Salaula Business in Zambia- Part 2

Ba Kelvin's new business has made me also ponder the secondhand industry in the United States. Back in the U.S., I made regular donations to the Goodwill GoodNeighbor Stores in Fullerton and Brea, an example set by my Grandma Pat. I would donate “old” clothes, shoes, small kitchen items and other household goods I had purchased but grown tired of or wanted to replace with something new- or I just realized I'd accumulated too much stuff to fit in closets, cabinets and pantries. When I was a student or otherwise on a tight budget, I shopped Goodwill's GoodNeighbor Stores for clothing, furniture, kitchen supplies- even party decorations.

While seeing the validity in criticisms of Goodwill, there are still several things I like about it: it seems to provide services to many factions of American society. First, it's a place for wealthier Americans to discard unwanted, gently used stuff accumulated through impulse purchases, gifts, and a general addiction to “consumption” or “buying things we don't need”. This has become an fascinating and inextricable part of American culture, psychology and economy that to knock or condone would be an entirely different blog entry.

Secondly, donations to Goodwill, and the resulting revenue, provide local employment at GoodNeighbor Stores for folks of limited skills and who haven't found employment elsewhere. At the stores I've shopped, some of employees are disabled and others older folks bridging the gap between income and expenses. Reflecting on it now, I imagine these folks had limited employment opportunity, but bills and expenses like the rest of us. And besides the financial resources employment brings, we all at some level crave the sense of empowerment and accomplishment found in employment.

Goodwill stores also present a low-cost option for low-income community members- struggling familes, students, pensioners, etc.- to purchase basics and even little luxuries.

Additionally, the unwanted items donated to Goodwill are things not going into landfills, which have become overburdened in many parts of the U.S. Thus, Goodwill provides a recycling service! Goodwill's website states that it, “receive[s] more than 500,000 donations every year and divert[s] over 13 million pounds of goods away from local landfills.”

Finally, there are the things donated to Goodwill, yet that do not sell. According the Goodwill's website, these items: “are sold to salvage merchants who ship the material to third-world countries where jobs and wages are created through sorting and selling these items.” And this circles back to our friend ba Kelvin and his new success as a “salaula” retailer.

In fact, at any market in Zambia, from Lusaka to Mwense boma to Lukwesa, you'll see secondhand clothing being sold and quite a lot of it. Here in Zambia, secondhand clothing, or “salaula”, has become an industry of serious economic importance, as evidenced in ba Kelvin's recent success. Critics of the development of this industry in the developing world claim that the availability secondhand clothing from the developed world suppresses and eventually destroys local textile industries. Perhaps Zambia serves as a case point: secondhand clothing is very popular here and the textile industry, as I understand it, is effectively defunct.

During Pre-Service Training, my Peace Corps Cibemba Language-Culture Facilitator, ba Golden, taught me that “salaula” comes from the Cibemba word “ukusala” (to chose, to select). “Salaula” refers to the secondhand clothing one buys in the market- one must rummage through a pile of clothing and chose the pieces he wants to buy.

Here in rural Zambia, everyone in our village wears salaula, as does everyone is all the other villages I've visited. It's very popular- we often see adults and children alike wearing T-shirts from small American sports teams, 5k runs, or schools. In Mansa, I once passed a youth wearing a “Newport Swimming” sweatshirt. Our friend ba Frinch's favorite shirt is a green polo shirt with an anchor and the name Ron embroidered in gold. Even as I type this, there is a group of children playing “njuka” (cards) on our front patio. They are all wearing salaula: a faded, torn “Hornets '08” T-shirt; a drab-colored children's U.S. Army T-shirt with big holes around the collar; a ragged, torn nightshirt (worn as a dress) that says “Some Bunny Loves Me”; a yellow “Belle” Halloween costume dress that now is held together by a few threads at the seams. These are salaula items that have likely been passed down from big sister/brother to younger.

