Mthunzi Cultural Group Celebrate Africa Freedom Day

On May 25 the Mthunzi Cultural Group, which is made up of boys and some home-based children (both boys and girls) went for a performance at the studios of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) to share with the public about the importance of African Freedom Day.

The performance in the studio was organized by Ricky Mwiinga, who is one of the Mthunzi residents. He had visited the studio a few days earlier and found that ZNBC was looking for a group that could perform cultural dances and poems in order to educate the viewers on the importance of African Freedom Day. Ricky informed the leaders of the Mthunzi Cultural Group, and when they agreed, ZNBC allowed us, Mthunzi boys, to take over the program!

It was a live broadcast that ended with a song by one of Zambia most famous musicians, Kachanana, who sang an African Freedom song she had specially composed for the occasion. It was such a great success! 

What made it even more memorable was that our brother Charles Kaluba was the studio technician and video operator on the show.

Charles was part of the first group of street boys who joined Mthunzi back in the year 2000, and he is still pretty much one of us. His story was written by Chiara Michelon in the book, Noi Bambini di Strada, published in Italy by Laterza in 2005.

Through sheer effort and determination Charles completed secondary school in 2008, then pursued a video production course. He is now an intern at ZNBC, where he is doing so well that there are rumours he has been selected for a scholarship in a prestigious European college.

So apart from Kachanana’s performance, ZNBC’s African Freedom Day show was really a Mthunzi show!

By Protazio Phiri,