AS I punched this story away in the spacious confine room at Mansa Lodge in Mansa, I could wildly imagine the benefits that Mansa generally received over four days during the National Schools Arts Association of Zambia (NASAAZ) festival held last week.
More than 1,000 participants and officials, patrons and matrons linked up in this rural town, beefing up nearly every business outlet from entertainment spots to the markets as everyone jostled and mingled at Mansa College of Education for what was the national cream as each province brought the very best in traditional dance, choral music, dance and drama.
Additionally there was fine art, and thepresence of senior officers from the Ministry of Education at headquarters and from all the provinces culminated into the event being one of the best organized by NASAAZ.
The itinerary moreover admitted children with special needs, and from their performances, there can be nothing better for what is now inclusive learning.
An excited NASAAZ national chairman David Asumani could not hide the smile of appreciation of the matrons and patrons, and his team of men and women who travelled across the country to ensure the festival was a resounding success.
I was drawn from my little town to join eight other privileged and ‘trusted’ men and women to adjudicate at the festival; and this was another exciting experience for me, during which time my heart bleed to see so much inert talent, so much skill yet our national broadcaster ZNBC was absent. Surely if it were an event of a political nature or some by-election, they would have dashed to the scene before the occasion had started.
A fortnight ago, I exposed this event loudly screaming that Mansa was schemed for this festival; do the men and women at ZNBC read the papers, listen to the radio and watch television for news items and or follow up stories that deal with people’s entertainment desires?
I am heartily broken, and doubt if the so called digital era will bring any better local packages in spite of paying our high television levies!
Wake up staff, you missed to capture talent in one spot ZNBC.
As a result, and heart disturbed as I am,  I have planned to see the regional manager at ZNBC, Kitwe and discuss how best to tap this talent before it goes to waste; I am sure Mr Reuben Kajokoto can clarify, explain and elucidate this better.
The Mansa festival was victorious, and humbly I would describe it as success emerging in many folds; attendance, exhibitions and performance of the participants, behavior of the matrons and patrons and the young participants, adjudication and the general exchange of notes at nearly all levels.
Starting from the bottom of my list of why the festival was a triumph; I shared the desk of adjudication with an old friend James Ndole, who I last met 23 years ago in Kitwe while we did simple theatre activities.
He now lives in Samfya where he is a deputy head teacher.
The other on our panel was Reverend Buster Tembo from Livingstone, and was our chief adjudicator, while traditional dance and music had Oscar Mubita (Livingstone), Joseph Mutale from Northwestern and Mansa’s Clara Chapuswike.
Fine artifacts were judged by Kashala Kakanwa, Adamson Phiri and Misozi Mhone Zimba – it was a good time for me to gloss over the past with James for a while, and many other people surely exchanged notes on the various levels of their art activities.
I never heard or saw major issues of indiscipline as one would expect of such a huge gathering. I am aware a few boys and girls could have gone out of their way, but those were generally inconsequential and trivial.
The performances were highly competitive as each school was performing on behalf of the Province, and there were eight provinces with Eastern and Western conspicuously absent; certainly due to distance, and lack of resources. So from Muchinga, Northern, Northwestern, Copperbelt, Central, Lusaka, Southern and the host Luapula had to artistically
battle for top slots having picked their best they could.
Attendance; the highest government office in Luapula Province was represented by the Deputy Permanent Secretary Joyce B Nsamba, while several Provincial Educational Officers, the acting District Commissioner, District Education Board Secretaries and head teachers were present.
At one point I thought the young school artists were displaced by the officials who were so well dressed in spotless, and spick and span suits and ties during the official opening where the guest of honour stressed on the need to conserve Zambia’s wealthy culture through the arts; performing and fine arts.
Joyce said, a country that was devoid of the performing and fine arts from its roots, was as good as dead, and that with the budding collaborations of the global world and its culture, there was need to help younger people find their feet in identifying themselves with their dynamic local culture and the arts.

Notably, there were few speeches as is well known of such gatherings – performances immediately took centre stage soon after, and my head as to how to pick the best began to spin into action. I did not realize I would learn much or anything new from the plays and recitals, alas, the schools from their provinces staged themes that pertinently related to the activities from where they came.
This strangely struckme for instance Munali Secondary Special performed a play A Blessing in Disguise, a story that highlighted the crime rate; criminals bust into this house, beat up the owner and rape the three girls making them pregnant! When time to give birth came they all miscarriage except for one, whose child is born, but the mother dies!
Two other rural primary schools performed two plays that exposed how orphaned children were abused, and reading through the newspapers, these are the common stories from such areas.
On a general note, for those in drama and recitals, matrons and patrons need a lot of care in harnessing their scripts, auditions, directions for without proper casting and following the rudiments of theatrical elements, some performances representing provinces would appear not very well prepared like some did.
There is already support from the government through the Ministry of Education; all now left is for the organizers to seriously commit ‘professional’ attachment to all the performances and engage experienced men and women in order to produce well-meaning productions.
Through David Asumani, NASAAZ should discuss that having numerous props on stage during recitals, and play presentations was a great danger during festivals. A poem supposedly to be a mere imagery and aesthetics, lines, rhymes and rhythms – no props are needed; not necessary.
Plays that have to travel long distances for a festival do not need all the cumbersome properties; a 52 inch flat screen television, sofa hired from somewhere, no. A good play as one British adjudicator Paul Molby said in 1982 when he adjudicated during the defunct Theatre Association of Zambia (TAZ), is about the story and plot, acting, directions and movements, not about properties and props. Oh yes, props if the play is being staged within the local confines for local entertainment can be very endearing.
Well as I punched the story away in the chilly early morning weather at the back of my mind I said to myself for weeks to come, I will have to focus this column to reviews of this festival.
John.kapesa818@yahoo.co.uk  – 0955/0967/710975