Orderliness results in excellence

open heavensI ONCE heard a minister of the gospel make a profound statement that made an impression on my mind. This was during a prayer retreat/holiday cruise that we had undertaken on the MSC Opera Vessel in October 2014. During his presentation he said that “Africa’s biggest problem or weakness was that of disorderliness”. He said that in almost all spheres of African endeavour, disorderliness was evident. I reflected on this for a while and realised that this statement, while difficult to digest, was true. This disorderliness, he added resulted in wars, coups, rebellions and much of the failure in leadership on the African continent.

The Free Dictionary defines the word orderly as — free from disorder, neat or well arranged. Having a systematic arrangement, given to keeping things neat or well arranged. Adhering or conforming to a method or system, devoid of violence or disruption; peaceful.

I have keenly observed that organisations and people of excellence are very orderly. Their surroundings are usually very neat, well arranged and they are systematic in everything that they do. On walking into an office, the state of the desk is one of the first indicators of how orderly an individual is.

Orderly people are disciplined and strive to continuously improve. Booker T Washington once said “Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way”. Being uncommon requires a certain amount of orderliness.

God displays excellence as everything He created is systematic and orderly. At creation in the beginning, He was sorting out chaos and designing order in nature as we know and experience it today. Genesis1:1-2“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.And the earth was without form, and void and darkness was upon the face of the waters”. God spoke to the dark void and nothingness that prevailed creating the universe as we know it. As a result, everything in nature moves like clockwork, the sun never forgets to rise or set, day follows night, the seasons change over as expected, the law of sowing and reaping is cast in stone and will never change.

In fact, orderliness also prevailed and still does in heaven. Lucifer and one third of the angels were banished from heaven because they became rowdy and rebellious, disrupting the peace, harmony and order in heaven. God’s throne is lofty and He is the highest ranking authority in heaven. Lucifer became disorderly and unruly in his conduct desiring to outsmart God, this was probably the seeds of the first coup — Isaiah 14:13: “For you said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north”. Vs 12 describes the banishment “How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations”.

God finds disorderliness despicable and this is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 14:40 — “Let all things be done decently and in order”. In the Old Testament, He instructs the Levites to keep the tabernacle of Moses in an orderly fashion. He gives strict instructions of how things should be laid out in the Holy Place which was the second and middle compartment of the tent tabernacle made by Moses in the wilderness. The seven golden lampstands were to be kept in a special order and the holy bread (show bread) was also to be arranged in a special fashion every Sabbath :Leviticus 23:4-8 — “He shall keep the lamps in order upon the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord continually . . . Every Sabbath day Aaron shall set the showbread in order before the Lord continually; it is on behalf of the Isrealitean everlasting covenant”. So pleased is God with orderliness that Psalm 37:23 states “The steps of a good man are ordered by Jehovah; and He delights in his way”.

The question you must be asking at this point is how does the principle of orderliness apply to a 21st century Zimbabwean? I will quickly revert to a burning issue of the vendors who fill almost every side walk of our urban centres.

Vending is not a bad thing and in my view it is not necessarily an indicator of an ailing economy. It has been noted that the number of street vendors will increase sharply in an environment of poverty and lack. To prove this point street vendors are found in New York City, yet America is one of the worlds’ strongest economies. Vendors can also be found in the emerging economies of South East Asia, India and Mauritius.

The difference between vendors in New York and vendors in Bulawayo is the level of orderliness and excellence. Mobile vendor stalls in New York are well designed, clean and very attractive selling varying items ranging from coffee, hot dogs, hamburgers, toys, clothes, umbrellas and trinkets. They are of such high levels of excellence that they blend in well with the beautiful New York skyline.

Ann Marie McIlwainshe reported that there is an organisation in New York aptly named the “Street Vendor Project”. To this end, New York has been issuing official street vendor licences for several years to enable vendors to operate legally. The project was formed to encourage New York City to issue more licences and encourage street vendors to organise themselves. McIlwain believes that it is the right thing to do for the economy given the job crisis.

South East Asian street vendors have taken street business to another level. They take time to design attractive stalls making them very interesting. They have also taken to using well designed signage and lighting on their stalls so that they can do business well into the night. These markets add to the allure of South East Asia as a tourist destination. Places like Bangkok boast of evening street food stalls, exciting weekend markets where one can buy items ranging from clothing, furniture, oil paintings and even live animals.

Despite India’s burgeoning economy (watch India, they are taking great strides in the right direction), much of the urban population finds it hard to obtain jobs. A large number of Indians end up as street vendors. David Weinberg points out that “these low level entrepreneurs make up a big portion of the informal economy which accounts for a staggering 92 percent of India’s population”.

Vendors sell children’s backpacks, pots and pans, fabric and lots of food. India still has to improve though in terms of orderliness and hygiene. Economist Jayshree Gupta believes that free legal services, training to improve hygiene and improved access to financial services could bring a huge number of these vendors into the middle class. This, she believes, could be an internal economic engine that drives India’s growth.

This provides food for thought for our situation in Zimbabwe. Our reality is that a significant portion of the population are informal traders and street vendors. I do not believe that this should be a source of embarrassment and neither should we be paralysed while the nation seeks solutions to our situation.

I think it is commendable that Zimbabweans would use their creativity and innovation to start street vending to earn a living as opposed to resorting to a life of crime. I applaud all men and women who work hard day and night to make a living in this fashion, rather than sit idly waiting for somebody else to bring solutions to them.

It is time to rise up with a spirit of excellence and bring order to our fruit and vegetable stalls, seek ways to make our second hand designer boutique commonly known as “khothama” outside the revenue hall look beautiful and exciting.

Merchandise should not be strewn all over the ground. If some imagination, order and excellence were to be infused into the flower and curio stalls at City Hall, what a boon that would be for the cleanliness and aesthetics of the city. Imagine “mkambo” in Makokoba being given a fresh coat of paint, beautiful shop fittings and lighting were installed. These would make amazing tourist attractions. Tourist trips to Bulawayo could include trips to these beautiful, well designed street markets.

Of course essential training in basic business skills, hygiene, easy access to financial services and licencing would all go a long way in improving the lot of street vendors. This could increase their incomes and assist to alleviate poverty.

Eastern and Western countries have taken great strides to package their local cuisines with such excellence. In Zimbabwe, we consume Chinese food, Japanese sushi, Italian pizza, pasta and British style food without a second thought. These nationalities have expended effort to package and export their foods. These foods are now consumed globally.

I noticed that when tourists visit Asian countries, they always make a special effort to visit food stalls. This is part of the allure, intrigue and experience of these nations. Zimbabweans could capitalise on the food caravans and develop Zimbabwean cuisine into something of an international delight.

Perhaps Dickies and Sis Bee’s could lead the fray in conjunction with the hospitality industry and pioneer this field as we develop Zimbabwean cuisine to internationally accepted standards.

What if the Bulawayo City Council increased designated zones for organised, orderly street marts/bazaars, splashed and arrayed in our colourful, vibrant Zimbabwe colours?

Of course this would require co-operation from street vendors. Rules and regulations are there for a purpose. Cleaning up after trading and maintaining the aesthetics of the city would be an absolute essential.

Orderliness results in excellence. Rise up Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and let us develop an excellent spirit.

You Might Also Like

Comments