MAFISHI

 

MY ENCOUNTER 

The fish ponds at the Copperbelt University are a marvel in the way they have been constructed. It was a source of inspiration, stress relief, motivation and to some, source of food.  Being a student and member of staff which spanned a period of more than 20years of my life, I was prompted to write a little bit of something.  

It was inspiring in that once you have a glimpse of the fish doing their thing, going about their business; it brought a sense of peace. Having a fish pond is good for our well-being in that just by staring at the fish we able to relax.

With so much that goes on around the University, they were a good source of stress release.  From meeting up deadlines for assignments to finally figuring out what was missing in the code for a program you been working on for months. 

Then there was the schedule on how you are supposed to perform certain tasks.  At the time I was employed to work there, it was a period when computers penetrated the market.  I was one of the people that were trying to bridge the gap. To introduce the guys from the old school on how to integrate computer systems which of course was supposed to make life easier.

It was stressful in that my cell phone used to be some kind of a switch board, with one phone call after another in a space of less that 5mts.   I am not an expert in radio waves but that stuff cause’s cancer. In addition to being told the problem, you had to come up with the solution which you can’t do because you busy trying to handle your ever busy buzzing phone.  If you don’t take the phone calls, they didn’t take it kindly either.

So we had to work late hours, put in an additional 5hrs without any over time.  Thank God for that free Inter net access cause it kept us going with all the downloads.

Life at time kicks you to the ground, they say if you are not facing any problems then you not living.  The holy bible talks about how human beings are made special in Gods image.  When we encounter difficulties and challenges, we are supposed to look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor rip but they surely get their  fair share.

It was good motivation to look at the fish which neither sow nor rip waking up day and night.  This become applicable exclusively in the event that you already blew up your ration in 5 days when you had 25 more days till your next paycheck, it was wild in the weldi.

Many students if found in this predicament resorted to the fish ponds, this however was an illegal act.  So it had to be done in the late hours avoiding the security people at all costs.

One of the many encounters I had with Mafishi, (derived from the term fifth year student) was the time I was employed as a network administrator (acting).  Being an Information Communication Technology expert that I was, I say that because I graduated top 2 in the program I was studying.  It was a big deal back then, in that if such a thing happens to you, it was automatic to land yourself a job with the institution.  

It made my old man proud that he didn’t have to bribe anyone for me to acquire a job. A man who stood for what he believes in and a stodgy fighter against nepotism and tribalism especially in work places, but that is another story.

Some laptop needed to be downgraded from windows 7 to XP.  It was a state of the art piece of gadget but the only problem was that the recipient wasn’t used to windows 7.  He wanted something he was more familiar with.  After making rounds it finally landed on my desk.  At first glance you would think it was one of them ordinary computer jobs. I came to learn that about 6 people had already tried to work on it but to no avail.

After the first, second attempt, it failed.  I was a heavy smoker by then, I decided to do what I normally would do in such a situation, light up a smoke. As I was standing there trying to figure things out, there it was, the great Mafishi. It was an extraordinary moment, splendid should I say to be given such a privilege.  A smile will come out of nowhere and usually, there would be about five to ten people completely amazed at the sight of the great Mafishi, tossing him food. 

With the commotion going on, I finally figured out what I needed to do.  No wonder some people used to associate it with good luck I suppose. Three days later, I was done working on that laptop.  This accorded me the chance to have a meet with the vice chancellor. He gave me access to his car and the driver at my disposal. I developed a relationship with him in that whatever jobs he had, they were directed to me. 

This earned me quite a reputation moving around in that car reserved for ministers and presidents.  Catch you later folks. Happy reading, remember to share coz its caring..