| 3,576 tuned in January 3rd.
This Saturday, January 10th, 2010 on BlogTalkRadio Show: Rev Paul Bupe and Nathan Nkhama discusses the thorny subject of ethics... 8a.m. - 12p.m., New York Time / 15:00hrs - 19:00hrs Zambian Time. JOIN US LIVE by clicking on the radio icon below!
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 Zambia's Brain Drain  |
| This site shows some amazing, Highly Qualified Zambian-born Professionals living outside Zambia.
They are Zambia's Gift to the World! Click on the country to learn more, or view them all on one page; THEY MIGHT BE YOUR NEIGHBORS!!![Please, send new names to: james@mwape.com] Thank you. |
 Zambian medical consultant releases album UK based "medical consultant by day and world musician by night, Dr Joseph Yikona releases his debut album Sunset Jam. Using money granted to him by The Arts Council, Joseph has set about producing a spell-binding album of world music in a particular style known as Kalindula.  Young, beautiful and intelligent! Apart from being Miss Allen, Faith came second in the Nation (USA) in research presantation at the Historical Black colleges and Universities.  Congratulations to Mwansa M. Changwe I come to you from the beautiful lands of Lusaka, Zambia. I am Mwansa M. Changwe: 2008-2009 Miss University of the District of Columbia and 1st Runner Up Miss National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame - "Bringing Dreams To Reality". We are proud of you!!! Photos  Caroline Marsh: Secret Millionaire. Caroline was a guest of our Talk Radio Show November 22, 2008 and shared her success story, from an air hostess in Zambia to a secret millionaire in the UK. Listen to what she said Talk Show. "It was a big challenge for the millionaire mother-of-three who made her fortune in Swindon after moving with her British husband from Zambia five years ago. The former air-hostess established her successful property business in 2006. She also owns property in Romania, South Africa and Zambia."  Ngosa Changwe: Down But Not Out. With only Faith & Determination, she came out of an abusive marriage to living the American dream  Born in March 1978, Dr. Kozhi Makai is "described by some as an old soul in a young body, this 29-year old has done so much in such a short period of time".This month's feature story will be about Kozhi Makai, PhD success story.  What makes millionaires differents from the rest? Which is easier, making the first million dollars or ten mil? Enock Mundia, pictured above with his family at their mansion in Shanghai, China, answers those questions for us. Learn how a poor guy from the plains of Senanga district, a laborer in Kabwe, went on to become a brand name in the textile and fashion industry. This story will blow your mind! To read the story click here.  Read Captain Fredrick Chola's (left) pictured with Co-Pilot Dennis of TACV Cape Verde Success Story of "Getting Wings and Flying Away". Mwape.com Interviewed one of Zambian-born most successful, most experienced, highly qualified and respected Commercial Airline Captain flying in India! Published: 6/29/08 
 Congratulations to Dixie C. Pwele, who graduated with M.Sc. in Procurement with distinction, UK, June 26,2008. Dixie maybe reached at: dxdalu@yahoo .co.uk Congratulations to Deophister M. Uffer who graduated with an MBA from University of Mary Washington in Virginia, USA, May 10, 2008. Deophister maybe reached at: duffer@ci.manassas.va.us  Congratulations to Nathan Nkhama who graduated with a M.A in Christian Education, May, 2008. Texas, USA. Nathan maybe reached at: nkhama@juno.com  Congratulations to Dr. Isaac Sakala, who graduated from the Australian National University with a PhD degree in Medical Sciences (Immunology) on July 18, 2008. Isaac can be reached at: Isaac.Sakala@anu.edu.au  Congratulations to Prof. Kenneth Mwenda on being just one of the 5 to 6 people in Commonwealth Africa to receive a Higher Doctorate Degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD). Prof. Mwenda maybe reached at: kmwenda@yahoo.com  Congratulations to Charles Kapungwe who graduated with a Masters in Health Services Administration (MHA), May 10, 2008. Maine, USA. Charles maybe reached at: charliekaps@hotmail.com Mwape.com would like to honor our 2008 graduates. Send names and pictures to james@mwape.com  Check Out/Watch "Mbao Ngalu's Success Story" of determination  Chisala Ngandwe Florida USA We salute and honor our men and women serving in the US, British, Australian and Polish armed forces around the world, to defend freedom! May God Bless You & God bless the USA; Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!
