Ng’angas – Zambian Healers-Diviners and their Relationship with Pentecostal Christianity: The Intermingling of Pre-Christian Beliefs and Christianity

The aim of the article is to establish if pre-Christian beliefs in Zambia are influencing the Pentecostal Christianity, and to establish what the healers-diviners’ relationship with different Pentecostal churches is. During field studies undertaken by both authors, it has been established that many Bantu speaking people still believe in some aspects of their native religions, especially in the powers of the ancestral spirits. Christianity is the dominant religion in Zambia, but it is far from homogenous. Apart from world religions like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, there is a plethora of Pentecostal, Charismatic, and grassroot churches, many of them not immune to ancient spirit veneration. People who are believed to cooperate with spirits are called healers-diviners who are believed to be called to their profession by spirits. A great majority is Christian who combines Christianity with their native beliefs. The field studies in 2021 were sponsored by the Polish National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), Poland, project no. 2017/25/N/ HS1/02500

Men in the Remaking: Conversion Narratives and Born-Again Masculinity in Zambia

The born-again discourse is a central characteristic of Pentecostal Christianity in Africa. In the study of African Christianities, this discourse and the way it (re)shapes people’s moral, religious, and social identities has received much attention. However, hardly any attention has been paid to its effects on men as gendered beings. In the study of men and masculinities in Africa, on the other hand, neither religion in general nor born-again Christianity in particular are taken into account as relevant factors in the construction of masculinities. On the basis of a detailed analysis of interviews with men who are members of a Pentecostal church in Lusaka, Zambia, this article investigates how men’s gender identities are reshaped by becoming and being born-again and how born-again conversion produces new forms of masculinity. The observed Pentecostal transformation of masculinity is interpreted in relation to men’s social vulnerability, particularly in the context of the HIV epidemic in Zambia

Accounting for the Shift Towards ‘Multifaith’ Religious Education in Zambia, 1964 -2017

This article sheds light on the factors that contributed to the development of ‘multifaith’ Religious Education (RE) in Zambia after 1964. Our analysis makes a contribution to the discourse on inter-religious RE in Zambia by demonstrating how Zambia became a multifaith society, a context in which political statements and ideologies have influenced the framing of the aim, and selection of, the content of the subject. Research for this article consisted of interviews with Christian missionaries who shared with us their involvement in developing, teaching and evaluating standards of the teaching of RE. We also carried out an appraisal of literature related to the topic so as to complement our arguments. Contrary to widely held perceptions which attribute RE to the missionaries’ influence, this article argues that Christian missionaries, immigrants and local politics all had their own influence on the move to develop a ‘multifaith’ RE. Missionaries developed the kind of RE that responded to Zambia’s religious context, local politics, the multiracial, multicultural and multifaith situation in the country, and invested their time, energy and money in the subject. These efforts to move towards ‘multifaith’ RE were challenged by internal and external forces. In the context of shifting political ideologies, the current nature and content of RE has been challenged to reflect a multifaith RE which mirrors the religious context of the country. We argue that Zambian scholars of RE can learn a number of valuable lessons from the missionaries such as their hard work and passion to ensure that RE remains a curriculum subject with required books. As the next RE research agenda in Zambia, we propose researching on the subject in terms of its rationale and its educational basis

Teaching zambian traditional religions in religious education: methodological considerations

Trainers of Religious Education (RE) teachers in Zambia have not seriously thought about and articulated the teaching of Zambian Traditional Religions (ZTRs) in RE. No doubt they have familiarised trainee RE teachers with ‘neutral’, ‘plural’, ‘confessional’, ‘phenomenological’, ‘personalist’ and ‘existential’ and other approaches to teaching RE, but there is still a huge problem with the teaching of ZTRs. This article intends to discourage teachers from teaching ZTRs as if they were Christianity. The article brings to the fore a real problem in 21st century Zambian education system and advances the view that ZTRs should be taught as they are, without simultaneously comparing them to other religions. Even the argument that ZTRs have changed and have been Christianised does not at all warrant teachers to present ZTRs to learners in the Christian idiom

VALUED INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE CONTENT FOR SCHOOL CURRICULUM INTEGRATION IN THE ZAMBIAN CONTEXT

Africa has for a long time been a rich source of data for the development of social systems, social sciences theories and paradigms. This calls for the need to identify the epistemological foundations of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and discover, evaluate and understand how knowledge is created and disseminated in local communities. Academic scholarship therefore has a duty to recognize these cultural knowing’s as legitimate sources of knowledge. It was thus the aim of this study to explore the value of IK and its potential integration into the Zambian school curriculum. Aware that IK embody rich cultural heritage, practical life skills and contextual relevance, the study argued for the inclusion as means of promoting culturally responsive education. Considering the Eurocentric nature of most education systems in Africa, there is need for a paradigm shift in curriculum content in which IKSs are also recognized as legitimate knowledge forms. The study employed a qualitative approach, using document analysis and semi structured interviews with some key education stakeholders who included teachers, traditional leaders, curriculum specialists and religious leaders. The collected data was thematically analysed drawing on constructivism and theory of tree as guiding theoretical frameworks. Findings of the study revealed that while IK is acknowledged in policy discourse, its actual integration in the curriculum content remains fragmented, limited and often ignored. Integration into classroom practice is inconsistent primarily due to a lack of teacher training, insufficient instructional materials and minimal community involvement. The study concluded that for Zambia’s education system to become truly inclusive and contextually relevant, a deliberate and structured effort is required to mainstream IK and pedagogies across subjects and levels. The study thus recommends a curricular reform to a local context for curriculum reform, teacher education and community engagement and policy implementation to support transformation

