The 2011 Mazabuka Olympics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.