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"I have no idea how I came across your website, but I'm very glad that I did! After having spent 27 years outside based in but having worked in , , DRC and where I was Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the of in (1990-2000), I feel proud of all the Zambians abroad doing fantastic work. I came back to in 2002. That has been the biggest challenge of my career!! I'm now Technical Advisor on an HIV and AIDS project....are there people like me out there, who are thinking of coming home? ..." Zambia, 12/24/08 "I read your article on Captain Chola. As a person born in (Zambia) and with deep ties to it, I have always wondered what the ex-QZ pilots are up to. They were my inspiration as I was growing up and were the reason I went ahead and got my license. I found your article very informative and quite refreshing to see the success the ex-QZ pilots are having. I was wondering if, after you confer with him, you were able to introduce me to Cpt. Chola? I am looking to understand more about Zambia Airways from him for the purposes of my own interest and to also on-day write about the airline and its people, its processes and routes. " USA, 12/23/08 "Mr. Mwape, Got introduced to your website by Dr. Ntaimo when he was a guest on your radio/ internet show. Congratulations on the good work you are doing in connecting and recognizing Zambians across the world. It is amazing to see how many Zambians have left our beloved country and the many different ways in which they have accomplishing and are accomplishing their goals, the various jobs, positions and endeavors they have undertaken. It's just unbelieveable. I feel proud of all of you and come to appreciate more the blessing that God has given me in being able to travel to the US, now my second home. Continue the good work and I'll be looking forward to more interesting topics on your show. " Country Unknown 12/23/08 "Dear Mr. Mwape, I just finished going through the website you directed me to. It is so amazing to see how informative and interactive it is, congratulations. I am sure you have done a lot in this context and obviously beyond. I have been motivated to join others in posting a congratulatory comment in the light of what I have seen on your website, I hope I don't tone down the thrust of the messages that have already been posted by great people. I am looking forward to physically meeting you at an appropriate time." New York, USA 11/27/08. "I must say you are doing a very good job, I must commend you and your family, it is contributions like yours that go a long way in changing people's lives especially those that have no real peers to look up to. "A lot of young people need to see role models to inspire and motivate them..to demonstrate that each human being has potential to reach their goals and aspirations. As human beings we sometimes give up very easily it helps to know and see living proof of people who despite the odds have made something of their lives. " Botswana 11/05/08 "Wow thats an amazing assortment of Zambian Professionals you have compliled ! keep up the great work you are doing. ", USA 10/16/08 "... someone directed me to your website and lo and behold there I was ! ! Thank you for the incredible work you are doing of mobilizing zambians in diaspora. Your website is informative, refreshing and enriching. Its great to see what Zambian professionals and other Zambians are doing around the world." USA, 8/19/08 "I had a chance to look (and) view a number of profiles of people on your website and I must say that I was also very impressed with your website. ..." Zambia, 8/12/08 "Congratulations Sir, I don't know you, but I surely appreciate the effort you have made to take your time and put up such a website considering the amount of time it takes to design and run a website. Like the old saying goes, action speaks louder than words. And your actions have surely spoken for themselves and this shows how much love you have for your country and how you hope to reconnect our country and its "children". ", USA, 8/05/08 "Just to let you know that I got an e-mail from someone I worked with in Zambia more than 15 years ago. Your web site is visionary. " USA, 8/04/08 "I found your project well thought out and applicable to current scenario and real-time problem facing Zambia. This has been happening because the Zambia Government has no clue how brain will be addressed to stem the unstoppable brain drain. " USA, 8/03/08 "Mr. Mwape, I would like to comend you for this excellent work you are doing, compiling the Zambians abroad and what they are doing. Indeed we have the professionals out there and I hope they do get intouch back sweet home-Zambia. I would like to encourage you to continue your search as they are many more out there. Thanks for your web, I just connected with my long lost friend and we are talking. I had thought he was long dead and yet he is fine and doing very well. Carry on with your good work