Ndola: Chipulukusu and Twapia visits

I just got back from four days in Ndola (four hours north of Lusaka by car) with people from my office. We went around the communities of Chipulukusu and Twapia where HFHZ has built houses for some years now.  These houses are primarily built by Global Village teams, which are the volunteers who come to Zambia for a week or two from other countries.  Teams come from Ireland, England, the US, and other places. There is an attorney in Ireland named Michael Nugent who has come here three times with teams and had raised a lot of money for HFHZ. During the times he was here with his team building homes, he saw how far the women and children had to go to get water, and how they spent 6 hours or more roundtrip, carrying it back to their homes in plastic jugs.  So, when he returned to Ireland he raised financing for the drilling of what are called boreholes - where the people can come and get water from a hand pump, for three locations.  Because there is no sewage system, you must be very careful where you place the borehole or you can end up drilling where the water table is contaminated from pit latrines.

So on our journey we visited the families who live in houses that were built in 2012 by the GV teams, talked to the homeowners and had them tell us how having a safe, secure home has changed or affected their lives.  We took pictures of the family both inside and outside the home so the GV team could see how the families had decorated and planted.  We brought colored pencils and paper so if there were small children in the house they could draw a picture for the GV team.  While the teams are building they often live in the community and form a wonderful bond with the residents.  Each homeowner wrote a short letter to the team thanking them, etc. Representatives of the local governing committee, the chairman, vice chair and secretary, who are residents of that community and just as poor as everyone else there, came with us on our visits and usually ended up writing the letter as the homeowner dictated it to them.  All this information is transmitted to every volunteer on each team through email in the form of a Christmas card.  (I have a lot of writing in front of me to turn all the information into individual stories about each family.)  These were heartbreaking days but also full of wonder.  They have a very strong faith in God and are grateful for what they have more than unhappy about what they don’t.  In every letter written they sent thanks and God’s blessing to the GV team.

The kids are marvelous!  They got such a kick out of looking at me and touching my hand because I am white!  I played patty cake with some and taught them "round and round the garden".  They loved to be chased and tickled, so I did a lot of that too.  In Twapia they speak Bemba (a major Bantu language) and only one young girl, Phoebe, knew English - so it was fun trying to communicate with each other!  They LOVE having their pictures taken - digital cameras are a great entertainment.  They crowd around you so close you can hardly take the picture, then when you show it to them, they get hysterical with laughter.  They love seeing themselves and their friends on the screen.  In fact, they don't seem to care if they are in the shot, but are equally happy to see the faces of their friends. As with kids everywhere, some are shy and some are very outgoing. But what touched me so deeply is how much they laugh, and how easy it is to make them laugh – they truly are very happy souls when they are young and don’t understand the privations of their lives and what difficulties lie ahead.

Of course I heard more than one tragic story, but one in particular even had my manager Sharon in tears and she had to walk away – and she is no stranger to the extremes of poverty and the unfairness of life.  Three teenagers lived with their grandmother, who is about 80 yrs. Old.  All three are what they call here double orphans, which mean both parents have died; they use the term single orphan when only one parent has died.  Just a week or so before we arrived, the grandmother, Lister, was placed in the psychiatric unit of a hospital because she was suffering from dementia.  The kids hadn't eaten in over a week.  They were out in front of the house with a hoe, turning the dirt so they could grow some vegetables.  Neighbors were trying to help, but many of them only have one meal a day.  I had to walk away with Sharon as I was crying too - it is so desperate and so overwhelming - I don't know how it can ever be changed. The obstacles seem insurmountable.

One thing that sustains me and the people at HFHZ is the knowledge that safe shelter really can change a life.  There are people living in houses built of mud which collapse in the rainy season, often killing the inhabitants.  There are houses without roofs where the family has to stand in corners all night long trying to stay dry. Without a roof over one’s head and the ability to sleep at night, a child cannot be successful in school. Without a plot of land, a family cannot grow vegetables and raise chickens.  So, dear friends, don’t be surprised when I get home and start trying to raise money for HFHZ.

Tiza

Eva

 

Blessings

Phillip

Serena and baby brother

Thanksgiving

I am looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving in the US next year with my family, but we had a lovely dinner with a group of young people on Saturday night.  Four of them live in the same walled and gated complex we are in (can’t say compound, because that means a slum area here!) All of them are post-graduates with fellowships at local NGO’s and they each brought a Zambian friend, so we were surrounded with vibrant, intelligent young adults who gave me so much hope for the future- what a wonderful group! 

