By John Chiti
My dad used to work at Bwana Mkubwa mining in Ndola and he found me a job there after I completed school. This was my first job ever. I had tried doing music for a few years and it was not working out. So when my dad brought the idea of me working I went for it.
He had a good position at the company so finding me a job was as easy as 1,2,3. Within a few days after we talked about it at home everything was ready for me and I started work.
We didn’t work in the same department though. He was working at the main administration while I was employed to work at the road maintenance department where my job was to supervise and write daily reports of the machines hired by the mine. Our reports determined how much the machines would be paid and I worked at this company for one year.
During my first days at work. I heard people talking about this word a lot. PA CHICHETEKELO meaning a place of faith. Some would say,
“ let’s meet Pa Chichetekelo”
others said,
“ I was Pa Chichetekelo” a day didn’t pass without hearing someone mentioning this word. I wasn’t paying much attention to this because I didn’t know what people meant until one day when someone asked me,
“ hey John, how long did you stay Pa Chichetekelo?” as I was figuring what to say someone who knew my story answered him,
“ John is privileged, his father works here so he didn’t pass through pa chichetekelo”
“ oh ok. Lucky you” he said as he went away. Now I became more anxious to know what this pa chichetekelo meant.
“ can you please explain what pa chichetekelo mean and why you say am privileged if I didn’t pass through there” I asked my workmate.
“ instead of telling you, I will actually show you what it is ” he asked me to wait for him after we knock off so that he shows me pa chichetekelo after all seeing is believing.
There was a long wall fence that surrounded the mine with different departments inside. We always passed through a security check when coming and going out of the company. As we went outside the gate my workmate said,
“ There, that’s pa chichetekelo “ he told me immediately we came out of the gate. I looked in the direction he was pointing and all I could see is a tree at a distance
“ what? You mean the tree is pa chichetekelo?” I asked.
“ not the tree but the area, under the tree and around the tree is what we mean when we say pa chichetekelo “ he walked away and I decided to go closer so that I see this place clearly.
There was a big tree about 50 metres from the company wall fence. It didn’t bare any fruits and I can’t remember what type of tree it was exactly. it was big and provided good shed under it.
As I went closer I saw stones scattered around, plastics and bottles. I could tell that some people like to sit under it. The rest of the area was clear land with no plantation. This was the only tree around. As I went home I still didn’t understand why this place was called pa chichetekelo.
I knew the word chichetekelo is a bemba word which mean faith. Adding the other word “pa” makes it a place so it’s a place of faith. How was this related to work? Why did they say I was privileged if I didn’t pass through under this big tree? My friend had a lot to explain.
“ hey, you showed me pa chichetekelo alright but I still don’t understand why that place is called that. What’s so special about that place?” I asked my colleague the following day.
“ pa chichetekelo is a place where most people go to hang around as they wait for employment. People go there just hoping and believing that one day they will be employed “ he said the mine never used to advertise jobs so whenever they need to employ workers they would just go outside and get anyone they find ready for the job.
Those who go pa chichetekelo looking for a job must persevere and believe one day they will be picked.
“ so how long did you stay pa chichetekelo before you got the job?” I asked him
“I stayed there 3 weeks. I used to spend at least half a day to just wait until one day I almost gave up then the supervisor came and employed 5 of us”
“ but who brought this idea of pa chichetekelo, how did it start?” I was anxious to know more
“I don’t know how it started. For me I was looking for a job then someone told me about pa chichetekelo, I tried it and it worked”
From this day, I started asking people about the experiences they had with this place of faith. I wanted to know if that’s how many people got employed. Am I the only privileged one who got the job without passing through pa chichetekelo?.
Indeed most of the workers I talked to got their jobs through pa chichetekelo some stayed there a week , one month and the longest I heard was 4 months.
I can’t imagine someone staying under this tree for this long just waiting for employment Only a few of us were privileged to have gotten our jobs through our relatives. I also spoke to the managers and supervisors of the company. They confirmed that they usually got their workers from pa chichetekelo.
“it’s cheaper for the company to just go there and get whoever is available and ready than advertising and going through interviews “ one of them said.
From there I started passing through pa chichetekelo just to check who is there and what’s happening. Every day before going inside the company and after knocking off I went pa chichetekelo to interact with the people there just to know more about this place.
I ended up making a friend there. A man who used to go there to look for employment became friends with me. One day I was there talking to him then suddenly the gate opened and 2 managers walked towards us. As soon as they saw the managers coming everyone who was present stood up and lined up. There were about 8 people that day.
“ we want 3 people to do some piece works of taking items to the storeroom “ one of them said as they approached pa chichetekelo
“ pick me , pick me boss. I have everything and am ready” Everyone was shouting to find a place among the wanted 3.
Those who had their own protective clothing stood a better chance to be picked. I looked as the manager picked 3 people who later went with them inside the company. Unfortunately my friend was not picked that day. One of the managers recognised me.
“ hey, John. What are you doing here?” he asked me. I didn’t know him. I told him I was just talking to a friend but I knew he was a workmate to my dad because later that day my father asked me what I was doing pa chichetekelo. He thought maybe I had been fired and I assured him all was well with me.
Indeed I was privileged because my dad had a high position at this company and if any supervisor mistreat me they knew I would tell my dad so I was treated with care.
One day I was going home after knocking off when my friend from pa chichetekelo asked for a lift because he didn’t had transport that day. I offered to pay for him and I took the chance to learn about his experiences
“ so how long have you been coming pa chichetekelo?” I asked him as we walked to the station
20
20