MWAPE !!" Geneva, Switzerland, 7/21/08 "Ba Mwape - I think your research on professional Zambians abroad is great. I suggest you write a book about it. I am currently reading a book titled: "Planet India". It is a great book, and is exactly similar to your project except its talking about Indians outside India. " China, 7/16/08 "Br. James, What goes round, comes back! So just like what you do, someone has thought of doing it on you! It would be great to hear from another percepective on the man behind the biggest and first ever Zambian Brain Drain and highly qualified professionals' site. It is good that many people are recognizing this fact and soon someone who ridiculed you with the words that "you do not know what research was or how it was done" will soon swallow his own words! I liked your line on the pilot's profile as how to cite that story. Soon, it will be a site for PhD or paper-writing individuals to cite. Keep it up and give them (the guys) a hearing!" USA, 6/30/08 "I am sure you are aware that you are doing a very good work among Zambians. You've devoted your time and energy to promoting other Zambians who are doing very well in the diaspora.Now Our-Zambia.Com wishes to promote you and your accomplishments at our website." Canada, 6/29/08 "Well James what can I say the article was brilliantly written. I look forward to seeing the final article on your website and thank you so much accepting my contribution to your research into the Zambian Brain drain " Canary Islands, 6/29/08 "James, hope all is well just wanted to let you know that more Zambians are discovering your website and appreciate your work, keep up the good work and Happy and blessed father's day in advance." USA, 06/10/08 "I want to commend you on the wonderful work you are doing on your web site. Indeed it is only such efforts by individuals that will help to change Zambia's destiny. In fact you are contributing to a body of knowledge that has long been talked about but not embodied. " Canada, 06/06/08 "Ba Mwape, Mwalileni! Thanks for your e-mail and keep it up - with the great job you are doing." Australia. 05/01/08 "...I have just seen the page that you are maintaining on Zambian qualified persons working and living in the UK. I think that its a good idea and must congratulate you for the initiative. ..." UK. 04/14/08 "Hi, I like your website and felt that I should email you the attached ... Your website can be a great source for networking amongst Zambians living abroad. Keep up the good work." Canada. 04/01/08 "Hi, love your site, Im just wondering if you know of the S. family based in NY. Look them up. Love to see them on the site. I think there's Dr. Y., his son S. and others. Your majority bemba list needs some dilution!" Zambia. 03/20/08 "You are now very famous all Zambians fro all over the world quote you and praise you for the work you have done, well done." UK. 01/30/08 "Thanks a lot for your lovely website which I just discovered yesterday when I was reading comments about Mwanawasa's 'twisted views' towards Zambian Nationals living abroad on UKZambians.com. I was reading your nice comments...at the end of them all, I saw your link to Mwape.com...which I followed out of curiosity. To cut the long story short...I really loved your site & to my surprise I was able to note some people known personally to me on thread leading to professionals based here in the UK. For instance, I was able to note Dr. M. (our vice chairman in the Zambian Overseas Christian Fellowship-UK); but greatest joy of all was learning about Dr. C...I had no clue where she was or what she had done after UNZA. But Lo and Behold...there she was on Mwape.com...I will try to write her an email and just tell her that I live here in the UK too with my wife and daughter. And going by her school address, she lives just about 1 hour & 45 min away by car. Ba Mwape, thanks very much yet again...I hope we can keep in touch. " UK 01/12/08 "...I commend you for the job you are doing and understand why you set the criteria you are using...." Canada, 01/11/08 "...And to Mr. Mwape Thank you and your family for all the effort put into your database." Australia, 01/10/08 "Just a quick comment, it seems to me your current criteria is exclusive of those who are doing equally well but do not have the paper qualifications such as a second degree. I am thinking of those who have been recruited by host countries in sport for example. I also know a number of successful people here in Canada who are in that category. Have you considered revising your criteria to show case even more Zambian role models? Look at Bill Gates for example, with only a high school education, he is a an excellent role model. Let me know what your thoughts are." 01/07/08 Canada "I have had an opportunity to look at your impressive website with equally impressive and insightful information. Unfortunately, I cannot join the "Who's Who" list you have compiled because of my humble qualifications. However, I would like to invite you to visit my blog which I update every Friday with, mostly, articles that appear on my column in the (Zambian) National Mirror." 