14/05/2018
*GCM TRIBUTE TO ZAOU STUDENTS*
“ _Life is about persevering; beating the odds no matter what it takes”_
*For the record am gift Chesekela former IPS 2016-2018 under the alias GCM for those who dint have a glimpse of me as IPS.*
Mama give me a signal am waiting because you dint tell me what to do when it’s time to leave the office for others because I spent the last 10 days trying to find the right message to bid farewell. None the less:-
First and foremost all thanks to the almighty God for the blessings, grace and love He continues to shower upon me, from the time I embarked on this journey all the way through to my completion the Lord has always seen me through. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of everyone for making me achieve as *zaousu IPS* today especially someone who put up with my late nights, being online every time, conflict between family and student affairs she was and been there to help me achieve a great deal *Mrs GCM* am humbled by your tolerance and guidance we made it through successfully. The memories, unbounded support, team effort & most importantly the joy of working as IPS are a part of me & would remain forever treasured. I would like to plagiarize the words from *2 Timothy 4 :7* and I read in verbatim” *I Have Fought The Good Fight, I Have Finished The Race, I Have Kept The Faith.”*
Like every union, there comes a time to do some somber reflection and take a giant step forward. Every society at the brink of extinction evolves to a better state than it previously was and so they have always said that “ _necessity is the mother of invention_ ”.
I leave the union today, but it’s because i must decrease so that others will increase. At this time, it is my option to look at some new challenges in life which have already presented themselves. The good book says “Everyman’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try everyman’s work of what sort it is”. ( *1 Corinthians 3:13* ).
Further on I want to express my immense gratitude to the support and trust given to me by my personal life partner *Mrs GCM* and all of you zaou students who got concern about the Student Union business through electing me as the IPS for the years *2016-2018.* Through back to my previous tenure I spent in the Student Union, I was able to learn a great deal. Among the many I have learnt to be independent, to be responsible, and the most important one is to work as a team, and having the same goal to complete. All these valuable experiences cannot fall on my deaf ear.
I had pledged to be a good leader and lead the Student Union in my capacity as IPS, focusing on being the bridge between the Institution and my fellow students in delivering the much needed updates and feedback and always to stand up for the student opinion when in senate till today I did 95 percent of this in the last two years. Every time when any one of us looks back in or before, am certain we can always remember how communication and student interactions was at zaou in contrast to this day.
A lot of things were seen & learnt in these two years I served, some good & some not so good experiences, but then someone has wisely said that it is better to get your hands burnt rather than getting them cut. Because of the continuous effort given by you the students, the Student Union has been developing maturely and we had managed to organize and take part in different successful activities and competitions. I thank the previous members I served with who had devoted themselves to the Student Union.
Most of you asked me *GCM* why did you join the union?, ‘well there is never a simple answer to this but Someone once said to me, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” This quote shows everything which drew me to lead here at the university without walls. One of my favorite writers, Lemony Snicket, gave a timely advice that, “ *If we wait until we are ready we will be waiting the rest of our lives.* ”
We have one chance at life, and now is when it starts hence I took the task to serve until today. Bravo to my family who put up with my mood swings and attitudes, to the friends that never left my side; to most of you students who gave wisdom to me; you are my rock, the reason i continued on when i no longer wanted to as the demand was higher between my school and my constitutional obligations as IPS. Hence its true what philosophers say that the best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or even touched but must be felt with the heart. I encourage everyone here today to take every day experiences and turn them into golden moments. Life is too short to take the little things for granted. We need to stop being fearful of what others think, we need to live our lives. Now is the time to make mistakes and learn from them as I did and if given the opportunity I would redo it again.
It has been my greatest honor serving you as your zaousu information and publicity secretary IPS for the past 24 months (2years). I and the entire two executive have enjoyed every minute of it and i would like to apologize for any errors i may have done indirectly or directly kindly bear with me it came with the job. Now I want to talk about one thing and one thing only.
One word that comes up constantly in speeches of aspiring candidates for office during or before an election, such as the one we witnessed the past week during our January intake residential school for returning students at Evelyn Hone College which is *change* . *_Change_* is what all politicians’ or office aspirants, the good and the bad, promise. They want us to believe that if they were put in a position of responsibility our student union, change will come, and it will come fast. However, this is usually not the case. You see wanting and promising change is one thing, but actually having change happen is another.
The point I’m trying to drive here is that everyone would love to see a change at zaou especially service delivery but no one does anything about it. While some blame the management, others blame it on the union. Hence, if you the students change and become part of the change process then things will change collectively not leaving the whole task for a small group or the union. The change must start with how us students regard our representatives the student union executive because in most matters which were not ruled in the favour of us students most of the student populace would neglect to support the union and separate them from the majority of zaou students calling them names and saying there are eating with management which does not only part the bad image of our representatives but and mostly it gives management an upper hand because they have whistle blowers amongst ourselves rendering the efforts and the whole union useless in before students populace. Hence we are all part of these student union and we must support the leaders of the day with everything we have to offer in order to see the change we desire. So that when they have failed we all have failed as students and if they succeed then we all have succeeded as students at zaou not union on one side and students on the other it’s not progressive.
