Mystory "Welcome to Zambia" (Mar-2003)

African border crossings are not for the fainthearted.

The official looks at the Temporary Import Permit for our vehicle and asks “What are you bringing into Zambia?”. Indeed, I did not yet fill in the part where one must declare goods that are being brought in. Quite a dilemma what to write down, as the box is only one centimeter high and a few more wide, while our car is packed up to capacity including a large cupboard on the roof rack, and our sturdy bush trailer carrying many more of our valued possessions. Chairs and a couch protrude skywards.

In Zimbabwe we got fined by road traffic police for 'dangerous overloading', although in comparison with some of the really overloaded buses traveling our African roads we thought our loading was quite acceptable.

Here we are, at the border of Zambia, changing home and country. After a period of two good and challenging years in Zimbabwe - with Zimbabweans capably taking over all our tasks - it is time to move on. Zambia is the virtual option we choose. Virtual, as there are no promises, no dwelling place, no upkeep, just a vision: let's eradicate malaria.

Without a work-permit, or even proof we are wanted 'in country', we just got a 30 days tourist visa stamped in our passports. Subsequently we settled payment for road tax, car insurance, and what not, for our Zimbabwe registered car, and now the last hurdle is in front of us: getting all our stuff through.

So we chat; Explaining our situation, that we are about to move country, are invited to come to Macha and see, and that we take quite some stuff along. “Please note down what you bring in, in this box, which exists for that purpose, Sir”. “Thank you”, I say, take up a pen, and write down in large letters “Everything needed to fill an empty house”. The customs official looks up, nods and smiles, and applies the appropriate stamp to the document. We go back to our car.

The gate to Zambia is still closed, awaiting of inspection of documents and goods. Not much movement, as not many travel between Zimbabwe and Zambia these days. We drive to the gate and wait. Although it is hot, purposefully an official walks to the car and we hand him the pile of documents upon his request. He inspects them carefully.

Unexpectedly the border post erupts with noise and running people. Big baboons invade the area, pinching goods from piled bags on the sidewalk. People react, trying to chase the scary looking animals away. An other person tries to jump the line and makes a run for the person entry gate to Zambia. Our official hastily hands me the documents and vanishes, making a bee-line for the gate to halt the fleeting person. We wait.

An other border official arrives at the scene, oblivious to the commotion and walks to our car. “Have your papers been inspected?”. “Yes, Sir, they are.”, I reply. “Welcome to Zambia!'. He opens the gate, and off we go, into a new era.

Information Divide

So, here we are, in Zambia, trying to study and learn, to get en par, and even try to prepare publications about our findings. Of course, we try to review and deduct knowledge from those that went before us by assessing experiences, studies, and subsequent writings of them. Unfortunately, often, we cannot.

Try, for instance, to search for the following citation: Linda van der Colff, "Leadership lessons from the African tree” (2003). A website called 'deepdyve.com' pops up and provides a one page teaser. The document can be accessed for USD 5 per page, USD 25 for the Portable Document Format. Apparently it is published in “Management Decision , Volume 41 (3): 5, Emerald Publishing – Apr 1, 2003”. A journey to the Emerald website: 'USD 25 for the pdf please'.

We virtually never see magazines - even if one subscribes or buys - as most do not make it through the postal system. We pay almost USD 10,000 per month for a limited 2 mbs internet connection to provide information access for about 300 users in our community. Such cost is stretching us beyond limits already.

Notwithstanding the difficulties of internet payments from a country without credit cards and relative low amount of debit cards – after 5 years of filling in forms and persistence I got my fist debit card one year ago - who would I actually pay, and for what? Is this a write up of study results, and if so, who paid for its execution? Emerald? Who did participate in the work? I cannot access, thus do not know, but I can imagine that our African communities did contribute. Did they get paid for that? I doubt it. Do they get paid when I furnish hard currency to be able to read about them? I doubt that too.

What I normally do is hope someone, somewhere, put a scanned PDF on the internet, and that Google finds it. And then I download, from wherever. Gratefully, this is the case quite often, but for this case Google does not give me any link. Again, no clue what the document contains, only 'non-constructive thoughts' remain, like ones depicting exclusion, 'not being invited to the party', being disadvantaged. Such thoughts discourage and do not harmonize nor motivate.

USD 25 represents a lot of money in our community. It represents half a month salary for many persons around me. Thus, is it ethical to send that money to Deepdyve or Emerald, or to others that often pop up, like Springer or Elsevier? Actually, these are names of companies or magazines that I have never seen, nor have been able to access, nor read any of its articles.

Where to investing our precious financial resources that have arrived in rural Africa, often involving much hard work from the community. The choice is rather easy. I just do not know these magazines, nor the publishers, I have never seen any of these magazines, thus I can only guess to what I miss. Only feelings remain, like 'I miss something, I am being excluded, others in the West whom are able to pay or be lucky to be near a library do have a head-start, however am I up-to-date?'.