01/02/08 "... I just wanted to find out who is doing the research in finding the Zambians listed on the site. I am a Zambian lawyer living in Canada and would be interested in getting on the list. ..." 12/19/07 Canada "...thanks for your e-mail! Had a look at your site and its all very intetesting still have to go back and look more in detail. Interesting to see what people are doing!" many thanks and best regards and a very happy christmas and prosperous 2008!" 12/24/07 UK "Congratulations on putting up this website. It gives us a great sense of achievement to know that our people are out there making a difference. I run a recruitment consulting firm in Zambia called Mac Recruitment and every now and then, we have a client who asks for Zambians working abroad and interested in coming back home. How do you keep a track on them? I also have a few Zambians to recommend for addition to your sight if you are willing to accept more. " 9/20/07 Zambia. "This is a fantastic website ba Mwape. There a lot more Zambians out there - I know of some people in Canada, USA, UK, RSA, Congo Brazzavile. Ndeti mwabombeni bane - keep it up" 9/10/07 Zambia. "Hi James,... I must commend you for the wonderful job you're doing. It was good to read mails most of the guys whom i last saw many years ago" 08/28/07 Zambia. "Thanks for your email and I did hear about you from my brother in law ... Hope all is well with you out there. Thanks for holding the torch high for Zambians - you have done well!!!" 8/20/07 Kenya. "Ba Mwape, I have just been sent a link to your website showing Educated Zambians abroad. A very impresive list indeed, I suspect you have only just scratched the surface. I know some more here in the UK ...Ukubomba mwabomba..." 8/18/07 UK. "James, That's a good site. Very interesting to learn how much talent of Zambian origin is spread around the world. I should like to add my name to the list." 8/17/07 UK. "...Like someone suggested you could write a book on the Zambian diaspora!" 8/10/07 UK; James says, 'It's coming'. "Congratulations on starting that wonderful website! keep up the good work. I would like to appear on it! I do not have a photograph to send just now." 8/10/07 UK "Congratulations for initiating and managing such a great website. I have discovered lost friends through your site, thank you. I have a few names of my former classmates ... that I know are out there in diaspora." 8/09/07 West Indies. "Please find attached a file containing ammendments ... By the way, how are you able to find the people you have so far compiled?" 8/09/07 Tunisia "The bio-data info looks fine. You may want to add on this part that I am Assistant Professor... I have numerous publications and presentations and you can choose anything you want from our website." 8/07/07 Maryland, USA "I finally checked your website. The information about me on your website is correct. Thank you for the good work." 8/07/07 USA "I just wanted to know if you can change my photo on Mwape.com. I have put a new photo on ... which I would love to be on mwape.com as well. By the way, I like the changes that you have made to the site. Could you also get in touch with ..." 8/02/07 Georgia, USA "I certainly wish to commend you on the visibility you are bringing to the professionals who are out there whom we can always look up as we travel within our contries of residence and abroad. Your website goes beyong that, it also gives an indication of the depth of incredible human resources that is not home, where it could be developing our motherland beyond just sending over 'pocket change' back home! And I know many more who are not on your list in different countries, and its freightening to think how many more are out there..." 7/29/07, UK "I would like to congratulate [you] for the good work you are doing. " 7/29/07 Tunisia "Thank you very much for contacting me and alerting me to your very important project. I have had a look at your site and found a number of people I know but have lost contact with. Your site is excellent. Congratulations on a job well done. I can confirm that the information you have on me is OK and correct. I see that you are based in New Jersey. I was in New Jersey last year visiting Rutgers University. I will be visiting Rutgers again next year during my time as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania during the period January-June 2008. May [be] we might meet. " 7/26/07 South Africa "I stumbled across your website rather by chance and decided to send in my details as a Zambian working in the disapora." 7/24/07 East Africa "I just remembered one more name for your list of Zambian professionals in the diaspora." 