We found a turkey and I cooked the largest one I could find (10 lbs.) and made stuffing sans celery unfortunately as there was none to be found anywhere in Lusaka.  Located some heavy cream - also no small feat - and made creamed onions and leeks.  One of our young neighbors, Mina, also brought a turkey and stuffing.  Someone had brought a care package from the US with canned pumpkin and the cranberry a while back, so there were pumpkin pies, an apple pie, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and green beans!  It looked, smelled and tasted like a real Thanksgiving!

Our hostess Karen had us take turns around the table for what she called a Jeffersonian chat, and everyone said what they were thankful for and no one could interrupt.  I cannot express how moving it was to hear all these twenty-something’s offer thanks for various things in their lives – and highest on the list was thanking their parents for their support, as well as understanding their desire to be in Africa.  Love and support from their family and friends was a universal theme.

Tomorrow I leave for four days in Ndola, which is about four hours north of Lusaka by car.  I am going with two people from work.  It is a regular trip that is made to visit homeowners that Habitat has built for.  We spend the days collecting data and spend each night writing it all up for a report to the donors.  Not thrilled to be leaving Nigel but could not say no to a new experience.  Sharon and Sakalima are coming home Friday.  Since I usually have Fridays off, Nigel and I had already planned to go away this weekend to Lake Kariba.  So, I will be taking a four hour bus ride from Ndola back to Lusaka on Thursday - now that should be an experience!

Only four more weeks until the kids come and we are getting very excited!

Haroum and Neil

Our neighbor, Mina

Haroum

Lauren, Lisa and Mina - our neighbors

Karen and Dela

3rd from left is our neighbor Jared, with Mina and Neil

Art and Food

Last Wednesday I took the day of work and attended a watercolor class at a place called Zebra Crossing.  It is a wonderful gathering of shops; a lovely restaurant that features the works of local artists on the walls; an art supply shop; Savannah Wood - which sells amazing handmade wood furniture; a chocolate shop; travel agent; hair salon; and gift shop selling locally made crafts.  The restaurant has a charming old brick floor with a ceiling supported by large wood beams, and is open to the elements; there are even two large jacaranda trees in the middle of the restaurant whose tops go through the ceiling and provide wonderful cooling shade over the building.  It has the freshest vegetables we have had yet and they just built an outdoor brick pizza oven.  The art work is hung on sturdy mesh wire dividers throughout the space.  There are tables and chairs, as well as cozy seating areas with couches and low tables.  It is a great place and the food is some of the best we have found here! 

We met the owner of the restaurant, Simon Hewett (a Brit), about two months ago (just before he opened his restaurant at Zebra Crossing) at a local pub we visit sometimes called Micki’s. He is part of a colorful group of mostly men, which regularly meets around 5 pm, six nights a week.  They call themselves the “kitty club” because when you sit at their regular, large table, you put 50 pin (slang for ZKM50,000 or 50,0000 kwachas) per person in the kitty.  Everyone has their drinks until the kitty runs out, then they ante up again, and it starts all over.  They usually stay until 730-800pm when they go home to dinner. Nigel and I usually don’t show up until after we have eaten dinner (a good foundation for the drinking to follow) and stagger home on uneven dirt sidewalks in the dark with a flashlight!

Some of the characters at Micki’s are Kevin, who is a part owner of Micki’s and seems to be the ringleader.  He was born here and has a Lozi “wife” who is 30-35 yrs younger than he is. Richard is a widower, 3^rd generation Zambian of Cornish descent of which he is very proud.  He just returned to Zambia in early October, having lived in Spain for 20 yrs and also in the UK. Then there is Trevor, who talks a lot about politics and local corruption and has promised to lend me a book written by a female Zambian economist about how bad NGO’s actually are for the country and the continent.  The theory is that the overabundance of NGO’s has created a culture that expects help, and therefore has damped down any sense of motivation or entrepreneurship by the locals.  Many or even most of the successful businesses here are owned by non- Zambians.  It is almost impossible for Zambians to start a business even if they wanted to, because interest rates are so high no one can afford to borrow money.

Simon lived in Kenya for 7 years and owned a large construction company there which built bridges, etc.  He and his wife arrived in Lusaka last spring because of his wife’s job with WorldFish Zambia.  There are many others in this informal group whose names I can’t remember.  Sometimes some of them bring their wives, so there are usually two or three women to talk to. Anyway, I digress….I had a lovely day painting with a really good teacher, nice people, and a great lunch provided by the café.

