Save Felix ‘Galamukani’ Banda now

     TOP ZAMBIAN MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, AUTHOR, ENTREPRENEUR NEEDS US$11,000 FOR HEART FAILURE TREATMENT

By VICTOR KALALANDA, January 23, 2021

As he buckles daily under a fatal heart condition, he seems to have been deprived of the gale and force with which he would roar, ‘gaaaaaalamukani’, while raising his arms to stress the ‘wake-up’ meaning of his trademark expression, to fire-up hordes of Zambian entrepreneurs and corporates.

Felix

When he delivered his motivational speeches to capacity crowds in churches, schools, companies and even on national TV, including once to Zambia Daily Mail staff, it was a scene of thrills and spills.

To begin his speaking session, the renowned orator told one of his audiences: “I’m not going to use theory, so I’m not sharing some things I’ve read from some book . . . . You can never become anything that you can’t see, either with your naked eyes or with your mind.”

This is the Felix ‘Galamukani’ Banda—an icon of the motivational speaking industry and a gifted author who partly came to the notice of the nation with his bestseller, We Don’t Just Become—who today has heart failure.  

Living through the Valley                     

Felix has come to live almost inseparably with his heart condition since December 2019, when it killed him—he says—but survived after what felt like miraculous resuscitation at the country’s largest referral hospital, UTH.

“I collapsed, I died and I can’t remember [anything] for the two hours that I was ‘offline’,” the 48-year-old puts it in his own words.

While what saved him in 2019 was a rapid six-minute drive from Lusaka’s Nyumba Yanga to UTH, today the rallying cry, Save Felix Galamukani Banda Now, goes out to all Zambians because the country cannot afford to lose an established organisational development facilitator who himself preserves lives and companies with the message of hope.

When I saw him in his car after being driven to a brief stop by his endearing wife Ruth, whom he speaks of in glowing terms everywhere, there was a semblance of strength until he stepped out and I realised he could not firmly stand by himself but by the hand of one of his plump daughters in a soft and tender manner that seems to say “Dad, I love you.”

When renowned US nonfiction writer Gay Talese penned the 1966 journalism classic, Frank Sinatra Has A Cold, there is no doubt he was writing about a similarly painful situation, because just like the famous singer Sinatra, a sick Felix is like “Picasso without paint, Ferrari without fuel—only worse.”

It is sad to think that a once perky personality now has to largely depend on his real estate investment for him and his family to survive today’s restrictive economy, not that he wants, but because his failing health obliterates his variety of choice to earn from carrying out consultancies for multinationals, speaking on hallowed platforms, writing the right book for our time or exploiting available investment opportunities.       

Heart failure falls under the notorious category of the world’s deadliest health affliction, the coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the number 1 cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, as recorded by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

SOS for Medical Trip and Fees

With this disorder, the heart ‘fails’ in the sense that it does not pump blood as well as it should, and like in Felix’s case, this leads to fatigue, including shortness of breath and coughing, making activities such as walking, climbing stairs or carrying groceries a difficult task.

But although Felix is aware of these statistics and he admits that he sometimes sees the possibility of his own death through his mental gaze, he has a hope that refuses to die and it is replenished daily not only by his faith in God, but also by the availability in India of specialist medical treatment, whose total cost of US$11, 000 requires the support of all well-meaning Zambians to be fully met.

“We’ve a Zambian (medical doctor) friend in India who is coordinating on our behalf, then here we’ve ba Chibamba Kanyama (former ZNBC director general) leading the fundraising component. One of the prominent Zambians has bought a ticket and has also pledged US$5,000 cash,” discloses Felix, in a hoarse voice that emphasizes his sickness.

At the current rate, therefore, the bill has been footed for half the medical fees and the air tickets to and fro India for the Banda couple, but the race to fill up the existing difference continues and depends on the generosity of Zambians to come to an end, in readiness for the medical trip slated for January 18, 2020.

Impact, Family and Hope

Since his undergraduate training in mathematics and education at the University of Zambia in 1999, which he later bolstered with an MBA and other executive qualifications obtained from around the world, Felix has for nearly two decades used his books and consultancy firm to inspire personal development of hundreds of Zambians and his work has warranted successful organisational change and performance for almost all leading organisations in various sectors in Zambia.

“I know him and I once attended his seminar under KCM (Konkola Copper Mine),” says Maybin Sichimba to highlight Felix’s service in the mining sector, and another media professional, Morris Shimau, who made a donation to Felix last month, states that “[Felix] is really instrumental. One of the things I really benefitted from him is the teaching in his book We Don’t Just Become. After attending so many of his symposiums, he always talks much about entrepreneurship and how one can rise to the occasion amid challenges.”     

The scheduled medical trip in India will allow Felix to access diagnosis and treatment provided by that country’s advanced biotechnology, after UTH, which has been a very important source of medical help thus far.

Felix’s heart failure condition has its roots in hereditary diabetes, as he explains: “I’m diabetic by genetic induction. My father was killed by diabetes, so when he died some years back I decided to check as well, so in 2007 when I went to the clinic to check, I also found I was diabetic.”    

It has been hard for his wife and family to sometimes see a strong man idle in a wheel chair with his health deteriorating, but their fortitude has helped stand them in good stead.

“It’s a challenge obviously, stressful, tearing and it makes you wonder what’s going on,” reveals his wife, adding, “but for someone walking with Christ the story’s different. Overall [Christ] has given me the strength I didn’t think I’d.”

And 13-year-old Lusungu, who has a sharp intellect like that of her parents, says of his father, “To be honest, it’s not easy b’cause sometimes he wakes up late and we’ve to help him but he’s getting better.”      

What happens after India?

As a social media personality with a following in the thousands, Felix is looking to extending his impact after treatment in India.

“I’m coming back under the slogan Galamukani Season 2 when they ‘fix’ me this side where I’m going, which I know they’ll. The idea is to input back into community a little bit much more than I was doing it without knowing the level of impact I was having but I think this has shown me that I don’t talk to myself: there are a lot of strangers that have put something in this. I just want to encourage that. But one of the messages is the issue about being deliberate about issues of health, so I’m coming back with a bang with a motivational message on healthy living. That I shall promote,” he explains.

It is in this unprecedented moment of his life that Felix has learnt profound lessons about the importance of financial literacy and bonding with one’s family, and therefore two of his forthcoming books will be dealing with those subjects for the benefit of the general public.

Now more than ever before, with the world shifting under our feet economically, this country needs a man of Felix’s experience and passion to inspire organisations and the growing culture of start-ups.

By contributing towards medical expenses in India, we as a people are heeding the message of Save Felix Now or Never.       

Donations should be made via the details Felix Banda, ZANACO Bank Northmead Branch, Account Number 0366834100145.