7/23/07 USA "Thank you. Just one correction ... Keep up the good work. It is nice to see things like this. " 7/22/07 Guam "Thank you very much for your note. I am sorry I could not get back to you earlier. I was away. I wish to congratulate you on this remarkable effort. You deserve all compatriots' gratitude. I have looked at my entry. Most of it is true but there are some inadvertent but significant errors. I shall get back to you with corrections as soon as possible. " 7/16/07 South Africa. "Thanks for what seems to be a great initiative! I wish the personalities featured could somehow link up and compare notes." 7/09/07 South Africa "I am sure we are from the same roots. I have looked at your site (its a good one) and I managed to trace some of my old good friends" 07/07/07, Australia "Thank you very much for your invitation. I will send you some information on myself as soon as I put it together." 7/06/07 N. Africa (My profile) "Looks good. I would like you to pursue other guys I have copied into this email." 7/06/07 South Africa "... You are doing a great job on the research. There are bound to be mixed feelings on the issue but I think you should remain focused on the mission..." 7/05/07 UK "I have been looking for Dr. ... for years! Especially when I was at ... University. He found me at KCH when he came to do internship and he left me there when he came to the US! He once visited me and gave me his fax # but I could not get in touch with him although I had known then that he was in Washington DC! It is interesting! I am sure he will be surprised! Blessings!" 7/05/07 Maine, USA "I have seen my details on your web site. Firstly,its good work you are doing and its good to see and know Zambian professionals all around the globe. "My only request, due to Data protection rights, is that the information should have been published securely. You could have also asked all participants names prior to publishing them ... "One suggestion could be putting this information in a password protected Word document on the web, and only let the participants have access to it once they agree to subscribe or be part of your research (By emailing them the password) ... "I also would like you to consider the topic/title "Zambian Brain Drain" to something more positive, maybe "Zambian Diaspora" or similar. "(Not giving isolated examples of outsiders living in foreign lands like Joseph, Daniel etc, but the book of Ruth shows us that a Diaspora is always almost inevtiable due to economic factors and many others - Naomi and her family going to Moab- and for this no one should really feel guilty of living abroad overall, but being called a "Brain drain" raises some issues concerning purpose in our lives). ... I think we are a blessing to the nations we are in and to Zambia too and God spoke, am sure to all of us here, that we reach these nations in some way, the only question is are we making ourselves relevant to Zambia by living outside) "Until this is done in a way that secures data exclusively, you may remove my details and hold them privately." 7/04/07, UK "Congratulations, you have compiled an interesting list of Zambians eking out a living outside the motherland ... Please keep building your list until (it) grows to the most probably thousands of Zambians out there." 7/02/07 Maryland, USA "Thank you very much for undertaking this noble enterprise." London, UK 7/02/07 "There is a lot you can do with the development you are making. Possible suggestions is that you could slowly move to write a book Zambians in the Diaspora: A Contribution to A Global Economy. " 7/02/07 London, UK "I do remember you ... statistics ...is useful in every field." 7/02/07 New York, USA "The information you have on me is essentially correct with minor additions and corrections." 7/02/07 New York, USA "Its good that you can come up with this data base for Zambian. Its high time that we come together us one family and work towards the development of our country...God bless you my brother." 7/02/07 Coventry, UK "... great job" 6/29/07 Maine, USA "I have just been to your website and saw a few postings that could benefit from some changes." USA, 6/28/07 "Good job, keep it up and love to family" Kentucky, USA, 6/28/07 "Thanks, Yes there is a long que of people in my Organisation who qualify to be on that list, and many more in London and the UK in general. " London, UK, 6/26/07 "Excellent initiative. I have now returned to Zamnia and am no longer part of the "diaspora". However I am very interested in following up what the diaspors can do for Zambia and for themselves. In this connnection I would like to be one of the first users of the infomation you are gathering. Keep it up. " Zambia, 6/26/07 "...Good job, and keep up the good work." Kentucky, USA, 6/26/07 "I appreciate your effort and zeal to do your research on Zambian Brain-drain. However, I have some concerns with the manner in which you are trying to do it. First, I don't know how much experience you have in conducting research studies that involve human subjects. Second, it looks like you have not considered the ethics of research that involves human subjects. You look like one who wants to do this research