 

Nigel and I returned there Thursday night for an art opening.  I had met both the artists the day before as they were hanging the show.  Fiona Burdett was born in Zimbabwe (they just say Zim) and has been painting many years, she appeared to be a bit younger than Nigel and I. Fiona, or Fifo as she signs her work, paints animals – wild and farm. She grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe, and lives on one now, about four hours north of Lusaka. Caleb Chisha, who is only about 24yrs old is an amazing talent!  He is entirely self- taught and mostly does works with a statement about life in Africa, many depicting children.

And now some news from Nigel!

PULSE-ing IN ZAMBIA

First Half

MONTH 1 – Mid June to mid July.

Acclimatizing and learning.

Upon my arrival at Kenneth Kaunda (first president of Zambia) International Airport in Lusaka at 06:00    I was picked up by the Save the Children (SC) driver Ackson. On the way into Lusaka I was told that my flat was not yet ready to move into, (welcome to Africa!) The company, Mulungushi, that owns the complex where the flat is, also runs a lodge (hotel) in Lusaka which is where I was put for the first 3 nights. This turned out to be a wonderful stroke of destiny. On the first night I ventured down to the bar to sample the local brews and have dinner when I starting talking to a group of Zambian guys. It turned out that a group of 10 to 20 guys drink at this watering hole every night and they call themselves the Mongrels. Over the time I have lived here I have been a regular visitor and become very good friends with many of them and am now an honorary Mongrel. Spending all this time with the Mongrels has been a fantastic source of information, contacts and given me a better understanding of the country. 

I went into the SC offices on the 2^nd day and found Kotutu who I work with most closely on the Every One Campaign, and we had been emailing before my arrival. She then took me around the office to introduce me to the 25 people who work here in Lusaka. Of course many of the names were unfamiliar so it took me a few weeks to remember them all. It turned out that Kotutu had a trip planned that first Friday up to Kitwe in Copperbelt Province and I was invited to tag along. One of the SC drivers was enlisted to take us up in a Toyota pickup truck (SC vehicle). The drive was fascinating as we passed many road side markets varying from about 30 stalls in the larger villages to 1 or 2 in the smaller ones. They sell an array of fresh fruit and vegetables (which actual taste of something!), and large bags of charcoal which is used for cooking. I also saw many kids walking on the side of the road to and from school. They all wear school uniforms and some were quite young maybe 5 or 6. Some of them have to walk a long way from their village which made me realize that I should have made my kids walk to school!!!

On Saturday we met up with SC people from the regional office in Kalulushi which is just outside Kitwe. We drove for a couple of hours along a dirt road to get to a village where they were having a traditional harvest festival presided over by the tribes Chieftainess Shimukunami VII. The celebrations happened in an arena surrounded by a fence made of thatch type grass with a stage at one end. There were tents erected for the dignitaries to sit under on 3 sides of the arena. The members of the tribe were gathered on the 4^th side. The event started 2 hours behind schedule (welcome to Africa!) with drumming and dancing. During this time the Chieftainess was in a side area next to the main arena receiving dignitaries. One of the local SC workers who is from the tribe, arranged for a few of us, me included, to be introduced to her. When you first enter you kneel down some distance away and clap the back of your hand against the palm of the other as a sign of respect. We were then allowed to kneel in front of her and were all introduced. She very graciously allowed me to take a couple of pictures. A little later the Chieftainess was lifted, sitting in a chair, on the shoulders of 8 men and paraded around the arena. There was then more dancing and music followed by speeches which lasted way too long. The final part of the ceremony was the giving of gifts to the Chieftainess. There was quite an array ranging from a refridgerator to bags of Mealie Meal which is the local staple food. It was a wonderful early introduction to some of the culture and traditions of the rural parts of Zambia. It was also really cool that I was the only muzungu (white guy) there!! Kotutu and I stayed in Kitwe until Wednesday. On the Tuesday afternoon I walked down to the local market which is where most people do their shopping. It is huge, probably the size of a large city block, and made up of narrow alleyways lined with small stalls selling everything from food to bath tubs. I am sure you could buy absolutely anything you needed somewhere in the market. The sights and sounds were amazing. As often happens here, because the people are so friendly, I got into good conversations with several of the vendors. I have found that there is a huge following of English Premier Football here (Manchester United being the most popular) so that is often a good conversation starter.  

