Alien - Aprile 1997

Italiano - English

Interview to Frances Zaloumis

Member of UNIP (United National Independence Party of Zambia ) and vice-president of the International Humanist for Africa

Frances Zaloumis has been here in Italy in the occasion of the Humanist International meeting, where she has taken the vice-presidence representative of Africa in the International context. During her travelling in Italy she visited different cities and participated to different activities we are carrying on, and one night she came in the Centre of Cultures. We talked about the situation in Africa, in Zambia and about her future as vice-president of the International. That’s how it went.

-Well Frances we’d like to ask you, as the Centre of Cultures of the Humanist Movement being a member of the UNIP (United National Independence Party), and being a prominent activist of the opposition in Zambia, which are the prospectives regarding the work we could develop together and helping each other in order to make progress in our common interest in Zambia and in Africa in general.

- Thank you... when I talk about Zambia I would like to include Africa because I think, from the activities I’ve seen here in Milan and also in Rome these are not foreign to the African country, especially black Africa.

First we have to understand the cultures of the people, and the cultures of the people in black Africa are very humanistic; you know, the values of the Humanist Movement such as justice, fair-play, non-discrimination, these are all embodied in the African culture, and I think when you look at the traditional parties, the traditionalist parties, that started in the black African countries, those parties helped countries to independence. They are all, their principles and objectives are all the same as the Humanist Party, as the Humanist Movement, so it shouldn’t be difficult to reach people. The most important thing is to get unto the grass-root and make them realize and understand what the Humanist Movement stands for and once that is done, then the job is done, that shouldn’t be a problem in black Africa. I think it’s something that people have been looking forward to, especially after gaining independence, being economically sawed in their own feet; what is happening in Africa now is the new-colonialism where nations are coming back to the African countries taking over economic ground of those countries and the population, the people need more of the H.M.’s activities than ever before.

- How do you feel that we could bring the Humanist Movement into Zambia and in which way the development of the H.M. in Zambia could help other countries in Africa that we haven’t reach yet, and whom have a similar culture that in Zambia and therefore they would require very much the work the H.M. is doing?

- Well this can be brought through the activities with the youth, especially the youth’s programs. I’ve seen that there are a lot of programs here with the youth, you know youth are involved, they’re personally involved in formulating and also executing these projects; and I think that’s the way to get to Zambia, it is through the youth. As you know at the moment there’s a lot of unemployment and because of this youths are doing nothing; the educational facilities are not there, the training opportunities are not there...so once we get to the youth, and I think this is common right through, you know, in the other African countries should be the same scenario, once the project succeed in Zambia, then it would be easier for us to move into the other African countries

- I would like to request from you...for us it would be extremely important as the Centre of Cultures, and because of the work we are developing, if we could have a contribution, a regular contribution for our publication from you or any other person that you may designate so in that page you can inform us periodically about what is happening in Zambia and in Africa in general.

- I think is not difficult you know, for either myself or the other people but what I would like to do is to build a group of people to contribute so that you don’t just get my ideas but you get from a cross action of the people you know, especially youth, I would like to involve the University students, the college students to get involved so that by the time you come to Zambia they would have already started the wake of the Humanist Movement.

In Angola too if we can, although the communication with Angola is a bit difficult, in Zambia, anyway it might be a bit difficult while going on but we will try, yes we will try.

The people with whom we get in touch during the election they came over, they came from the areas where the war was just starting about 50 kilometres from them, so I think they might be involved now in this war so they’ve been cut off.

I think we could get countries of the Southern African regions to get involved and I can also get somebody in Kenya, Southafrica, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Tanzania.

Don’t you have any connection in South Africa, do you? Because it is one of the biggest country and many things happen there...

- No because the connections we make it with the people who work here , in the grass-root, we don’t make institutional connection, we must do institutional contacts together.

- I see, we can reach the grass root in these countries.

So we agreed to work together and to develop as soon as possible the diffusion of New Humanism in this part of Africa.

Alien - Aprile 1997