Writing the Script for their Future: Meet Agness and Bupe

Agness, 25, dropped out of school as a teenager. Like many young girls in rural Zambia, the financial hardship of attending school got in the way of education. Today, she and her husband, 27-year-old Bupe, have a business selling charcoal out of their home. They are at their strongest when they’re acting together — both focused on their work and providing for their family.

Agness and Bupe had their first two children back-to-back in 2018 and 2019 without taking any recovery time or allowing Agness to focus on work. In their region, a common misconception holds that men should keep their wives pregnant as often as possible so they are not appealing to other men — and that the busier women are with children, the less likely they are to “misbehave.” Myths like this prevent contraceptive use across Zambia and around the world.

In 2019, Agness started listening to Kwishilya (“Over the Horizon”), a radio drama produced by PMC-Zambia with support from USAID.

“I will be honest, the first time I listened to the story, it was a little difficult for me because I felt like they were talking about me,” Agness said. “But again, that’s what also kept me listening because I was curious to know how the story — ‘my story’ — would end.”

What Agness was feeling was by design. PMC’s storytelling methodology creates characters who resonate with audiences so that listeners can witness people like themselves navigating similar choices — and learn vicariously through the consequences and decisions those characters make.

Agness eventually convinced Bupe to listen to Kwishilya with her, setting the scene for critical conversations in their marriage.

“Listening to the show together made it easier to have a conversation about spacing children using more modern forms of family planning,” Agness said. “Because of the happenings in Kwishilya, there were no misunderstandings. We both had all the information.”

The couple started making decisions together. They made appointments at a health facility as a couple for family planning services and waited almost two years before having their third child.

“I’m looking forward to our future with the knowledge we have acquired from the show and our health provider,” Agness said.

Beyond her family’s health, Agness has seen other positive impacts — including more equality in her relationship and a stronger economic outlook for their business. “I’m hopeful that our family situation will improve economically, seeing as we will have time to grow our business together. Instead of my husband being the main provider and decision-maker when I was either pregnant or looking after an infant, I’m here to contribute too.”

Agness hopes others will join them. “I would also like to encourage those that haven’t listened to the drama, and might be going through the same predicament as me, to listen. I have faith that it will improve their lives the way it has mine.”