A Preliminary Report on Support and Requests for Gifts via Mobile Phones: A Case Study of Rural Tonga People in the Southern Province of Zambia

摘要

In Zambia, the penetration and prevalence of mobile phone use has dramatically increased in recent years. This study focused on the mobile phone as a rapidly spreading tool for communication, and sought to clarify how rural Tonga people utilize mobile phones to receive support.The results revealed several key findings regarding support and requests for gifts via mobile phones among Tonga people: 1) People with insufficient funds for making calls on their mobile phones often encourage others to call them by “paging” others’ phones. 2) In cases where a household member has no mobile phone, they can often access the mobile phone of another household. 3) Cash and food are often requested via mobile phones. 4) Most requests are made over a long distance. 5) Many requests occur between parents and children boarding elsewhere, and between villagers and urban relatives.