The people around me smile, and I am grateful to live in a unique context and culture. We have acquired some knowledge to their needs based upon our own observations. All this balances, and I have no difficulty choosing for investments benefiting my neighbour, and regard the other information as if it does not exist. Actually, it does not exist for us in Africa, as if we live on a different planet.

Cross-pollination

The philosophical design of Western thinking - with its essentialistic focus (getting to the essence of things) - feels normal in a western setting. It utilizes definitions - abstracting qualities of things encountered - and then looks at a reality in light of such definitions. Combining definitions result in theories, mostly within a particular discipline. Theory provides guidance as to the content of the study of anyone wishing to be fluent in the a subject matter. Theory is augmented by techniques, providing exercises to enhance performance and facilitating measurements. This approach seems to work quite well in Western realities, where all is geared towards this approach (e.g. with language and literacy mostly socially constructed within this view of reality), and congruent with a definition of humans being 'rational animals'.

Rural Africa, featuring an existential focus, is not used - nor adapted - to this kind of reasoning. Its view is validated, for instance, by local ability to easily articulate indefinable qualities and humanitarian values of reality. Of course, the definition of humans being 'rational animals' does not stick either, as in rural Africa one regards 'a person is a person through people'.

Clearly, essentialism brings benefits of understanding the World-of-Things, as shown through successful abstractions as literature and mathematics. On the other hand I have found existentialism to benefit understanding the World-of-Humans, as it interacts fluently with context and culture and naturally facilitates, for instance, oration, hearing, feeling, memory, harmony, and rhythm.

In our shrinking world caution is needed for hegonism as it can be destructive to other views of reality, which loss would deprive us all of alternatives and diversity. We must continue to endeavor on innovative ways of interacting, overarching diverse philosophies, as I strongly believe that respectful cross-pollination can support either side to be inspired to face the multifaceted challenges in our complex world.

Partnering Accross Borders

Partners think, want, and act interdependently.
Partners subscribe to true partnerships and jointly managed endeavors, from conception till reality.
Partners share the lead.
Partners connect peers first, then administrators.
Partners implement workable financial balances.
Partners consider bilateral arrangements as well as multilateral connections.
Partners value diversity of cultural experience.
Partners deal with risks without compromising social interaction.
Partners replace short-term stints with long-term (professional) development.
Partners treat all interactions as a learning experience.

Partners do in Zambia as the Zambians do.
Partners adapt to culture and context, which emerged from centuries of struggles, trials and victories by those that went before.
Partners adapt to local ways of communications.
Partners adhere to national and traditional rules and other regulatory facts of life.

Partners target friendship, peace and cooperation.
Partners trust.
Partners respect mutually.
Partners grow relationships through thick and especially thin.
Partners share experiences.

Enshrined Higher Education

Education is the cornerstone for progress. It is pivotal to advance. All agree. But what to be educated in, and how, that is an other matter.

In contrast with current practices, a Higher Education based upon social constructs applicable to the continent of Africa can provide answers for current dichotomies between local relevance and vogue knowledge, disciplinary skills segmentation and holistic needs, and the incorporation of humanity.

My take? Independent thinking, un-copying of 'one size fits all' disciplinary (Western) approach, and reorientation towards enshrined education, sensitive to calling, context and culture.

How would this look for Africa?

African higher education provides thought leadership in the relational world, for instance in Community Science and Sustainability Science, by incorporating locally enshrined indigenous knowledge. Its universities are organised in a unique and appropriate way. In practice this means that the Vision for African Higher Education incorporates:

• thinking in terms of “Inclusiveness”;
• structuring in terms of “Hybrids”;
• outcome in terms of “Cooperation”;
• valuing in terms of “Engendering in Humans”.

In the day-to-day activities one experiences:

• curriculum centering around postdiciplinary, inspirational learning;
• integration of higher education with society;
• assessment of values and ethics, to guide understanding of responsibilities of membership of the human race.

In such vision, the World-of-Things provides the physical tools to facilitate unlocking the potential of all people on earth. It connects us all, everywhere, everything, all the time, with any information. Of course communications channels provide for the time/place-independent connection with wellsprings of education.

African students, no doubt, will also be part of a world wide and distributed university, spending much time virtually present somewhere else, in individual strives to gain further knowledge, especially in the fields of communications skills (including reading, writing, and mathematics). However, students' prime time is spend in appropriate communities, honing skills of reasoning and cultural alignment.

Thus focussed and equipped, African Higher Education plays its unique and important role in scientific research, can lead multidisciplinary teams assuring universal acceptable approaches, engendering of communities of practice, incorporation of overarching checks and balances, targets benefiting all, assuring human measures, responsible execution, incorporation of complex mental and ethical traits, preservation of humanity, long term stability, resource balances, multi-path communications, authorized leadership, multifaceted embeddings, and incorporation of paradoxes. In short, assuring trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and global citizenship.