The flat I moved into in the middle of the first week is in a walled complex of 10 single story buildings ranging from 3 bedroom houses to the flat I am in which is a building with 2 self contained 2 bedroom flats. The best thing about the place is the grounds which are nicely landscaped with large trees, flower beds and grassy areas. The worst part is that it takes forever to get anything fixed. Example, it took them 2 ½ months to replace the fly screens in the windows ( welcome to Africa)! There are 5 feral cats that live in the complex. There are also a number of different birds, the loudest of which is the common Bulbul which sings as the sun rises and sets. One of its songs sounds like “sweet chop suey”. They are my alarm clock in the mornings at 5:00. I have become good friends with one of my neighbors Vinod and his dog Buddy who loves to chase the cats. There is a pretty well stocked supermarket within walking distance which is convenient and means I can get most things I need without transport.

On the second weekend I was here, the Monday and Tuesday was a holiday here so I rented a car for 4 days. One of the evenings I decided to drive over to visit the Mongrels. It was dark by the time I set off from my flat which made the navigation a little bit more challenging but I managed to find my way with only one wrong turn. Driving after dark here is a totally new experience. Most of the roads have no streetlights! The route to the bar required driving through an area called Kalingalinga which is a very large compound (where the poor folks live) and is always crowded with people walking around going to the market stalls or local bars, etc. Anyone wearing dark clothes would not become visible until the last second and given that they will cross the road right in front of you made the journey fraught with the danger of pedestrian accidents. Needless to say I proceeded at a very slow pace which elicited much horn blowing from the drivers behind. I was much relieved when returning to my flat to have negotiated said hazards only to remember I had forgotten to settle my bar tab, so had to repeat the journey for a second time! While I had the car I also went to the city center to purchase a bicycle (more on this later) and also did a full day’s drive out into the rural area.

I spent much of the rest of the month getting the flat equipped, getting the cell set up, and learning about the Every One campaign and SC. Every One is SC’s campaign to help reduce under 5 mortality and improve maternal health care and address Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. I work most closely with Kotutu who is the Advocacy Coordinator for the campaign. She had only been in the job for about two months with no one in the position prior to her, so we have had to pretty much start from scratch with the advocacy and communications work.

MONTH 2 -  Mid July – Mid Aug

The bike, the Ag show and the VP

As mentioned previously, I decided it would be a good idea to buy myself a bike for getting to and from work which is about 1 ¼ miles. I felt pressured to buy the bike while I had the rental car which resulted in a less than ideal purchase. When I got the bike home I realized that the back wheel was bent, the handlebars were loose, the pedal was falling off and the brakes did not work (welcome to Africa)!  After several attempts to rectify the shortcomings of the bike I decided it was much more prudent to walk to work. The bike has since been sold, at a very good price, to John Banda, one of the guards where I live. He seems to have been able to get the bike in good working order and is thrilled that he can ride to work, saving him the bus fares. The whole saga makes one really appreciate having a comfortable company car back home. One of the significant benefits of the walking is that the waist has reduced 2 notches on the belt and one of the guts has disappeared!!

In early August, Lusaka hosted The Agricultural and Commercial Show. This is an annual event starting on a Thursday and finishing on the Monday which is Farmers Day, a public holiday. Because it is the largest event in Lusaka attracting huge crowds, Kotutu and I decided to have a stand (booth) at the show. The first thing we had to do was reserve our spot. Easier said than done! Of course no web site to go to for any information so we had to go down to the Show Grounds office. After fighting our way through a totally disorganized throng of people, we were told that the ONLY person who could give us pricing or availability information was the manager. Unfortunately the manager never seemed to be in his office despite assurances from different staff members that he would be in “very soon”. After many visits and much persistence I was able to track him down and secure a spot less than a week before the event. 

It had been decided that we would hang a large banner in the stand with an advocacy message about health care spending by the government, on which people could sign their name to show support. I was informed that at SC, anytime you are ordering goods or services you have to get 3 quotations. Easier said than done! Of the 3 printers I called and made appointments with only one, Brian, showed up anywhere near on time. Brian had a quote to me the next day and has continued to be a joy to work with. However, it took 2 weeks to get the other quotes, which was incredibly frustrating since we were under a time crunch to get the banner printed before the event. The banner was delivered the first day of the show. The 4 days spent at the show turned out to be very successful. We gathered about 100 signatures and educated several hundred people on child and maternal health. Unfortunately my camera got nicked out of its case which was on my belt. It happened while I was at a food counter ordering lunch. Never felt a thing, damn they’re good!

