940s and helped construct many of the mine township houses near Kitwe and Kalulushi.
Enock Muthwejile's village sits about a kilometer off the dust road leading to Chibuluma South mine and is probably 8 kilometers in total from Kitwe. His grandparents, an uncle and aunt, one of his siblings, and numerous cousins still live there. It is a typical Zambian village of mud walled, thatched roof houses. There is no formal land application process so people just settle where they want and move on when necessary.
The family is quite self-sufficient. There is a small well on the premises and a spring about a 10-minute walk away. They have several plots of land where they grow sugar cane, maize, potatoes, and other crops. A number of goats and chickens wander around, but it's not certain to an outsider how many of these belong to the family. Not far from the village is a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church under construction. Enock and his family are members of the SDAs and his uncle and aunt are very involved in the building project. There is no electricity in the village but Enock always takes his cell phone when he visits so his grandparents can talk with relatives in Lusaka.
At the time, the Seminary was running a teacher education program in conjunction with Kitwe Teacher's College. Enock was a student in that program.
Enock can tell numerous stories about his childhood that illustrate a very traditional upbringing. When he was small, everyone gathered around the fire at night and that was when he learned many customary lessons and sayings. On the way to his first day of school, a snake passed over his foot and Enock's relatives taught him that this was an extremely important sign. During those years, his grandfather would also get up early in the morning to ride his bicycle into town to sell things at market. Enock recalls getting out of bed very early with his cousins to help pack up the bicycle and then push his grandfather up a particularly steep hill at the start of the journey.
After attending secondary school, Enock went to Ndola where he has some relatives and then to Chingola where he operated various small businesses and even a preschool.
While in Chingola, he ran for a city council position and almost won. After completing his teacher's certification, Enock started his own after school tutoring program in Ndola before working with this research project.
3.4.6 Lubasi Mwangala, research assistant
Lubasi was the youngest member of the teaching staff at the seminary where my husband and I taught. While a student at that same institution, he had been identified for his outstanding academic abilities and so moved into the staff ranks following graduation.
Lubasi is in his late-20s and grew up primarily in Livingstone. His father is Lozi and his mother is Tonga so Lubasi speaks both languages along with Copperbelt Bemba and English. Because of the family's mixed heritage, they commonly spoke English in their home. His parents are teachers and his father served as a headmaster in Livingstone and Serenje where the family lived for a few years. They are also quite prominent leaders in local Anglican Church activities.
This urban, academic, comparatively comfortable background inspired Lubasi's own pursuits. It gave him few formal teachings in traditional African beliefs, but he learned quite a bit from childhood playmates. He also learned early about economic and social stratification when he went to school with peers who were significantly less well off financially than he. After secondary school, Lusbasi entered seminary to study for the Anglican priesthood. Shortly after ordination he also completed a bachelor's degree in theology.
He is married to a young Kunda woman whose father was also a teacher. They have one small girl.