The African continent is extremely rich in native tribal cultures and languages. One of my projects with Gospelink has been to map the tribal divisions of Zambia. The Zambian government officially recognizes 73 distinct tribes across its 10 provinces. There are, however, other tribes present that have migrated from neighboring countries. As with other such ethnolinguistic mapping projects, this was a challenging assignment, requiring research into many data sources.
Gospelink partners with indigenous pastors and missionaries across Zambia, representing many of these tribes and their unique languages. This map serves as a high-level guide for understanding the basic ethnolinguistic landscape of the country. Details about individual tribes and ministry progress in specific regions are logged and tracked internally using the same GIS mapping system.
Traveling to Zambia allowed me an opportunity to meet with members of several tribes in the south part of the country near Lusaka. The field experience adds a measure of context that cannot be found otherwise. While there, I could discern the relative peace the country enjoys. This is in great contrast to the instability of neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo where violent conflict, typically along tribal lines and linked to access to extractive resources by external neoliberal corporate interests, has kept the country in turmoil for decades.