Accounting for the Shift Towards ‘Multifaith’ Religious Education in Zambia, 1964 -2017

This article sheds light on the factors that contributed to the development of ‘multifaith’ Religious Education (RE) in Zambia after 1964. Our analysis makes a contribution to the discourse on inter-religious RE in Zambia by demonstrating how Zambia became a multifaith society, a context in which political statements and ideologies have influenced the framing of the aim, and selection of, the content of the subject. Research for this article consisted of interviews with Christian missionaries who shared with us their involvement in developing, teaching and evaluating standards of the teaching of RE. We also carried out an appraisal of literature related to the topic so as to complement our arguments. Contrary to widely held perceptions which attribute RE to the missionaries’ influence, this article argues that Christian missionaries, immigrants and local politics all had their own influence on the move to develop a ‘multifaith’ RE. Missionaries developed the kind of RE that responded to Zambia’s religious context, local politics, the multiracial, multicultural and multifaith situation in the country, and invested their time, energy and money in the subject. These efforts to move towards ‘multifaith’ RE were challenged by internal and external forces. In the context of shifting political ideologies, the current nature and content of RE has been challenged to reflect a multifaith RE which mirrors the religious context of the country. We argue that Zambian scholars of RE can learn a number of valuable lessons from the missionaries such as their hard work and passion to ensure that RE remains a curriculum subject with required books. As the next RE research agenda in Zambia, we propose researching on the subject in terms of its rationale and its educational basis

From “White Fathers” to “Black Fathers” in Kasama and Mpika Dioceses in Zambia

Employing the missiological theory of Henry Venn (1796-1873) and Rufus Anderson (1796-1880) on indigenisation of churches, this article explores the lived experiences of black Zambian Catholic clergymen, nuns, catechists and lay people at some of the mission stations that were once in the hands of Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as White Fathers, from 1891to1991 in the Archdiocese of Kasama and Diocese of Mpika. To write about the White Fathers from the point of view of our interviewees accords us an auspicious opportunity to pay tribute to Fr. Hugo Hinfelaar to whom this article and this particular issue of the Zambia Journal of Social Sciences is dedicated. Having arrived in Zambia as a young Dutch White Father missionary in 1958, Fr. Hinfelaar desired to understand the culture of the Bemba people among whom he was working. He, therefore, became a serious field worker – an anthropologist, historian and theologian. He retired and returned home in 2014, after having contributed to the efforts of indigenising the Catholic Church’s clergy and inculturation of the Catholic faith in the country. The article demonstrates that the indigenisation of Kasama and Mpika Dioceses was incomplete. This is because, of the “three selves”: self-propagating church, self-sustaining church and self-governing church in the indigenisation theory, the self-sustaining church has not been realised according to the respondents, although some of them spoke of the White Fathers having accomplished their mission. This article proposes a reengagement with the discourse of ‘self-sustainability’ which has largely been abandoned by local Catholic theologians. However, it is now an issue which has become all too apparent to be ignored as the Catholic Church becomes more and more indigenised, at least in terms of its clergy. This article proposes a new theme in Church history in Zambia, namely, the localisation of the personnel and self-sustainability in the Catholic Church in Zambia

Lived Disablers to Academic Success of the Visually Impaired at the University of Zambia, Sub-Saharan Africa

The World Health Organization\u27s (WHO) benchmark of persons with disability in every population is 15.6 per cent. However, the University of Zambia is way below that benchmark as it is home to less than 0.1 per cent of students classified as \u27disabled\u27. Within the 0.1 per cent, students withvisual impairment are the majority, estimated at 70 per cent. The purpose of this study was to explore disablers (also known as barriers) to academic success faced by students with visual impairment at the University of Zambia. A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach directed the research process. Seven purposively sampled participants volunteered to voice their lived experiences and a cluster of themes emerged thereafter. Emerging from their lived experiences are thirteen disablers that impede the learning experiences at University and key amongst them are: (i) negative attitudes; (ii) policypractice disjuncture; (iii) staff unreadiness and unpreparedness; (iv) inaccessible buildings; and (v) rigid curricula

Lived Disablers to Academic Success of the Visually Impaired at the University of Zambia, Sub‑Saharan Africa

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) benchmark of persons with disability in every population is 15.6 per cent. However, the University of Zambia is way below that benchmark as it is home to less than 0.1 per cent of students classified as ‘disabled’. Within the 0.1 per cent, students withvisual impairment are the majority, estimated at 70 per cent. The purpose of this study was to explore disablers (also known as barriers) to academic success faced by students with visual impairment at the University of Zambia. A Hermeneutic Phenomenological approach directed the research process.Seven purposively sampled participants volunteered to voice their lived experiences and a cluster of themes emerged thereafter. Emerging from their lived experiences are thirteen disablers that impede the learning experiences at University and key amongst them are: (i) negative attitudes; (ii) policypractice disjuncture; (iii) staff unreadiness and unpreparedness; (iv) inaccessible buildings; and (v) rigid curricula