Fire, Fire, pour on water, pour on water

But tragically there was little water. Back in Maz again, catching up with Stefan and Ayano, I wandered along on Saturday morning to get my haircut at my usual place, Uncle Sams, which aside from providing a fine haircut typically involves some good football and political banter with the customers. However, I found chaos and dejection as a few hours earlier a fire had destroyed 11 shops in a complex which housed Sam’s little place and also a salon, boutique, laundry and other shops selling stationery, computers, books and mobile phones. The fire started sometime around 0400hrs, possibly caused by an electrical fault in one of the shops and was further compounded when the fire engine twice ran out of water. As a result, and with no personal insurance, Sam and many of the other shopkeepers lost all of the tools of their trades.

Burgled (again)

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.

The Last Supper

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

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.

Mazabuka Prison

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.

A slow, slow day

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.

Stella's birthday

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

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

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

After the fire

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

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.

Trucks, brakes and accidents

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.

Back to normal in Maz

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.

Worrying times in Mazabuka

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.

Full circle

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.

Bemba meal

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.

Stella

A few weeks ago we gave in and decided that looking after a five bedroom house requires far too much time and effort, and decided to copy other VSO volunteers and employ a cleaner. Through my boss, the Bishop, he found us a cleaner who attends his church. Stella’s story is a sad one though in a Zambian context unfortunately not unique. Her husband is late (has passed away) and she has four children, all under the ages of 15, to care for and ideally send through school. Whilst we have not directly discussed her HIV status, she is on some form of regular drug treatment. Despite this situation she is a complete joy, always arriving on time (often early which is unheard of from my experience here so far) with a friendly, warm smile on her face and then does a fantastic job cleaning the house. Stella comes to the house twice a week and when I return, I find my shirts cleaned, ironed and hanging in the wardrobe. I have not had my underwear, socks and t-shirts folded away so neatly in my chest of drawers for a long long time. She has also started cultivating a vegetable garden in our compound with some seeds that we bought for her. So with a bit of luck ... squash, cabbage, onions, rape, chives and hopefully basil will start growing in the garden; mainly for her family, and a bit for us, to eat.

New arrival

My few weeks of loneliness in such a big house are now over as a new VSO volunteer, Andrew, arrived on Friday to share the house. He is a planner who comes from Canada and is tasked with sorting out the ‘Integrated Development Plan’ that apparently Mazabuka should have produced a while ago. He should be here for six months, maybe longer, depending on what state the plan is in!

Football - African / European style

Over the last few weeks there has been an eclectic mix of fans following the football here in Mazabuka. Marco rigged up a big screen in his house using a projector from work and friends from Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Uganda, El Salvador and Zambia have joined us to watch the games. One of the most amusing aspects has been to see which teams our Zambian friends will support. Sometimes the pro-African (sub-Saharan) allegiances run deep with South Africa and Ghana being particularly popular. Whilst for others if their favourite player is a Messi, Kaka or (heaven help us!) Ronaldo then they follow Argentina, Brazil or Portugal. One Zambian cheered on Germany but was also desperate for Rooney to score against them – assume this means that he would have been happy whatever the outcome unlike me! Marco and I suffered together in the rubbish performances – to put it politely – of Italy and England, and rejoiced in the calamity of France. As for the final, it was fascinating for some, violent and tedious for others, but the right team won in the end as we all prayed that it did not go to penalties. Now there is a football void – what we do or talk about? Well the new footy season is only a month away so I won’t have to suffer for too long.

Labour Day in Mazabuka

Mattresses, blankets, bed sheets, fans, carpets, TVs, suitcases, bicycles, microwaves, pots and pans, wardrobes, fridges, sewing machines, cement and cheques . . . No not my shopping list of all the things that I would like to buy, instead these were some of the gifts given out to workers as part of the Labour Day celebrations in Mazabuka. It began with a march, continued with a number of speeches at the Boma (Council offices) which reassuringly the fight against HIV and AIDS was mentioned a number of times by officials, and was followed by dancing and music. A number of organisations including the Police, Zambia Sugar, a local security firm and a group of teachers performed marches for the guests. The most amusing was seeing doctors and nurses marching up and down in their in white uniforms. Then came the awards with certificates given out to the rewarded workers (which are almost as prized as t-shirts in Zambia) alongside announcements of what the gift(s) they were receiving. My personal favourite was 10 bags of cement though how this worker was intending to carry that home I was not too sure!