Now, all this secondhand clothing in Zambia certainly does not come solely from Goodwill, but I'd wager a significant portion does. There is a book on this topic which I am interested in reading: Salaula- The World of Second-hand Clothing and Zambia, by Karen Tranberg Hansen (ISBN-10: 0226315819, ISBN-13: 9780226315812). If anyone has an extra copy lying around, feel free to send it my way. Of course, I will keep browsing the salaula book stands for the title, as well.

Salaula Business in Zambia- Part 1

Our good friend, ba Kelvin, stopped by our house today to tell us that he has moved from our village, Chebele, where he was raised, to Lukwesa, another small town in Mwense District about 35km from Mwense boma. Kelvin is single, about 23 years old, finished Grade 12 a couple years ago, speaks great English, and is very intelligent. Despite all these fine characteristics, he did not score well enough on his exams to be admitted into college, the main path to formal employment. So, he has moved to Lukwesa and started his own business selling secondhand clothing, called “salaula” here in Zambia.

He is doing surprisingly well: he confided in us that he's bringing in 1 million Zkw a week ($200 USD), 300,000 – 500,00 ($60 – 100 USD) of which is “profit”. By “profit”, he means revenue above all expenses, excluding his own labor; like many small businesses in Zambia, he does not consider his own labor as an expense. That said, he's making more money than a Peace Cirps Volunteer earns from his stipend, which is commeasurate with what a school teacher earns.

Kelvin earns his money by travelling to Lusaka where he buys secondhand clothing from mostly Chinese, Indian and Zambian merchants at Kamwala Market. Kamwala Market is the huge open-air market in Lusaka where all manner of goods are exchanged. Kelvin visits different “salaula” merchants there and picks out clothing he thinks the people of Lukwesa and Mwense will want to buy. He spends about 500,000 to 700,000 ($100 – 140 USD) on clothing- shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers, shoes, etc. Then, he transports his merchandise up to Lukwesa (by Peace Soldier or Juldan buses), where he sells the clothing at the Lukwesa market. His customers are mostly fellow Zambians who live in Lukwesa and nearby villages, Mwense boma (the capital of Mwense District) and Kazembe. He also has a large Congolese customer base who cross the border (the Luapula River) at Lukwesa to purchase goods for less than they cost in DR Congo. These Congolese customers either use the items for themselves or they turn around and sell them for a profit in DR Congo.

I find this story of Kelvin's recent success very encouraging- as does he!- because Kelvin comes from a large, poor, not-politically-connected family in an impoverished rural village. Just eight months ago, after he did not get into the trade college in Mansa, he seemed to have resigned himself to being “just a farmer”- his words.-  as that was the only other way of life he'd been exposed to. However, now he's widened his view and his perception of what's possible for him.

I think the secret to Kelvin's ambition, creativity and success comes from his father. Kelvin's father, ba Godfrey, is a pioneering and committed fish farmer in Chebele. He is quick to take on modest experiments with new income-generating farming practices (like conservation farming, rice farming, fish farming and beekeeping) and then scale them up as he sees their profitability. He is also one of the few fathers ensuring every one of his 7 living children are educated through Grade 12, which means he works very seriously to raise money for school fees. He is faithful to his wife and family, abstains from alcohol (“problem” drinking is an underaddressed issue in Zambia), and is constantly seeking information about nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, sanitation and other issues that ail the community.

I look at Kelvin's budding entrepreneurship and see an evolution of ba Godfrey's diligent commitment to build a better life for his children. This, along with his positivity, is the foundation Kelvin, consciously or not, has used to build his business. He is not hindered by obstacles, but encouraged to find alternative opportunities. Starting his salaula business is a case in point- rather than giving up on a career when he could not get into college, he has created his own employment- and found himself on a path that could potentially bring more prosperity and freedom than working for someone else would.

Our friend, budding entrepreneur ba Kelvin, with his newly purchased merchandise. We are inside the very nice shop he rents in Lukwesa.