By CHRISTINE MWAABA –
“OH my God! Is he the one who is going to fly us? Is he on training? Did your dad allow you to be here?
These are the questions asked by some passengers whenever they are boarding a plane flown by Kalenga Kamwendo, Zambia’s youngest pilot.

• KALENGA Kamwendo (centre) with grand parents Leonard and Falesi Chulu.

The 20-year-old youthful pilot has now become something of a star after his story broke out on social media.
At a time when most young people would want to learn how to drive, Kalenga has learnt how to fly an aircraft.
Kalenga is the first one ever to circumnavigate Zambia as the youngest pilot. He has now been recognised locally and internationally.
The gold that was hidden in Kalenga has finally surfaced for many to appreciate and acknowledge the difference he has made at a very tender age.
Kalenga says regardless of age, if a person is able do something, he or she should go ahead and not let anyone  hold him or her back from an opportunity that presents itself.
This has been Kalenga’s motto to achieve his goals in life.
Despite knowing very well that there has never been a pilot of his age in Zambia, Kalenga’s dream of becoming a pilot and fly a commercial air craft was his childhood reverie.
From a family of three, born in 1994 and bred in Kitwe, Kalenga completed his primary school at Nkana Trust and proceeded to secondary school at Mpelembe in Kitwe.
Becoming a pilot was his main aim immediately after completing his secondary school. That is how he enrolled in  an air  training school at Port Alfred, in Eastern Cape,  South Africa in 2012.
Early in 2012 after three months, he attained a private pilot’s licence and at a tender age of 18,  he got his commercial private licence upon completion of 200 hours of flying an aircraft.
He says flying is certainly a lot of fun. Kalenga, who says he has a good time flying an aircraft, knows that  it takes a lot of  hard work and concentration.
“Flying is like nothing you have ever felt before and your first flight is like no other flight you have ever had before so you can imagine how exciting it is,” he says.
Kalenga narrates that his first flight was overwhelming. First of all, he did not know anything and he was there flying while confused,
scared, nervous but at the end of the flight,  the smile on his face was like nothing happened.
On  July 11, 2013, Kalenga decided to get his rating in air craft flying and in March, 2014, Kalenga proceeded for a caravan rating which he completed successfully and graduated at Port Alfred Air
School in South Africa.
Just like any other college or university graduate, Kalenga went hunting upon returning to Zambia. Even though he lived in Kitwe at the time, distance was not a deterrent for him to achieve his dream of becoming a pilot.
Kalenga  had to travel from Kitwe all the way to Lusaka’s Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in search of a job.
“I had to drop my applications and  curriculum vitae to potential employers of which one of them was Proflight Zambia, and every time I would drop my CV, I would wait for feedback and prayed that one day
the phone would ring, “ he says.
August 20, 2014 was a special day for him not because it is his birthday. It was the day Kalenga woke up to a surprise that was beyond his expectation.
He narrates that it was joy which in human expression could not even be described. Kalenga finally received a call from Proflight and he was requested to attend a job interview.
This was a nerve wrecking experience for him as he kept on wondering if he was good enough to be noticed because the airline gets applications from all over the world. He marvelled about what would
make him standout from the crowd.
Kalenga says he did not want to let an opportunity of a life time pass by  him  and thus,  he pulled himself together as he attended the interview.
Kalenga recites that he was interviewed by a panel of four people  from the   Proflight management.
In his own words, “The interview that  only  took 10  minutes,  felt like it was three hours. I just told myself even if I am nervous I need to do this.”
After the interview Kalenga said that once again he had to wait for fate to play its part.
Finally,  the young pilot was called for a second interview where he was required to carry out a flight test.
“In aviation you have two interviews; personal evaluation and flight test which is meant to test whether you can fly or not. In short, it is done to check if you are a qualified pilot,” he says.
Kalenga flew with captain Vivian Sikazwe who by then,  was the instructor who would ensure that the young pilot was qualified for the job.
Later after the flight, Captain Sikazwe told Kalenga that the flight was ok and that he will talk to Proflight management, who would make the final decision if he was to be hired or not.
He continued waiting for the best news knowing very well that this was the last stride he had to make in order for him to get the job.
On his 20th birthday, he received a call from Proflight that he had gotten the job.
Currently, Kalenga works for Proflight Zambia as a pilot. He flies on local routes as well as on the Lusaka-Malawi and Lusaka- Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) routes.
Kalenga advised youths not to wait for the Government for everything but strive to see what they can do for the country as individuals because waiting could be in perpetuity.
“There is no reason in waiting for someone to help you when you can do something yourself”, he said.
Kalenga appreciated his parents for recognising the importance of education and the support they have given him since the inception of his journey to becoming a pilot.
He further paid  tribute to Proflight for giving him an opportunity that has changed his life tremendously.
Proflight has made his efforts and dream of becoming a pilot recognised by many Zambian’s as well as,  people from other countries.
“Be the best you can be, reach for the stars so that when you fall, you land on the clouds. Let us pursue perfection so that in our short comings we would have at least achieved excellence,” he said.
Proflight director of Government an Industry Captain Philip Lemba says pilot training in Zambia is expensive.
He appealed to the  Government to ensure that institutions like the Zambia Aviation Service Training School are given a face-lift in its operation so as to train more local pilots.
Captain Philip Lemba said Proflight was ready to support Kalenga seeing that he was able to deliver the service to the public.
He encourages companies and institutions to promote the skills that young people have.
“The world has become a global village and young people nowadays are learning things so fast compared to the old generation. So many young people like Kalenga who can do remarkable things at a very tender age must be given the platform so they can be acknowledged regardless of their age,” he said.
Providing a platform for determined young people  would be a way of tapping young talent which is of great importance to the development and well-being of the country.