I like to think home is where I live now. For over a decade and some years I have lived in England but the pull that my country of birth has on me remains strong. Many ask me why I yearn for a country and continent I have not visited for so long, why look back?

I love to reminisce about where I was born. Whenever I find a good listener, I like to share my African experience. I cast myself to the days when the beauty of Zambia - a country in Southern Africa - seemed indisputable. As a child I would roam freely in fields of grass that stretched out as far as the eye could see. I remember days spent gazing in wonder, at the vast blue sky that was so high it seemed endless. My peers and I would drift off to a stream near our home that gave clean and clear water. I cannot forget the lush landscape in the rainy season, a blanket of greenery covering several acres, enough to feed the animals as well as the people that owned the fields.

I have not been back for a while but with the miracle of thought, I have made numerous voyages to my motherland. I range across the seas and then in my minds eye, find myself standing in the fields where Papa cultivated his crops, fields where numerous animals frolicked and grazed. I picture a long line of farm trucks filled with abundant produce of wheat and corn. As the trucks pull up to a grain elevator, workers rush to unload freshly reaped wheat.

The rich black soil that Zambia possesses made the country along side its neighbor Zimbabwe, the “bread baskets” of the Southern region. The earth brought forth food to sustain its people but with time, things have changed. Much of what’s seen is degradation. There are of course people trying to make a difference so that things can get better but it can be heart rending to see sad-eyed bony faced children with distended bellies each time a news report about Zambia is shown on television. Robbed of innocence, they comb rubbish dumps to find anything to eat.

Because most families can no longer survive on subsistence farming, they have moved to urbanized areas in cities, crowding in hastily put-together shacks. Most villages have been deserted and now lie in ruins. Some of the farmers fresh from the countryside are employed as low-skilled factory workers. Environmental degradation has partly caused this shift. Zambia still has magnificent landscapes but in some parts, the natural productivity of the land has been lost.

Some of the people that continue living in the villages try to do the best they can with the little food they manage to salvage from the land by selling it in local markets. They haggle in markets were goats complain and hungry calves groan. If one looks long and hard in their faces, it’s easy to see the pain and sense of helplessness.

On my last visit I recall standing in the market watching men and women jesting and laughing infectiously. I stood there and thought about everything I could see, hear and smell. It stunned me to see just how everything has collapsed. Despite the visible hardships, the people appear to know how to make things seem alright. When they meet in the markets, they all seem to have one thing in common: they are cheerful. These people are faced with situations that could plunge them into the most depressing misery yet they remain resilient. They make the most of the little they reap from the earth. They stay busy and maintain their dignity.

Many have dreams and aspirations yet they have limited opportunities. There is an awakening that practical solutions need to be put in place to create opportunities. Charities within the country and abroad are getting together to make a difference. A charity called SOS Children’s Village, the world’s largest orphan charity, has been operating in Zambia since 1999 providing shelter and education to orphans in this region, that has an extremely high number of children in need.

A good number of Africans in the Diaspora through various charities, are marshalling their resources towards helping people on the continent realize their potential so that many parts of Africa can be lifted out of poverty.