At the end of the Olympic Games in London (great job by my home boys!!), David Cameron (Brit PM) organized a hunger summit. We heard that the Vice President of Zambia, Dr Guy Scott, was going to attend so it was decided that I should deliver a letter and some background reading for him from SC. When I went to the building where his office is located I was amazed to find that there was basically no security screening. I asked his Senior Private Secretary if I could deliver the information in person but was told that the VP was unavailable, but if I wanted to meet him I should call the following week. I called back the next week and was told to come right over. After a quick detour to put my smart clothes on, I went to his office and was granted an audience. We sat and chatted for about 15 minutes discussing what I was doing with SC and various political topics. I mentioned to him that I had been surprised to find a white man as the VP of an African country. It turns out that he was born here in Zambia and has been in politics for many years. I can’t imagine it would be that easy to meet the VP in America.

MONTH 3 – Mid Aug – Mid Sept

Football, Race for Survival, Tara’s arrival

I had the very good fortune to be invited by the Mongrels to join them on a weekend trip up to Ndola for the big football game between Zambia and Uganda. This was the first leg of a two leg match with the winner advancing to next year’s Africa Cup in South Africa. There were great expectations of the Zambian team known as Chipolopolo (bullet) since they are the current champions. I was driven up on Friday in Patrick’s car with Bush and Mukube. We were supposed to set off early to avoid the traffic which of course didn’t happen (welcome to Africa!) Anyway, we arrived at our lodge late afternoon. Gradually throughout the night the Mongrels arrived to great hollering which got louder as the evening went on, fueled by large intakes of beer. The festivities then moved to a local nightclub for a couple of hours before returning to the lodge at 2 am. At this point I disappeared off to my room leaving many of the guys to continue at the bar. Saturday morning started with a large breakfast of questionable quality before the beer consumption started again. The main goal seemed to be getting well refreshed before heading off to the game. As one of the Mongrels pointed out “they don’t sell alcohol at the game so you got to fill up before you go”. I chose the more prudent course and went back to bed for a couple of hours. When I returned to the bar the festivities were in full swing with much impromptu dancing and singing breaking out. Remarkably we managed to get to the game before it started, just. The game was played in a beautiful new stadium built by the Chinese. It is named after a former president Levy Mwanawasa. The Chipolopolo boys eked out a 1 nil win which was a huge disappointment to the crowd who were expecting many more goals. On the return leg Uganda won 1 nil but the Chipolopolo won the penalty shootout to go through. Somehow I was delivered back to my flat, only slightly worse for wear, on Sunday evening. It was a fantastic weekend which I will always cherish.

The focus at SC was switching to preparation for a big advocacy event on 16^th October called the Race for Survival that was to be staged in Zambia for the first time.  The Race is a marathon length race, run as a relay by 31 kids aged 11-13, and is staged by SC in over 45 countries around the world. The event coincides with World Food Day and is used to bring attention to the malnutrition that is still way too common in most of the developing world. For example, in Zambia, the rate of stunting is still 45%. There was a ton of organization needed to put on the event with a budget of less than $5,000. One of the areas I focused on was getting donations from various corporations. After much pestering, cajoling and reminding I was able to get free water, juice, buses and 50% off sport shoes which significantly helped stretch the budget.

After 3 months of bachelorhood I was thrilled to welcome Tara on my African adventure. She arrived on 13^th Sept after much preparation at home to make sure all the bills would be paid and the kids were well provisioned amongst many other tasks which I would probably have never thought of. 

HALF TIME OBSERVATIONS AND THOUGHTS.

Zambian time – negotiable and expandable

Appointments – not binding and based on above

Commitment to do something – see above

Zambian people – incredibly friendly

NGOs – Way too many and don’t coordinate with each other

“Welcome to Africa” - most things work, (just) most of the time. Most things don’t work some of the time

Beer – better than expected but limited choice, only lager.

Nshima (staple food made from maize) – absolutely no flavor

Development – will continue to be very slow while foreign governments give handouts. “Teach a man to fish” quote comes to mind

Cockroaches – Do they serve any purpose other than to gross you out?

Holding folding – It is a cash economy where the largest note is worth $10. Forget a money clip, you have to carry a large wad!