Christmas present

When I was a little boy, my father and mother never gave me a Christmas present. Nobody in my village got Christmas presents. Not even the chief.

If you think my parents did not love me, it is because you did not know Bana Bwembya and Bashi Bwembya the way I knew them. No. It was because our tradition was different from the missionaries in Fort Rosebery (that was what MANSA was called in those days – Ed.).

Every Christmas, my mother woke up early in the morning. She boiled water and  she pointed out which chicken she wanted us to catch. With my friends we had great fun chasing the chicken around the yard until we got it. She then got a knife and slaughtered it. She cut it open and removed the insides. She then put it in the boiling water. This made the skin soft and it was easier to pluck the feathers out. When we finished plucking,  my mother cut it in pieces and cooked it. I can still remember that we were very happy to eat chicken.

After the Christmas Church service, we ate the food and we were full. We did not get presents. In my language,  Bemba, we don’t even have a word for wrapping paper but we have a word for gift(Ubupe).

When I was a miner in Kitwe,  my friends from different tribes in Zambia were like me. Giving presents was something new. Most of us did not wrap presents but we started giving family shoes or a dress at Christmas because we wanted our families to look smart when we went to church. A present is still a present without wrapping paper.

Many times I have asked myself. What is the best present for my wife or for my son? For my daughter is not a problem because she always tells me what she wants. Shoes and more shoes. And hand bags. She just likes different colours to match her dresses.

This year I got visitors on Christmas eve. My son came with his wife and my grandson. My wife came with them and my daughter was on holiday from Evelyn Hone College. They brought presents also. My house was noisy and there was laughing and talking. When I looked round at my family, that was the best present for me.

I think if you have a relative in the village, it is a very good present if you can visit them. Or you can say hello on the phone. It makes us very happy in the village. Don’t be afraid if you have no presents to give them.

God sent his Son as a present. Even if you did not receive a present this year, don’t worry. Just think about God’s present. That is Christmas.