MONEY MAKING WHEELBARROWS

In the busy capital city of Zambia, Lusaka, 28 year old Sakala Lyson has begun an unusual business. And he is making a decent living with his wheelbarrow which is also known as a ZAMCAB. For the young man this was a way out of unemployment.

At the busy market place in central Lusaka, a row of wheelbarrows is lined up just outside the entrance of the market. This is where Sakala Lyson has been doing business for the past two years. He owns one of the wheelbarrows which are called ZAMCABS in Zambia. He pushes it for customers who want to transport their goods to various points within the market and town. Sometimes he even pushes his loaded wheelbarrow as far as 10 km within the city. “I tried to work in the companies but I could not find what I wanted, so I decided to come here and work as a Zamcab driver because I get money which I use to feed my family at home”, says Sakala.

MAKING ENDS MEET

He rents a house for his family – that is 2 children and a wife. In a couple of years he wants to send his children to school. This will be an additional cost. Before starting his Zamcab-business, Sakala was unemployed. It is a common problem in Zambia: Lusaka province has the highest unemployment rate at 29% according to the 2005 labour office survey report. Zambia is a very youthful nation. As such a lot of these youths just idle instead of working. “When you talk of the economic way of looking at it this is a resource - youths who are still energetic and vibrant”, says Steven Chamo, the Director of operations at the Organisation for Zambian Youth Entrepreneurs. “They are able to do anything you can think of but they are still at home doing nothing but abusing alcohol and drugs”

At least Sakala Lyson is not like those other youths who just gave up. With his Zamcab business he is able to make a decent living. On a good day he earns 20 USD. But when business is not good he goes home with 6 USD only. Even so this is enough to keep him going. He also has big plans for the future. “I have developed. My life has changed. I now have things which I didn´t have before. So now I want to do some other business. I want to go further”, says Sakala.

TOUGH LIFE

Sakala Lyson didn’t go far with his education. He lost both parents when he was a child and he only went up to grade 7. Nobody was there to pay for his school fees. It is difficult for young Zambians to find a decent job especially if they are a school dropout. “Jobs are very few and shrinking everyday. But youths have hidden potential in them. They should always mind what they have. What they have is greater than what they don’t have”, says Steven Chamo. He tries to encourage young unemployed Zambians to use their talents.

BIG CHALLENGES

It’s been raining heavily in Lusaka for over 3 hours now. There is mud all over the market place. Big puddles of rain water and little brown streams are flowing everywhere. This is bad for Sakala’s zamcab business. Being a Zamcab operator is not easy. He has to carry very heavy loads and this puts a lot of strain on his back. Congestion and the danger of being hit by cars in the busy city of Lusaka are not the only challenges in for him. Sakala has to fight for a fair price for his services: “When you explain to someone that you are carrying something heavy and you ask for so much, then they say no I have the money and people can give you peanuts.”

Steven Chamo says, some people in Zambia consider zamcab operators to be failures. But looking at the high rate of unemployment at least people like Sakala Lyson are able to make ends meet. He is happy with what he is doing for now. He is even advising others to join the zamcab business. Apparently, he doesn’t mind competition: “I am appealing to school leavers even those who stopped working. They can come and join us because the bible tells us that God blesses a hard worker.”


Patricia Sundu