KALENGA NKONGE  

Waiting for my next customer, I take it all in.

Barbershops, hair salons, makeshift restaurants, car washers, printing and internet cafes are the entrepreneurial ventures that populate Lusaka. In markets and humble stalls outside their homes, communities sell tomatoes, vegetables, chickens, and eggs—anything that can be a source of income. Colourful advertisements painted onto the walls of homes and shops entice customers. 

Contrary to the extravagant display of opulence with expensive European cars and luxurious mansions dotting suburban Zambian landscapes, this is not the life experienced by most of the population. Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a poverty rate of 54%. Formal employment, a gateway to financial stability, remains elusive, pushing individuals to make their own means to survive.

Driving a taxi as a part-time job, I find myself in all corners of Lusaka from Sunningdale to Bauleni. Yet it is the highly populated areas like Kalingalinga and Mtendere, vibrant, loud and full of life, that I find more interesting. Negotiating these spaces is something that I do everyday. These are places where I disappear and I am at home……..Kabwata, Lilanda, Chilenje, Obama, Kabwata, Lilanda, Chilenje, Obama and Kamwala.

ONGOING PROJECT....

PORTRAIT OF A FAMILY

I have no recollection of my father and mother being together. They divorced when I was very young. I went to live with my mother while my elder brother went to live with my father. 

I joined my father when I was about 8 years old. Three years later my father died. 

Being or becoming a father and husband scared me. How would I fair and cope?

I felt that I had no proper training and preparation, I hadn't been around fathers enough.

I am a father and a husband now. I'm trying to do my best to be there for my family. 

I am still here. My kids laugh and tell me I need to grow up, and get serious.

I think they need to make up their minds and be serious. 

Being a father requires being present and it demands commitment. It's not for the weak. 

Being a husband requires…still trying to figure that out. I can say in all honesty and modesty that I know I haven't been the best of husbands, especially in the areas of providing and guiding the family. I'm still here though.

I love these people that I live with. I think they love me too. 

So, I am still here. Still trying to get it right.