Based upon its context and culture, African higher education has a unique opportunity and responsibility to assure incorporation of good qualities into our collective existence to be able to respond human, regardless of circumstances.

Internal Drive

Disempowered communities are commonly deprived of means of production. Without power no engines run to multiply mussels, without communications there is no amplification of intent, without transport cooperation and teaming up is thwarted. And without access to other enablers like capital or knowledge, what would anybody do? It is no wonder that persons in dis-empowered communities focus on immediate needs, for immediate livelihood, and react to the here-and-now in concrete, tangible and pressing tasks at hand.

Appropriate interaction within the mix of context and history enshrined in local culture leads to interaction with the inner self of people. A context and culture with sense of solidarity, subordination of economics to human needs, a focus on human relations, and a sense of security. Such is fundamentally different then contemporary western context and culture formed through Greek philosophy, renaissance and reformation.

Let’s aim to embrace the local context and culture and find ways to grow talents' internal drive that reaches out beyond the immediate, harnesses intelligence, initiatives and responsibility to benefit the local community and beyond.

On Those We Stand

When looking around where we are right now, it remains important to recognize that we stand on the shoulders of those that went before us. It is the permeating respect for ancestors, recognizing their lasting-presence as is being exercised in our rural environment, which reminds me daily of this universal truth. Those before us sculptured us, incubated our life, taught us language, and provided us a heritage to work with. We are who we are today, also because of them.

The prime cross cultural teaching method and the prime way of education in our environment is storytelling. It transfers memes of our great leaders, from history. Our collective and individual memory is thus full of tales and guidance provided by these persons. Frequent revisiting this guidance, also with respect to current developments and progressing knowledge, unearths grounded view points, and fuels sustainable innovation.

We better take heed and recognize this guidance, as it can provide valuable insights for our future efforts embedded in principled stewardship.

Communocentric Culture

What about environments where we search for common values, where service is the fundamental quality of leadership, where tolerance in diversity is the norm, where sufficient consensus is the aim, were empathy and compassionate inclusiveness colours human interaction, and where contradictions are embraced? Where 'we' goes before 'I', where the community is the soil in which outcomes germinate, where history and its heritage is the fertilizer for future development? A society pragmatic yet idealistic, introspectively humble, compassionate and empathetic, embedded in kinship.

In Macha, we are members, live with paradoxes, reason with fear, empathize through non-rational instinct, frown at insisting self-interest, we share, arbitrate, reconcile, have compassion, come out together, and use problem-solving to build relationships.

Actually, these are virtues of Ubuntu-thinking, a hermeneutical approach and African receipt for co-existential collaboration, engendering of trust, and teamly co-creation.

Education Works-in-Progress

Education is changing, all over the world. The traditional, mechanic repetitive, rota education method in rural African schools are about to change too.

We hope to inspire communities to empower their children to become creators of jobs, to be builders of communities, to be engineers of tools for main stream activities, and to be humanness though-leaders. All in the aim for education to be relevant in the local context, in rural Africa too. Thus also addressing issues like agricultural practices, animal husbandry, and cultural expressions, which techniques are put in practice daily, but not necessary at school though.

Education is instrumental in raising change-makers to counter the 'bad three': poverty, ignorance, and decease. Of course, focus on Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic will remain, however, Reasoning and Rhythm are to be added to the mix. The latter two to understand the difference in thinking in the world at large, and to empower the search for harmony with traditions of history of mankind in Africa.

In my view it is always time for breakthrough in education, on all levels. Innovations that help to think local, act global - telling stories of the past that shape the future – feeding brains with wholesome thoughts – engender success stories by and for students, that entice holistic post-disciplinary thinking – utilizing all border slashing and assistiveness Information and Communications Technologies can bolster – supporting true life long learning, wherever one is – involving the whole community in all aspects of education – and using the strength of youth.

Are we caught in chicken and egg situations? Where are the bold ideas, where the future bringing visions? We are working on them, and I like it!

Harmonized Outcome

During recent encounters in France I noticed French appreciation of individual thinking, as during interacting with philosophic treatise. I met francophone intelligentsia passionately espousing the value of pursuit of purely academic activities, as in entering new grounds in mathematics.

At the same time, close encounters with German intellectuals showed how their passion grew attacking tangible situations, in pursuit of emerging of tangible products.

I am thus re-sensitized to what the African culture mostly values as the result of its toils: relationships.

Yes, the most important outcome of activity is relationship. Aiming at that outcome, the Chief arbitrates. Thus the community conduits opinions and needs. Thus local culture probes stakeholder positions, keeps verbal record of communications, and stores ingredients for building unity. Thus correctness surfaces in terms of harmony.

In Africa I notice that value is recognized in those that facilitate problem solving approaches, affect joint gains, and bring together differing parties. Those who engender relationship.