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Young Women Workers in Zambia, Social Work in Zambia, Social Work and Salaries in Zambia, Young Women and Discrimination in Zambia and more on Mywage Zambia

Despite their qualifications, young women in Zambia continue to be denied job opportunities on the basis of their age. But at age 26, Kyapalushi Chisomo Kapatamoyo, holds an influential position at the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR). 

MyWage: What is your current job status?

Kyapalushi: I am the Provincial Co-ordinator for CSPR, North-Western Province, Provincial Program Management Team (PPMT).

MyWage: How long have you worked for the organisation and what type of work are you involved in? 

Kyapalushi:  I have been with CSPR for four years. My work scenario is about relating issues of poverty to the goal that my organisation aspires to achieve. Our goal is “A Zambia in which all Zambians have access to basic needs” and we hope to achieve this through pro-poor policy advocacy formulation as a leading civil society network.

MyWage:  What are some of your daily challenges when it comes to your job?

Kyapalushi: I meet every challenge as it comes. I believe that one has to be ready to adjust to different roles. In my case, the roles range from being a community worker to an administrator, enabler, advocator, educator, motivator to name a few. But of course there is the age factor. 

MyWage: What about the age factor?

Kyapalushi: I am among the youngest provincial heads in the civil society movement. Often people tend to close their minds to things involving youths, assuming they lack some level of seriousness.

MyWage: Does this negatively affect your work, and if not, how do you handle such situations?

Kyapalushi: No, I believe the past four years have given me enough time to build my confidence levels, as well as a thorough understanding of my role as provincial co-ordinator. I am definitely grateful that my colleagues and bosses are indeed objective. 

Besides, I believe when one is delivering a point, what you do and how you do it, is what truly matters. 

MyWage:  Does your job then also have an impact on what society may term as your womanly or personal duties e.g attending funerals, visiting friends or family who are in hospital etc?

Kyapalushi: Yes it does, in most cases. But I appreciate that I have a family that really understands my job and when I fail to attend to family issues, it is because of circumstances beyond me.

MyWage: And your relationships with the opposite sex?

Kyapalushi: Hmm. At times I am so consumed with work and I tend to carry those traits into my social world, which ends up affecting my relationships. It’s a learning process.

MyWage: Your job requires you to be on the road regularly. Do you ever have (a) me time (b) family time (c) perhaps time for studies?

Kyapalushi: My job requires discipline and it also entails that you have to sacrifice some things. I have to work really hard, read a lot, study, go to church and attend meetings, conduct and do assignments, watch news, and travel widely. But in all things one has to find time to see family, find time to rest, manage stress levels and get going.

So to answer your question, I try to create time for me especially to review, redirect, reflect and refocus myself to achieve my ultimate personal goals.

I am currently studying for my bachelor’s degree in social work so that I can upgrade. This is my main agenda for now. I must head two more provinces then move on to the national level.

MyWage: Who is a social worker?

Kyapalushi: In my view, a social worker is a development worker, one who wants to ensure that there is a better living environment by helping minimise the social ills that we face daily and also tries to make it possible for all to have access to the basic needs of survival.

MyWage: Would you encourage anyone to take up social work as a career?

Kyapalushi: I definitely would. Social work is centered on people and their way of life, and it addresses social ills. It’s not easy but you need to have the heart to do the job, maybe even look for internships which may not pay, just to get the experience. There is too much work to do in the community and too many organisations needing an extra hand.

MyWage: What are your terms of conditions of service and does your job pay well?

Kyapalushi: My contract is two years renewable. My salary … well let’s just say for a single Zambian woman, I can afford to pay my rental and take myself to school. So I can say it’s reasonable.

MyWage: If you could change one thing about your work, what would it be?

Kyapalushi: It would be the dependency on the donor community. No disrespect, the co-operating partners are doing more than good; but I believe there should be a time where we own our development process, to the point that we can manage and sustain our development projects and programmes.

MyWage: What has been the greatest achievement of your career?

Kyapalushi: It has been to build the confidence and credibility of CSPR in mining-related research, which has also helped the provincial office gain international recognition and extended our networking.

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