by not seeking written consent from the subjects. Mr. Mwape, it is unethical to use humans in a research study without their consent, even if they are your fellow Zambians...If you decide to proceed with your study as it is now (without my consent and ...) please do not include (me) for (I) do not want to be part of unethical studies." Michigan, USA, 6/25/07 "...You have done a wonderful job on the website. Also, congratulations on all your accomplishments. I was very impressed. I think this is a great project that you have started and I am honored to be included in the list." Maryland, USA. 6/25/07 "Many thanks for tracing me in London, reading what you have collected makes me feel sad- but perhaps it is inevitable after all didn't our parents move around from Chipata, Solwezi, Mongu, Samfya etc to the Copperbelt or Lusaka, or Ndola where (we) were born. And now here we are scattered all over the world... More important you are aware that Dr Musonda Lemba still at UNZA has on his list more than 1,000 UNZA related staff who have left UNZA since the mid 1980s... Good job, ask everyone on the list to provide you with 5 additional new names to build the list further... On your list I have identified one Medical Doctor whose mother was my classmate at Fiwila Mission school, Mkushi in 1964."London, UK. 6/25/07 [Please, send new names to: james@mwape.com] Thank you. "Thank you for contacting me about this. Generally, i would have been happier to be contact(ed) before posting my information; however, i find nothing wrong with your efforts and am happy to thus edit my profile as as updated below; please confirm receipt and update acordingly:... " East Africa. 6/25/07 "My name ... looks like a Zambian name as well as the name of the language ... I was born in Kenya, near Mount Elgon. My ethnic group is Babukusu which the British referred to as Bukusu. Babukusu are a Bantu speaking people like most of the people in Zambia." New York. 6/25/07 "I applaud the wonderful work and research on the Zambian professional(s). "Hong Kong. 6/25/07 "...please add the following at the bottom of my text" Tunisia,6/20/07 "Please let me know why you need my details and how you will use them, (I'm) Currently completing MBA ..." Virginia, USA, 6/18/07 "Good work sir. Next time I am in NY, I will try to link up with you" Enock M., Somewhere, 6/18/07 "The representation of me is accurate." Virginia, USA. 6/16/07 "thanks man it is really scary to so (see) many so far away from home , we dont have medical doctors (that's why) and politicians go abroad to attended to" Jonathan M, Zambia. 6/15/07 "I’d prefer not to have a photo there for the time being", New York, 6/15/07 "Your topic sounds interesting and worthwhile. Unfortunately, my case will not be relevant to your work, since I am American-born and of mostly European ancestry... As a student at Oxford, I knew several Zambians who shared my name." USA 6/14/07 "Thanks for putting up that information. Just one thing, remove my home phone number. I have attached a photo." New York. 6/12/07 "Hope to hear more about your project when completed. It is indeed a worthwhile project. Keep it up." Namibia. 6/12/07 "I don't prefer putting my photo online at this point but will send it if I reconsider". Australia, 6/05/07 "I am currently a Finance and Monitoring Officer at the Community Development foundation. Just one more detail, I forgot." London, UK 6/03/07 "I appreciate your desire to list me on your website. However, I am not keen to have my details on the website for now. I'll be grateful therefore if you could remove my name & details. Thanks for your consideration.But do keep in touch. " London, UK. 6/03/07 "Thanks for 'outing' me. I honestly had no idea Zambia had such wealth of technocrats and scientists spread over the globe.Just a couple of ammendments to my details. My qualifications are as follows:..." Middlesex, UK 5/31/07 "Thank you for getting in touch and I will provide you with the information you have requested in due course." Tennessee, USA. 5/31/07 "Many thanks. Those corrections are sufficient for the website. Keep well and regards to your family. " UK. 5/30/07 |
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AUSTRALIA(4) AUSTRIA(1) BOTSWANA(8) BELGIUM(1) CANADA(19) CAYMAN ISLANDS(1) CHINA(1) DENMARK(1) GHANA(1) GRENADA(2) HONG KONG(1) INDIA(1) ISRAEL(1) JAPAN(1) KENYA(2) LESOTHO(1) MOZAMBIQUE(1) NAMIBIA(8) THE NETHERLANDS(1) NEW ZEALAND(3) POLAND(1) SWAZILAND(1) SWITZERLAND(1) SOUTH AFRICA(19) ST. KITTS AND NEVIS(1) TANZANIA(4) TUNISIA(5) UNITED KINGDOM(42) UNITED STATES(66) ZIMBABWE(3) VIETNAM(1) Also visit: www.our-zambia.com Zambians.krystodrym.com "Lesson to be learned from typing the wrong E-mail Address: A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel they had spent their honeymoon at, 20 years earlier. Because of hectic business commitments, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife to follow the following day. The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in the room, so he decided to send an E-mail to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her E-mail Address, and without realizing his error, sent the E-mail. Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a minister who had been called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her E-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read: To: My Loving Wife Subject: I've arrived Date: "October 16th 2007" I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send E-mails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was. P.S. Sure is freaking HOT down here!!!!!!"  SEE THEM ALL ON ONE PAGE
