Excerpt from Namon Abe Andrea’s latest book

MY father was at his business, selling beef at a small scale as my mother was giving birth to me at Madisi mission hospital and her mother by her side.

My father was informed about my birth an hour later and he rushed on foot to the hospital, a 20 minutes walking distance where he was told that his firstborn, me, was having breathing problems which had occurred a few minutes before he entered the hospital.

My difficulty in breathing was considered a small matter, but persisted for a year. My parents visited hospitals weekly, meeting doctors to help the little Namon rise above his problem.

My problem gave my parents a hard time, especially considering that I was their firstborn son – I was new to the world and they were new to parenting.

You may have experienced adversities, setbacks and heartache in your past. But today is a new day!

As I share with you my story, I will challenge you in this book to see detours as opportunities to rethink and refresh.

You will become the best you can be, not merely average or ordinary. To do this, you must renew your mind, start enlarging your vision and enjoy your life. Are you ready to develop your full potential? Let's get started.

The butchery business was the family's paycheck; we depended on it in almost everything. For years, it was our financial pillar on which we leaned, and my father was such a business genius from whom I acquired a lot of business intelligence.

This was one of the biggest detours in our lives. Everything changed.

The collapse of the business came with serious repercussions.

It started with the four o'clock tea which we stopped drinking when my father was still in Lusaka, then it was missing breakfast on some days, then sometimes no food the whole day, clothes ... most of them began to wear out.

I woke up one morning, determined for a new day, as usual, walking in on my mother's declarations.

I wore black jean shorts, a grey shirt and, of course, slippers. It was a warm day and I was roaming around Kanengo Auction Floors watching people busy in their businesses. I had a piece of sugarcane in my hand, chewing it bit by bit, node by node, I liked sugarcane.

As I passed by Alliance One premises, I saw people rushing to the gate, lining up. I didn't hesitate nor seek to ask but joined the long line.

When I moved to the line, they confirmed to me that they were employing people on this day.

Those jobs that don't need a CV, they just pick from the available people; I just had to join and ask later.

“Young man, come here,” in a soft voice he called. “Me?” the guy in front of me answered.

The selection was random. You could be in front but the selected could be the one behind. That was annoying.

“No, the one behind you” he pointed at me. I clasped my hands on my chest.

My stomach immediately clenched, I slowly started moving, my chest tingling, and my breathing accelerating at each step, and my mouth slackening – it was a mixture of sensations.

“No. go back,” the supervisor announced.

“Why sir?” I said tremulously. “We do not let in someone in slippers.”