ULUTO MU CISWANGO

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Ministry of Education-Curriculum Development Centre Evaluating

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ONE SWAMPY DAY IN APRIL

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Would you determine a man’s origins and character by the piece of cloth he hangs around his neck? Would you judge him by the way he polishes his boots?    Not until you engage him in conversation will you start to understand who he really is. Otherwise, you risk judging a book by its cover.   In this post, I veer away from the typical how-to of fishing to share a glimpse of my life story, growing up amidst the Bangweulu Swamps. My experiences reflect hardships similar to those of many Unga and Bisa children raised in a poor rural setting.   Ng’ungwa lies at the eastern edge of the Bangweulu Swamps and is renowned for its populations of black lechwes, sitatungas, and the famous shoebill stork. It serves as a boundary between the Bu-Bisa mainland of Chief Chiunda Ponde and the Ba-Unga swamps of Chief Bwalya Mponda. The area is home to Chikuni, a Ramsar Site recognised as a Wetland of International Importance and an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. ...
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CAN WE ISOLATE OUR LAND FROM OUR NATURE?

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Sometime in October 2021, we woke up to the news that a combined team of village scouts and Zambia Wildlife Authority officers got into bitter combat with the villagers of Muwele, in which about 24 people got injured. The informer said ZAWA officers used live ammunition in the nasty exchange that erupted over the villagers’ protest against officers’ arresting one of them, who they allegedly found with game meat. Mpika Radio and other media later confirmed the sad news. Bangweulu Black Lechwe- Source of conflicts Such conflicts are common in Muwele, Lavushi Manda, part of the Bangweulu Swamps Game Management area. Lavushi Manda GMA is home to large herds of black Lechwe and other species. From time immemorial, people here have lived with and hunted animals for food. Since the introduction of Protected Area status, sporadic conflicts between indigenous people and conservationists have become a common occurrence in this highly volatile community.  This incident reminded me of a ...
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WHO ARE WE? BANGWEULU OR CHAMBESHI SWAMPERS

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    If you can answer this question honestly, then you will not be afraid to answer others who may want to know more about you by posing the question, “Who are you?” Everyone has a story. In truthfully telling that story is embedded the exact characteristics that define them. If you do not tell your story, others will; and usually, you will not completely be happy with stories told about you by strangers.   This is true about an individual, family, race, or tribe.  For a long time, many people have told stories of the Unga people of Bangweulu swamps. Some of them it is because they have stayed with us for some time, some have visited for a short time, some have inquired, or formally, did some research about the tribe. Others have been in the area because duty called and wrote what they heard and saw. The fact that they are not Baunga, some of their stories are biased, based on opinion, events of the moment, and skewed judgment. Of course, some agree that little...
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NJELELE

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LUNGA’S BURIAL SITE FOR THE BLAMELESS! "The secret behind the respect accorded to sacred areas and their environs lie in the taboos that are associated with them," so they say. In Lunga, Njelele is one such place!  It is a tiny Island that looks desolate but with a strong cultural attachment to the beliefs of the Unga people. In 1974 when my mother died at Mukanga village in Chief Bwalya Mponda of Ncheta Island, one of my uncles firmly suggested that she be buried at Njelele, 40 kilometers away in Nsamba chiefdom. Uncle Chalwe was convinced that if his sister’s death was caused by someone within the village, she would come to haunt the killer’s family until they were identified.  Secondly, if the killer tried to stop her by going to her grave and frustrate her vengeance strategies, s/he will be harmed by all the innocent souls buried at Njelele. It was undoubtedly believed that only guiltless people who never practiced witchcraft and other vic...
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