A tragic road traffic accident which occurred on October 21, 2014 left him on crushes. A decade later, he is pressing ahead with his youth-centred development initiatives in Zambia and aiming higher.
Despite having experienced a tragic road traffic accident that left him on crushes a decade ago, Lombe Henry Musole’s narrative is one that reflects strong willpower and persistence as demonstrated by his work in youth development both in his home country Zambia and beyond its borders.
It is an unfolding inspiring journey from adversity to advocacy.
A holder of a Diploma in General Agriculture, a BA in Business Administration and several professional courses and accolades, Musole tracks his humble beginnings from the Zambian College of Agriculture where his leadership traits first emanated through his election and service on the institution’s students union where he was to serve as a treasurer general.
Following his graduation from the Zambia College of Agriculture, he would embark on a new chapter after securing a role as a farm manager at St Anna Farms. Sadly as fate would have it, this new role would be interrupted and cut short by a fatal road traffic accident which left him hospitalised for over three months.
In light of this huge setback, a defiant and resilient Musole would chart another course and start over again, this time establishing his first business which offered agricultural consultation services to smallholder farmers in his community.
Despite witnessing his start-up venture falling apart in just two years after its formation, this second consecutive huge setback did not stop Musole from chasing and pursuing his purpose as it fuelled and ignited the flames of his burning passion for agribusiness.
Fuelled by this desire, Musole would join the government and immediately establish a lasting impression which would make him a force to reckon within his community. His efforts would soon be recognised by JICA which sent him to Uganda to be trained in modern rice production technologies. Upon completion, he was certified as a Master trainer and decided to embark on yet another venture, establishing his second business venture with a special focus on providing agricultural production to smallholder farmers in the Luapula region.
The new venture has to date impacted multitudes within several communities in his home country.
Aside from his agribusiness centred ventures, Musole boast of a track record in volunteerism which dates back to his secondary school years and has led him to create his own non-profit organisation called Umusepela Project.
This organisation focuses on addressing social challenges faced by young people in underserved rural communities and emphasises education and career development; entrepreneurship and financial literacy; governance and civic engagement; and climate justice amongst others.
Through Umusepela Project, Lombe has impacted approximately over 3500 learners with career development mentorship programmes and he continues to touch more lives through various programmes his organisation initiates.
Commenting on his milestone accomplishments, Musole says he considers every working opportunity a milestone and points out to his volunteering experience when he joined the civic society spaces in 2019.
“That decision propelled me into a world of service, knowledge and skills development that I wouldn’t have acquired elsewhere. Today I’m running an NGO I founded, albeit a small one, but all because of the tools and skills I have developed through the years of my involvement in voluntary experiences with various CSOs”.
In the long run, Musole envisions to establish a college that will focus on offering ICT, Agriculture and Entrepreneurship courses to persons with disabilities, young single mothers and other vulnerable persons from marginalised communities whose main objective is to bridge the gap which many young learners with special education needs are faced with when it comes to higher education. Through this college, he is targeting to impact at least 350 young people in the next five years.
As track leader of the civic engagement track for YALI’s cohort 25, Musole has used his position to bring together people living with disabilities and alumnis through networking and creating platforms for synergies where diverse groups can interact and exchange ideas. He shares that the knowledge he gained while at YALI was invaluable and it convinced him to start taking the first step towards his vision.
Regarding his YALI experience, Musole stated “Attending YALI was the biggest highlight of my life this year, as it gave me the rare opportunity of meeting and interacting with vibrant, innovative and passionate young leaders from across the SADC region, all doing amazingly impactful work in their various communities.
He added “The knowledge, skills and tools gained at YALI propelled me to start engaging stakeholders for the establishment of the specialised College.”.
It is Stephene Hawking who once observed that “disability is no barrier to success,” — and Lombe Henry Musole’s narrative is a reflection of strong willpower and persistence which is shown through his inspiring journey from adversity and advocacy.
*This article was first drafted by Atrishya Gondo — a communications graduate intern at TisuMazwi.
nFungayi Antony Sox is the founder and managing partner at TisuMazwi — a consulting, communications, media, and publishing entity based in Harare. He is also an Alumnus of the YALI Regional Leadership Centre for Southern Africa and writes in his personal capacity. For feedback, he can be reached on +263 776 030 949 or at fungayisox@gmail.com.