Scientists switching from lab to law To the bank How much do they make? Newly minted lawyers will earn $160,000 at the nation's top law firm this year, and perhaps more with a postgraduate science degree or federal clerkship. The leading intellectual property firms plan to match or top that figure. "You do make quite a bit more money than you do as a reseacher or scientist," said patent lawyer Loretta Weathers, "but I woudn't say that was my motivation." Ramon Tabtiang, 36, a native of Thailand earned a PhD in biochemistry at the University of California-San Francisco and spent two years at MIT doing postdoctoral work. But he, too, ultimately pursued a law career, earning a degree while working full time as a technical specialist at a firm in Boston. Tabtiang came to feel that future breakthroughs in sciences would be incremental at best. And while academia offered intellectual freedom, he found it came at a price-the far lower salary. AP  Rich Hay, MBA The Rich Hay Story My ten years of teaching science in Africa By Kazhila Chinsembu This is my tenth anniversary of teaching science at university level: seven years at the University of Zambia (UNZA), and three years at the University of Namibia (UNAM). What a long-drawn-out part of my life these ten years have been! But I wish to share with readers the thrills and spills of these ten years, hoping that my experiences may act as fodder for those that shape University policy in general and science policy in particular. As most often, it is not the science, but the socio-economic milieu in which scientists operate in, that is difficult. I was privileged to study Molecular Biology at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. Molecular Biology is the mother of Genetic Engineering, the exciting science behind the Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie version of Michael Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park. Having isolated some Salmonella genes during my thesis research, and after graduating with a distinction, it was time to head back home to Zambia in the summer of 1995. And that is how my lecturing career at UNZA begun, January 1996. Little did I know mine would be a typical story of the rise and fall of an African scientist. The first challenge was the lack of laboratory equipment. Boy, this is the most vexing experience of teaching science in an African University. The message was clear the moment I walked into that empty laboratory. An old centrifuge in the corner reminded me: your ivory tower science ends here. I was all alone, trained in the best laboratories in the capital of Europe, but working in a University facing political and financial neglect in the real Africa, Zambia. One magic word came to my mind: collaboration. So I sought out some colleagues working in the STD and Virology laboratories at the University Teaching Hospital. We worked on Syphilis, Kaposi's sarcoma, and HIV. We wrote two books in the process, and a few publications. We even started a scientific journal. We conducted workshops for medical staff. All this was happening while donor funding was available. And I thought to myself, at least, I was trying to become the scientist I had wanted to be. I even wrote a review of Salmonella virulence, based on my thesis. But when the donor funds dried up, I began to ask hard questions, many questions about the funding of the University, the management of resources, and the seriousness of the political establishment in Zambia. I began to see the disillusionment in the eyes of many older academic staff. Their despair became clear. Some were saved by appointments into government and parastatals. Others were rearing poultry. One of them in my department was driving a commuter bus he acquired while studying. There were all sorts of coping strategies, without which one's electricity and water would be cut off, or children chased from school, all because the salary was too meager to pay bills and user-fees. The University faced a shortage of staff accommodation, so my family and I were shunted into a single hostel room at Marshlands village. This coincided with the dismissal of the Vice-Chancellor, his deputy, and the bursar, who had misappropriated University funds. In fact, it occurred that the Swedish government through the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) had given about