In the eyes of the beholder

"In the Eyes of the Beholder" is an intimate, reflective essay written as a letter from the present self to a younger version navigating Zambia as a teen. Blending memoir, cultural critique, and social commentary, the piece captures the emotional and political terrain of growing up in Lusaka—grappling with family, identity, womanhood, and the contradictions of a resource-rich but disempowered nation. Through vivid personal recollections and lyrical prose, the essay charts a coming-of-age that mirrors Zambia's own complex path through liberalisation, memory, and modernity. It is both a love letter to youth and a meditation on value—what we hold, what we lose, and what we come to know in time.