By Mubanga Lumpa
Dr. Patrick Kabwe is currently working as an Events Based Epidemiology analyst at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Having spent part of his upbringing and early school days in Kafue, Dr. Kabwe took time to share his life’s journey.
“My family moved to Kafue town in 1990. I later started school at Nangongwe Primary School. At that time, I was not interested in school and I would at times abscond school to play at the banks of the Kafue River with my friends. My late mother was a marketeer who eked out an income to support the family by selling vegetables, kapenta and assorted dry fish at Zambia Compound (ZC) market in Kafue town”, narrates Dr. Kabwe.
He recalls that despite his mother not having a formal education, she was very concerned with his school work. He narrates that one of the teachers had told his mother that his son’s performance at school was very poor. “My mother later persuaded me to repeat to grade 6 due to my continued poor performance. After sitting for my grade 7 exams, I failed while many of my close friends passed with flying colors. This pained me as I had to repeat grade 7, while my friends proceeded to grade 8 in various secondary schools. That experience of failure became the turning point in my academic journey.
Eventually, I had to re-write my grade 7 exams and I passed very well and was selected to grade 8 at Naboye Secondary School in 1996. In grade 9, I again passed very well and was selected to Hillcrest National Technical School in 1998 where I did my grade 10-12,” he says.
He later enrolled at the University of Zambia (UNZA) in 2001 in the school of Natural Science to pursue a medical career.
Asked how he got inspired to study medicine, Dr. Kabwe recalls growing up as a young boy in Kafue Gorge in the late 1980s where his family lived in the hospital compound. His late father worked as a cook at Kafue Gorge Hospital, and this gave him an opportunity to experience the suffering and pain of people from various diseases and accidents. “The nature of work I saw among healthcare workers at the hospital inspired me as a young boy. I told myself that in future, I wanted to save lives; to relieve the pain of sick people and give hope to someone in pain and affliction”, explains Dr. Kabwe.
Recalling his experience studying at UNZA, Dr. Kabwe narrates that being in the school of Natural Sciences was both tough and competitive, but managed to make it into medical quota by 3rd year.
In 2009, he graduated with a Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery (MBCHB) degree from UNZA School of Medicine and was later posted to Luapula Province as a Senior Resident Medical Officer at Mansa General Hospital.
“While saving at Mansa General Hospital, I was appointed as District Health Director for Chembe district, becoming the first district health director for the newly created district at the time” Dr. Kabwe explains.
In 2014, Dr. Kabwe got a post graduate scholarship to study Field Epidemiology (FETP) -100% through the support from the U.S CDC. In 2016, he obtained a Master of Science in Epidemiology and a certificate in advanced FETP, becoming one of the first three (3) doctors in Zambia to specialize in field epidemiology. “The program provided me with an opportunity to visit several countries and learn the practice of field epidemiology” he explains.
Dr. Kabwe narrates that his career as a medical doctor wouldn’t have been successful without the support and sacrifice from his late parents, siblings, his teachers and other people in the community who helped him realise his potential at school.
“You can be what you want. Who would have thought that today I would be a diplomat in my medical career working for the African Union?” he says.
He encourages young people to be focussed. “Listen to your parents or siblings. Pay attention at school, find time to read, and don’t miss school. Never think you are dull or slow, and never let anyone make you feel like that”, Dr. Kabwe explains.
– Kafue Times