The complex of problems is almost beyond discussion, but from what I have seen and learned about in Zambia (a very pleasant and welcoming society), there is a continuing problem with tribalism. It would correspond to regionalism / social strata in the United States. This is not helped when the tribes have their separate "vernaculars" (even though English is the official common language).

There is also the problem of high attendance at church, but widespread moral sloth and depravity (spousal abuse, child abuse, alcoholism). Christian baptism notwithstanding, many are still afraid of black magic & witch doctors. Black cats are abhorred. Owls are considered harbingers of death. So, the level of superstition is still high. Only in recent years are stray cats and dogs treated humanely, under the influence of increasing white settlement. The humane traits do pass along to the black population. Human beings are not meant to be cruel.

The schools are primitive in infrastructure, but can deliver a decent education---if the children are not sabotaged by poverty, familial inattention, or outright abandonment. Zambia has the tragic irony of having good universities producing well-trained professionals---who have to find work in other countries, because there is no market for them at home. The government is oblivious to this dilemma and how it prevents the domestic economy from improving.

Poverty and the pressures of existence give rise to widespread alcoholism (ready to party EVERY night of the week) and to a defensively callous indifference to the human wreckage literally alongside the highways and byways. Psychological problems are rife, but the situation is considered so unspeakable, no one wants to bring any attention to its remediation. The Chainama mental hospital in Lusaka is like the ancient Bedlam in every particular: a low-security prison with a common area and iron cages and hose-downs for the intractable cases.

Frankly, given the level of reading comprehension and understanding of political subjects, the populace makes ballot decisions on an emotionally immature level. Corrupt political parties can literally purchase votes for the bribe of a sack of milled grain (food!) out in the villages. Corruption is omnipresent and vigorous. You almost literally must pay the police to do their proper job, because they are not being funded at even a sustaining level. (This is a warning to those anarcho-capitalists who think that a free-market government is a desirable thing.)

Under these circumstances and handicaps, it is not hard to see how a black African population would behave in accordance with the stereotypes. Nevertheless, my wife and I have hopes to influence the future there in the right direction.