US$800,000 to UNZA for supplementation of academic staff salaries, but this money grew wings and went missing before any lecturer could benefit from the supplementation scheme. This glaring mismanagement of the University was symptomatic of a much deeper problem in the country. And in such a state of deprivation, there was no room for science, more so the expensive science of Molecular Biology. In the academic staff Union, we campaigned for improved salaries and conditions of service, and for the collegial management of the institution. We called for more political will towards the plight of academic staff, whose continuous haemorrhage from the institution, for greener pastures, was now alarming. Some of our colleagues even joined the little-known Copperbelt University, which was offered better salaries by the Minister of Education. This is the same Minister that later imposed a new University Act, that according to him, was to prevent "hooliganism" at the campus. Our quest for better conditions of service was perceived as a threat to the political establishment. Yet, in fact, the government had forgotten the recommendations of its own 1997 Bobby Bwalya Commission of Inquiry that stated: "The quality of education in the University depends on the presence of a critical mass of professionals and skilled individuals who constitute the academic staff. Without significant attention to retention, motivation and commitment of this critical mass in the University, the problem of quality in the core functions of the University is bound to persist." Earlier, the late Professor Lameck Goma, himself a renowned Biologist and former Vice-Chancellor of UNZA in 1971 stated: "It is essential to maintain in the University an atmosphere of freedom, stimulation, tolerance and critical openness to new or opposing ideas. The teacher, let alone a University one, must feel free to explore issues of public significance and moment, on which there may be no agreement, and to follow the truth wherever it may lead." Another prominent scholar and author once asked: "Can we remain neutral, cocooned in our libraries and scholarly disciplines, muttering to ourselves ... I am only a surgeon, a mathematician, an economist, a teacher, a lecturer?" A Danish scholar also once warned: "Your science will be valueless, and learning will be sterile, unless you pledged your intellect to fighting against all the enemies of mankind." Educated by all these principles, most academic staff championed a new wind of change in the management of UNZA. But of course, in the midst of poverty, there were the so-called state intellectuals that were sponsored to say anything that was politically-correct: they were feeding meat to the crocodile, hoping to be eaten last! The Union appointed a three-man delegation comprising Martin Kalungu-Banda, who now works for Oxfam in London, Douglas Syakalima, now a Member of Parliament in Zambia, and this author, to lobby then President Frederick Chiluba to view academics with different spectacles. But nothing changed. Enter the December 2001 elections; still there was no meaningful change. That is how I threw in the towel. They say you cannot fight for the rest of your life. By this time, I had managed to get two World Bank-funded projects, totaling close to US$ 30,000 for environmental studies. I had also started work on the public awareness of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), and published a paper for the Biotechnology and Development Monitor, based in Amsterdam. My scientific career was coming back, at long last. And as fate would have it, I was to become part of the 300 lecturers that between 1990 and 2002 constituted the brain-drain from UNZA, now called the Zambian academic Diaspora. I left UNZA in August 2002. Now, here are the policy lessons for science and development in Africa. There will be no telling economic development in Africa unless this development is science-led. This is the new paradigm. Scientists are professionals with rare skills locked up in their heads. These skills migrate to places where they are appreciated. Africa should invest heavily into the training and retention of African scientists. As President Yoweri Museveni has pledged, he would rather pay better salaries to scientists, than Permanent Secretaries. Once we neglect the conditions of service for our scientists, our nations lose developmental time, because scientists begin to engage into the politics of survival. Finally, science generates knowledge. Knowledge, like capital, is an economic resource. The road out of poverty is made of knowledge. Of course, science is expensive. But if you think knowledge is expensive, try ignorance! More information: Kazhila Chinsembu is a lecturer in the Department of Biology, University of Namibia, Windhoek. Formerly lecturer, University of Zambia, Lusaka, and researcher, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya. Email:Kazhila Chinsembu
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