AFRICA 2002: In God we trust

'If they didn't have so many children, they wouldn't be so poor.' Tell that to Lambert Moya and he is likely to shake his head. His children - all 21 of them - are highly valued.

In a country without a welfare system, a large family is viewed as an asset, not a liability. More hands equal more production and in a normal year Lambert's family has no problem producing enough food for its needs. Unfortunately, however, this is not a normal year.

Drought has affected the Moya family, just as it has innumerable other families in Zambia, particularly the Southern Province where Lambert lives. Outbreaks of livestock disease have exacerbated the food shortage situation and further reduced income in what is already an impoverished region.

"We share cattle with our neighbours," says Lambert. "All of my cows have died of corridor disease." The family has chickens but are keeping them as insurance against possibly tougher times to come. "If we sell them, we're stuck," Lambert says.

This year, the Moyas planted about three hectares of maize and a hectare of sunflowers (grown for their edible oil). The drought destroyed the entire crop before any of it was ready for harvesting. To make matters worse, the family has no oxen or fertiliser with which to prepare their land for the next planting in November.

Lambert's three wives still manage to grow a few vegetables such as rape and tomatoes, which they trade with families who have maize. Maize flour is used to make the staple food, nshima, a stiff porridge eaten with the fingers. The Moyas are surviving on reduced rations, sometimes cooking only one meal of nshima a day, but diet is not the only way Lambert's children have been affected by the drought. It is getting increasingly difficult to pay for their educational needs.

"We sold 10 of our ploughs and our beds to pay for school expenses," says Lambert. One of his children is in secondary school, boarding away from the family, as there are no local high schools. Nine others are in primary school. Two of these have passed qualifying exams for secondary school, but they are repeating their grades because at this time the family cannot afford to send them.

Considering the circumstances faced by the Moyas and families like them, you would think it would be easy to become totally discouraged about the community's future. However, the people seem to accept that life has a habit of bringing adversity. The Moyas live in the target area of World Vision's Siachitema Area Development Programme. Says programme manager, Veronica Akayombokwa, "The people here live very simply. There are very few heart problems, no stomach ulcers, no suicides."

Looking about Lambert's compound, even an untrained eye can see the work the family has put into developing resources and adopting ideas learnt from World Vision. Here a dish rack, a sturdy wooden structure built to keep dishes off the dirt floor and allow them to dry in the sterilising sunlight. There a healthy young lemon tree, fenced off from browsing animals. The small coop attached to the fence attracts birds, whose droppings fertilise the ground around the tree. Lambert would like to get more citrus trees from World Vision, a likely proposition since he has already demonstrated good stewardship.

Despite the preciousness of maize, the family still shows traditional hospitality to their guests with the offer of chibwantu, a drink made from crushed maize. 'What gives you hope?' asks one of the Western guests concernedly. After a short pause Lambert replies, "It is only God who makes us live the next day."

Caption: Lambert Moya (blue striped shirt) and someof his large family.