Teasing inspires man into film star

Challenges people face in life can lead some into prosperity while others sink deeper when they keep complaining and making excuses.
Where one person sees challenges the other sees opportunities. Yes from a problem some people spring into success. The very challenge one cries about could become a key to open many doors for an individual.
This is exactly how Sydney Mwape transformed his biological problem into a life skill. He is a very short man so most bad elements in society have teased and laughed at him since child hood.
“Whenever I was going home from Primary school at Ibenga in Mpongwe people teased ,mocked and laughed at me because I am very short .When I reached Grade Nine I had to stop school because the problem worsened. My mother ,father and I even wept over the teasing and mockery” ,Sydney lamented in an interview at his home in Luanshya recently.
He said it took the intervention of a Catholic nun for him to complete Grade twelve at Dagama Special School for Handicapped Children in Luanshya.
After successfully studying for a certificate in purchasing and supply at Northern Technical College in Ndola I n 2002,he got a job as a lab assistant at Malaika School in Luanshya.
Despite his academic and social achievements, some people in Luanshya continued teasing him to the extent of nicknaming him after the tiny funny Nigerian comedians, Popo and Aki. To challenge them to change their perception of him for good ,he decided to become an actor so that he could eventually rise to being a celebrity.
Sydney who feels disclosing his real age could jeopardize his career revealed that he had starred in Seven Luanshya produced films which income helped him send his grade eleven young brother Raphael to school.
One of the films he has acted is a comedy, ’Donchi Kubeeba where he and Benard Musonda of Kitwe ,who is also short,act fake pastors and cheats.
Sydney said the comedy teaches society to give poor people when they beg and educates ladies to be wary of advances from unscrupulous men ,saying not all men were genuine.
In one of the scenes, Sydney ,takes a girl into a high class restaurant,buys her food but deceptively flees the place after failing to pay for delicious food thereby leaving the penniless girlfriend at the mercy of the furious restaurant proprietor .
In the same film Sydney and Bernard pretend to be pastors and preach to bus passengers before asking for money as ‘church offering ‘ which they eventually waste on prostitutes.
Sydney who says he is not a born actor also stars in ZNBC tv2 soap ‘ Ghost of Tusa ‘ where he plays the role of a boy whose real father is believed to be dead and haunting the village as a ghost.
Sydney said in the other comedy, ’Spoiler’ he teaches children to respect adults. He said the film teaches children who are brought up in the urban environment not treat visitors from the village with contempt .
However ,the actor who is to launch a gospel music album sang on his background to inspire other people soon ,expressed dissatisfaction with remunerations in the industry, saying the payments were not only scanty but disproportionate to the effort he put in the art.
Sydney encourages people who feel disregarded by society and useless that God never made a mistake in creating any individual on this planet.
“People used to laugh at me and looked at me as a hopeless useless person. People in a similar situation should not resign to the situation because God never made a mistake in creating any individual” he stressed.
He said God blesses people in numerous ways so it is up to each individual to exploit his or her own gift from God.
Society is good at noticing negatives in individuals and pulling one another down. In some cases it is sheer jealous while others act out of ignorance. It is up to each individual to pursue their dreams regardless of what detractors are saying. That way we will develop mother Zambia.