It's Not About Muscles, But Brains

by Harvard Chinyemba
(Lusaka, Zambia)

Naturally, Africans are hard workers. That is why even slave traders gravitated more on this continent than any other in carrying out their business.

As I walk to and from work everyday, I see these "galant soldiers" doing very hard jobs: Lifting heavy staff, digging trenches, carrying heavy loads on wheelbarrows etc. just to make ends meet.

These people make feel proud to be an African. Gone are the days when we were known to the outside world as people who spent most of thier time dancing, drinking and womanising. Yes, there might be some who are still glued to this kind of lifestyle, but the vast majority of our people very hard working.

But today I don't want us to belabour much on this. Let us graduate and move to something equally interesting.

You see, the world has become very soffiscated with the coming in of technology. At the click of a button you can communicate to anyone on the face of this earth. Today's world demands that we use more of our brains than our muscles if we are to see our people emmancipated from the shackles of poverty. Africa desperately needs think tanks in order to rise above her challenges. She needs people who are well informed to favourably compete with other continents.

We have the muscle as well as the brains, let us use that to our advantage. What I mean is this; for example, the world is now moving at concord speed to e-something: E-commerce, e-books, etc.

Why can't we also move in that direction? People who make real money these days are not those who do heavy jobs but those who lazily sit behind a computer. Those who use their minds and not these strength.

Some just make money by parading people and telling them how this or that is done, and they call themselves motivational speakers or consultants. Instead of doing machanics till your head turns white, why can't you be a consultant?

Why can't you write a book on mechanics according to the vast knowledge you have aquired all those years? If you are a very experienced musician, why can't you have your own website, for example, and make money by offering tuitorials?

I have discovered that most of us are very intelligent but because of the faer of the unknown and lack of knowledge, we have remained poor. Can't you make big money if you offer traditional dances on the internet? So, you see instead of you being scorched by the sun trying to make some ngwee dancing, you can be making millions teaching through your website. That is what we call saving time and energy.

Everyone of us has something to offer. God created us different from one another. What I have just shared is not for a select few, but you also. That small and seemingly useless idea can make a very big difference in someone else's life. Stop looking down upon yourself, you are a world changer in waiting. Stop worrying about how far you have gone academically, God can use anything. If he can use a mechanic to invent a computer, then He can use you also. If He can use people like Kalusha Bwalya to bring great honour to Zambia in the area of football, then you too can do it.

Take great care of yourself during this festive season, the world still yearns for your manifestation in 2010.