Therefore, this next new union for 2018-2019 will try to implement changes, but it is your job to execute that change as a populace. It is your job to embrace the change introduced to us by the new zaousu executive. Without your participation, implementing the change is like increasing my moot court grades, it’s impossible. All I ask of you is to give these guys a chance to be different but not sell outs or call them traitors when you don’t agree with their position. I’m not telling you that they won’t make mistakes no will, but I am telling you that in order for them to make any change at all, they need you first second third fourth and all firth years together to speak one language *CHANGE* .
Today being the last day am posting as a zaou unionist ex-member I cannot leave without mentioning the contribution of my colleagues who not only worked as a team zaousu but always displayed grit & character to face toughest of situations before management senate and he board in both executives lead by Madam Shikombelo M. Joy and Mazaka Sam (incumbent president).
Now I would like to acknowledge the efforts put in by the class of 2014 & wish them all the best in their future endeavors and single out certain individuals i.e. the receptionist mercy, assistant registrar mrs A, mweene, one chaila Mathews accounting officer, martial Chansa BH, uncle Buchi mwalongo, Dr munyozwe the village author, mrs mutale dispatch, one director IT kampamba, LLB 2014 class, chewe morris makasa, godfrey mulenga, joy Shikombelo, sam Mazaka, masuwa bornfree, monde mulonda, aunt Alice banda, muchinga siame, Chanda pius, barbra lukela, casious accounting officer, racheal namukonda, Lloyd mugode, tamianji rosa chilupula, cathy siakoola, pst miti, moodle chola, undazackie chuimia, sira nyerenda linda ngambi, clement suze, Pamela chinyengi, masauso zulu, brewer Natasha, namunji kelvin, Malambo Chimuka, Margaret chiwama, hachipola, Martha mkandawire, charity mwiinga and many more. Today I finally hand over the baton to next zaousu-IPS to improve on what I have laid and I take with me the best experience of being a leader, a brother, a friend, a student and most importantly the man behind the posts updates *GCM*.
The year under review has been a very tough one especially with the issues of hike in school fees, mandatory use of Moodle platform and incomplete results. During the past two academic years, zaou has terribly been subjected to a student flogging and ridicule as a result of their service delivery, penalty fees and open door policy. This unfortunate situation should act as the much needed wake up call to give the student union relevance as they have rendered them irrelevant in most instances.
To those colleagues who never made it to lead in zaousu, it is a reminder that the measure of any person is not in how many times he or she falls down - but rather the spirit and resolve used to get up and put things right hence for this i thank you dearly.
To the board, senate, management, lecturers, staff, family and friends, i thank you for your continued love, support and faith you gave student leadership. Am not ashamed to put it on record that;- ‘ *I AM PROUD TO COME FROM SUCH AN EXCELLENT UNIVERSITY’.* Were we have a talented collection of students who wouldn’t be where they are without their supporting staff, lecturers and colleagues.
To the new zaousu executive, the task you have taken upon yourselves is enormous, but I honestly believe with God on your side you are more than conquerors. I pray that you cooperate with each other for the betterment of zaou students, for united you will stand and divided you split asunder. Seek guidance from God for it is He who giveth wisdom and knowledge to those who search for it despite the level of responsibility. I leave with the assurance that this will not be the last time we are together and i cannot promise 24/7 of my time for zaou students, but I will always be there when the Union wants me. We have eaten of the tree of knowledge; we now know what it feels like to run a Union with a ruined reputation, as we faced devastating consequences of having left the fundamental principles of why we came to zaou-academics.
Today however, I am telling a different story as i have grown within the confines of zaou, and whatever knowledge I have acquired about leadership in the past two years has been possible as a result of my association with zaou family; and if tomorrow should judge me kindly i would say i have been a major contributor to the tremendous strides made during our tenure of office as zaousu executives, but if history judges me unkindly in the future i would take full responsibilities. In spite of the fact that I am leaving office as zaousu-IPS and zaou at large, I can assure you that my heart, soul and spirit will be with you. Because i have met the best of friends in life at zaou, and to those who have been genuine friends to me I am grateful to you all bane give us *imweee* .
And let us always remember that it is not how long our lives are that matter, but rather how good those lives have been put to use. Four (4) years of purpose at zaou is better than six (6) years of wastefulness. For as long as there is breadth in us let us never cease doing good. Finally, it is my fervent hope and prayer that, one day and I hope that day is near when this, our country Zambia shall be able to make *Education Entirely a Right, And Not a Privilege.*
I leave you with a quote by one of best poets Aubrey Duke Graham as he opined that; “ *Live without pretending, Love without depending, Listen without defending, speak without offending.* ”
In my closing submission, I would like to ask for the support from all of you here because I am sure that our Student Union cannot run without any one of you and hope with your participation, our Student Union will shine even brighter from henceforth.
*Best regards*
*GCM* Zaousu-IPS 2016 -2018
_Thank you and May the Almighty God bless us all._
