The case of malaria

Before moving to Lusaka almost three years ago, me and my family went through some thorough check up with a doctor. All the possible vaccinations were given. And malaria. Yes, prophylactic to prevent the deadly sickness. Especially for the kids, said the doctor. We actually started asking him about the necessity of the medication. Result: we got threatened by him with an ultimatum. If we don’t give prophylactic to our kids, they will be taken into custody. Wow, that was something. Anyway, we bought one pharmacy bagfull of Lariam, the strongest and worst-side-effect tablets. Those stood on the recipe.

As we got down here, we started asking around about malaria. Some researchers said that it’s almost non existing in Lusaka. Or how they put it, one must really have a bad luck to get it into the system here in the capital city. We also saw a doctor here, an experienced Indian chap at CfB hospital. ”Are you crazy, you should not take any more of that Lariam or rather no other prophylactic either.” He adviced us just to take care in the evenings that we are protected with natural ways, long sleeves and sprays. And mosquito nets above the beds. So did we, as soon as we got organised in our rented home with our own furniture. Before that especially our youngest one looked mostly like a leopard with tens of bites.. No malaria, fortunately.

We stopped taking Lariam immediately on the same evening after coming home from that doctors appointment. Nasty headaches disappeared and horror dreams were history. After only three weeks of munching Lariam, we were left with the same bagfull, which nobody will probably ever buy. Or take for free. Since then we have opened that bag only for some pills in order to prevent malaria when going to the Falls or into the bush. But, some doctors and other people say, that having that preventative poison in the body might actually hide the symptoms so that the blood test would not show malaria clearly. Good point! So, it’s good to think beforehand and at the same time keep in mind that malaria is a very severe disease which never goes away without strong and powerful treatment. This case just shows how different we look at the case of malaria in the North and here in the South where it’s almost a fluelike episode. For many, a yearly nuisance.


Ansku Tiilikainen

“A female leader is always stereotyped as the Mother, the Puppet, the Iron Lady or the Lover”

After heading the Swedish Association for Communication Agencies (Sveriges Reklamförbund) for some years and soon starting the prestigious job as head of the Swedish Film Institute, Anna Serner has got a good insight into life as a female leader in Sweden. During a short visit to Zambia she held a lecture on female leadership in Sweden and the picture she paints of a country famous for its gender equality is rather gloomy

- Only 18 percent of the board members in stock market companies in Sweden are women. There is an unconsciousness about gender inequality that still is a part of the structures of the Swedish society.

She started the evening by showing a new Swedish movie, “A thousand times stronger”. The movie is about a young Swedish student who starts in a Swedish school after living abroad for many years. She is confronted with very the traditional gender roles amongst her new class mates with loud and dominating males and females trying to please their environment by acting like quit Barbie dolls. When she tries to change theses patterns she receives fierce resistance, not only from the boys but also from the girls and the teachers.

The movie paints a rather gloomy picture of the lack of gender equality in Sweden. According to Anna, a women who wants to become successful as a leader has to be aware of these, often hidden, but still strong structures.

- A female leader is more or less automatically being labeled with one of four fixed roles: the Mother, the Puppet, the Iron lady or the Lover. It is very difficult to change these expectations but if you are aware of them you have a better chance of being successful as a leader.

As head of the Swedish Association for Communication Agencies she felt forced to use her “female charm” to be fully accepted as a leader. When her male colleagues greeted her with words like “How beautiful you are today”, something that no one would say to a male boss, she just smiled and said “Thank you”. She was also expected to make inquires about her colleagues families when she greeted them in the morning.

- If I would not have accepted these expectations as a female leader I would have been seen as an Iron Lady and that would have made my job very difficult.

According to Anna the traditional gender structures are still alive in Sweden but nowadays people are not aware of it. Women in Sweden spend as much time at work as men but the women still takes care of the family after work to a much greater extent compared with their male colleagues.

- Women hesitate to take leading positions in companies because of this. At law school for example, where I studied, 50 percent of the students are women and generally speaking they have better grades than then male students. But after university women disappear. In the fancy law firms the majority are men. Women take jobs in the public sector with more regulated working hours to be able to take care of the family and household after working hours.

According to Anna there is a structural problem in society that needs to be addressed and it will not be solved by itself. The only solution, at least temporarily, is legislation.

- We have environmental laws, labor laws and many other laws that society has been forced to put in place to change attitudes and behavior in society. Gender equality also needs help from the law.

Johan Norman

Zambian artist, Stary Mwaba

Stary Mwaba has been drawing and painting his whole life. He is self taught and has no art schooling. A French missionary woman, who fell in love with his way to paint, offered him a job as an art teacher.
”She told me to teach what I do and how I do it”. When Stary came to Lusaka he joined the artists at the Henry Tayali Gallery but is since many years to be found at Rockston Workshop and Gallery on 27 Elm road in Woodlands which he at present time shares with two other artists.
Stary Mwaba was born in 1976 in Chingola in the Copperbelt. The family moved soon after to Kasama where he grew up and lived until he was 21years old. He then moved to Lusaka and has now spend 13 years in the capital.
When Stary was 18 years old his father passed away and after a long time of illness his mother passed away four years later. He was especially attached to his mother. During the time of his mothers illness Stary was not able to sleep at all so to cope with the distress Stary stayed up every night painting in the light of a candle. To convey feelings, anger, thoughts, sorrow, distress and also happiness through art is something that Stary is doing himself when painting but wants to focus more on and help others do. He has been involved with refugee projects together with UNHCR and he goes regularly to an orphanage run by a polish nun close to Chaminuka Lodge in Lusaka.
In 2004 Stary won ‘the British Commonwealth Award for Arts and Crafts’ which took him to an international workshop in Trinidad and Tobago.
Stary has since participated in a number of exhibitions and international workshops, which include the Watermill Centre, ’a laboratory for performance’ in New York, The Caribbean Contemporary Arts in Trinidad and Tobago, Braziers International workshop in London. His solo exhibitions include the “Freedom in Transition” at Lusaka National Museum in 2008, “Solace of a migrant” in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2009, “Crossing Over” at Caribbean Contemporary Arts, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 2005 and Museo di san Salvatore in Lauro in Rome 2010.
In his paintings he, most often, combines reality with abstract people and objects. You can also find typical Zambian elements such as people, buildings and even chitenge fabric. Some of his paintings are for sale at the art centre at the Tiyende Pamodzi Theatre at the American International School or you can visit his workshop ‘Rockston’ in Woodlands. This humble artist is a true Zambian at heart but my guess is that he will be very busy travelling the world in the future.

Bodil Sörensen