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 2nd 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 4th 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 16th 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 13th 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment