Rob in Zambia

Burgled (again)

2012-01-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

This was burglary number three I think – frustrating but in the scheme of things minimal damage was done. To back track Abi, my neighbourhood, contacted me sometime around 28th December to say that the house had been broken into and that things were missing. My immediate panic concerned my laptop and hard drive but Abi reassured me that no one had actually got into the house, which left me somewhat confused. The story goes that either the night guard was asleep, he had wandered off somewhere or he let the intruders into the plot of the house. Then the intruders proceeded to prise open the windows for the bedrooms and as they cannot climb in due to the metal bars on each window they must have used a hook or claw to drag things to the windows and out. In the end they took a duvet, some pillows, sheets and bed sheets, and ran off when the night guard started screaming to Abi around 4am that someone was stealing things from the house. Now I have another new night guard and the security company are begrudgingly going to pay for the stolen items. So annoying but it could have been worse and the items taken can easily be replaced.

A long journey back

2012-01-05T12:55:00.000-08:00

A quick summary of the transport that we used to get back to Mazabuka from Tofo:

Local bus (very uncomfortable) at 0400hrs in the morning from Tofo to Maputo – 9hrs travel
International bus (luxury and I was so comfortable that I talked in my sleep and woke up half the bus at one point) at 1900hrs from Maputo to Johannesburg – another 9hrs
Commuter train and then shared taxi to get from the intercity bus terminal at 0500hrs in Joburg to OR Tambo airport – took a bit longer than it should have done but was good fun
Plane of the Easy Jet kind from Joburg at 1000hrs to Livingstone – less than two hours
Bus (semi luxury) from Livingstone at 1330hrs to Mazabuka - and 6hrs later back in Maz

Then time to sleep.

Tofo and Tipo Tinto

2012-01-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

A piece of advice on how to end the New Year and then start the new one – be near a beach. Zanzibar last year was wonderful and Tofo, sitting on the Indian Ocean, was pretty good too. Our routine for days on end was to hit the beach, run across the beach to avoid the hot sand, cool off in the sea and jump into the waves, beach sleeping to catch up after a late night or two, search for some food and then head out for some more dancing and drinking. The drinking at times included some strange and scarily looking cocktails, and also on one night a wee bit too much of the local rum, Tipo Tinto. Happy sandy days.

Coffee and cakes in Maputo

2011-12-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

My impressions of Maputo are that it feels like a proper city with its wide pavements, people busily hawking anything and everything, and markets full of fresh produce (lots fruit and vegetable varieties), which all means that as a capital Lusaka suffers terribly in comparison. There are pasteleria’s selling espresso coffee and small, sweet custard cream like pastries where you can sit outside and spend hours people watching. I am only a bit lost not knowing the Portuguese language; this means people are friendly but it is harder to access the open warmth of the Zambian people. The parts that I have seen showcase a city of contrasts. On one side of the street you can watch maids all dressed up walking the dogs of their rich owners or waiting to collect shopping bags from cars as the owners pass by. The other side has buildings in disrepair, homeless people sleeping on the street and the foul smell of piled up, rotting rubbish. There are beautiful colonial buildings and on the next road towering, 1960s, communist like structures. The warm weather is perfect for outdoor eating and fruit is everywhere with some of my favourite exotic ones like litchi and passion fruit easily available. I like the place.

Christmas in a stable

2011-12-26T08:07:00.000-08:00

The title says it all really. We awoke on Christmas morning after spending the night in a stable that had been converted into a bunk bed style dormitory which could have slept another 30 or more people but we had the whole place to ourselves. The horses had been to another proper stable close-by. Christmas breakfast was taken outside in the warm morning sun, we were surrounded by fields and hills, and little much else. To prepare for our planned feast later on we walked and then walked some more, and returned to a tasty meal of roast beef and vegetables supported by a amusingly named red wine of Fat Bastard. Dessert consisted of an electric mix of freshly picked blackberries (which brought back childhood memories of clambering into blackberry bushes by the roadside), cheese and chocolates. Of course it still felt strange, like last year, to not be surrounded by the Wootton family but the good friends and the unusual location still made it a special and enjoyable Christmas.

Swaziland or is it somewhere back home?

2011-12-24T08:04:00.000-08:00

The place is very green. There are hills, some look like mountains, very few people and it is drizzling. At first I was a bit confused as to where exactly we had ended up after crossing the border into Swaziland from South Africa. It looked like the Lake or Peak District back home and this view was reinforced over the next few days as we did plenty of walking in between sheltering indoors to avoid the rain and to keep warm. Because it was Christmas we had expected many more people, yet Swaziland felt fairly sparsely populated and as we discovered later on all the South African’s had moved en-mass to the coast of Mozambique. For a whole variety of connotations one pre-Christmas walk involved climbing a mountain called Sheba’s Breast and it did not fail to deliver some wonderful scenery.

Durban and Zinkwazi

2011-12-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

The first stop on the three country Christmas tour was South Africa and Durban. It was hard to fairly judge Durban. On the one hand it was just good to be holiday, being away and enjoying some tasty food. We were only in the city for two nights, one full day, and spent that wandering around the city centre and beach front, which was packed with people enjoying the sea, sand and water parks. Live bands played away and there was a good feeling and friendly vibe about the place. The bits of the centre that we saw had obviously undergone a big facelift, mainly as a result of South Africa holding the 2012 World Cup, and had done much to make the city more accessible. Now to be unfair, it was simply not Cape Town, a city that I will happily visit again.

After Durban we headed to a small, seaside hamlet of a place called Zinkwaki, which is around 80kms north of Durban. We stayed with some English doctor friends who Marco had met in Zambia and who were very welcoming as we took over their rather large house for a few days. We walked to the beach which took about 2 minutes, did not move much whilst there and enjoyed nights of good food and wine (plus some peach sparkling wine on Kristin’s birthday – a not to be repeated drink!), and pleasingly did little much else.

New opportunity

2011-12-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

Really by this date I should be writing something on this blog along the lines of almost time to pack my bags for returning back to the UK or I am off for a few months travelling, given that my two year placement with VSO will come to an end by February 2012. However, it looks like I will be in Zambia for a while yet, not in Mazabuka but instead in Lusaka.

For a number of months another VSO volunteer and myself have been working on a project proposal to help enable a better understanding of who is doing what on HIV and AIDS in Zambia, where the different organisations are working, the types of activities they are engaged in and how much of the actual activity is taking place. Now none of this is rocket science, yet a simple and coherent system for collecting and analysing this sort of information does not exist at the moment. The answers are not going to solve the problems faced by the country in terms of HIV and AIDS but if we do not have this basic information in the first place then Zambia is struggling to even get to first base.

Hopefully come January the funding for the project will be in place for the first phase of the work and we can get started. It will be a new challenge for me, working at the national level in Zambia but also providing training and support to people in districts like Mazabuka. I will write and explain more about the project (if you are interested) when we finally start. For now I am off on holiday with a few friends to explore the hills of Swaziland and relax on the beaches of Mozambique, which I am hoping will be as good as it sounds.

The Last Supper

2011-12-14T07:29:00.000-08:00

There is little to say here. The Maz crowd gathered together at Marco’s spacious house for one last time – for our usual feast of good food, to be served drinks from his homemade bar and to play a few games of pool. We will all have many happy memories from nights at that house and the people we met there.

A New Boy in Town

2011-12-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

Next door to my office is a local organisation working for people with disabilities and run by two friendly, charming women called Cristobel and Beauty. As far as I can whenever they have asked for my help and advice I have tried my best to support them, which is not easy given they have very little, if any, funding and people with disabilities remain a marginalised group within society. When Beauty became pregnant she confidently informed me that she would be having a boy and that she would name him Robert. I innocently thought that she was teasing me, just being kind or more likely to change her mind later on and choose a traditional name. Of course I was wrong and I struggle to think of a greater honour as when Beauty gave birth this week she did name him after me, which brought a larger than normal, beaming smile to my face. Pictures of baby Robert will follow soon.

HIV and AIDS Workplace Policy

2011-12-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Feeling exhausted after all the running around from and the chaos of World AIDS Day there was little time to rest as I travelled to Lusaka for a workshop on HIV and AIDS workplace policy. I honestly thought that the next two days would be tedious and not prove to be worthwhile; instead the interesting nature of the discussions and the people proved me wrong. The participants had been selected on the basis that we were all part of the consultations to help develop an overarching HIV and AIDS workplace policy for Zambia. We were now at the point of commenting on a draft policy which was meant to act as guiding principles for all sectors in the country to follow and to encourage them to develop their own HIV and AIDS workplace policy policies.

A lot of detailed and careful work had gone into the document which benefited our discussions as we rarely had to rewrite sections; instead we provided corrections, insertions or additions. The mix of contributions from participants covering Government Departments, Civil Society and the Private sector also helped. My main hope is that our comments and the good progress that has already been made in drafting such a policy is not lost. A genuine effort needs to be made to launch the policy, engage with the different sectors and then support to them so that the sectors, businesses, institutions and other organisations create their own HIV and AIDS workplace policies. What we do not need is another well written policy gathering dust on a shelf.

Photos from World AIDS Day 2011

2011-12-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

World AIDS Day 2011

2011-12-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

“My last commemoration event”, spoken with a mixture of relief and joy, mainly because so much of the work ends up being done at the last minute and as a result Judy and I end up shouldering too much of the organising burden. Oh to be a fly on the wall after we have gone and when the preparations start for the next event!

This event was no different aside from the added pressure of the Guest of Honour being the Honourable Professor Nkandu Luo MP and the Minister of Local Government, Housing, Early Education and Environmental Protection. There were a few hiccups along the way which always happens but in general the day, activities, marching and everything else went pretty much to plan. The Minister spoke eloquently and passionately (as we had hoped) and the testimonies by people with HIV were especially moving and powerful. The event was seen by most people as a success though a few nagging questions remain in my mind where we need to improve. Some examples:

World AIDS Day is still seen as a one-off with the people effort and expense being great and all focused on one day. Then everyone returns to their day-to-day duties until we start banging the drum about the next event. Whereas what is needed is a continued focus and effort, not necessarily a World AIDS Day everyday, but the message must be reinforced everyday in a variety of different ways
We need to understand whether these events actually work and make a difference. Most of the discussions and debates during the planning and then on the actual day concern t-shirts, food and drink, and how much of these things will be available. The self interest and what is in it for me takes over from thinking about we and the community
Most of the people taking part of already part of the HIV service provider community – the workers, volunteers and activists. These people should know better (though this is not my point but many of these people are happy to preach one thing and then do the opposite). The actual members of the community are hard to encourage to attend the events and only participate in small numbers, particularly if there are no incentives, i.e. t-shirts, on offer. The events, therefore, end up being a commemoration for these people in the know.

Lastly I should highlight the theme for this year’s event which was all about “Getting to Zero New HIV Infections.” Linked to the theme the various messages that were promoted to reach the zero included:

Sticking to one Sexual Partner to reduce risk of HIV infection
Protecting your baby from HIV by going for Counselling and Testing during pregnancy
Using a condom correctly and consistently every time you have sex.

The volunteer exodus begins

2011-11-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

Something which I had failed to appreciate before coming out to Zambia to volunteer is how transient volunteering can appear, particularly where I am a long term volunteer (two years) and everyone else comes and goes around me. In Mazabuka the VSO vols like Peter, Andrew and Phyl have already arrived and departed and over the next month or so many of the non-VSO vols (mainly my Italian friends) will be moving on. Of course new people will arrive and new friendships will be formed but I have been very, very lucky with the people that I have got to know and shared many happy times with since I came out here. My timing could not have been much better. And so the leaving process started this weekend with a goodbye party for Lucia and Francesca (and it was Roberto’s birthday party too). I have a vague memory of getting muddy playing football at some early hour and not feeling too great the next day. Good times and with all these new friends the opportunities to travel to other countries increases more and more.

The luggage saga

2011-11-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

Take a closer look and some of you might be thinking that Mike was wearing the same clothes again and again during his Zambia holiday. Some of you might argue that there is nothing unusual about this but on this occasion the people to blame were British Airways (BA).

To recap, Mike arrived for his holiday in Zambia minus his luggage. BA was pretty clueless as to where his bag actually was (the UK, Zambia or who knows where?). Their customer service staff failed to contact us with any updates, their telephone number was switched off on non Zambia flight days and they were generally pretty unhelpful. Mike contacted BA by email and simply received a standard response which bore no relation to his problem. Two days before the end of Mike’s holiday we were informed that his bag had arrived though as we were in Livingstone we could not collect it. So on the morning of his return flight he finally got his bag, discovered that it had been tampered with as a few presents for me were missing and then checked in the bag for the UK. Putting aside the frustrations of the bag going missing in the first place, the customer service, or lack of it, from BA was surprisingly poor; we had expected much better. We await a response from BA . . .

Both sides of the Falls

2011-11-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

No trip to Zambia can ever be complete without a visit to the Falls and Mike even went up in a helicopter to get the best possible view of all the ferocious water below. We were also in Livingstone on Mike’s insistence that we squeeze another country into the holiday so over to Zimbabwe we ventured. The Zim town of Victoria Falls is remarkably different to its Zambian counterpart, Livingstone. The town is within walking distance of the Falls which makes the visit simply more enjoyable and it is also very much set up for consuming the tourist dollar (not necessarily a good thing). The park itself stands out, not just from the welcoming entrance gate and the informative displays on the history and geology of the park, but also because of the easy routes that guide you around the park and highlight the major sites (i.e. the Devil’s Cataract, Livingstone Island and so on). Zambia could learn a lot from its neighbour and better do so soon or otherwise the tourists will flock back to the Zim side. Finally, we of course had to go to the Victoria Falls hotel to experience High Tea. It was good, we then proceeded to have a few cocktails and feeling lazy we stayed on for dinner too.

Thanks mate for as ever a fun couple of weeks – it was really great that you made it out here to visit me.

Bat-astic

2011-11-13T11:20:00.000-08:00

Next it was time for more wildlife watching but of a very different kind – millions of bats! Five of us (Mike and I plus three good Italian friends – Roberto, Lucia and Sue) travelled to Kasanka National Park (http://www.kasanka.com/) to witness the migration of fruit bats which takes place in November and December every year. It was without doubt a spectacular sight as early one morning (something like 5am) and a couple of times at sunset the sky was filled with approximately 5 or 6 million fruit bats; though we were not sure who was counting them. The screeching of the bats echoed around us and for the sunrise viewing we climbed up a 15metre high hide which meant that the bats were within touching distance flying over our heads. It was all quite an amazing, surreal experience.

Luxury and up close with the wildlife in the Lower Zambezi

2011-11-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hooray, another visitor from the UK! Sadly Mike arrived with a bit of a bump as British Airways managed to lose his luggage (more on that later) but he was remarkably philosophical and in a short time he was kitted out with a new wardrobe – a mix of my clothes and a visit to a few ‘green’ (second hand) shops in Maz.

First stop on Mike’s fast and furious two week holiday was the Lower Zambezi national park and Stefan very kindly lent us his 4x4 which made getting to the park so much easier. Kanyemba lodge (http://www.kanyemba.com/) had been talked up by various friends who had already stayed there and we were not to be disappointed – amazing good, great view over the river, lovely pool, luxury rooms and hippos croaking at night. We managed to squeeze in a couple of sunset cruises, a canoe safari and a walking safari on Kanyemba Island. All were fun, in different ways, though I enjoyed the canoeing the most mainly because of how close it allowed us to get to the elephants, hippos and crocodiles and observe them. My favourite moment, which we were lucky to see a couple of times, was watching tens of elephants lumber into the river, swim across almost in formation and then climb up the bank on the other side; simply wonderful.

Patience is required

2011-11-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

Six months after my test, and after regular visits to get my paper version stamped again and again, I now have a smart, new Zambian driving licence. Amusingly it includes no driver restrictions, which means the need for wearing glasses somehow went unnoticed.

Progress

2011-10-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

I am sure that I have moaned on the blog before, and definitely to friends and family, about how organising events here often requires huge amounts of time and effort, particularly distributing letters of invitation by hand and then reminding the same people by text a day before a meeting. However, the efforts can be rewarding when stakeholder meeting turns out as it did today. Meaning that: the turnout was good (over 40 people); we started roughly on time (less than 30 mins late); the presentations and discussions were all pretty good, interesting and with helpful inputs; and the Guest of Honour, the District Commissioner, showed a genuine interest in HIV work and the people present. So the report card should read – shows improvement, 7 out of 10 and keep up the good work.

Mazabuka Prison

2011-10-27T03:36:00.000-07:00

Some opportunities happen by chance and the visit to the Mazabuka prison was one of these occasions. I have been to the prison a number of times before to speak to some of the officers about HIV but the chats had always been outside, away from the prisoners. This time we were on the inside, amongst the prisoners, unexpectedly part of a delegation going to inspect the prison conditions. The team included the new DC, the Mayor and various other Government officials. We had only gone to speak to the DC about him opening a HIV workshop and ended up in the back of his vehicle being driven to the prison. Nothing wrong with this given the importance of needing to address HIV issues to both prison officers and prisoners.

The Mazabuka prison currently has around 250 male prisoners (a mixture of people on remand and people already convicted and serving a sentence), who share only two toilets and are expected to sleep in two rooms which are the size of your average school classroom. By my calculations the prisoners outnumbered the mattresses (not beds) by around 6 or 7 to 1, so people have to sleep on the floor, in any space or gap they can find, and sometimes in shifts. With no fans and few windows the rooms have little ventilation and only hot, static air,especially in the current hot conditions. The kitchen walls and ceiling was black; burnt out due to the fires made using small metal braziers to cook food. I am sure that conditions are worse in the larger city prisons but from what I saw even the one in Mazabuka should act as a strong deterrent to crime.

Independence Day 2011

2011-10-24T02:39:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering what the colours of the Zambian flag represent, here is a short explanation. The green background represents agriculture or the natural wealth of the country. Red symbolises the struggle for independence, black represents the people of Zambia and orange highlights the country's mineral wealth, particularly copper. The eagle at the top stands for freedom.

Kafue National Park

2011-10-23T02:51:00.000-07:00

As Zambia prepared to celebrate its 47th year of independence on 24th October, and whilst flags of green, red, black and orange were being put up on Government buildings, a few of us escaped our towns and cities to take advantage of the long weekend. For a change we did not travel too far, only three hours westwards from Lusaka to Kafue National Park, which as an understatement is huge, roughly being the same size as Wales. For this reason we chose a campsite not far from the main road rather than venturing too deep inside the park.

This meant that maybe it was not the best location for wildlife spotting, though from our tents we could still look down on the Kafue River and see hippos, antelopes wandered freely around the campsite and baboons were ready to pounce on any food scraps as soon as our backs were turned. On the couple of wildlife drives we scanned the bush for any sign of movement, occasionally spotting elephants, zebras and more different types of antelopes. Any cats were nowhere to be seen so my own personal search for a leopard goes on. Otherwise, it was a case of eating, drinking and relaxing around the camp fire whilst insects buzzed, frogs croaked and hippos grunted around us.

A slow, slow day

2011-10-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

Little to report but just want to moan as first there was no water at the office and then the power went, and stayed off. So I have been sweating away in the heat and am definitely now back to two showers a day; cold showers never felt so good.

The new rules

2011-10-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

Today the new District Commissioner addressed the Heads of Department within the Council and Government Line Ministries in Mazabuka for the first time . The speech mentioned little about policy, aside from stressing the need to alleviate the high levels of rural poverty. Instead, the key messages focused on responsibilities and the behaviour expected of the Heads of Department. It covered: needing to act as leaders, both for the community and for their staff; working as civil servants and not as politicians or business people; being accountable, transparent, honest and impartial; also being punctual and keeping time; observing careful planning, management and reporting of development activities, and being ready to share this information with others; finally, zero tolerance on corruption and any mis-use of resources (transport in particular). Fine words and a very encouraging start. Now for actions if these rules are ignored.

Changes

2011-10-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a strange few weeks. Post the elections the new Government has made a stream of appointments and announcements and we are now waiting for the trickle down effect of these to the district level . The new District Commissioner for Mazabuka will arrive soon and what he says and does is likely to have the most profound affect here, or maybe to be cynical little will change. For the time being people seem to have been placed on pause, just waiting to see what will happen next.

However, the major news is that the Bishop, the District AIDS Coordination Advisor (DACA) and my boss, has gone. His contract with the National AIDS Council (NAC) was coming to an end and he decided not to renew it. My feelings are mixed as at times, for example, in workshops, meetings, giving presentations, talking to the community, helping people to reach decisions and consensus, my boss can be very effective. And without doubt he also has a strong knowledge of HIV and AIDS policy, activities and issues.

But there is a but there has been a lack of focus and commitment from him to his role with tasks being started but rarely finished. Also he has had an over reliance on Judy and I to do the work rather than to support and advise him and others. Overall, there has been an interference of too many non-HIV work activities on a regular basis. Time to stop there I feel. So for now we have no boss, a pretty messy office (but the painting has started!) and are relying on NAC to recruit a new DACA as soon as possible, which based on their current record with other districts with vacant positions this could take a while; and possibly no one will even arrive before we leave.

Cheering on the Chipolopolo

2011-10-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

The big match, and the last one of Zambia’s qualification campaign for the 2012 African Nations Finals and we managed to get tickets to see Zambia take on Libya. A win or a draw for Zambia would be good enough to see them through so expectations of qualifying were high. For us the game involved a 1,400km round trip to the Copperbelt as the match was being played in the town of Chingola. It was a lot of kms to cover with not a huge amount to see along the way until we reached the Copperbelt. It was interesting to pass through Zambia’s industrial heartland and see the towns of Ndola, Kitwe and Chingola. Whilst Lusaka is significantly bigger than all of them the city comes across as a maze, whereas the likes of Ndola seemed well planned and welcomed us with tree lined streets, road signs(!) and plenty of greenery.

Back to the footy and the match was being held at the stadium of the Zambian Premiership team, Nchanga Rangers, which had open stands behind both goals and then small covered areas along the sides of the pitch. Supposedly 20,000 people can squeeze in but as a rough estimate maybe 13,000 were watching the game. The fans still generated plenty of noise with their whistles, air horns and vuvuzelas. We fitted in well with our ‘official’ Zambia footy shirts; though official comes in various combinations of red, black, white, green and orange, as well as Nike, Adidas or other brands.

As for the game Zambia played well in the first half, passing the ball around nicely, dominating and creating some good chances. They hit the woodwork three times and the Libyan goalkeeper made a couple of good saves. The second half was much more pedestrian which was strange as we thought Libya needed a win to qualify. We found out later that because of results elsewhere a draw meant both sides would go through. Therefore, the game ended 0-0, the Zambian fans went away disappointed because they wanted goals, whilst the Libyan team celebrated on the pitch (a great achievement given the state of team and the country). I have two abiding memories. First, the warmth and friendliness of the Zambian fans was wonderful as it seemed that some of the post election feelgood factor had spilled over onto the terraces. Second, despite not scoring a goal when their team came close the Zambian fans jumped, screamed, danced and ran around. These celebrations were pretty wild when they hit the post so who knows what they would have done if the team had actually scored!

Sportastic

2011-10-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

Quite a good weekend of sports entertainment – shouting at the TV and getting burnt in the sun. Saturday

England vs. Scotland at rugby (much too close and tense to enjoy)
Frisbee in the park (continuing the traditional established by Andrew where we are so committed no that we even play on when it starts to rain and we hear the sound of thunder)
Internet surfing (repeatedly clicking the manual refresh button to check the Watford score; should not have bothered as we were thrashed 4-0 by Southampton)
Serie A on the TV with Inter vs. Naples (at least one happy Naples supporting fan as they won 3-0)

Sunday

More rugby with Ireland vs. Italy (explaining the complicated rules to my Italian friends who cheered despite the defeat)
Maz golf club (we only lost 4 balls this time with three of our disappearing into the darn water hazard, as always)
Back to the TV for Tottenham vs. Arsenal (sorry Anna but where has the Arsenal defence gone?)
Final bit of footy, more Serie A with Juventus vs. Mila (or Marco vs. Lucia with Marco triumphant after a 2-0 win)

Now time for rest.

Welcome to the new President

2011-09-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

The waiting was tense, then finally in the early hours of Friday morning the Presidential election results were announced and the Republic of Zambia had a new President, HE Mr Michael Chilufya Sata; the fifth president since independence. Mazabuka being a stronghold for one of the other opposition parties saw little of the joyous celebrations that took place elsewhere in the country, though there will still plenty of car horns being honked and generally people wearing smiles on their faces once they had learnt of the result; most people here seemed happy with the outcome.

The handover of power was surprisingly quick and efficient. The former President, Rupiah Banda, had delivered his farewell speech by Friday lunchtime and by the afternoon Michael Sata was taking the oath of office in front of thousands of his jubilant supporters in Lusaka. Marco and I watched the inauguration on Zamia’s national broadcaster ZNBC who sadly never quite got the pictures, nor the sound quality, right for the new President’s first speech. The wonky camera work was amusing. Despite this the pictures of the crowd still conveyed the sense that this was the result that the people wanted. There seems to be a sense of relief that the elections are over and that overall they were peaceful. People also feel that the change in Government can lead to real change and benefit everyone and not just the fortunate few. Both the speeches made by the former and the new Presidents were positive and conciliatory; let’s hope this good start continues.

Inside a polling station

2011-09-20T07:30:00.001-07:00

Aside from being interested in the election results my main curiosity was in how a polling station is supposed to function – who does what in terms of the vote, election officials and election observers. So I spent a few hours of election day just watching what was going on, mainly from our office at the Boma which had been converted into a rather cramped (and hot) polling station for the day.

The essentials for a voter are that he/she must be 18 or over, had previously registered to vote and turns up to vote sometime between 0600 – 1800 hrs. An individual can only vote at the centre that he/she had originally registered to vote. They also have to bring along with them their National Registration Card (NRC) and Voter’s card to the relevant polling station. If they turned up with only one of these documents then they were not permitted to vote. Within each polling station there were seated a mixture of Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) officials (normally 5) wearing bright orange vests and election observers from the political parties and civil society organisations.

The voting process then went something like this:

A voter presents his/her NRC and Voter’s card to the first ECZ official who searches through a booklet to check that the voter is eligible to vote at this particular polling station. The booklet includes a mini copy of each Voter’s card registered to that polling station. The details on a Voter’s card include a photo, voter number, NRC number, date of birth and gender
The voter and NRC numbers are read out by the first ECZ official who ticks off the voter in his/her booklet. The election observers from the political parties and civil society organisations have copies of the same booklet and also check off each voter
As Zambians are voting for representatives in Presidential, Parliamentary and Council elections a voter next collects three forms for the candidates under each of these areas. There are 10 presidential candidates for a voter to choose from; only one candidate is female
Each polling station should have 3 cardboard cut out polling booths so a voter will proceed to one of these booths with their 3 pieces of paper to then cast their votes
The final stage is for a voter to neatly fold each piece of paper (ideally) and insert them into the appropriate sealed ballot boxes. The boxes are colour coded: orange for the Presidential boxes, red for MPs and black for Councillors. There is an ECZ official on hand with a ruler to ensure each paper is pushed deep inside the ballot boxes.

Polling Day

2011-09-20T00:59:00.000-07:00

The waiting is over and at last Zambians can cast their vote in the Presidential, Parliamentary and Council elections. With the noise from the political parties on pause for the time being the queues of people in the centre of Mazabuka town started forming very early, some from around 4am, even before the election officials had arrived at their polling stations, and definitely before lazy me got up given that election day had been declared a bank holiday. I think part of this was simply the eagerness of people wanting to be one of first to cast their vote (and to pass this fact onto their neighbours) and then to be to relax for the rest of the day, especially as the temperature has been getting hotter and stickier far too early in the season. In Mazabuka voting has been quiet and orderly with people proud to vote and to show off the black mark on their thumb that proves they have done so. Now the waiting starts all over again for the results, maybe Wednesday, probably Thursday.

Home time

2011-09-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

A few of the smiley faces from home

Back home

2011-09-13T06:19:00.000-07:00

I have been home in the UK for the last few days, only a short visit, back to attend the funeral of a good friend, huge Watford and general football fan, and my brother-in-law; rest in peace Andrew, you will be greatly missed. Coming back under such circumstances has been a strange mixture of sadness but also enjoyment in catching up with family and a few friends. It has been lovely to see them especially some of the kids who have grown and changed much since I last saw them over 18 months ago; apologies to others who I did not have time to fit in. But due to the circumstances much of the time has been tinged with sadness.

Unexpectedly coming back has been interesting, maybe things have not obviously changed since I left in Feb 2010 but the contrast between home and Zambia is stark. The differences are many but here are a few thoughts: the gadgets which everyone seems to have at least one of; the volume of people and also the number of cars; the busyness of the country (all rush, rush – got to get somewhere); smooth roads without large, deep potholes; the choice in the shops from food to shoes; spending money is far too easy (given the aforementioned choice); the grey skies in Somerset; people can be friendly, just a different style to Zambians . . .

The end game

2011-08-30T03:55:00.000-07:00

For now office move number 4 is a dull space with a couple of desks but imagine . . . in a month’s time (or probably two) it will be an HIV and AIDS Resource Centre with computers, books, magazines, IEC materials, and meeting and reading space. Well that is the plan! I was admittedly a bit grumpy to pack up and shift again but bit by bit (pole pole - slowly, slowly - as they say on Zanzibar) we are heading in the right direction. Another to be continued . . .

Kitchen party

2011-08-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Little by little I am slowing experiencing different bits of Zambia culture, though one thing that I did not expect to see or attend is a kitchen party which normally is a female only event. Luckily for me a friend asked if I would take some photos at her sister’s kitchen party so I was let in. We don’t really have an equivalent to the kitchen party back home and comparing it to a hen party would be misleading. The party I attended was women only but included friends, family, future family for the bride to be and children; all dressed in colourful outfits, some with matching headgear and many with new hairstyles. The guests bring presents to furnish the bride’s kitchen to get her ready for married life, which on this occasion included pots, pans, plates, cutlery, electrical items and a kitchen dresser for storing everything. Some parties where the friends and family have more money include giving cookers and fridges as presents.

Aside from the presents, culturally the kitchen party was fascinating to me because of how the bride has to behave. She cannot show any emotions, nor speak, during the party and spends the whole time staring, stony faced at her own feet. Her demeanour resembled that of a naughty school girl sent to wait outside the headmaster’s office. The bride was led into the party under cover of a chitenge, which only the groom is permitted to remove. Therefore, she had to sit covered, awaiting his arrival and on Saturday this waiting lasted around 45 minutes. He came, flowers in hand, to unveil his bride to be. They both then proceeded to hand out a few thank you presents to some of guests before the groom departed. After this came the food, speeches, readings and dancing. Each of the guests took their turn to hand over their presents and whisper some advice to the bride. During this process the bride barely moved and then only got up to be taken to inspect the larger presents like the kitchen dresser. Finally at the end of the party with the guests clustering around her for photos was the bride allowed to smile.

Let's make some noise

2011-08-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

It did not take long for the noise to start. Mazabuka, probably like every other town across Zambia, now has campaign vehicles being driven around daily blaring out loud music and party messages with supporters singing, dancing and chanting their own particular slogans. The parties compete with each other to see who can make the most noise, get out the largest number of supporters and also cause the most amount of disruption on the roads by slowing down or often stopping traffic. The two banners in the picture have been part of a game of cat and mouse pitched on the roundabout. At one point the red banner (one of the opposition parties) was positioned above the blue banner (depicting the President and the party in government). This was deemed to be offensive and undermining to the President so the blue one had to move – side by side being the diplomatic alternative. Otherwise Mazabuka has been fairly quiet so far and has not experienced any of small scale fighting and bickering that has occurred in some other towns. The weather is hotting up and so too are the politicians and their parties.

Lazying around in Siavonga

2011-08-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

After a busy week it felt good to escape Maz and do very little over the weekend. We barely moved from a friend’s house in Siavonga, enjoying the warm weather and her garden that has a lovely view looking out over Lake Kariba. There was plenty of cooking, eating, drinking, reading, watching movies and playing silly but amusing board games; all very relaxing. On the way home we became tourists briefly by visiting an impressive Baobab tree. It is called the Ngombe Illede which translates from Tonga as 'the cow that is lying down'. Despite falling down the tree continued to grow, hence its name, though with all its branches it looked more like a huge stag to me. The tree has a long history of acting as a trading centre for items like beads, clay pots, copper, ivory and salt, as well as supposedly slaves.

Plans, plans, plans

2011-08-18T14:02:00.000-07:00

To be honest I am somewhat circumspect about the value of strategic planning. Whilst there is definitely a need to think and plan strategically my doubts are in our apparent requirement to produce an ‘all singing, all dancing’ Strategic Plan, to be quickly followed by an Operational Plan and then by an M&E Plan; lots of plans! All the efforts and resources for the Mazabuka DATF (or any other DATF in Zambia for that matter) needed to do this planning are considerable, yet what will happen at the end of the process? Will the documents sit on a shelf and only be casually referred to over the next few years or when a funder passes by? Will the plans be so complex and detailed that they bear little relation to the resources available i.e. human = 1 person (my boss) and money = little and inconsistent? Will stakeholders buy into the plans given that they act and are funded independently of the DATF?

These were some of the questions buzzing around in my head as we began a two day strategic planning workshop where we had brought together a group of 30 of our stakeholders to discuss the HIV and AIDS issues affecting the district, and then to prioritise them (the tough bit). Once we got going (after the usual couple of hours late start) the debates, contributions and discussions were healthy and valuable. We went through the DATF vision and mission, the HIV and AIDS problems faced by the district, the responses so far by stakeholders, the weaknesses and gaps, and therefore the key issues that the district should focus on. We ran out of time at the end of the two days but got through most of the things that we had planned for. For now the task is to turn all of the notes and contributions into a draft Strategic Plan. So I wonder who will be doing that and when? To be continued . . .

More on the mini sports tournament

2011-08-14T13:55:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of the footy and netball games being played between Nega Nega and Manyonyo schools. The girls in the photo top right are opposing fans from the netball team, dancing in the penalty area trying to distract the goalkeeper as much as possible. They carried on dancing and singing for most of the match. The photo to the bottom right shows a photo of a penalty about to be taken and because the crowd wanted to get close to the action most of them ran onto the pitch and stood at the end of the penalty area to watch. For me it was all very entertaining.

A little bit of Watford in Zambia

2011-08-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Today I headed off to Nega Nega – a rural area around an hour from Maz - where I handed out all the Watford footy shirts that my brother in law had managed to get for me from the Club. To back track a bit, I had written to the Club a few months ago requesting any football kit that they could spare and when Mum and Dad came out for their visit they brought with them a number of red, and white, training tops. I then spoke with one of our HIV and AIDS stakeholders, a local NGO called Peoples’ Action Forum (PAF - http://www.paf.org.zm/), and through their friendly Mazabuka project coordinator Janet, who I get on with very well, we organised a mini sports tournament in Nega Nega.

The tournament was between two schools from the villages called Nega Nega and Manyonyo and involved games of football for the boys and netball for the girls - with some fierce local rivalry thrown in, especially from the boys. The ages of the boys and girls were approximately between 13 and 17 years. Sport, and tournaments like the one that we organised, are important because sport is often used to bring youths together which is not always easy to do and to then discuss issues and problems related to topics such as HIV and AIDS. So after the boys and girls had finished playing we ran a number of sensitisation sessions talking about HIV and AIDS, STIs, teenage pregnancies and sexual relationships. 109 youths (61 boys and 49 girls) took part in these sessions. We also handed out some literature for further reading on the same topics. Some drinks and snacks were given out and lastly the winning boys and girls teams were presented with the Watford shirts; and they seemed pretty happy with them too.

So now a little part of Zambia has some youths proudly running around in WFC shirts. Even if only a small number of the youths present act on the messages given out on HIV and AIDS then the event will have been a success. Many thanks to the Club for the shirts and I am hoping to get some more to organise another tournament soon.

Smelling and slurping coffee

2011-08-13T01:16:00.000-07:00

There are some weeks that I make endless lists of things to do and on one of them I have resolved to ensure that by the time I leave Mazabuka I have ticked off all of the local ‘attractions’. This includes visiting the Zambia Sugar factory, seeing Nakambala Leopards play a premiership football game in Maz, taking the local train at least one stop along the railway line and visiting the local coffee farm. So today 13 of us headed off to Munali coffee (www.munalicoffee.com – a farm around 30mins from Mazabuka. For a while I thought that there had been no communication about us coming (all my responsibility) but then a safari vehicle appeared and off we went around the coffee estate to see the growing, washing, fermenting and drying of the beans. We went into the factory and then did lots of loud slurping with our coffee tasting, trying to work out which flavour of bean – from cheap to expensive – we preferred. There is also a flour mill on the farm as they grow wheat, so we went around the mill, seeing some large object shaking away which looked like a 3 double wardrobes fitted together but turned out to be a giant sieve for the flour. We left with some goodies – coffee at factory prices and some freshly baked bread for free.

Stella's birthday

2011-08-04T01:17:00.000-07:00

Stella celebrated her 40th birthday this week and we (Kristin, Alice and I) organised a little party with her family to mark the big event. She came over with all her children (even Syden from Lusaka who I met for the first time) and Abi and Ingrid joined in too. We had ordered a cake from Bethlehem Bakery and put together a food hamper as one present for her and the family. However, the present that she got most excited about was a new Bible that we had bought for her. She shrieked with happiness and did a little dance when she opened it.

New flatmate

2011-08-02T01:17:00.000-07:00

With Andrew gone a five bedroom house can seem pretty big and empty sometimes but not for the next month as I have a new flatmate. The number of Italians in Mazabuka has increased by one as Alice has come over as a volunteer from Milan to work with Marco and Lucia, among others, on various agriculture projects run by Celim in Mazabuka. Luckily for me Alice is very chatty and friendly, and attractive too. As per our tradition Alice received a nshima making session from some Zambia friends (Abi and Ingrid) and the food ended up being rather tasty, so much so that Alice wants to eat more of the maize, mash potato like substance. Not sure if I approve and may have to convince her that pasta or rice are still better alternatives.

Updating Maz

2011-07-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago someone from one of the guidebooks got in touch having seen this blog to ask me to provide an update on Mazabuka. Below is what I put together and reflecting on what was written on the town around four years ago it was interesting to see how Mazabuka has changed and developed. Hopefully much of this will appear in print.

Mazabuka is a large, bustling, tree-lined town, 349km from Livingstone and 124km from Lusaka ([GPS] 15º51.489'S; 027º45.747'E), which is at the centre of a very prosperous commercial-farming community. The huge Zambia Sugar company (locally referred to as the Nakambala Sugar Estates) dominates the town and the area, and you’ll see fields of mono-culture sugarcane lining the main road either side of the town.

Local facilities and amenities: Along with Choma it is the most developed of the towns between Livingstone and Lusaka. Mazabuka has a major branch of the Shoprite supermarket in the centre of the town and the Kontola Hypermarket on the roundabout leading north from the town towards Livingstone. Within the town centre you will find a range of shops selling local amenities, branches for all the major banks (Barclays, FNB, Stanbic and Standard Chartered) with ATMs, a pharmacy, two doctor’s clinics and two reasonably fast and reliable internet cafes (Hustlers and Makwembo). Also in the centre of town and as you leave to travel towards Livingstone there are a number of 24hr fuel stations.

Where to eat: The number of places to eat in Mazabuka has increased considerably in the last few years coinciding with the growth of the town. There are a number of fast food outlets serving snacks and larger meals including Big Bite, Good Time Investment, Moonzis and Mr Ds Pies. The two supermarkets also have their own fast food outlets and bakeries. In the town centre Pumuna’s restaurant offers a broader range and more substantive meals, and there is a branch of the pizza chain Debonairs.

Outside of the town there are two places to eat. On the left hand side as you leave the town centre and head towards Livingstone you will find Bethlehem Bakery. The bakery is run by the St Bakhita Catholic Church and makes fresh and tasty bread, rolls, pizza slices, focaccia, burgers, pies, chips, biscuits and drinks. It is a charitable association so any profit is used to support the most vulnerable communities in the area. There is also a small Arts centre next to the bakery. On the Lusaka side of the town around 8km from Mazabuka you will find the Pama pub which serves take-away meals and pub food all day. At the same site is a butchery which sells fresh, good quality meat from the Pama farm. A slightly more expensive and more upmarket alternative is the Nakambala restaurant located within the heart of the Zambia Sugar estate. It serves more Western style meals and can be found by asking for directions to the main Zambia Sugar gate.

Where to stay: Due to the economic growth of the town there is a wide range of simple guesthouses in Mazabuka though there is little to choose between many of them. The larger and better quality options are listed below.

Golden Pillow (8 rooms) Livingstone Road; [tel] +260 3 321026; goldenpillowlodge@yahoo.co.uk; All of the rooms are en-suite and include AC, DSTV, fridge and tea/coffee making facilities. There is a bar, restaurant and lounge with TV. The lodge is located at the top of the hill, behind a small bus stop on the left hand side as you travel to Lusaka. $–$$ Kw 150,000 – 220,000

Linga Longa (7 rooms) Chachacha Rd; [tel] 021 32 30784; [mob] 0977 875808; linga.longa@yahoo.com; A welcoming lodge with the rooms offering a mix of en-suite, AC, DSTV and fridge depending on the price. It provides secure parking and has a spacious, shaded garden to relax in. It is located close to Namusa Lodge and can be spotted by the bright green walls that enclose the lodge. $–$$ Kw 100,000 – 200,000

Namusa Lodge (7 rooms) Chachacha Rd; [mob] 0977 835392 / 0966 136353; jsumbwa@yahoo.com; Six of the seven rooms are en-suite and include DSTV, AC and fridge. There is a bar and restaurant, and the lodge is adding more rooms and internet facilities. To get there, pass Shoprite on your left, go over a cross-road and take the first right turn into Chachacha Rd and you will find Namusa is on the left. $–$$ Kw 100,000 – 150,000

Tukale Lodge (12 rooms) Nyati Rd; [tel] +26 021 3230014; [mob] +26 0977 0977 779078; [email] tukalebookings@gmail.com; A friendly lodge that provides en-suite double and single rooms, all with DSTV, AC, fridge and tea/coffee making facilities. The lodge has a restaurant, bar, garden, secure parking and wireless internet. The lodge is at the top of the hill as you leave Mazabuka to drive to Lusaka, turn left on the road that faces the golf club and radio station and then after 50metres you will find the lodge on the right. If busy there is a second Tukale Lodge nearby with 18 rooms offering the same facilities. $–$$ Kw 200,000 – 250,000

Royal Laricio (15 rooms) [mob] 0977 825205; [email] claramuyund@yahoo.co.uk; Another friendly lodge where all rooms are en-suite with DSTV, fridge and tea/coffee making facilities. It includes a bar, restaurant, relaxing garden and conference facilities. To reach the lodge it is signposted on the right, half way up the hill as you leave town for Lusaka. $–$$ Kw 200,000 – 250,000

Elections

2011-07-28T01:30:00.000-07:00

Finally! At last! The date of the Zambian National Elections has now been announced and they will take place on Tuesday 20th September 2011. I am quite excited and interested too. Given the amount of campaigning that has been going on for months and months (actually probably even before I arrived early last year) it will be interesting to see what will change or be different. Zambian friends assure me that I have seen and heard nothing yet, and all the politicians and their supporters will start making even more 'noise' very soon. So I doubt that this will be the last time that I write about the elections.

Back to NAC

2011-07-25T13:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks later we were back at NAC with high hopes and expectations and this time in front of the director General and his other senior colleagues. This was all to present again our M&E ideas but not being too sure what to expect. We had made some revisions to the work – me expanding on the critical comments (though not too directly) and Mike producing a couple of videos showing how the new system would work and its benefits. On a positive note we had their attention for over an hour and there were some good, intelligent, probing questions. There seemed to be plenty of interest in our ideas and proposals. Negative is too strong, instead we left feeling uncertain, simply not knowing if there was any endorsement or agreement and therefore what will happen next. So we will just have to wait and see.

Another office move

2011-07-19T00:34:00.000-07:00

So with little notice – about 5 minutes – we have moved office. The new place smells a bit (someone was living here before we moved in), gets plenty of dust and dirt from the current wintery wind and definitely needs a new lick of paint. But for now this is the new office for Judy and I. Our third space in 18 months and probably not our last move . . . to be continued.

And here are the waterfalls

2011-07-11T07:10:00.000-07:00

Starting from the left, moving clockwise, first up is Chishimba Falls near to Kasama, then the view from the top of Kalambo Falls, followed by Kundalila Falls near Serenje and lastly back to the full height of Kalambo Falls.

Pics from the warm North

2011-07-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

It's beautiful up North

2011-07-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Zambia has numerous public holidays and this year with Heroes Day and Unit Day falling during the week it was a case of what shall we do. We settled for northern Zambia and lots of waterfalls. By ‘we’ I mean 12 of us, in 3 cars, covering 6 nationalities. Our final destination was Lake Tanganyika, some 800 miles from Mazabuka. Along the way we stopped at Multinondo Wilderness – one of my first trips around Zambia last year – and being in the middle of winter it was pretty chilly at night and even colder swimming in the streams close to our campsite. After a few days we continued north, trying to avoid potholes the width of the road and fairly deep too, and stayed in the town of Kasama. Here we visited some local rock art and walked around Chishimba Falls. During the trip they were probably my favourite falls as you get 3 waterfalls on one stretch of river and they got more impressive as we moved from the first to the last.

Next up was Lake Tanganyika – the second largest freshwater lake in the world and the second deepest – which shares its shores with Burundi, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. At the Zambia port (!) of Mpulungu we packed almost all our camping belongings (there was plenty of them) onto a creaking wooden boat and set off for Isanga Bay (http://www.isangabay.com); along the during the journey the crew used buckets to remove water from the leaking hull. The reward was a picture perfect sandy beach and the promise of a relaxing time. After the chill of Multinondo to have to sprint across the sand because it was so hot was a pleasure. We spent an enjoyable few days playing volleyball and frisbee, kayaking, swimming and snorkelling. We walked to our second waterfall, Kalambo Falls, the second highest in Africa with a drop of 235 metres; impressively tall, narrow and a spectacular, scary view peering over the edge.

It was tough to leave our beach and there were a few debates about whether we really had to leave so soon. But we did and we retraced our steps along the same route, the cold weather returned which meant bathing at Kapishya hot springs after dark was a real delight. We toured through the grounds of the Shiwa Ng'andu estate (http://www.shiwangandu.com/) briefly glimpsing the very English country house built by Stewart Gore-Browne. The last stop was in Serenje, a fairly non-descript town with the attractive Kundalila waterfalls close-by. And that was the end of another great trip, well almost, as first we had to survive a scary taxi ride from Lusaka back to Mazabuka where once it started getting dark we discovered that the car had virtually no lights. We ditched the taxi as soon as we could and were rescued by a kind friend from Maz; all part of the adventure.

VCT Day 2011

2011-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

VCT Day arrived and there were a few hiccups along the way - the marching that kicks off every one of these commemoration days started about 90mins late - but in the end the day was definitely a success. In terms of figures: around 500 people attended the actual event; 398 people went for counselling and testing at the site; and 68 couples also went for VCT. The aim of taking the event deeper into the community (and not at a central venue) was certainly worthwhile as the longer the event went on more local people showed an interest and came to see what was happening. However, most of the people there were probably under 21, an important target group for HIV, but as the event was held on a weekday many of their parents and adults in general were away working elsewhere. The number of couples tested was very encouraging, especially as that was the main message that we had been promoting for the day.

At the event there was the usual mixture of drama, singing, dancing and speeches. The Guest of Honour was Chieftainess Mwenda (one of four chiefs in the district) who as I have learnt is a passionate and committed activist on HIV issues, not just in her chiefdom but more widely in the district. She gave a very good speech and as she finished announced that she was off to receive her own counselling and testing at a tent (see the photo below). This leadership and actions (not just words) are critical given the strong hierarchical structure of society, particularly in rural areas, in Zambia. The disappointing thing was that none of the other senior figures at the event (from Government, NGOs, FBOs, CBOs and other organisations) followed her lead and also went for VCT. One observation from my time here is that leaders from these organisations are very good at telling the community how they should behave and what they should and should not be doing, but often ignore their own advice.

Meeting with NAC - Small steps

2011-06-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

No system is perfect and as I have found out there are a number of limitations with the Monitoring & Evaluation system that is being used by the National AIDS Council (NAC). The issues are not going to be solved overnight but the meeting today was the first encouraging (small) step where myself and another VSO volunteer (working at the provincial level in Livingstone) on M&E were given the opportunity to present to the Director of M&E and other colleagues at NAC. We talked about our experiences to date working at district and provincial levels and what this means to M&E. And then set out how some of the weaknesses in a lack of understanding of what HIV stakeholders are doing in each district and the quantity and quality of the data being collected can be improved. At first from the faces of the people present it seemed that we had pushed a bit too far in our criticism but the comments back, particularly from the Director, were very positive and in agreement we what we had said; in one case adding further issues to the list. As a result we were promised a meeting with the overall Director General of NAC to get buy in to reallly start addressing these issues.

More on VCT - Get Tested Together, Get Tested Today

2011-06-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

A week to go and I thought that for whoever does read this blog (I think there are one or two out there) then it would be helpful to explain a bit more about the messages for this year’s VCT day. National Voluntary, Counselling and Testing (VCT) Day is celebrated on 30th June every year and it plays an important role in the response to HIV and AIDS. The day is all about increasing awareness of and access to VCT, and other HIV prevention measures.

The theme for the 2011 is “Get Tested Together, Get Tested Today”. This theme focuses on the family, with a special emphasis on couple counselling and testing. The goal of couple counselling, particularly in relation to HIV prevention, is to bring two people together so that they can be empowered to prevent HIV acquisition or its spread, and share their support and love for each other. Here are some of the benefits and possible outcomes of couple counselling and testing:

What are the benefits of couple counselling?

Testing together improves communication in your relationship and makes it easier to make decisions about your future plans
Testing together will help you take appropriate steps to prevent infection or re-infection
Going for counselling and testing can be scary, but when you go as a couple it is easier
Receiving results together means less burden and less stress: trained counsellors will help you disclose your status to each other
Getting tested with your partner will help you receive information together on how best to take good care of yourselves, your children and the family as a whole.

What are the possible outcomes of HIV test results among couples?

HIV tests results can be negative for both, or positive for both couples – concordant results
HIV results can have one partner positive and the other one negative – discordant results
When couples are discordant, infection may have occurred before or after they become a couple
What is important is to support each other to stay together and prevent future infections by using condoms consistently.

Good shot, bad shot

2011-06-19T01:12:00.000-07:00

There’s not normally much to do in Maz at the weekends (aside from the occasional party!) but for the second time in a couple of weeks we headed to the golf course. This time of the year seems perfect for golf– warm weather but without the humidity that will be back come in October to frustrate us. And if we go mid morning there tend to be only a few players out on the course so we do not disrupt them too much with our slow play and wayward shots. There were six of us this time so we played as three pairs and overall we were not bad. Admittedly there was the odd hooked or topped shot and a few lost balls but we avoided the water feature on one hole and each of us managed a number of drives, irons or putts that were half decent. Even the odd par so there is some potential there.

VCT prep

2011-06-14T01:11:00.000-07:00

It is only a few weeks to go and our preparations for this year’s VCT Day are beginning to get going. The organising committee has met a couple of times already and we are working through all the usual issues such as venue, guest of honour, programme for the day, resource mobilisation, banners, publicity, invitation letters, tents, chairs . . . The list goes on and on. We have decided to take the main district VCT event into the heart of one the compounds of the town called the Ndeke community. Last year at a more central location the majority of the people present were workers and volunteers from our stakeholders (so they should already get the VCT message). This time we want to get more of the community involved so on 30th June the field pictured below will hopefully be alive with tents, drama, marching and singing.

Male Circumcision Research

2011-06-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

The Tonga tribe dominate the Southern Province of Zambia where Mazabuka is one of the major towns in the area. In terms of HIV and AIDS activities two important Tonga customs play a significant influencing role in the epidemic. Sexual networks, or multiple concurrent partners, are where a person has a sexual partner but then one or both of those partners also have other sexual partners. Then these other individuals may have more than one sexual partner themselves, hence the networks grow and the risk of someone becoming infected with HIV is much greater if these sexual relationships are all being carried out at the same time. In ‘Tonga-land’ polygamy is part of the custom and multiple concurrent partnerships are not illegal. The phrase ‘Tonga bull’ is often mentioned by men where they are proud to be engaging sexually with more than one woman at the same time.

The second HIV and AIDS issue is that across Zambia the rate of male circumcision is low – men are traditionally not circumcised either at birth or as part of the rights of passage to manhood. There are exceptions such as in the North Western part of Zambia where for the Luvale tribe around 71% of men are circumcised. However, in the Southern Province the figure is only 4%. Studies are shown that male circumcision can reduce HIV infections by up to 60% (beneficial though still not the level of protection offered by wearing a condom but availability, access and then the actual wearing of condoms remains a major challenge).

I am giving this bit of background because one HIV and AIDS stakeholder in Mazabuka, Women Empowerment Alliance (a small community based organisation), was awarded funding to carry out some research in Mazabuka concerning the acceptability of male circumcision in the area. They want to interview around 1,000 people in rural, peri-urban and urban areas of the district to try and understand what people already know about male circumcision, their views on the advantages and disadvantages, who should carry out the operations and what challenges or issues exist at the moment which would affect the take-up of male circumcision in this area. So I have been helping them to design the questionnaire, train the researchers and then go out in the field (briefly) to get a sense of how people are responding to our questions; the hard work of the 1,000 interviews has been left to the interview team. Aside from it being good to be out doing some research work, the results could potentially be both interesting and very useful for policy making. The next challenge will be the data entry and analysis . . .

Goodbye to a great flatmate

2011-05-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

A top weekend for a good friend and a wonderful flatmate. It was a busy few days and for me both happy and sad times with Andrew leaving Maz and Zambia, though it was the right time for him to go before working at the Council drove him mad; I may feel the same about DATF in a few months time. In honour of Andrew we finally got around to playing a game of Frisbee. A mixture of us volunteers and some of our Zambian friends charged around a field chasing after a flying disc with a Canadian flag on it, which was lots of fun and something we should have done sooner given how many of us were red faced and knackered at the end. Later on Saturday night there was plenty of the usual tasty food, a few games of pool, the Champions League final and on Andrew’s insistence we visited a local nightclub in Maz called Afrikana Fiesta. This resulted in the usual over attention and close, in your face dancing from the locals so we did not stay too long.

The goodbyes continued on Saturday and Sunday with lots of people visiting to wish Andrew well and also hoping that he would change his mind and stay a little bit longer. To my surprise the Council managed to organise themselves and did Andrew proud with a good send off of speeches, food, presents and amusing (or silly) dancing. It all showed that he will be missed by many including me.

After the fire

2011-05-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Then this is what happens after the burning on the sugar estate which is somewhere around 10,000ha in size; lots of growing, burning and slashing to meet our sugary needs.

Fields on fire

2011-05-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

I could have written this entry any time from a few weeks ago or even over the next few months as April to September is sugarcane cutting season. When I first witnessed the fire last year you wonder what is going on, whether it is out of control and how close it will get. From what I have been told, and before the slashing can begin, the sugarcane needs to be burnt, which makes it easier to cut and also to kill off any snakes lurking in the fields. So this was the view from our house where the fields of sugarcane start around 100metres away.

Chobe

2011-05-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Chobe was Chobe. As I had been there before little was new to me so it was more wonderful wildlife spotting by boat and safari vehicle, which is a great contrast. First by boat, and as the afternoon sun began to cool, we watched more and more elephants heading down to the water’s edge for drinking and cooling off. There were hippos everywhere, most barely visible with eyes and nose hovering just above the water, though a few did display parts of their huge bodies now and again including the massive, open wide yawn. Slightly further away on land we could see plenty of giraffe and different types of antelope. The following day we got very lucky as within minutes of entering the park by car our guide spotted a couple of lionesses hunting. We observed them for a while before there was an onslaught of tens of other safari vehicles trying to get in on the action. Not too far away we came across the lion cubs that the mothers had left behind, playing happily with each other, and therefore somewhat exposed if any larger prey came along. So for a one night trip across to the border to Botswaa these were pretty good highlights for me.

More from the Falls

2011-05-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

Given how much we managed to do in Livingstone and the fun we had, here are few more photos including the delicious selection of desserts from high tea at the Royal Livingstone.

Treats and cruising in Livingstone

2011-05-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

To put it mildly our time in Livingstone was busy and anything that we did I would happily do again, and hopefully Mum, Dad and Tom would say the same. It all kicked off with Mum’s birthday on 16th which was celebrated in style with all of us being soaked by the spray from Victoria Falls as we crossed the Knife Edge Bridge; fun though the pictures in wet clothes may not be too flattering! We relaxed, got fat and bloated enjoying high tea at the Royal Livingstone. For the record Dad beat us all in eating the highest number of savouries and sweets. We continued the eating by going on the Lady Livingstone boat for a cruise along the Zambezi river, which from the top deck involved minimal effort with tasty cocktails, a few courses of canapés, watching the sun go down in one direction and then turning around to see a full moon rise over the Falls. We also spotted a few animals - crocodiles and hippos. Despite a few reservations Mum (with Dad and I too) was persuaded that she should climb on board a helicopter for an aerial tour of the Falls, which was spectacular. Tom took a different flying route and went on a microlight, flying lower and closer to the water.

Lighting candles for HIV and AIDS

2011-05-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

So we travelled onto Mazabuka - the highlight of the trip! First we had to spend a good few hours waiting at Lusaka’s inter city bus station after the bus company had sold our tickets; though we did arrive a bit late. A white family of four perched on a bench drew a few interested glances but little more attention. In Mazabuka it was a case of meet the family of friends that I have been very fortunate to get to know here which meant plenty of entertaining over meals, braiis, beer and wine, and few frustrating games of darts (getting a double to win can prove difficult). We wandered around the town, showing off the highlights of Mazabuka which did not take too long, greeting many friendly people long the way who often were particularly interested and confused about how similar my brother and I looked like. The market at Nakambala proved fascinating from sampling exotic fruits to buying chitenge fabric for back home. Stella, much more than just our cleaner now, was a wonderful guide for them.

I had deliberately chosen to be in Maz this weekend as it meant the family could visit an open day at Barbara’s School for the Blind http://www.malaikha.com which will soon be up and running with its first children. Then on the same day it was one of the commemoration events for HIV and AIDS – the International Candle Light Memorial. The event was bigger and better than last year with around 300 people attending so the family got to experience what commemoration events in Zambia are like including the signing, drama, speeches and the lighting of the candles. They were placed on the ‘high table’ and introduced as guests of honour from the UK.

More on magical South Luangwa

2011-05-13T00:12:00.000-07:00

And here are a few of those special animals

Glorious South Luangwa

2011-05-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

A long time planning, a long time since I had last seen the family and then they were here (Mum, Dad and my brother Tom) at Lusaka airport; looking a bit tired but with smiley, happy faces. And so their speedy, non-stop tour of Zambia began. They had barely got off one plane before I pushed them onto another as we flew east to Mfuwe and specifically to South Luangwa national park. For all three it was their first time in Africa and also their first time on a safari, and the smiles (in my mind anyway) seemed to get bigger the more we did and the more they saw during their two weeks in Zambia.

So a few highlights from our time at South Luangwa. Flatdogs camp definitely did live up to, and exceeded, its reputation as a great place to stay. The luxury safari tents were very much upper class, the food wonderful, exotic and sorry pretty non-Zambian, the guides friendly and enthusiastic, as was everyone else at the camp. The location was pretty good too as Dad saw elephants trampling through the camp during the day and at night hippos came on land and noisily ate away at the plants around our tents. We went into the park four times, two mornings and two evenings, and each time was a different experience. On the walking safari we saw very little but heard lots of sounds that you miss when high up in a safari vehicle, and inspected lots of animal dung too. On different evenings our car followed a beautiful male lion walking through the bush looking powerful and menacing, and also heard hyenas crunching bones before watching one hyena run off holding a buffalo’s head in its mouth. Wildlife viewing can be wonderful.

Driving test of sorts

2011-05-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

So my international driving licence had expired and after various form filling, photos, handing over money and some waiting around, the day of my Zambian driving test arrived. Not being too sure what to expect and thinking of course I can drive I was a tiny bit nervous. There was little to worry about, however, as before the test had even begun the test plates, on instruction from the examiner, were removed from my vehicle because I had a UK (yeah!) licence. As well as the examiner getting into the car, his young son also jumped in so my driving test ended up consisting of driving around Mazabuka town to drop off the boy, a quick stop at a bank for the examiner, a chat about HIV and AIDS, and then back to the test centre. I paid out some more Kwacha and got my paper licence; all nice and easy, and just in time for driving around my parents and brother who are flying out next week.

Some of my favourite things

2011-05-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

I remember liking this time of year first time around and now it is back again! Winter is slowly on its way here with the evenings getter colder where now a blanket is needed to sleep at night, though not quite the extra layers and socks that will be required come August. The days are still warm but as I wander around town going to various meetings now I don’t arrive drenched in sweat. This season is also great for the local fruits and vegetables on sale. The avocados (locally called cotapela) are huge, deliciously creamy and cost only around 40 pence. The small bananas are plentiful and sweet to eat, and the satsuma like green oranges (called manachi) are also in abundance. A good time to be in Zambia.

Allowances

2011-04-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Despite now being in Zambia over a year I can still find the allowance culture frustrating and annoying. In brief, rather than people making claims (at cost) for Government / Development related work allowances are given out which may cover things like transport, food and drink, accommodation, sitting or meeting attendance and so on. In principle this makes sense and is fairly easy to administer, but does lead to significant abuses. For example, there are occasions where senior officials will attend meetings when the allowance is deemed large enough (for their presence) but send juniors along when the amount is not enough, or only attend if there is a sitting allowance on offer. Similarly, people will go chasing allowances by seeking to be part of certain committees or as happened last year wanting to be part of the Census teams because of the sizable allowances available. I have been told that the forthcoming Presidential elections will be even worse. For many people allowances are being used to supplement their income which is either pretty meagre, or inconsistent in supply. However, more often than not it is the people who are already at the top of the food chain who then tuck into the large allowances.

None of this is unusual or unique to Zambia, and I know other volunteers could point to much worse, but hey one example just got a bit too much for me today sitting in my hot, sweaty Mazabuka office. An international organisation was using a couple of Zambian Government staff to collect some general information from Government bodies. I was politely asked to go a nearby office to answer a few questions on HIV and AIDS. Afterwards and for my 30 second walk I was offered a transport allowance of ZMK50,000; approx £6.50 but a pretty decent amount here. Initially, I refused but was then informed by the visitors that returning with the money would be very awkward for them. So I relented, accepted the money, and will give it to Stella and family. Rant over for now.

Easter is the new Christmas

2011-04-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Never give up hope or good things come to those who wait. Either of these mottos could refer to waiting for the post to arrive out here as two parcels that had been long forgotten, and assumed lost somewhere in Africa, turned up this week; and only five months since they were first posted. The t-shirts were very welcome, the two books less so as they are now duplicates as their replacements came long ago but they will still be well received by friends. Sadly the waiting goes on for my Easter chocolates to arrive from home.

Nshima making night

2011-04-23T03:38:00.000-07:00

Nshima is a strange white, almost mash potato like, substance which Zambian’s have a never ending appetite for eating. When it cools slightly after cooking the Nshima is moulded into palm sized balls using your hand for eating alongside meat or fish and some vegetables and beans. Nshima is a cooked porridge made from ground maize – using either breakfast meal maize which is very refined and starch like, or with roller meal which is less refined, maybe not as attractive presentation wise but with more nutrition so healthier. Both types are very filling. And the nshima even comes with its own special wooden stick. So the girls, and our neighbours Abigail and Ingrid, gave us a lesson on how to prepare nshima, expecting that we will take this tradition back to our home countries. It was tasty meal though if I ate it daily like a Zambian my weight would double.

Reviewing HIV and AIDS

2011-04-21T06:30:00.000-07:00

For much of this week I was at VSO HQ Zambia as part of the team reviewing the work of volunteers working in the field of HIV and AIDS over the last 12 months. We poured through reports, picking out activities, achievements and challenges that fellow volunteers had listed. The breadth of our HIV and AIDS work in Zambia is significant, ranging from treating patients in hospital wards and hospital management to fundraising and advocacy roles for NGOs and CBOs. I hover somewhere between all of this trying to coordinate many of these activities at the district level in Mazabuka; in technical terms called ‘response management’. Aside from attempting to neatly summarise all of the volunteer efforts, we had to identify recommendations for VSO to take forward. A number of representatives from placement organisations carried out a similar exercise and then we came together to agree our combined recs. The differences were minimal in our views. Of the areas that we settled on the ones most relevant to my work are: strengthening the relationship with the Zambian National AIDS Council (NAC) drawing on our own volunteer experience of working with NAC; and reintroducing the HIV and AIDS advocacy function at VSO focusing on issues such as inconsistent sex education in the school system.

Party #2: Phyl and Judy

2011-04-16T01:02:00.000-07:00

A double, or was it really a treble celebration? – birthdays for fellow Mazabuka volunteers Phyl and Judy, as well as a house warming for their new home, which is much improved compared to their last place where very little actually worked and it was opposite a noisy bar. Yet again the males were outnumbered 4 to 1 by the ladies of Mazabuka which is always good! And as ever the food was tasty, there was a drink or two, silly dancing and amusing photos. A happy Saturday night out.

Party #1: Andrew's Big Day

2011-04-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

This was the beginning of the birthday bonanza with four Mazabuka friends all getting a year older within a week of each other. The celebrations kicked off with my housemate’s (Andrew) birthday and the usual feast of great food. As a slight variation on the standard braii the party guests had DIY kebabs to make and barbecue with meat and lots of veg as choices for their skewers. Then came the traditions. First up was not one, but two, birthday cakes, equally tasty but very different; chocolate brownie vs. sponge and sugary sweet icing. Second was what Zambians see as very traditional which is where the birthday boy or girl must get soaked with water. And when Andrew was least expecting it a bucket of water was thrown over him, which he took very well.

Working with the Disabled

2011-04-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

Some days things fall into place: the workshop starts on time; the commitment and involvement from the people present is inspiring; time flies; the mobiles do not ring too loudly; and everyone leaves with a smile on their face. Today felt pretty much like that as we ran a training session for the Mazabuka Network of People with Disabilities. The group lacks any form of support whether it be funding, structures, roles, plans and so on. During the day 10 people from the Network talked through things like what they are supposed to be doing, the issues that people with disabilities face in the district (including ones related to HIV and AIDS which was our main interest), and what activities can be carried out to address these problems. None of this is rocket science but the Network was missing a guiding hand to kick start their thinking and work. The vote of thanks at the end was very touching. For now the meeting was a small step in the right direction for this neglected group of people who more often than not are ignored by most stakeholders; HIV and AIDS are at fault here too. And I suspect there will be more frequent knocks on the office door as they ask for more help and advice.

The importance of religion in Mazabuka

2011-04-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Admittedly very briefly (as this is a blog not a research paper), I want to try and capture the how strongly religion features in daily and working life in Mazabuka with the following examples:

Meetings, workshops, training sessions and many other gatherings always start with a prayer and more often than not end with one. Commemoration events such as World AIDS Day or International Women’s Day can involve two or three prayers, and sometimes the orators compete with each other in terms of words, actions and volume

Faith Based Organisations are vital to the fight against HIV and AIDS, though they can also be at the heart of the problems. Such organisations step in and provide key services, particularly home based care, palliative care and support for orphans and vulnerable children, that the Government does not have the funds to deliver; without such interventions many more people would be suffering and dying. Yet, sometimes, the messages given out by different churches can cause confusion and misunderstanding amongst their congregations, and be in conflict with what Government or other agencies are doing. However,, given the large number of people that regularly go to church, any HIV and AIDS strategy or programme must tap into these congregations in order to be effective
As a Mzungu (white person) you will regularly be asked about your religious affiliation in terms of which church you belong to, how often and when you go to Church. At the same time people in a very friendly manner will try and entice you to come to their Church
Churches are a key part of the social fabric of the town. As Mazabuka lacks what we might see as general amenities (parks, playing fields, youth clubs, sports halls and so on) the main meeting and social places outside of work are churches (discounting the bars and clubs)
The landscape of the town is dominated by churches – one street has three churches that stand side by side (each a slightly different denomination) and close by a mosque sends out a call for prayer. Since I have lived here at least three more churches has been built. Also economically the Church dictates with some shops and businesses being closed on Saturdays due to the owners and/or workers being Seventh Day Adventists
People see themselves as good people because of their faith, going to church and being a Christian. They are very dedicated and devote even though the reality of daily life is much more challenging and means that their own behaviour may conflict with their beliefs. There is a very the strong belief amongst church goers that their church and their denomination is the right one. For example, within Mazabuka there is under the surface a simmering tension (which then did rise up during the recent riots) between Christians and Muslims. This level of intolerance is expressed to each other by both sides.

On your marks, get set, go .... sushi rolling time

2011-04-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

To celebrate a Japanese friend's birthday she trained us all (or at least tried to) in the art of making sushi. This meant rolling out our seaweed mats of nori, wetting our hands, spreading out the sticky rice and then happily staring at the wide range of ingredients to fill the sushi rolls. Whilst there was no traditional fish, we were not lacking in tasty ingredients. For the record I think I managed to squeeze in some strange combination of rice, beef, egg, carrots, mushrooms and beans. The super Japanese chef kept a close eye over her trainees, especially when we began to roll out the sushi. Then it was a case of adding the finishing touches to the sushi rolls with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauces, and sesame seeds. If that was not enough to fill our bellies, the birthday girl had also made a Japanese style beef curry to further feed the partygoers. So the feast of wonderful food continues and just gets better and better – stranger things will happen but making sushi in Zambia could be one of them.

Trucks, brakes and accidents

2011-03-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Mazabuka, sadly, never seems far from the news at the moment and for all the wrong reasons. Ever since I have arrived here, and friends have reliably informed me for many years before that, the main high street that drops down through the town has been a scene of what feels like monthly traffic accidents. This week was no exception with the worse one so far taking place. A overloaded, open light truck crashed into the iron railings at the bottom of the high street, opposite our main supermarket, resulting in the death of at least 12 people. The death toll expected to rise due to the serious nature of the injuries sustained by a further 10 people. The passengers were fishmongers travelling for a fishing expenditure. The truck had already experienced two mechanical faults since starting off in Lusaka, the Police advised the driver that the vehicle was overloaded but it was allowed to proceed, and then the driver asked the passengers to get out of the truck as it reached Mazabuka fearing problems in negotiating the hill; a few fortunate ones heeded this advice.

Since the accident there has been much public criticism, often politically motivated, about the lack of a by-pass road for Mazabuka, which is an ongoing debate due to the large number of trucks that pass through the town. The road into is admittedly steep (with speed bumps inserted to slow traffic down) and at the bottom of the hill it curves sharply to the left which causes a problem for heavily laden trucks. A by-pass along whatever route selected would certainly solve some of the problems and dangers. However, it would ignore the obvious issue that the blame for most of accidents is the poorly maintained and serviced vehicles, which combined with heavy goods and journeys on poor quality roads leads to the all too regular destruction in Mazabuka.

Time in and out of Lusaka

2011-03-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

An interesting and enjoyable few days in Lusaka, which is something I had not experienced much in the past as Lusaka cannot really be described as a pleasant city; more functional instead. On the work front I was there to help support the VSO Zambia programme office carry out reviews of some of its HIV and AIDS partner organisations. It was interesting to sit on the other side of the fence and to question partners about their work, the support that VSO has provided, what changes and impacts this support has had, and understand how VSO can help in the future. From a Mazabuka perspective the most important meeting was the session with people at the national office of NZP+ (the Network of Zambian People living with HIV and AIDS). There is a district level NZP+ in Mazabuka, yet for a variety of reasons the organisation is struggling to operate and therefore support the people most in need of help. It should be leading the fight against HIV yet at the moment the office is closed and staff hard to reach. I hope that through working with the national organisation we can sort out our local problems and restart the office here.

It was happily a very sociable week in Lusaka. I went to the cinema with some friends for the first time in a year and saw some crazy, silly animated film called Rango; very enjoyable and we laughed non-stop. The rest of the time was spent catching up with the Lusaka volunteers and hearing about others’ ups and downs. Being the last day of the month I was also able to visit the Dutch market – a touristy, pretty up market, market held at the Dutch Reformed Church in Lusaka. Aside from selling lots of tourist items (rugs, paintings, wooden objects, jewellery etc.), the food to buy and take away there is very tasty. Sadly we got there too late to pick up some of the quiches but in time to buy some millionaire shortbread to feed my sweet tooth. It is also very much a place to bump into lots of familiar faces and then it was back on the bus to Maz.

Back to normal in Maz

2011-03-15T09:13:00.001-07:00

I can happily report that Mazabuka now seems back to its hot, sleepy self. The riots are yesterday’s news with conversations being dominated instead by the latest truck disaster (brakes failing as an overloaded lorry travels down the steep main street of the town, loses control and crashes into some shops and passersby) and infidelity gossip (love triangle in the local Council revealed after the husband and mistress were involved in a car accident late one night). Back to the riots, all of Mazabuka’s top police officers have been transferred with immediate effect as a result of their mishandling of the situation. A number of police officers have been charged (not clear with what yet) for throwing the tear gas into the crowded bar. And the rioters and thieves have returned back to their communities; without trace for now. At work, we are still waiting for our funding from Government for this quarter to materialise which means the office move remains on hold; as I said things are happily back to normal.

Food glorious food

2011-03-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

The trip around the Western Cape was a culinary delight though probably not so great for my wallet and waistline. Here is how I enjoyed my foodie evenings:

Sat @ Cafe Paradiso, Cape Town: Vegetable anti-pasta; 6hr slow roast pork belly, stuffed with pancetta alongside balsamic potato wedges; and crème brulee
Sun @ Simply Asia, Cape Town: Chicken, chilly, cashew nut and vegetable stir fry with rice noodles; and chocolate and hazelnut brownie
Mon @ the Codfather, Cape Town: Chunks of grilled tuna and monkfish with sauté vegetables and a choice of four dips (the chilli, and apricot chutney were my two favourite)
Tues @ Tokara, Stellenbosch: Kingklip fish with a pesto crust on a bed of pea mash potato, tomato gravy and sauté vegetables; white chocolate ice cream, raspberry sorbet, crushed biscuits and small cubes of mint jelly
Weds @ the Blue Olive, Wilderness: Tapas of jalapeno peppers, feta cheese, olive tapenade, black olives and garlic ciabatta; West Coast sole with roasted vegetables, rice and tarta sauce
Thurs @ Pomodoro, Wilderness: Four cheese pizza (brie, mozzarella, feta and goat cheese) with an Italian salad
Fri @ Caveau, Cape Town: Homemade vegetable soup; Beef fillet with green vegetables, cumin and red onion sauce and sliced crispy potatoes
Sat @ Sotoro, Cape Town: Baked flat bread with four dips (hummus, tzatziki, taramasalata, and chilli); mushroom and pea risotto with a baby green salad
Sun on Zambezi Airlines, somewhere up in the air over Zim: Back to reality with a soggy chicken sandwich and warm orange juice.

Naturally, all the good food was enjoyed with some tasty South African wines.

Wilderness

2011-03-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Long sandy beaches on one side and then forest, rivers and waterfalls on the other is a difficult combination to beat; welcome to Wilderness which is around 400km to the east of Cape Town along the Garden route. We found a sort of converted farmhouse tucked away within the forest to stay in with owners who were permanently high on life (or something else). We went off to explore the forest by hiring a kayak for a brief paddle upstream before walking the remainder of the journey on foot up to a couple of small waterfalls. The swim was certainly refreshing along with the pounding back massage from the waterfall. If we had another week we would have continued eastwards to explore exotic sounding places such as Kynsna and Tsitsikamma ; instead it was a road trip back to Cape Town for more of the good life there.

Tasty grapes of Stellenbosch

2011-03-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

To escape (or sadly leave) Cape Town we hired a little Chevrolet Spark (a toy like car) and travelled to Stellenbosch which is less than an hour's drive away in a spectacular setting surrounded by vineyards and mountains. By 11am we were signed up to a tour of four vineyards and enjoying our first swirling, sniffing and slurping of wine. It was not just reds, whites, rose and something sparkling but olive oil, olives, tapenade and cheese that we got to try too. I resisted buying any wine despite being much better value than Zambia but was tempted by some of the cheese. For the record we went to the vineyards of Tokara, Dieu Donne, Solms Delta and Fairview, and they were a wide variety from upmarket to pretentious to simply good fun. The views were of olive trees, grapes on the vines and mountains all basked in warm sunshine. In the evening Marco and I returned to Tokara for a wonderful meal (my sweet tooth loved the white chocolate ice cream and raspberry sorbet) and more great views (the lights of Cape Town shone in the distance).

Luxury in Cape Town

2011-03-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

After a few days in Cape Town I easily understood why many others rate this city so highly with its coastline, beaches, history, food, shopping and a mountain than looms over you every way you turn. Admittedly, on this trip I did see some of the best bits and only caught a glimpse of the townships and rundown neighbourhoods. On the first touristy day there I caught the ferry to Robben Island to visit the maximum security prison that has since become a museum. It was fascinating to first learn about the broad history of the island (leper colony to World War II outpost to prison during apartheid) which has involved numerous different nations. And then to be given a tour around the prison itself by a former inmate – revealing the cells, conditions, and the segregation between different types and colours of prisoner. I longed for more time to explore the island and talk to the inmate; instead of being rushed back to the ferry. In complete contrast Marco and I spent the evening in Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens listening to a South African dance/jazz duo called Goldfish. The concert was held on a slope with Table Mountain behind us and the centre of Cape Town in front, surrounded by mainly white Cape Townians enjoying a picnic and drinks, and swaying to the music.

The following day I puffed and panted, (and rested) climbing over large slabs of rock as we took a couple of hours to walk up Table Mountain. The effort certainly demonstrated the point that more exercise is needed when I get back to Maz. The scenery during the walk was wonderful and the panoramic views of Cape Town were even better at the top – Robben Island in the distance, the city centre and harbour, other parts of the mountain and the long, tempting coastline. We took the easy route down, a few minutes in the cable car.

The rest of the time in Cape Town was a magical blur of great food (see a later blog entry), drinking good wine and making new friends. On leaving the city it felt like I had barely touched the surface of what can be seen here. I need to come back for Cape Point, the District 6 museum, a different route up the Mountain and more time to enjoy some good food.

Worrying times in Mazabuka

2011-03-03T05:49:00.000-08:00

Honestly, until now Mazabuka has been a quiet and friendly place. This all changed when the local police decided to halt the watching on TV of a football match. Around 500 fans were watching the big footy game between Chelsea and Manchester United on Tuesday night in a local pub and whilst this may have been illegal they do not appear to have been causing much trouble. But the police (over) acted, threw tear gas into the building and this resulted in a stampede which led to two tragic deaths. The reaction to the deaths was rioting for much of yesterday by large numbers of residents with the constant echo of guns being fired into the air. I was safely tucked up in workshop for most of Wednesday and around 1700 came out to find a deserted town centre with evidence of rioting in the form of rubbish and rocks strewn over the place, and some burnt out bins. During the day increasing numbers of Police (coming from different parts of the Province) had fought with the rioters after buildings (the Police station, a school, a clinic and some shops) had been attacked. The police continued to use tear gas and pepper spray; tragically leading to a death of a young baby when tear gas was thrown into a home. Later on that evening a truck that had been attacked and ransacked of its goods (fertilizer) earlier in the day was burnt by the rioters. A curfew was put in place and we were all told to stay indoors for the evening.

On to today and the onset of heavy rain during the night seemed to have calmed down the situation with the town being busier and almost back to normal. However, in the morning the riot police headed off into some of the compounds in an attempt to catch the previous day's rioters and thieves. This backfired and only made the situation worse. The battles restarted with the police using live ammunition (and not plastic bullets) which led to at least two more deaths. My office at the Council is next to the Police station and we watched as the bodies were brought to the station. The victims’ relatives soon followed and the wailing and screaming that is commonplace here when someone passes away soon began. The rioters also turned their anger on local businessmen, mainly the Indian owners and attacked some of their shops and homes. By the afternoon, and with the situation not improving, a number of us volunteers in Maz packed our bags and headed to the safety of Lusaka rather than locking ourselves in our homes and waiting for things to calm down. Fortunately for me I am off on holiday to Cape Town at the weekend.

The 2011 Mazabuka Olympics

2011-02-26T05:58:00.000-08:00

Why wait for London 2012 when we can have our own version of the Olympics in Mazabuka. The main sports were table tennis (Olympic already) and pool and darts (maybe entrants sometime in the future if they are ever seen to be sports!). The competing nations ranged from established beasts like Germany and Canada to the obscure like St Lucia, and then to the non-existent like Gibraltar and Alaska (geography was not the best subject for one member of the organising committee). In true Olympic spirit there were lots of competitors just happy to be there and join in with a few medals handed out to the more successful pairs; general amusement and fun all round. Next time for the Winter Olympics it will be wheel barrow races and three-legged sprints.

Goodbye to Emily

2011-02-20T06:48:00.000-08:00

Little I say can do this justice or really explain how this all came about. Simply, a couple of VSO vols put together a short play (and some accompanying music) to capture Emily's one year here in Zambia, and then a few more of us acted it out. It was hilarious and I am pretty sure Emily enjoyed it too. She will be greatly missed.

Mapping HIV and AIDS in Mazabuka

2011-02-17T07:41:00.000-08:00

Now this takes me back. In my early days at SQW I worked on a number of projects where we were commissioned by local councils to map the amount of public sector expenditure flowing into their district or area, and then to try understand which themes (education, health, environment etc.) and and which wards the money was going to. At the time it felt like a good piece of analysis (with pretty shaded maps too) which could be used by the policy makers in a council to query where the funding was going. Jump forward 8-9 years and we have started some mapping work in Mazabuka. Basically we just do not know enough about: what HIV and AIDS activities are taking place in the district; which organisations (Government, private, faith based, community based, NGOs etc.) are working here; and which areas of the district are the organisations and activities occurring. These may sound like some pretty obvious questions but at the moment we cannot answer them.

A couple of weeks ago we began piloting this work in Mazabuka by visiting around 15 stakeholders to test the questionnaire with them and to understand their own interest in this type of information. They have greeted the work with much enthusiasm and want the exercise completed as soon as possible. At the very least we hope to produce some fancy, interactive maps that show who works where and on what activities in the district. At the best, and if we can mobilise enough funding, I want to produce a directory of the stakeholder activities and some large scale maps, and then get these hard copies distributed as wide as possible. With this sort of information we will know: how many organisations are working on HIV and AIDS activities in the district; what are they actually doing; challenge them where we feel duplication is taking place in the type or area of activity; and ask why are some areas seem overwhelmed with activity, whilst others are being missed out. And then it is a case of updating the information when an organisation arrives or leaves, and repeating the exercise in full each year.

More time at the Falls

2011-02-13T06:40:00.000-08:00

An opportunity to visit the Falls should never be passed up as it always seems different. On this occasion the Falls was particularly noisy, violent almost, with the amount of water flowing over the top where a couple of months ago we walked over it and spray covering anyone who tried to get close. A number of us volunteers travelled down to Livingstone for a goodbye party for Emily who came out to Zambia a year ago; we even sat next to each other on the plane from Heathrow. Her placement was only for one year and suddenly that time has just disappeared. So despite a late night of eating, drinking and playing silly, funny games we still managed to squeeze in a short trip to the Falls. If you like the look of it as much as I do then come and see for yourself sometime.

Stakeholder meeting

2011-02-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

On the work front (as I do do some work here rather than just travel around!), we recently held our quarterly stakeholder meeting; bringing together around 50 people from Government, NGOs, faith based organisations, community organisations and disabled groups to share learning and experiences of working on HIV and AIDS activities in Mazabuka. It is one of the occasions when we (as the DATF Secretariat) can tell stakeholders about our plans for the year and get their feedback on our work. These meetings tend to be a mixed bag: typically start at least one hour late; some presentations by stakeholders are good and well prepared, whilst others are recycled and may make little sense; the questions, comments and ideas are often thought provoking; yet any follow-up actions vary in terms of commitment, time and resources. This meeting was no different - frustrating and rewarding - and hopefully a good start for the year ahead.

Gladys' house

2011-02-10T06:27:00.000-08:00

I was not entirely sure why I was asked by the DAO (District Administrative Officer) to help out but it probably had much to do with me being one of the few people with a camera at the Council. But anyway, some storms had caused damage to a house in Mazabuka and the occupant needed a report and photos to convince the insurers that there really was a problem. Here is my 'official' report

To whom it may concern,

Re: ASSESSMENT OF DAMAGE TO PLOT NUMBER 2950, HILLSIDE, B5 MAZABUKA

An assessment was carried out by Robert Wootton, a member of the Mazabuka Disaster Management Committee, of the above property on 10th February following a request by the occupant, a Banji Sikacheya (NRC 171661/61/1), to inspect the property. The assessor was informed that damage was sustained to the property on 23rd November 2010 following a storm and strong winds. Evidence of the following damage to the roof was found:

• Damage to 20 iron sheets (2.5m in length) and 20 iron sheets (3m) used to form the roof of the property. The iron sheets had flown off during the storm and most are deemed unusable as a result

• 10 wooden poles that support the roof were broken

• 4 iron ridges also part of the roof were damaged

• Roofing nails were damaged or lost

• A number of bricks on the side of the house were cracked with cement needed to repair the holes.

In addition, when the iron sheets flew off the roof they landed on and broke a cistern tank, and broke some furniture including a coffee table. Without the protection of the roof water from the storm damaged clothes, suitcases, papers and other personal effects.

Attached to this report are a couple of photos showing the damage to the property.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Wootton

Mazabuka Disaster Management Committee / Mazabuka DATF

Nomankanjani

2011-02-05T06:54:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I do miss from home is live music and so far some of the musical peformances that I have seen in Maz have not been great; lip-syncing (i.e. miming) by some guy called Dandy Crazy (roll the r and emphasise the z to say his name!) was one night where we left early. In complete contrast this night of music organised by a fellow VSO volunteer was much fun. Dan is working part-time for a youth organisation called Nomakanjani (http://www.nomakanjani.org/) who were set up to promote messages around HIV and AIDS, health and other community issues through dance, drama and singing. They have been together for four years and have around 25+ performances as part of the group. This event was to help raise funds for a trip to Zanzibar to perform at an Africa musical festival. And they were excellent - wonderful costumes, beautiful singing, noisy drumming and even some acrobatics. All very enjoyable.

Full circle

2011-01-28T02:09:00.000-08:00

The rains have been earlier and heavier this year so it was only a case of when there would be a call from one of the rural communities in Mazabuka requesting disaster relief support. Last year we did not visit Manyoonyo until March but on Friday the Chairperson of the community called the District Commissioner asking for assistance. A team of five of us jumped into a 4x4 from the Department of Agriculture (picking up last year’s wellington boots) and after almost two hours of driving along roads which went from being rutted and bumpy at first, then slippery and muddy, to eventually just huge puddles of water and mud, we arrived in Manyoonyo.

Despite the heavy rains this year the flooding so far appears to have been the result of man’s own making. Sometime in 2010 a team of engineers starting building a main and a number of minor canals – the job has so far not been completed, nor did the team consider what impact these new canals might have when it rains. The main canal is acting like a dam, where previously water could disperse over the land now a large lake has appeared because the water has nowhere to go. The result is that tens of hectares of maize crop has been drowned, and therefore destroyed, and the likelihood that peoples’ homes will collapse as the flooding continues. Fighting has broken out between farmers whose crops are submerged by the water and others that have benefited from the canal like dam protecting their crops. Basically a mess and you cannot feel but sorry for the farmers and the rest of the community. The water levels in the toilet blocks at the local school are also close to ground level; any overflow would lead to effluent mixing with flood water. So we spent the day walking around the community, sympathising with the people we met, noting down all the problems and their grievances, offering (little pieces of) advice and promising action. The DC had a report by the following day. I hope that the recommendations are acted on.

Out in the fields

2011-01-15T07:22:00.000-08:00

“Just turn right, there” Teddy said as he directed the car to head into a grassy, potentially swampy, field with no apparent path in view. Today Marco took us to meet a sweet, charming old lady called Eusabia (70+ which is pretty remarkable in Zambia) who had been his cleaner, cook and surrogate mother/grandmother when he had spent two years living in a rural community called Chikuni; a village around 90 minutes south of Mazabuka. She is also Teddy’s mother-in-law and the guard at Marco’s home. The cluster of four homes (1-2 room buildings) and other constructions to keep goats, pigs and chickens were in the middle of nowhere, and surrounded by fields of maize. An accurate reflection of rural life in Zambia, though the family with their crops and animals are probably in a better situation than many others. Our visit was being honoured by the slaughtering of one of the family’s goats for lunch. Before the meal Teddy proudly showed us some the crops that he had planted, whilst Marco and Lucia (switching on their work, agriculture brains) gave him marks out of ten for his efforts. The goat was served alongside nshima, onions, relish and green vegetables; simple but tasty. In return we handed over a few provisions with promises of further support if asked for. Despite some of the frustrations of working here, the welcome, warmth and friendship offered by the people that I meet makes me forget those troubles.

Back down to earth

2011-01-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

The magical world of Zanzibar is a fading memory, as back in Maz life continues with a few bumps and hiccups along the way . . . This week has seen a few power cuts (always at the wrong time i.e. when we want to cook dinner) with the threat of more, and longer ones, on the way. It is raining cats and dogs too, bucket loads of water is falling from the sky as the road outside our house becomes a muddy, boggy mess yet we even had a water shortage on one day! Whilst back at work . . . our funding has arrived but only what the organisation was meant to receive up until September last year. So the rest of last year’s money is still missing along with the funding for the first quarter of 2011; messy and frustrating to put it politely. The move to the new office space has therefore stalled. The Boma – the district HQ where our office is based – could also be described as a mess. The smell of bat shit has returned as a nearby office has removed a huge pile from its roof and just dumped it outside. Chickens also run amuck, clucking around through the office corridors. Naively I hoped things would be a bit different but so far more of the same. Welcome back.

Bemba meal

2011-01-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

As a sort of welcome back a Mazabuka friend invited us around to her house for a Bemba meal a few days after we had returned from Zanzibar. There are at least 16 major cultural groupings (but more than 72 different languages and dialects spoken) in Zambia. I reside in the Southern Province where Tonga is the dominant tribe or grouping. The Bemba tribe, which this friend Victoria originates from, is mainly from the northern and north eastern parts of the country. In contrast to the culinary delights of the fresh fish, seafood, fruit and juices of our holiday this was a different, more basic meal. It felt more African to me. We had nshima (a thick cooked porridge made from ground maize), liver, tomato relish, pounded groundnuts mashed with leaves, okra, beans, kapenta (sardine like and sized fish) and fried caterpillars (which taste more like charcoal that any insect). To drink Victoria had made Munkoyo, also brewed from maize, and when we had it was non-alcoholic; a few days left to ferment and it would have been very different.

Back on the Tazara train

2011-01-05T01:36:00.000-08:00

Throughout our Zanzibar trip we had remained undecided or did not really want to think about how we would make it back to Zambia. The plane was the quickest option but the prices were just too much (US$ 350+). The bus was the cheapest and quicker than the train but that speed was part of the problem. A friend who left before us from Zanzibar warned us by text that “the bus is a nightmare, do not get it”. We returned to the train station in Dar and pleaded with the ticket seller for any available seats on the next train. At one stage third class seemed like the only option but then she kindly squeezed us into a second class compartment (sleeps six people) along with two young Tanzanian boys and another man. So a bit like Groundhog Day we found ourselves back on the Tazara train doing all the same things again (reading, scrabble, wandering minds . . . ). This time the express train only arrived six hours late. Happy days.

New Year in Nungwi

2011-01-03T01:19:00.000-08:00

On New Year’s Eve we headed to the north of the island, and Nungwi, which is much busier with more lodges and lots more people. The tide is also different as in Bwejuu it was only really possible to swim early to late because the sea would disappear for hundreds of metres during the day. Whereas in Nungwi there was virtually no tide so at any time of the day it took only a minute to walk from our lodge to reach the warm bluey ocean. For New Year everyone seemed to head to one of the largest lodges that was holding ‘the’ big party. We danced on the sand, enjoyed the fireworks at midnight and crawled into bed in the early hours; the following day was definitely a time for reading on the beach and swimming when the sun became too hot. Our last full day in Zanzibar was also the best one for snorkelling. A boat took around two hours to reach a small island just off the northern part of Zanzibar and upon jumping into the sea we were surrounded by thousands of fish. They were everywhere in all shapes, sizes and colours. There were plenty of jellyfish took which at times felt like your body was constantly being pricked by a needle but this did not take away from the enjoyment of seeing the fish. The starfish were big and colourful. For me the sleek, black and yellow striped fish shaped like arrows were my favourite. On the journey back we ate freshly caught tuna, baked on the braii whilst we were snorkelling. None of us wanted to leave.

Relaxing in Bwejuu

2010-12-30T01:05:00.000-08:00

After the hustle and bustle of Stone Town we ventured to the east of Zanzibar to a place called Bwejuu; a quieter, less developed part of the island with beautiful, long sandy beaches. We hired bikes for a couple of days to explore the area, sometimes by road, but mainly along the firm sandy parts of the beach which was more fun and also more direct. The first of our snorkelling excursions began here as we hired a dhow to take a short trip out to a lagoon, seeing some great fish in bath water warm, aquamarine sea. I had my first massage in a long, long time – being covered head to toe in lemongrass oil was very relaxing, and I smelt good too.

Spicing things up

2010-12-26T01:43:00.000-08:00

Lemongrass, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, vanilla, cloves and many more spices that I have now forgotten; Starfruit, jackfruit (described as a cross between a banana and pineapple), coconut (juice and flesh – yum), pineapple, bananas, passion fruit (now my personal favourite) and a young man climbing the coconut tree singing a song (this last part felt very touristy). There was no trip to watch Watford play, betting on the horses at a windswept Wincanton races or a bracing walk on a Somerset beach this Boxing Day; instead Marco and I went on a tour of a spice farm on the outskirts of Stone Town. We learnt about, sampled and photographed numerous spices and fruits. At the same time one of the guides kept on making different items out of palm leaves – a basket to carry our spice samples, hat, tie and glasses – mainly I think to make us tourists look silly when we arrived back in Stone Town still wearing some of the gifts. At the end of the meal we had a basic, but delicious, meal of rice and vegetables cooked using many of the spices from the farm.

Christmas in Stone Town

2010-12-25T00:41:00.000-08:00

My first Christmas away from home and away from the warm, cosiness and familiarity of my parents house in Somerset. I have to admit it was strange to be away from them, my brother and the rest of the family. There was no excitable niece and nephew, ripping open wrapping paper and their smiling faces showing off their presents; and no stocking with toothpaste, deodorant, post-it notes or chocolate! Despite this sorrow, if I had to choose to be somewhere else then Zanzibar was a wonderful place to be. A Christmas breakfast of fresh mango juice, homemade biscuits, tropical fruit (more mangos, pineapple and passion fruit), fresh bread and tropical jam (the only let down was the powdered coffee) was a good start, and all took place on our hotel balcony that looked out over the narrow streets of Stone Town and an inviting, lovely blue sea. We then had a lazy day exploring these narrow streets, getting lost, re-finding ourselves and then getting lost again. Locals wished us Merry Christmas despite most of them being Muslims. We were enticed into numerous selling local goods for tourists and resisted any purchases at this stage. In the evening we met up with a number of other VSO volunteers, who had also travelled with us on the train, at an Arabic / Swahili restaurant. We sat crossed legged on mats on the floor, two men played a drum and some form of string instrument in the corner, and we tucked into a number of tasty fish dishes. We then wandered to a bar on the beach and had drinks under candlelight with the sand beneath our feet. All very different to a normal Christmas at home but still nice.